Not going to lie, I should have written this update yesterday. But I forgot to. In consolation though, I was playing Runescape (which is what caused me to forget), and as a result, I can now make basic Overload potions. Yay me!







You may have noticed a different title on this post then what I was normally going with in the past; and there is a reason for this. You see, I have discovered that the project-a-month plan was ambitious and stressful. One of the primary reasons I did it was to keep my self motivated, but also to stick to a schedule. I don’t keep self appointed schedules quite like I want to, but there is no reason for me to impose motivation on myself; I am a naturally creative person. I will continue to do so just as I will continue to breath. To force my self to be consistently creative was self destructive. As such, I am lifting my project-a-month initiative and instead working at a more casual and comfortable pace. I will, however, continue to deliver weekly (or as there is significant progress to show) updates, so no worries there. Projects will take as long as they need for completion regardless of time (a very convenient aspect of being a hobbiest prop maker instead of a professional one).







As I announced at the end of last month, and as this post’s title clearly states, my next build will be the Tirannwn Quiver, specifically tier 4. To this end I have spent all of last month working at a casual pace trying to blueprint this build. I have had some success in this regard, however, I gotta say it’s kicking my butt. Lemme give you some pics to visualize my difficulties and progress so far. Hopefully one of you people can give me some insight.

Concept art of the Tiranwnn quiver:



Source: http://runescape.wikia.com/wiki/Tirannwn_quiver_4





First off, here is the form I will wrap the quiver around, and the leather I intend to use:

I have the privilege of being especially proud of this build because I was the one who tanned that leather. (Making leather is another hobby of mine.) Admittedly the quality of the leather isn’t perfect, but it is perfectly usable. Fun fact, the basis for this build came from my grief at continually storing but not using this piece of leather. I figured the best way to store it would be to turn it into a thing that I could use… like a quiver (because I also practice archery).

The form you see on top of the leather is made from 4″ PVC tubing that I heat formed. The top portion is roughly tear drop shaped (see pics below), the bottom is round and is plugged with a wooden dome that I shaped with a chop saw (to get the rough geometric shape I wanted) than sanded smooth on a belt sander with a 60 grit belt. It was painted black because it will be getting wet later on during the build, and I don’t want the wood swelling any. The wooden dome serves both as a part of the form, but also as an integral part of the final build. This will make more sense later on during the build, as well.

This is the top end of the quiver, where the fletchings will stick out from. The bottom, though blurry, you can make out as round, with the wooden plug. The cut you see on the right is, in fact, a cut. Way to go, very observant you! :D Actually, there is a lot going on with the form. I began with a 4″ PVC tube at ~2 ft long, did a bit of math to figure how to taper a 4″ tube to a 3″, removed material as needed (which is the cut you see on the right), then heat formed it to where one end, the one in the foreground, was roughly tear drop shaped, and the other end was round. (I just want to say this was complicated and difficult (for me) and took a few tries. This is to say I am awesome, but usually after the second or third attempt.)

From here I worked on the quiver blueprint itself. This part was sort of straight forward and little more than trial and error sketching.



I have a large roll of heavy weight card stock that I made these blueprint from. I actually made two, each with the primary seam on opposing sides of the quiver. The reasoning behind the two different seam places comes from trying to find the right way to cut darts into my test medium (1/16″ upholstery foam) to get the flat material to wrap around the domed bottom portion of the quiver. I think having the seam on one side versus the other will be important, but I’m having rather a beastly time with getting the bottom portion to work out correctly. More on this in a bit.

I transferred the card stock blueprint onto some 1/16″ upholstery foam (cuz I have a huge roll of it to waste/use and it behaves much like leather does). Here the blueprint was refined to get the circumference nailed (because my math is always a bit off on these things).

A close up of the decorative top edge of the quiver. I’m really happy with how this came out; it matches the concept art closely.

The part I’m not happy with, and am stuck on, is the bottom portion. Transitioning from a round tube to a pinched flat bit is kicking my butt.

It was sort of expected, but trying to wrap something flat around something round results in the disfiguring highlighted in the above photo. To compensate, darts need to be cut into the pattern to account for excess material, allowing for an intended fit. What you see above is a side view of the quiver, and how the (paper) pattern folds. (I opted back to paper due to feeling guilty at having already made 4 iterations of this pattern, each with their own errors and failure to solve this dilemma. The upholstery foam was free, and has had no need of use up until now, but that’s no excuse to waste it while I trial and error my way through this. On the other hand, paper is cheap enough that I don’t mind so much.)



Here is a front (or back, it doesn’t matter, the plane is the same) view, with the blue line representing the general idea of conformation I am looking for. The leather will wrap around the wooden dome, but come together in a 2D edge.



Here I’ve got a scrap piece cut to the general intended end result. The purpose of this is to figure out the dimension of the 2D end bit. This isn’t perfect, but close enough to demonstrate what I’m going for.

I’ve a few ideas left, and ideas from those ideas still being generated, so I’m not at solid-brick-wall stuck, yet, but feeling close to it. Honestly, I had hoped to have the blueprinting already done by now, thereby leaving this month open to only assembly and painting. However, this one piece here at the tail end of the quiver has thoroughly wrecked that plan. I’ll continue to slog away at it; hopefully i come upon a miraculous break through.

If you think you have advice or knowledge to help me figure the tail end piece out (such as how and where to place darts) please offer them.

