#propbuilding

Well, most of the process. Before this first photo, I found an appropriate outline, printed it out in the desired size, and cut two pieces of 1-inch thick foam and a thin piece of masonite in that shape. Then I glued them together with foamboard glue and put a heavy weight on it until it was dry. I also cut a broomstick to the appropriate length. And that takes us to photo 1.

Using the drywall rasp on the right in that photo, I started shaping, mostly rounding off the edges. As we go on, you’ll notice some of the “points” get removed; that’s because I wanted them to stick out more.

As you can see, the rasp makes quite a rough surface, but it’s good for removing large amounts of material to get a rough shape. You’ll also note that I’ve removed the foam at the bottom, exposing the wood. That will become an attachment point for the handle.

I’ve cut a notch in the handle here that fits the piece of wood. Also more shaping.

The shaping is starting to come together, so it’s time to sand it so it doesn’t look so ragged. Also sanded the handle to remove the varnish that was on it.

Here I’ve attached the handle with a small nail and some hot glue. I’ve also started using a file to get the shaping more dialed in and to remove some of those extraneous points.

Now I’ve started getting more dimensional. I’ve taken some scraps of foam and shaped them into pointy bits, then hot glued them on. In this photo, I’ve only glued them onto one side. I’ve also added a piece where the handle attaches, and reworked the short side of the claw; again, the top part there was a separate piece I glued on after removing the part that was there.

And here I’ve added pointy bits to the other side as well. At this point, I’m pretty happy with the shape.

Now I applied papier mache to cover over any seams and reinforce weak spots, like tips. Remember to sand after you finish this step or you’ll see seams at all those edges. I chose to use unprinted newsprint to save myself a coat or two of paint, but in the first one I made (which I’ll show you at the end) I used an old newspaper instead.

So this is a base coat. I used the Mod Podge to prime the foam that didn’t have paper covering it, and then two or three coats of red on everything. I considered using the other colors for detail, but ... well, see next photo.

I added details with an airbrush. In this case, it’s not super obvious in the photo, but there’s white along the top edges. The yellow mixed with black to detail the pointy bits is more obvious. Almost done.

Last step, and I apologize for not including the can in the photo: I sprayed with a sealant called “Frog Juice” both to seal it and add shine.

For comparison, this is the first one I made. It’s a bit less dimensional in the carving, and a bit more primitive in technique: All the detailing was done with a brush, and the final shine came from shellac (I resprayed it with Frog Juice so it would better match the other after I took this picture).