Caledscratch Prop Build

[EZBSVS]

Howdy do everyone,

So I realize I'm pretty new in this particular forum, but I've been following MSPA since the beginning of Problem Sleuth. I've really enjoyed Homestuck so far and thus decided to do up a costume from it for some various conventions this summer. So after much mulling about I picked Dave! Specifically this Dave

The biggest challenge of this fun adventure is obviously, the sword, Caledscratch. I decided to go with the full version of it, and after countless hours of Googling and screencapping from the Accelerate animation, I have created a 3d model! This model depicts how I intend for my Caledscratch to ultimately look (only better).

This isn't my first time to the Prop building rodeo, but my other prop-building forums can't always appreciate the subtle details that some of us dedicated MSPA fans might pick up on.

So I humbly present my preliminary designs for my Summer 2011 Caledscratch build. Please critique away! But understand that some features have been added/subtracted due to the limitations of my manufacturing abilities.




Advanced thanks for all helpful critiques and trolling that may occur .

i

[Hames]

Amateur prop builder here. I like to incorporate as many existing pieces as I possibly can. For me it adds a certain level of authenticity? I don't know.

So I'm thinking for a lot of the wiring, you can use some really cheap 1/4 inch audio cables and jacks. Something like this here might look pretty cool. XLR cables could work well too, but the jacks themselves are sort of giant.

You might run into a problem finding cheap turntable parts though. Tonearms can start costing like thousands of dollars (Don't ask me why) so you might want to make those from scratch or salvage them from pawn shop record players. This might help you find what you're looking for.

this is a pretty cool project, definitely keep us updated.

[EZBSVS]

Haha, yeah, I initially was trying to do real turntable arms as well, but when I saw the prices I decided that I could probably fabricate a cheaper (and pretty decent looking) arm for a small fraction of the cost of buying one. But everywhere else, I'm going to stick with as many real parts as possible. The record player box will have real knobs/switches/sliders, and all the wires will be, as you suggested, audio cables and such. So plenty of that going on.

And I'll be sure to keep ya'll few interested folks updated, I've picked up a couple of the parts for the blade, but next paycheck I'm going to get a little bit more serious about this. So progress pictures to follow in the coming week(s)!

Thanks again!

i

[EZBSVS]

Soooooo I know this hasn't been the most lively thread ever seen, but figured I'd update it anyways :P

Spent some time in the workshop today. Got the blade most of the way built, gotta glue it all together but figured after a week or so it was time to update somehow. So here's the blade so far!

Currently it's only about 3' long. The finished sword from tip to pommel will ultimately be about 50" long, so pretty big sword... But I figure it's supposed to be sort of a broad sword so it should work out okay.

Anywho here's the pics from today's work. Hope ya'll like, and sorry for interrupting your regularly scheduled programming.




I've got more pics, but I won't spam ya'll with them unless I see major interest. So anywho, enjoy.

i

[Blueberry]

more pics! more pics!

[konec0]

more pics! more pics!

[EZBSVS]

Well who am I to deny such requests? :P
Gluing the thing together this afternoon so I can finish sanding it.

Yeah, it's made out of wood but the mofo sliced my finger open yesterday x.x
I am proud.

More pics!

Close up of the box. No it is not finished. Just sorta playing with it.


Just playing around with it on the floor:


Groove where I'll thread a steel rod to keep it sturdy:


The various pieces and parts scattered to the winds:



And thats all the pictures that matter. When I have it assembled this afternoon I'll post more.

Thanks!

i

[Solaris]

wow this is great :O

I wish i could do cool stuff like this

[EZBSVS]

You'd be amazed :P Mostly I'm just making shit up as I go.

Gluing the rest of the blade together this afternoon! Gonna try to have it sealed and painted this weekend! Excitement!

[Sionnac]

omigoodness more pictures please! Is it heavy?

[Tolma]

Ok there is no reason not to spam this thread with pictures of your progress. This thread is about YOUR sword man. Post away! THIS IS AMAZING!
So much detail.
SO MUCH WIN.

[AlphaKnight]

stopped by to say
A: this is amazing and I will be watching the progress with much excitement
B: I never noticed that the caledscratch would make a pretty sick novelty pen.
that will be my next project once I have time.

[EZBSVS]

Woah! Suddenly there is interest! First things first,

@Sionnac, I've got you covered on pictures And it's not heavy - yet. I'm using pine craft boards from Lowe's (3/8" x 4 x 36" for the blade, 3/8" x 6" x 24" for the lower part of the blade) and so far it's still pretty light. It's certainly a bit awkward to swing around cause it doesn't have a proper handle, but the real test will be once I chuck on a bunch of stainless steel record arms and knobs and such!

And yes, this one will go up to eleven.

@Tolma, you flatter me to no end. I only spam the pictures I think are worth spamming (see tonights can of spamming (deep fried WITH KETCHUP)), but ya'll are all more than welcome to go see the rest of the pictures in my >>>Flicker Photostream<<<, as well as see some of my other projects *coughcoughportalguncoughcough*. Again, thank you for your vote of confidence, I shall not fail! (I hope)

And finally, dear @AlphaKnight, you come last because I just noticed you. But anywho, thank you as well! Things are hopefully gonna pick up a bit as I find more time to work on this, but may slow down as my paycheck evaporates paying the bills. We shall see!
And I have no clue how well Caledscratch would work as a pen, it is a rather bizarre sword. I'm still explaining to my my friends that no, it is not an X-Wing.

