See the Fangrrl Squee

(No, I haven't watched Combat or this week's eps, yet. I've been taking a break over vacation and will catch up tomorrow. I figure that Torchwood and a hangover might be a good match. Meanwhile...)

So, it's done. Not only is it done, but I made a second version of it, with some much thinner leather, carved out of a thrift-store jacket. As I suspected, the resultant item is thinner, more flexible and more in scale to my scrawny forearm. That's not to say I don't like the heft of the first version, it just doesn't suit me.

Photobucket album of all pix - larger than the ones behind the cut tag - if you fancy browsing them your own way

If you don't want to bother following the link and figuring out what's going on... ( Pix embedded in the entry. All are 500px wide, so it's very, very dial-up unfriendly... )

Both versions used magnets for the closure of the top flap. You can see the placement for them on the underside.

I used the same 'computer' for all photos. As you can see, it's different from the first one I made and, I think, it's better. I'm contemplating mounting it onto velcro and switching it out from band to band as necessary, as I'm not sure I could pull off making another one. It involved rolling Sculpey very thinly, more baking-over-sodacans and a lot of fiddly carving with an x-acto blade. How I didn't slice myself open, I don't know. Yes, I know I need to color the screen in, black. I'm contemplating my options...

What aggravated me, particularly about the whole project, was having to pay $9 for a pair of tiny buckles. Twice. The only way I could get them was to buy shoes, also from the thrift shop down the road and even used, they're not entirely cheap. Alex suggests that if I try a third version - unlikely - I visit the local watch shop, as they might have tiny little buckles for women's wristwatches. I doubt they'd be much cheaper, though.

I'm still working on the how-to journal for this one, so don't expect that before next weekend, at the earliest.

But anyways, there you have it. So, when I blithely said that I could knock one of these puppies out in a weekend, I was obviously thinking of the second one, which came together about six times faster, go figure. ;)

EDIT: It seems that my journal style cuts off any picture more than 500px wide. I'm going to see if I can't fix that right now, or else I'll just resize these particular pix...

Remember when I blithely said I could knock out a knockoff of Jack's wrist-computer thingy over a weekend?

I was mistaken. Very, very mistaken. Being a perfectionist hasnt helped any, especially as, overnight, I thought of how to re-do a major element that took me most of yesterday to create - and now I want to toss it out of the window. Darn my desire for crisp corners, anyways!

But, as I always say, I learn more from my mistakes than my successes.

More bulletins as events warrant.

Dear Diary,

Today, Fangrrl remembered why costumers and prop-builders often hate designers - because they sometimes forget that what looks good isn't always ideally functional. The concept drawing looks fabulous. However, unless one has a forearm of constant diameter from wrist to elbow (I certainly don't!) then a plain rectangle doesn't look so hot, particularly when the piece is so wide.

Granted, the above is a minor quibble but it led directly to fangrrl also remembering that she should have paid more attention in geometry class.

And finally, she realized that she was a fool to have not used Super Sculpey before now.

( Further details for the curious )

In other news entirely, a completely pointless meeting ate 90 minutes of my life which I really needed for doing month-end on the books (did I mention that I'm not an accountant?) but, lo, the meeting produced one tangible result. I managed to smack the last bit of the Jack/Ianto d/s intro story into shape - managed to articulate what needs articulating and explained to Jack that, sorry, it's not going to be quite what he's hoping for. Furthermore, I think I've figured out the actual, y'know, smutty bits (so Jack won't be entirely disappointed, but I think he's going to be surprised). The current expectation is a three part story, with the second part written as an IM log, as is increasingly popular amongst TW fic circles these days.

Watch this space, etc, etc.

I usually post costume ideas on my not-very-fannish journal, but this one had to be shared here.

Let's see. I know I've got a side of heavyweight distressed leather at home, and a sizable bit of more traditional mid-weight leather (shiny, water-resistant finish, unlike the distressed), quite a few smooth rivets from some damfool craft project, some sheet-plastic left from MPWP, and grey primer spray paint...

Son of a gun, as long as I could find a buckle and figure out how I'd want to do the detailing on that center, I could put that together in a weekend.

My only quibble, doesn't the dam' thing have a flap over it, now? Hm. I'd like a pic of that, too.

What would I do with it? I don't know. Give it to someone who wants to cosplay Jack, probably. Or keep it for a random SF-costume persona and only smile knowingly when someone asks about where I got it. :)

ETA: Other images of the prop itself - it's just to the upper right of the printed-out headshot of Jack - suggest something quite different, which is a bit of a shame, as I like the concept drawing, more. It'd be easier to make, too.

Then again, I might be looking at quite the wrong thing.