Burn & Brush Texture

You will need:

An Oxy-Acetylene rig (one tank Oxygen and the other Acetylene gas connected to a wand)

Flint Striker

Bottle of water to extinguish flames

Fresh soft pine

Wood glue

Drywall screws

Wooden Buttons

Wire Brush

Dish Soap &Water with rag

Clear coat finish

Off white paint

Whilst building a project that is about to be burnt and brushed keep two things in mind: 1. No chemicals. No bondo, no spackle or any other gap fillers. Also stick to simple wood glue adhesive. You do not want fumes coming off of your project. Therefore, Build it perfect. 2. Use clean, soft wood. I used fresh pine. Do not try this with masonite, plywood, MDF or any other wood which contains adhesives.

Once your project is assembled be sure to cap off the hardware with wood buttons. Let dry. Prepare your acetylene tank by checking the pressures of your gas and oxygen. Make sure you have enough in the tanks to complete your project. Also double check the hose making sure it is free of leaks. Set aside a water bottle to extinguish flames if needed.

Prepare yourself safely. Wear heat rated gloves and durable, non flammable clothes. Your clothing will get stained with soot so wear work clothes. Cover your hair with a cap of some sort or pull it back. Wear tinted safety goggles, the kind rated at least #5 for torching or a welding shield will work. 

You should have two hoses connected to the wand one red and one green.Turn on the gas first use a flint striker to light the torch. Then add the oxygen.  Turn up the oxygen until the wand turns from flames to small, visible blue cones, like the picture below.

Wave the wand lightly over the wood. It will turn crispy black, this is ok! Small fires will start and most likely put themselves out, but if there is extensive burning in one area, extinguish it.

Burning shit is fun!

Next take your wire brush and brush off the entire project clearing off the charred ashy areas. The softer wood which burned, will lift off the stronger wood. The younger wood from the tree is what has burned off the surface.

Wash your project with dish soap and water. This helps seal in the soot while removing excess ash. Let dry.  

Take a clear coat finish and mix it with about a teaspoon of off white paint. Apply it to your entire project as a protective seal. Keep a dry brush handy to remove excess paint. Your texture may get cloudy if you do not do this.

In the photo above I added a sheet of masonite after the burn and brush was complete. I painted it to match the texture. Below is the final picture with set dressings, which in this case was food.

Fun with Fake Food & FEV

Cherry Pie Prop  

Recipe:

Model Magick (big white tub available at Hobby Lobby to shape the lattice crust)

Rubber Grapes

Expanding Foam

Hot Glue

FEV (French Enamel Varnish)

Paint

Interior paint Clear Seal

So I took a cheap empty pie pan and filled the bottom with expanding foam. I then picked some less then desirable looking fake rubber grapes to pluck from their bunch and sprinkle on top of the wet expanding foam. Let dry in a well ventilated area.

I painted the grapes and pink expanding foam a bright cherry red. Let dry. Then I drizzled Hot glue all over the top of the cherries to make them look glassy. I then took some red FEV (French Enamel Varnish)

Recipe for FEV:
1 part denatured alcohol
1 part shellac
Drops of Leather dye for color

*FEV is awesome at leaving a shiny coat of color on objects when it dries. Here is an example of a punch bowl we have in stock which was colored with FEV. NO REAL FOOD should ever be exposed to a surface with FEV, but it's great for faking liquids and sugar syrup.

I used the model magick by rolling it out like pie dough. Then I used sheers to cut the shape of the lattice. Once the model magick dried I used three varieties of accrylic color one amber, one beige and one brown to color the crust. I then sealed the prop with clear coat seal. tah dah!

NEWS from the Prop Shop

Removing the Turtle Episode:

Now that I have become more familiar with Smooth On's Product Oomo, I have come to some new conclusions as to the best way to execute creating a mold. Although plaster of paris was a workable solution in creating the turtle shell, in retrospect Clay actually would have been easier to work with. Secondly, I made a false claim in that video. There are two seperate types of Oomo which is made. The Purple Oomo 30 is a thicker silicon agent. It is the original with a cure time of six hours. Then Oomo 25 which is Blue became available and it is a thinner silicon with a quicker cure time. However, both are still available for purchase and neither product has replaced the other. In fact, it is great that there are more options available. Also I had created a positive replication of the turtle which is useless because OOMO CANNOT BE COLORED! Even with psycopaint you would fight the blue or purple undertone constantly, which would be a waste of an expensive paint.

So I am remaking an episode to reexplain Oomo and plastic casting. However, it will be more accurate in information and will hopefully produce a much better mold. The subject will no longer be the turtle  (which had been cut from the show Arcadia Anyways!!) But instead Weapons!! GUNS AND KNIVES!

Yes, I know I promised an edible Episode as well! It is under developement because I am still awaiting baking products in the mail.

In the Mean Time: Check Out THE EPIC CRAFT HOUSE
This is a project created by a good friend of mine Daniel Lyon and is Co-founded by Bennett Seymore and Myself. Currently we only have a few bracelets and accessory items for sale. However, that is not the full mission statement from the Epic Craft House. In fact, we have much bigger ambitions including creating props for purchase as well as accessories. Eventually larger chain mail projects will be available for rent to vendors as well.

However, we CANNOT make this HAPPEN without YOUR help. So for now, please purchase one of our lovely bracelets or accessories and visit the Etsy/Facebook page. Thanks! Lydia

Severed Finger Prop

This is an instructional video that covers the basics of taking live body casts for theater props. It shows then how to cast a plastic and latex limb. Then I have some improv pieces with the severed fingers at the end just for fun. Thanks please love me!

Dead Rabbit Prop

Tried to be a bit more comical in this one, probably unsuccessfully.

One Important notation I forgot to include in the Process:
1. Often times fur must be trimmed with a razor blade in order to define different areas of the animal.

There a couple other mistakes in this video, I'm sure. However, the music isn't crappy techno this time! haha. Enjoy

Hello All,

This is my first demo video. It is my molding casting project which is a tutorial concerning silicon molding with Oomo 25, Plaster of Paris and Latex. It is student work, with that said, please love my blog. Soon the prop shop videos will be shot live from California and have a bigger budget. Consider this a quick tutorial amongst friends.

THIS VIDEO IS NO LONGER AVAILABLE.

WATCH ZFX FLY ME INSTEAD FOR YOU ENTERTAINMENT