MJ2 Artesanos

Year: 2012

  • How to make trees for nativity scenes, models and dioramas.

    How to make trees for nativity scenes, models and dioramas.

     

    Christmas is coming and although it is too early, those who want to make their own nativity scenes are preparing stuff. One of the things that worth the effort (but takes a little while) are trees.

    As already told, we have been dedicated to making models for a long time, and for decorating, the trees generally used were purchased at any hobby shop, but most of the time they were not typical trees here..

    In this case we will make some olives and some ilex trees. The process is the same, basically the difference is in the type of “green” and the treetop form.

    To begin we cut a piece of wire which has many fine threads. Particularly I prefer keeping a piece of the cover to help me to keep them together while doing so. We just have to go on twisting the wires themselves. We make it easier by helping with pliers.

    When finished shape the trunk and branches we decide whether to leave a pointed end to stick it somewhere, or make a shape of roots to hold it up. I usually opt for the latter, but is’t a matter of what interests us at all times.
    In the case of the olive trees, for example we know they have a trunk with knots, and those who are very old are very twisted, the cup is lower and less compact. The round trunk oaks have a more dense and uniform top and a darker color.
    Here is the structure of some olive trees:

    In the next picture we see two types of synthetic vegetation. The dark is from a hobby shop, it may be harder to find and more expensive. The moss appears at any store that sells things for Christmas you will find it easely and cheaply. At this time in any place, for the rest of the year maybe you have to search at specialized shops.

    Once we have the structure we can cover the trunk with clay (if we have no interest in it last forever) with some kind of putty or wood pulp. (In my case I have immersed them in polyurethane resin, but it is something that is not usually at home). Let the branches conveniently separate to receive the cup and uncovered in order to remain flexible and allow us to model it at the end.

    To the top we take the adecuate amount of foliage and paste it to the wires we have left aside for it. Everyone usually use glue he likes. Many people do it with white glue, but it takes time to dry, I prefer to do it with superglue (cyanoacrylate) although I stick a little my fingers.

    As the top wires are separated and remain flaxibles we can model the shape until we like how it has been, and if we do several trees, the important thing is that they are all different to give more realism.
    As for color, you can touch up with a brush if it seems appropriate.
    Finally here are some olive trees and some ilex.

    And placed in a model in which the trees were needed to be olives.


    If you don’t want to make them, they are available in our store.

  • Grail Tablet II. “The rubbing”

    Grail Tablet II. “The rubbing”

    Any good searcher of the Holy Grail, has some tips to help you on his way, and carrying your Grail Tablet would be too heavy.
    So our friend Henry Jones had the brilliant idea of ​​making a rubbing of the stone in order to preserve it among the rest of the documentation collected for years in his famous Grail Diary.

    Despite being an object that is a few seconds on the screen, we all remember it as Jr later completed the inscription with the Knight’s shield.

    I always liked the first version, since is the one that Henry saves and that is why we have replicated it.

    The most difficult may seem silly but was finding the right paper. After various tests and look for all the specialized stores, we found a paper that has the same texture and even the same way to “crack” when folded.

    Despite having several life-size tables, is not as easy as it looks tracing the rubbing on that surface and achieve the same results, so we decided to make a special table. Our “rubbing maker”. Only one detail of the “maker”, so you can see that everything requires patience, it was a little difficult placing each letter in place but it worth it.

    These are the tracings obtained. Before and after folding to save in the Journal of Henry.

    Available in our store

  • Acid etching

    Acid etching

     

     

    We try new techniques and this time to etching.

    At first seemed a most delicate matter that has come to be, but being careful and with good templates, we can achieve very good results.
    The liquid used for engraving can be purchased at craft stores, but should be a fairly specialized, because it is a relatively expensive and not many shops have it.

    Here they are a few glasses in the process:


    Above all, as far as we have seen there are two more or less important complications:

    The first is that as we all know there are several types of crystal, so the results are not the same as the material may vary. (Better if we can do a test).

    The second is that it can be tricky to put the template if the piece is not plane. If it is a relatively flat surface we will have no problem, and once attached the mask we just have to give the product an even layer and let it dry. Once dryed you’ll wash with water. It can also be done by immersion, but to me it seems an unnecessary complication, at least with the brand I’ve used, which is quite thick and is well placed with a brush.
    Our first test was a vase with the “white tree” of Gondor, from The Lord of the Rings (to put it together with our mirror of The doors of Moria )

    It is more problematic in a cup-like piece. The mere fact that a cylindrical surface, makes us consider the total length of the circumference, but also many of the vessels are slightly tapered so, if we place a drawing that loops through the entire piece we find that the top of the mask will have a different radius than the bottom, which leads to undesirable deformations and wrinkles. Each wrinkle is a possibility that the liquid where it should not and lose definition.

    To our knowledge, we can only solve this by making small changes to the design of the mask and being very careful when moving the brush if it has wrinkle. But well worth a little care, when the result will be a nice cold beer in the style of Middle Earth.

    This cup has about the registration of the One Ring. This is what it says in common language, in a fairly faithful translation:

    One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them,
    One Ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them.

    Once we learned the basics as we dare with any type of customization, from initials to images. Changing saga, we made a set of shot glasses with four shields of houses of A Game of Thrones. You have them available in our store.