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Pardon Our Dust!
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Home From Oktoberfest
Aaahhh, Oktoberfest. If you are a belegarther in Illinois, Oktfest is like that family member that, for all their flaws, is always around when you need someone to talk to…or beat the crap out of. Equinox is the well-off cousin that left town for greener pastures. Spring Wars, I suppose, is Oktfests EVEN MORE bipolar sister. We’ll apply this analogy to ‘Geddon some other time (after I’ve had the opportunity to properly take in the event).
Of course, that’s my perspective and if you have never held a foam sword then I sound like a crazy person.
Oktfest ’10 (“Hot-oberfest” I think it was) was not our first event but was my first foray into custom non-digital artwork, our intent being to paint folk green, blue, purple, etc. and also draw their characters. I ended up cutting more stencils than anything and guess what happened again this year…MOAR STENCILS. Seriously, I’ve got the hint. We’re going to be refining our stencil production and STOCK for our next event (June?) and really make it work for us (and you). Sure, we’ll still paint you all the colors of Joseph’s coat. We’ll still draw your picture (really, we like doing that and we’re good at it…we just need to advertise it more). We’re just going to focus on painting your gear more than anything.
I discovered, this past weekend, that I don’t entirely suck with an airbrush. I still feel more comfortable taking my time cutting a stencil and laying paint down through that, but freehand airbrushing will be something that I focus on improving in the coming months. IN FACT, I’ll be at Ashmore Estates for the next few weekends practicing and hocking the results. Do join us and purchase my wares, I’ll enjoy the company and, as a previous spook at the aforementioned haunted house, I can attest to the passion of it’s denizens. You will enjoy yourself.
As for Oktoberfest ’12: next time we’ll most likely be getting a camp heater instead of a cabin. We’ll also be trying to figure out a better layout for Merchants Row, and, more specifically, the pavilion. Sparrow and I will be setting up more efficient work-stations for our different projects rather than having everything sprawled haphazardly across a picnic table. Much as I love looking like a mad genius, I want to look like a slightly more organized one.
I also want to get back on the field. I heard nothing but positive things from the field this year and really regret not getting out there and swinging some foam. Especially with so many of my Templar brothers and sisters out there roughing it up. To that end, I’m going to pick a day, or time of day each day of the weekend, where I wont be at the booth and will either have a representative (not necessarily Sparrow, she may want to fight a bit too) there to take orders or a sheet where you can tell us to visit you during the night so you can keep our mugs full while we take down details of your commission.
Question time! This one is for all the foam fighters out there: If you could only share one tip with someone who was new to eventing, what would it be? (assume they’ve already heard the replies before yours)
-Captain Van (aka Animus of Templar Draconis Kestevara)
Cyphan II: The Review of Con
We have returned from Cyphan, and it was a total blast! This was our very first time being dealers at an actual convention so we wanted to start off with a smaller con to help keep the costs down. Cyphan did not disappoint.
Jason Carter, Sparrow, Kaci (photobomber), Nicki Clyne, Vandal
As a whole the convention was fun, friendly, and one of the best events I’ve ever been to. It was easier to meet and talk to people than at GenCon, and you didn’t feel like you were getting stalked if someone stopped by, sat down in the peanut gallery (we had a section of chairs just for that), and talked to you about everything and nothing.
We also had the crew of Imageworks FX (they are linked in the references!) stop by our room and just generally they are cool people. Check them out, because zomg their work is amazing.
We also met Kitty Zombie and his crew of handlers. Kitty Zombie is one of the best roaming acts I’ve seen (in character ALL THE TIME) and his handlers were very chill people. Courtney Almen, who was selling her artwork at his booth, is also in our links. We got a bookmark and a laminated print from her and love them.
Cyphan is also a convention in which you can actually interact with their celebrity guests instead of standing in line for two hours just to get a quick signature or a fistbump. Being able to actually have a normal conversation with someone I’ve only seen on television blows me away and makes me want to seek out their films and series that much more. Kudos especially to Jason Carter, who is like the English uncle you wish you had. Nicki Clyne and Herb Jefferson Jr. were also really cool people. Mr. Jefferson called me “dearie” when I shook his hand, and was generally a really nice guy seeing as he put up with me hollering at him every time he walked by our booth, haha. Nicki Clyne and Jason Carter also came to the Cyphan dance, which was pretty boss.
And the staff, oh the staff! They were excellent, helpful, and if they didn’t know there was no run around. It was just “let’s go find the person who knows” and that was that. If I had a question, I would know the answer in about 5 minutes if not immediately. Security staff became familiar faces to me and were altogether pleasant people to talk to. It was amazing.
Anyway, on to the dealer’s portion of the review!
We went with the following:
10 bags
15 hair pieces
1 Maverick
3 Reflex IX-1s
3 Crossfires
1 Longshot
Additionally we took along three members of our steampunk submarine, the Infamous Albatross (Nicholas Brahe and Sssage Aire were selling their products, and Nick’s fiancee was helping sell). They brought a portfolio of spray paint artwork (Nick), snake skin pendants, and a print portfolio (Sssage) to sell of their own. We were also providing face paint and accepting tips for that.
Expenses
Room: $270 for two nights, split between 4 people.
Food: $40, we took that out of what one of our party owed me for room.
Note: We used a crock pot. USE CROCK POTS. It was amazing and so much less expensive! A complete win there.
Entry: The first table at Cyphan is $75 and comes with two dealers badges which get you into everything but the extra stuff. Each additional table is also $75, but does not come with extra badges as it is part of a single purchase. Each additional crew member is $25 per.
