I. So you want mycetic spores?
Well, so did I, but there's obviously no official model. Since I wasn't a fan of those plasma hatcher toys, yet too cheap to purchase some of the nice resin alternatives out there, I needed to come up with an alternative. I needed something alien and organic-looking that was durable enough to hold up to regular play.
I can't tell you exactly why or how I thought of it, but it occurred to me that gourds could work. And they did!
Here's how I made them.
II. Stuff I used
Materials:
Dried African warty gourds (one gourd for every two mycetic spores)
Plasticard
Epoxy or Gorilla glue
Wood glue
Spackle
Sand and talus
Foam weatherstripping (round)
Spray primer
Cheap acrylic craft paint (Apple Barrel, etc.)
Envirotex resin
Minwax Polyshades satin antique walnut
Satin varnish
Rippers, tentacles or other gribblies
Tools:
Coping saw
Hobby knife
Circle foamboard cutter
Paint brushes
Disposable brushes
Glue gun
III. About gourds
Gourds are related to pumpkins. Like a pumpkin, they're naturally hollow, and when properly dried their skin becomes hard and woodlike. Usually smooth-skinned gourds are more in demand for crafts. But for mycetic spores I think the warty ones give a more alien, organic look.
There are two common types of warty gourds -- the round warty (on the left), and the longer African warty (on the right). The round warty is a great size, but I picked the African warty because they have a much thicker and more durable skin. The round warties are fairly brittle in comparison.
I purchased five dried African warty gourds for about $25 shipped from a gourd farm advertising online. Gourdfest was underway! After their arrival, I immediately set about scaring the neighbors by chanting HUNDA-HOWDA-HUNDA-HOWDA-GOURD!*
*No-prize to the first person to get that reference.
Note that if you want to try this at home, make sure you buy *dried* gourds. Drying out fresh ones isn't worth the time or effort. Also, African warties can be pretty big, so it's worth a phone call to the gourd farm to ask if they can pick out some of the smaller ones. Remember, each African warty can net you two spores, so you don't need a ton of them.
IV. Building the structure
First, I used my coping saw to cut the gourd in half. Inside there were some dried-up remains of its guts, so I cleaned those out as best I could. Then I used my saw to create a ragged, broken-looking edge.
I used the circle cutter to score and create an appropriately-sized piece of plasticard to create the base. Next, I glued the gourd half to the base. That doesn't create the most solid or stable mount, so I wrapped and glued down the round weatherstripping around the join to add support and form the basis of the impact crater. I spackled around the weatherstripping to blend it into the base and give it a more cratery look, then added sand and talus to texture it.
V. Finishing the spore
With the basic structure complete, I primed the outside of the gourd and its base. Before spraying, I stuffed the inside of the gourd with newspaper to keep the interior primer-free (I wanted to keep the natural color). Then I painted and drybrushed the spore and the base.
Next, I brushed Minwax Polyshades satin antique walnut (commonly used by hobbyists as "dip") over the outside of the gourd, being careful not to get any on the inside or top edge. That shaded the exterior, gave it a touch of glossiness, and sealed it all in one swoop.
I wanted to give the interior a really wet, glossy look. That's where the Envirotex resin came in. After some experimentation and test pours, I came up with the following process.
First I taped off the top edge to keep the resin from collecting there. My tests showed me that the resin was fairly thin and runny...at least right after mixing. If I coated the inside and let the spore sit right side up, the resin would mostly just run down and collect at the bottom. Similarly, coating it and then turning it upside down just meant it'd drip straight down onto the floor.
My simple solution was to pour the resin, swirl it around and brush it up the side of the interior (using a cheap disposable brush) to make sure it was coated, then leave it sit. After about 30 minutes of set time, the resin became a lot more viscous. So at that point I again brushed the pooled resin up the sides as best I could and then turned the whole thing upside down. The thicker resin didn't drip anymore...it slowly ran down, clinging to the sides. I was pretty happy with the end result. The pic doesn't do it justice...it's a very high-gloss look. I also painted the top rim at this point and then used satin varnish to give it the same finish as the exterior.
Now I had a perfectly functional mycetic spore. And you can feel free to stop there. But I wanted to add some interior goo to represent the impact-cushioning gel inside the spore...and add some gribblies swimming around in said fluid. Once again, this was a job for the Envirotex resin.
Using the glue gun, I added little tentacles and rippers to the bottom of the spores. I didn't sweat the big blob of glue. The resin would cover it, and the glue really only needs to hold it in position until the resin sets.
Next, I mixed up a batch of resin and added a few drops of acrylic paint to tint it. I carefully poured it in the bottom, making sure I poured to the right level and didn't coat the gribblies. Once the resin hardened, the finishing touch was some minor flocking.
VI. Conclusion
And that was that. I built four spores in all, and even with my test pieces, etc. I still have enough gourdage for another four spores or so.
Overall, I'm pretty happy with the result. These spores will be making their tournament debut at the 2011 Cabin Fever tournament this weekend. May they carry their cargo to victory.