So anywho, a blanket thank you to all viewers!

AND NOW ON TO THE PICTURE SPAM!

H'oshit it's coming together! And BTW, it's HUGE.


A WILD POINT APPEARS! Yeah, I know, it needs some work, but for just starting out I was rather impressed. I'll do all the Bondo work at once (when the box is built and attached) so that's when we'll get to see the real skewer.


The full blade glued up! Gorilla glue is my new best friend! But MAKE SURE YOU CLAMP IT OR ELSE........


....Shit like this happens (the crack in between the two halves is NOT supposed to be there)


But that's okay because this is a pretty badass angle of it.




So anywho, that's the majority of the excitement here! I do promise I'll keep ya'll up to date as there are dates to keep up on. Hopefully lots of fun shit this weekend! *Fingers crossed*

Anywho thanks for looking!

i

[EZBSVS]

Brief update with picture spam to show the box being assembled! And notched the blade wooo....

Notched blade:


Box mock up. You can see where i'll be cutting out for the cassette deck switches.



Peace till next update.

[Tolma]

DAT PORTAL GUN.
E: also dat 3D modeling.

[EZBSVS]

Elf Tears stream from the site of this praise. PI catches them in his tea pot.

You are too kind Tolma. Glad you like!

Oh and as a general announcement, getting ready to build.... THE BOX.

Pics to follow tonight.

[chimericWilder]

i am going to be watching this project eagerly, because i can.

[AlphaKnight]

Well the tip of the sword resembles a ball point pen tip to me.
The keyword is novelty. I wouldn't write a paper with it or anything.
Also that portal gun is freaking awesome.

[EZBSVS]

@AlphaKnight, Fair enough Also, thinking outloud, it'd be kinda cool since Caledscratch has the full and broken versions to make it so that you could take the tip off, maybe like it's a lid or something. Just a thought. And you're right, I just remembered that there are broomstick pens from Harry Potter... Wouldn't write a paper with them but would be cool to have on a desk.

If you ever try for it, lemme know, I'd love to see it And if you need blueprints or anything feel free to steal mine!

And holy cows there's a box gluing in my man-cave :0 I'm gonna let it finish drying and put a coat of primer on it tonight before I show it off. So everyone,

BE EXCITED

[Sionnac]

> Be excited.

You make a half-hearted attempt to resist the excitement.

You fail magnificently and.

[EZBSVS]

Sionnac, your attempt was magnificent. Your failure more so. I commend you.

AND NOW FOR TONIGHT'S UPDATE!

So I lied earlier. I thought I was gonna have primer on this mofo tonight, but instead I decided to go drinking instead. So Sorry folks!

But I did get the box built! It's purdy awesome. It needs some touching up, but in general it's nothing that some Bondo won't fix. So I'm happy

So here's tonights picture spam:


Started by gluing on a sort of cross frame. It's just two pieces of wood to give the box structure and such.


You can get a slightly better idea of how the frame is made here:


And the first plate is glued! To keep it simple I'm just copying the one side, so both sides will be identical. Yeah, maybe it is cheating; but who asked you anyways?


Clamps off! The box is made! Woohoo!


You can see how the panel members sort of sandwich together here. Also, that gap is going to be cleaned up with bondo. And various little parts will be added to sort of fill this area.


More views of the box:


You can see where the side arm barrel will be set.


And a nice final above shot just to show the shape of it all!



Anywho there ya'll go! From here I gotta get the handle finished up, it'll thread onto the steel rod to keep the whole thing somewhat structural and such. But after that it's all details. So the base model is almost done! YAY!!!!!!!!


Hope ya'll like!

[Tolma]

Like it?
LIKE IT?
I WANT ONE SO BAD!!!!!

[Tolma]

Moar pictures soon?

[Monstaman]

This
Looks
So
Great.
Hussie Should hire you for making models of other weapons too.

[EZBSVS]

@Tolma, More pics as soon as I can. It's been nasty weather here (temporary migration to the land of rain and heat) So haven't been able to paint or work much... I'll try to post some updates this weekend though! I need to do a shitton of bondo work and get the handle figured out still. But here's hoping!!!

@Monstaman, You flatter me! I'd be honored and delighted if AH were to bestow such requests upon me, but I feel I must prove my worth with this project first. If this goes well, my next MSPA piece will be the White King's Skaia scepter (I forget the official name ) followed by the Wrinklefucker for a buddy of mine. In between I have a strong urge to make the original candy weapons from Problem Sleuth (Candycorn revolver, Pez Uzi, Tootsie Roll Shotgun).

MSPA in general provides a ridiculous amount of material to work with. It's overwhelming how many awesome things AH comes up with that I want to make. A friend asked me recently why I'm so busy building pieces from movies and comics instead of original work, and my response was that in my opinion the translation from cartoon to real life is the ultimate sign of respect. And MSPA (minus the trolls, sorry AH but I couldn't stand the summer of Trolls) is one of my favorite things. So why not recreate as much of it as possible?

Anywho that's probably too longwinded for most of you.

MOAR PICS SOON!!11!!!1!1!!