Category: Projects

Being a maker is about adopting a growth mindset. It’s about strategically asking questions to get you from a point of not knowing how to do something to knowing how to do it.

For us, it also means a lot of play as we explore not only how to make things, but also how the things we make can create bonds between us.

Kids’ Sabine Wren costume, part 1

trevor
sabine wren armour pattern

My Little Fish announced her Halloween plans for this year with much the same gusto as last year’s Quorra costumes: she wanted to be Sabine Wren, one of the main characters in last year’s new Disney cartoon, Star Wars Rebels. The Mandalorian armour worn by Sabine means that I will need to learn at least two new skills for the build (foam fabrication, fibreglassing) and much better develop a third (sculpting) and a fourth (mold making). It’s a little daunting, but I’m all in on it. And we’re buckling and…

Building the UES Trillium model starship

trevor

I love Star Trek. I really, really do. I love it in the way I love pizza or computers. In and of itself, it’s fantastic, but it’s also a platform for creativity, iteration, innovation, and personal vision. I have had a particular model starship build in development for a while, for a capital ship and several support craft that would push the design and story of Star Trek beyond its current canonical endpoint at the end of Voyager. Thing is, it will be a massive undertaking, both from the design…

Workbench Time Lapse – Tricorder Craft

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Inspired by Norman Chan’s recent video featuring the Roddenberry.com tricorder replica, I make my own take on the tricorder.   To make this nerdy craft that you and your kids will love, you will need a soap box, some scrap cardboard, and lots of tape. Or, in my case, high-tech scientific instruments that a 21st-century maker has no business having. Unfortunately my technological prowess gained the attention of a particularly grumpy little visitor from the future… Stay tuned to the site for a thorough writeup soon!

Workbench Time Lapse – Kids’ Workbench Build

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As promised in the last video, here’s a project the kids and I did a few weekends ago! After dismantling the kids’ abandoned workspace in the shop, my eldest and I reclaim a bunch of scrap in the basement and get to work building a new desk for their crafts and homework. We had so much fun building it, and they absolutely love the result! The biggest concern was the material itself. We committed to just building it out of whatever we had on hand, and what we had was…

Workbench Time Lapse – Continuing the Camaro

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chevrolet camaro model

After oh so long, the Camaro model approaches completion. (It’s actually already long since completed, but I’ve had this video sitting on my hard drive for ages.) I’ll do some commentary and share sequences from the final film soon. I also do some work with the ThreeDoodler and some clay! You might notice that the Camaro in the lightbox shots at the end is a little worse for wear. It took some damage in filming. In a future video I’ll fix it up and make it a real showpiece.

Workbench Timelapse – Post-Apocalyptic Camaro

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post-apocalyptic camaro defiance

Inspired by SyFy’s series Defiance, I paint up a 1:25 model Camaro for an exercise in my Film Studies class. I’ll follow up with more videos putting together the car and the road, but for now check out this paint job and the ThreeDoodler at work! Music is by Kevin MacLeod of incompetech.com.

Workbench Time Lapse – Painting the Lizardman

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After casting, sculpting, more casting, laying in latex, and pulling the prosthetic from its mold, it’s finally time to paint the big creature makeup! I use what I learned painting the Bajoran nose appliance and turned an indistinct green blob into an alien creature. This has been a real ride. If you have questions about the process, throw them in the comments below, Shot with a Canon EOS Rebel T5i. Time lapse done with in-box EOS Utility software. Edited in Adobe Premiere Pro CC. Music is “Early Riser” by Kevin…

Painting the Bajoran Nose Prosthetic

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bajoran nose prosthetic makeup design

This time, with some commentary! I spend some time painting the Bajoran nose prosthesis I was making in the last episode. It’s based on the makeup worn by Michelle Forbes in Star Trek: The Next Generation. We’re almost at the point where it can actually be applied. Music in this episode is Phase One by Jeremy Williams, via Podcast Fantastic.

Workbench Time Lapse – Laying Latex

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bajoran nose prosthetic

On tonight’s workbench timelapse, I fix a mold that one of my students made (it’s a Stephen Moffat-style creature), lay latex in the Bajoran nose appliance, do the same with my reptilian creature makeup, and re-sculpt and cast a zombie nose appliance that another one of my students lost to a horrible mold disaster. Man, I’m busy. Shot with a Canon EOS Rebel T5i. In-box EOS Utility software. 5 second intervals. Some messing with the timing of frames so you could see what I was doing. Music is Early Riser…

Pouring a Mold – Time Lapse Test

trevor

Tonight, as I was talking care of a couple of work things, I poured a mold for one of my film students’ makeup designs. Not only that, but I thought it would be fun to do a brief time-lapse using my shiny new Canon EOS Rebel T5i. I hadn’t quite figured out the focus when I did this, but it’s still an interesting start to what I think will be a fun way to document my builds. Paddle your own canoe, folks. Trevor