Have you ever thought of having an awesome weapon or costume from a show you’ve watched or a video game you’ve played? Well, I remember the time I wanted a 3d maneuver gear from the anime Attack on Titan.
I ended up making one with rubber, super glue and wood glue. It was my first time to create a huge prop. I made a lot of mistakes because tutorials weren’t as abundant back then. I had to learn how to make them by myself through trial and error. I was able to replicate all the details accurately but the overall build was weaker compared to the props I can make now.
Before I was able to create, I kept on opening all of my toys with a screw driver. Sometimes I forcefully break them open until I find out what makes my mechanical toys move. It took me a few years before I was able to put things I’ve opened up back in one piece.
As a child I started with clay. It’s so easy to manipulate. There’s so much freedom with clay and your skill is the limit. Clay is also used in the professional industry and is often used to make items that can be reproduced with a mold and resin.
In primary school, I loved lego bricks. It isn’t as easy as clay, you’re a limited to the blocky shapes or whatever parts you have. If you have enough parts, you can make rounded objects if you treat each piece like a tiny pixel you can hold and combine. Here’s a photo of a Lockheed SR-71 that I made when I was a kid.
Paper and cardboard, they’re like really thin slices of wood. I’ve seen people make insanely detailed objects with them. I made airplanes, I don’t mean your regular folder paper airplanes. I treated them as steel frames and panels when I made replicas of a Lockheed SR-71. I rolled tubes of paper and combined them together with clear tape and masking tape. If it isn’t obvious yet, I really loved the stealth beast that could go as fast as mach 3, the SR-71.
Now I work with rubber and sometimes wood. They’re a bit harder to use because you have to prepare the surface for painting unlike paper and cardboard where you can immediately use brush on paint.
So what are these things that I love creating? They’re things that I like. Weapons, items, costumes from shows I’ve watched or games I’ve played. Things that I could only dream of having. Things that may or may not exist. It’s fun taking something from fantasy and holding them with your own two hands.
Truth be told, all of these materials are limitless with enough patience, and imagination. It took years for me to develop my skill and I’m thankful for the amount of freedom I was given with simple tools during my childhood. Back then tutorials weren’t as abundant when it comes to creating specific props for a specific character. Now you can jump right in without any experience by following step by step guides on YouTube or other websites.
I really love working with tangible things, but now I have my sights on photo manipulation, 3d modelling, and post processing for VFX. There are things that will be easier to create digitally and with the rise of 3d printing, it’s easier to create multiple copies of a prop or costume parts compared to traditional crafting methods and materials. Changing the setting, adding explosions, and surreal elements are the wonders of VFX. Things that will be incredibly difficult or expensive to make in real life can be done digitally.
I hope to be able to work in the VFX industry or start my own studio in the future.
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