NaNoWriMo Chapter 3 – The Who and Why

The tale of the wandering Nomad won last week’s vote, I said I wanted a challenge and by gods that’s what you’re determined to give me. Alright so let’s see what I can do.

All that’s left to do is to populate our stage with a cast of characters: The Nomad is our focal character, in order to maintain mystery of his or her origins and methods of survival it’s important that the narrative not be told from their perspective. So the protagonist is therefore an Observer, someone who witnesses the actions of the Nomad, and whose life is shaped by them.

The Observer comes from a community of survivors. The leaders of the community, and the ways they have found to survive will inform the way the Observer interacts with and interprets the deeds of the Nomad, but they will also help bring detail to the world.

Cosplay Skill: Mould Making

Understandably, this is a skill that most people shy away from. It’s a real shame, too. They use this skill in the props industry as it’s a great way to get many pieces out relatively simply. Having attended a panel on mould making, I now want to delve deeper into the world of mould making and understand how it all works. Over the coming weeks, I hope to be able to get all of the required equipment and tools to make good moulds and start casting.

But first, it helps to understand what mould making is exactly and why people do it. In ye olden days (heck, even today), a blacksmith would create a mould which they would cast their molten metal into. This is the process of casting. So you have two parts to this: Moulds and Casts. Simple enough to understand.

Credit: Wikipedia

Equipment – What do I need?

You will need at least the following for your moulds and :

• Respirator
• Goggles
• Apron
• Sharp knife
• Disposable pots (see through plastic cups are the best for this)
• Disposable sticks (for stirring)
• Old clothes (… You may get some on you).
• Hot Glue Gun (And hot glue stick…)
• Your mould materials (more on that later)
• Disposable pan (or area to make the mould)

My equipment

I learned some cool things from the panel. If you want to break something from hot glue, apply 99% proof alcohol to the hot glue. It dissolves the glue, allowing you to easily peel off whatever you stuck down with alcohol. Useful tip! Also, if you don’t have a disposable pan for making a mould, why not use foam board (also known as foam core)? Cut it to size, stick it down with hot glue and wham – You have a container for your mould!

Buying a respirator

There’s a bit more to buying a respirator than first meets the eye, it seems. A respirator is simply something you put over your nose and mouth to prevent yourself breathing in fumes, dust, chemicals etc. When you work with resins, you will want to make sure you work in a well ventilated area and you use proper protective gear. This comes later, but it’s important to note that if you work with fibreglass (common in the UK), you will need a respirator and goggles, along with other protective gear. This is because you will be breathing in glass without a respirator… and from what the panel taught us, that means you will be coughing up blood. Be careful and be safe.

You will want to get a respirator with replaceable filters. I’ve gone for a 3M 7500, which cost me about £25 with filters. You can get it cheaper, but just be careful with what you get. Read the instructions on what your filters are for, as well as read the instructions on how to use the respirator. Your eye protection/goggles shouldn’t necessarily cost any more than £10.

Make a mould

This is surprisingly easy. It’s a case of getting the materials from a website such as MBFG.

To start off, you’ll need to buy some silicone. There are other materials to use when making moulds, but silicone seems to be really simple to use and can make quite a few moulds in the long run. Here’s an example of mould silicone that you may want to consider when making a mould.

You’ll need an area, a container of some kind, to keep the silicone in. Once you’ve gotten that, pour in your silicone over an object you’re going to be making a mould of. Perhaps you’ll want to make a mould of an existing object, such as a model. If you use the foam board tip from above, you can make a foam container relatively inexpensively and cut it to size. Stick it together with hot glue, stick your model to the base of the foam container and pour in your silicone. The above video is a good example of someone creating a mould and casting an object, so you can see just how it’s done.

Once I’ve made my first mould, I’ll write a post about it. We’re hoping to launch a GeekOut Newsletter fairly soon, so perhaps we’ll include it as a unique post for the newsletter for those of you who are interested in what happens around our GeekOut activities.

That’s it for this issue, hopefully it’s at least a little be interesting. Have you ever made a mould before? Have you ever cast an object before? Let us know in the comments below, over on Facebook or Twitter.

Suicide Squad Cast

Whilst Joel spent his time watching Avengers: Age of Ultron recently, I have been looking at the cast of the upcoming DC movie for the Suicide Squad, set to air in cinemas in 2016.

The choice of villains in this film are fantastic, but let’s get the big one out of the way with first. Jared Leto, like it or not, is confirmed as The Joker for this film. He has starred in some incredible films in the past, such as Requirem For A Dream and Fight Club. He is also in the band 30 Seconds to Mars.

Source: IGN

I spoke to Joel about this and whilst I am excited, it doesnt look like everyone is as excited as me. When the tease picture of Jared dressed as Joker appeared, with all of his tattoos and grills in his teeth, I felt like I was looking at a serious Joker contender. He has big shoes to fill in Heath Ledger and even Jack Nicholson, but I believe he has been given a nitty, gritty Joker. Exactly the sort of role that he excels at! Let’s just say that Jared Leto might be the marmite of the Jokers… and I’m looking forward to seeing it!

Let’s move onto the biggest star name in the cast: Will Smith. He’s playing as Deadshot, a sharpshooter with two wrist mounted pistols. A big question is how will he fare as a secondary role? Smith cannot be overlooked, however the man has done some stellar performances in previous films. Does this mean that he’ll outshine everyone regardless? Only time can tell this one, but I believe his acting pedigree is strong enough that he won’t even mind playing his role. It’s a damn cool role too.

Next up, we have Harley Quinn who is played by Margot Robbie. She has starred not so long ago in The Wolf of Wall Street, which was certainly a success. I love how she has a realistic looking Harley Quinn to play, it suits her as an actress and the theme of the Suicide Squad. No doubt she’s going to take a more central role in the Suicide Squad, but it remains to be seen how the character will cope with going after The Joker. Hopefully like a lost puppy yapping for it’s parents!

Also of note are the additions of Echantress and Katana! What a spin we got there. Katana recently appeared on TV, only to then be announced into the Suicide Squad via the tease picture. If there’s one thing we can rely on here, that blade won’t be so supernatural… Unless that’s why Enchantress is there. A sort of overlooked baddy, Enchantress has had a heck of a makeover. Will these two work in unison to make a cohesive and pivotal part of the Squad? You can see the drastic change in character design between this version of the character (above) and the original artwork (below).

Of course that wasn’t an extensive look at the crew that call themselves the Suicide Squad, but these ones in particular were interesting to note. What do you think of the line-up and the choices of characters? Are you looking forward to this film, or is it another DC blunder? As always, comments below, or over on Facebook/Twitter and let us know: Will you be watching out for the Suicide Squad film in 2016?