Halloween 2013 - Templar Knight

I started early this year on my Halloween costume. Around January to be exact. (Yeah, I know.)

My costume is a Templar Knight from Assassin's Creed.

You may have seen various parts of the costume on the blog previously. But today you get one glorious post of all components. I've got a photoshoot set for Saturday. I'll update with more pics then.

Scratch-built Medieval Helmet Complete

The helmet is now finished- paint and everything. If you missed Part 1.

The finished helmet. It's been through a battle or two.

Medieval Helmet from a For Sale Sign

Just as the title reads. I took a plastic 'For Sale' sign and crafted it into a medieval helmet. My basis of design is a Templar Knight helmet from Assassin's Creed. See PART 2 for the conclusion.

Good execution calls for a good plan.

This is the start. A for sale sign from a home improvement store.

The paper pattern.

Mantle Complete

And finally, the mantle is complete.

I started with this design over a year ago:

And here is the near complete mantle.

Writing a Novel in November

NaNoWriMo

That's National Novel Writing Month. The goal is to write 50,000 words during the month.  That's approximately 175 pages, writing 2,000 words a day.

There are people who write novels and those who talk about it.

I'm a person who wrote a novel. I was surprised to discover that was back in 2009.. Has it really been that long?  That was back when I actually wrote often, I don't write much now and when I do write, I hardly ever finish.

But that's about to change as I embark on a novel next month. When I did it before I finished the novel I had envisioned after 12k words. That's just a few short of the goal for those keeping track.

I did eventually manage to hit the 50k mark.  I've never so much as glanced at the novel as my instincts tell me it's not good.  If I never look at it, I'll never know for sure. It's better not to know. It was an amazing process, struggling to reach the daily count, the triumph of hitting the mark late at night. I felt like most of the time what I was writing was complete rubbish, but there were brief shimmers of hope interspersed.

Be someone who writes that novel! Or follow me as I write my second novel.

And since I'm not going to leave you without an image, here's the preliminary cover of this years novel. I don't have a title yet, but with an image like that, it's got to be good!

What is a Knight Without a Helm?

This is the start of my helmet for Halloween. I've drawn the pattern and made a head band. By the end of the wee, I'm hoping to have it done.

I'll be making it out of EVA foam, and painting it to look a weathered and worn steel helm.

Perfect execution starts with the perfect plan.

The headband.

More coming soon!

WardWorks in Costume

Halloween is just around the corner and I'm trying to finish my costume.

Every year, my Halloween costume raises the bar. Is it due to my holiday cheer or my insatiable desire to one-up my previous year's costume? I'll let you judge.

The first self-made costume was a hobo. I used it for a number of years, and every year, someone resorted to calling me Lieutenant Dan. Every. Single. Year.

He just wants something to eat!

One Man, Four Toaster Ovens...

Unfortunate as it is, I have no project progress to post. While many projects are in the planning stages and I will post no more mantle photos until completion, I leave you with an image of a future project. Feel free to venture a guess as to what I may do with them.

Yes. They are four toaster ovens.

Foam Fun: Building a Sword

Here is sword that is relatively safe as it's foam, cheap to make, and light weight.
You need a hobby blade, a hot glue gun, and a solder iron. A rotary tool would also be useful.

I am using the Elder Scrolls Daedra sword as inspiration.

I started with 3/8" eva foam mats. I scaled the sword to 36" overall as it 'felt' right to me. I printed a full size pattern and began cutting.