Strangers With Hobbies

Toy Sculptures

admin — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 15:47:43 +0000

If you’re looking for something to do with all the piles of toys you have hanging around since childhood, look to artist Robert Bradford for some inspiration. InventorSpot has more.

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Hack Your Digital Camera To Make It Incredible

admin — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 15:36:54 +0000

If you have a Cannon digital point and shoot camera and want to take amazing SLR-like shots, try this hack from LifeHacker. It will have your shots looking better in no time.

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Trick Out Your Computer Case

admin — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 15:19:51 +0000

Here are some really awesome case mods to make a computer more than a boring box.

My favorite is the creepy beaver one. There are cool motorcycle, radios and even a WALL -E one for those who don’t want strange animals spying while they view porno.

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Create Your Own Paper Ghandi

admin — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 19:54:13 +0000

Instructables tells you how to make your own cardboard sculpture of Ghandi. Very cool.

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Some Fun Cakes

admin — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 15:41:08 +0000

If cake decorating or baking is your hobby, you should definately stop by our other blog, Rue The Day, and view some of the amazing cakes we’ve posted on there. Included are the gorey innards cake, the wasp cake and some really cool geek cakes.

Even if you aren’t a cake affectionado, stop by to take a look. Some of them are really amazing.

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Cool Knitted Food Serves Up Fun

admin — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 22:50:10 +0000

Hungry for more knitting crafts? Then you should check out this great post on InventorSpot with craft artist Ed Bing Lee’s deliciously delightful woven knotted dishes.

My favorite part is how elaborate they all are. Like this burger, look at all the layers and textures involved. This is not your grandmother’s knitted knotted cheeseburger…wait, your grandmother probably never even knitted a cheeseburger. Need I say more?

Thanks for correcting us Mr. Bing Lee!

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A Beginner’s Intro To Maquette Sculptures Construction

Zeon — Sun, 29 Jun 2008 03:14:03 +0000

The goal of maquette construction is to duplicate design drawings, in this case character designs in a 3 dimensional form, for a variety of uses. They can be helpful in creating and casting your own model kits, maintaining design integrity on projects involving characters or design elements drawn by multiple artists. Alternatively, they can be constructed and displayed as a work of art -one of your drawings having come to life as a 3D scale model.

Maquette construction is typically relegated to the animation industry, but model builders and sculptors can also appreciate how cool it is to construct a 3D sculpture from a drawing. The more intricate the drawing, the more impressive the maquette. Character design elements typically employed in the animation industry -simplicity of design and smooth, clean lines- don’t always translate into a cool sculpture.

For those of us sculpting and constructing for our own pleasure, rather than for a living, I suggest you “go for the gold” in terms of design complexity and flashiness. When elements presented seem impossible, there is nothing more satisfying than figuring out how to make it possible in your sculpture. In doing so, you will learn ways to construct and sculpt even more difficult and grandiose maquette sculptures. From background buildings and effects to characters in action poses to scenes involving multiple characters, maquette sculpting involves letting your imagination come to life. And it all begins with a strong drawing.

To start out, you will want to find a picture featuring, hopefully, at least the front and back of the design/character/scene. If there is only a front shot, I suggest finding another drawing -unless you are experienced enough to model on the fly (without drawings), or sketch out the other side, which requires keeping the drawing to the same scale as the original.

I suggest that you try to keep your first sculptures to the size of a sheet of printer paper (8.5×11 inches), so that you can use computer programs such as Photoshop or MS Paint to scale the drawing up or down as needed. This also helps in the initial stages of skeleton construction, and gives you a good reference to consult if you want to add accessories or other elements to the sculpted scene.

Using Photoshop to size the drawings/images is made much easier by working from a standard size, and you can also use the program to resize various drawings to preserve scale integrity. This way, you can sketch the various sides of the sculpture in any size and print them out on the same scale. This process of printing to scale will tighten up your sculptures quite a bit, and will give you a solid foundation to work from.

Another good thing to do when starting out is to think of the design/drawing in terms of its basic shapes, and where weight will lie in the construction. Very top heavy designs aren’t going to work unless the weight is made up of multiple, thinner shapes rather than large, bulky shapes, because the weight of the sculpting material will cause the sculpture to droop. If this weight imbalance is a must, either in terms of design concept or the sheer density of the sculpture, then splints/rods will have to be installed in order to prop up various segments and support the overall inte

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Create Art & Help The Envoirnment, Clever

admin — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 23:19:37 +0000

InventorSpot has a cool suggestion to help the envoirnment while keeping yourself occupied -using recycled junk to make art. Artist Steve Oatway uses his art to express his life experiences. These metal scrap suculptures are as interesting and thought provoking as they are attractive and envoirnmentally friendly.

His message serves as a reminder that you don’t need to start a hobby with lots of expensive goodies purchased in a local shop. You can start anywhere -even the dump.

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Begin A Fantastic Plastic Adventure In Freaky Kit Construction!

Zeon — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 01:29:10 +0000

Model kits, typically made from polystyrene, vinyl, or other plastics, are a fun way to pass the time and develop hand-eye coordination while constructing and painting a 3D replica of your favorite characters or vehicles. When it’s done, you’ll even have a great looking peice to permanently display with pride.

Now, when it comes to the average model kits, it is typically a male dominated world of cars, boats and planes, with little or no variety. Nor is there any real attraction to offer anyone who’s not into vehicles or militaria. This is not necessarily the case, however, if you know where to look for freaky, fun kits made to satisfy our massive appetite for plastic goodness.

Check out www.monstersinmotion.com for a very large selection of all things model kit, from the standard polystyrene box kits to the highly detailed, very expensive resin kits -which should only be attempted by skilled kit builders or someone familiar with sculptural construction. Monsters In Motion has all the supplies you need. They have the awesomest store in Placentia, California, crammed to the rafters with cool kits and collectibles. Check out their site to get an idea of the different types of kits, and to see some built up examples (built up meaning constructed and fully painted).

Another great site is www.megahobby.com, a site which features decidedly less monster and oddball kits than Monsters In Motion, but still has a wide variety of semi-strange kits that appeal to plastic freaks like me. Check out their great kits like the glowtastic Pirate Ghost Ship kit by Revell, featuring luminous paint and is a very satisfying 8 and a half inch length. Or the spooky, cool Dr. Jekyll as Mr. Hyde, re-issued by Moebius Models, featuring a cool, glow-in-the-dark limited edition for only a few bucks more -sure to be a hit for the classic monster collector, the oddball lover or retro kit junkie. This site is worth checking out if only for their low prices and great shipping/purchase discounts.

For the retro kit buffs, www.oldmodelkits.com is the spot for you. Their exhaustive stock of kits from companies such as Aurora, Monogram, and Revell will please the eyes and satisfy even the most gluttonous vintage plastic fan for less cash. Less cash is good, no? They also feature articles on building kits and all things constructed from tiny bits of plastic, so you can learn a thing or two before you dive right in to your kit. Simple construction also makes old model kits a gem, and they feature very old kits which are very hard to find for a reasonable price. The site is very, very worth checking out. I thoroughly enjoyed checking out their exhaustive list of kits from back in the day, even if there were typically only pictures of the cover art.

These three sites should suit anyone, from the curious first timer to the dabbler to the once-accomplished builder getting back into the modeling game. No matter what your experience level, you may just learn a thing or two about model kits just from perusing these detailed and exhaustive hobby kit sites. Have a fantastic plastic adventure day!

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