Dyn-o-mite!

I just got back from Origins 2013. It's been a very hectic three weeks. Despite being back to working 60 hours a week, I had several major build projects that I had to get done before Origins. I did my best to document them in progress, but everything was rush rush rush. Now that it's over I can post some of my new builds.

First, here is a very simple one, just to get back into the groove. It literally took me less than ten minutes to make this prop for this year's LARP, "The Strange Tower High in the Mists." Even though it is very simple and easy to make, I think it makes a pretty decent prop for a game like this.

The Game Master and I were texting each other about props needed for the game, two days before the show. One of the things he said he needed was some dynamite. Just a few sticks would do. So in the midst of working on other projects, zip zip zip, I whipped these out super fast.

I started with an old piece of 1/2" pvc pipe, cut to 12" long. Then I found some scrap kraft paper with a slightly waxy appearance. I used a foam roller to spread cheap pva (white glue) on the kraft paper. Then I wrapped the pvc pipe in the paper and tucked the ends of the paper into the ends of the pipe.

For a fuse, I didn't have any convincing looking cord, so I used some green hemp twine. The twine was too thin on its own, so I folded a length of it in half and twisted it to double its thickness. Then I put a little pva on my fingers and twisted it some more, tightly, ensuring that the twist would not come unraveled, and giving the fuse a little stiffness.

I poked a hole in the wadded up paper at the end of the tube with an awl, placed a dab of white glue over the hole and inserted the end of the fuse. Once dry, the fuse is permanently affixed.

 

Et voilà! Four sticks of prop dynamite in under ten minutes.  It actually took me more than twice as long to make this post than it did to make the prop!

This was about the simplest thing I made for Origins this year. I have much more exciting and complex builds to post so stay tuned!