Supplies: This will vary for each company, so I am omitting this. Use your judgement on what your products cost you!
Total expenses for the two of us: $120 (room) + $10 (food) + $25 (table) = $155 / 4 = 77.50 each.
Day by Day
Friday: Sold our Maverick and a Reflex in the first hour. The gentleman and his wife who purchased them happened to be in convention security and plugged us all weekend. Thanks guys!
The rest of the day was a little slow, but we were invited out to the dealer appreciation party and they bought us some excellent pizza and beer. I forget the name of the pizza place.
Saturday: Sold some bottles, some hair pieces, and got a lot in tips for face painting. The Imperial Dance was also this night and it was great, we got to meet and hang out with a lot of really cool people including Jason Carter, who is incredibly engaging. He’s like the funny English uncle you wish you had. Nicki Clyne also came to the dance, but she was usually surrounded by a whole bunch of people so I didn’t try to go say hi. We made a lot of great contacts.
Sunday: This was a real slow day until around 11. We ran the lucky ducky buckey game which was a big success. The concept is that you have folks pick rubber ducks out of a bucket and they get whatever that duck says on the bottom of it, something of at least the value of the duck so it isn’t gambling. This was great and we made a lot in a short period of time.
Summary
+ Cheap admission: $75 for a table and two dealer badges, additional 3 day dealer badges for $25, 3 day guest pass for $55, and 3 day gamer pass for $15, and if you’re a dealer and stay in the Hyatt, you get a free quarter page add in the convention book.
+ Friendly, helpful staff that honestly love their job.
+ Free circus and burlesque on Friday night (and they were amazing).
+ Family friendly events and 18 up events.
+ Took us all out to dinner just for being dealers.
+ Dance party Saturday night with free water all night.
- Hotel was on the expensive side to be without a complimentary breakfast or pool. I would not have minded but for the surprise (refundable) $100 security deposit, lack of pool, and lack of free parking for hotel guests ($10 overnight, $20 per day for guests who did not get the Cyphan discount).
- Some disorganization (the schedule was near impossible to find until you could get a physical pamphlet, making it difficult to set up a schedule before getting to the con, and the dealers room had some changes last minute).
- A little on the small side, but I am confident it will grow quickly! Dealers from last year were saying that this year it had doubled in size.
- Dance was $10 extra to get in.
We are so going to be there next year, I think it’s going to be bigger and better than ever.
- Sparrow
Like a Boster
So this past weekend Vandal and I meandered our way four hours Southwest to Boster Castle, just outside of Kingdom City, Missouri, for their steampunk and pirate festival.
We felt pretty lucky to make it, not only because it was a fun event, but because we ran into some of the most terrible weather I have ever driven through. While pulled over on I-55 just outside of Winchester, IL, the intense wind made us tilt just a bit. Mind you that my car (Papa Pickle Bilen der, Lord of the Flies…it’s a long story) is an old Buick that was weighted down with a ton of gear plus our combined 200 pounds of people. Scary. At one point there was golf ball sized hail hitting Bilen der with enough force to sound like exploding firecrackers all around us.
After surviving that we got caught up by a second storm which we think washed over some of the roads we were going to use and forced us to use some gravel roads for about 10 miles, so by the end of Friday we decided to just stay in a hotel for the night instead of pressing on and camping in the dark. Unfortunately that meant we missed the purely steampunk portion of the event and this awesome wedding, but we did get to sleep in a bed, put our things into a free mini-fridge, and visit an indoor heated pool and hot tub. So, not a total loss I guess. Next year we want to be down in time for the whole event, and hopefully we won’t get caught in such adverse weather.
Now, on to the good stuff. Boster Castle itself is on a gravel county road, just around the corner from Hanson Hills Campground, which was one of the nicest campgrounds I’ve ever stayed at (they had a pool and a hot tub, score!). The distance from the site to the campground was pretty nice – maybe a mile and a half by our estimations – and could have been walked if you were of a mind to do so. We didn’t, mostly because I wasn’t feeling that well.
The event was pleasantly small, so it wasn’t overwhelming, but has a ton of potential to be a really big thing with a little improvement. Once you turn the corner onto County Road 220 you can see the site in the distance (if you’re like us and use a GPS to navigate just search for Hanson Hills Campground and continue past it). A 15-foot faux-castle gate dominates the landscape while surrounded by a spacious wooden fort that butts up against a thick woods. Inside you will find many vendors, entertainers, and generally a friendly bunch of people. Within ten minutes of arriving we had been greeted by a saucy pirate wench and a bunch of Amtgard guys (who were incidentally super nice).
Right as you enter your eyes are attracted by a boat-cum-airship and the gentleman whose crew (Airship Luft Sturm) made the alterations. He had several painted Nerf guns and other nifty items on display just for kicks, so we spent a few minutes chatting to him about mod methods and showing off our own mods (we had taken Primitus and Scio with us as examples). To the right of his booth, behind the tellers shelter, was a booth for a professional photographer named Zachary C. Leigan from Photo-Kicks. We got some photos of our costumes from that day taken by him, and they are just fantastic. There was also a large stage – with food and port-a-potties nearby – in that corner of the fort, where the wedding mentioned above took place. Many of the entertainers took turns using for larger acts. The pub sing and the steampunk melodrama were particular favorites of mine.
The vendors were diverse and interesting. Several people were selling weaponry, jewelry, and clothing. There was even a Captain Morgan booth. We got a pair of red demi-gauntlets for Ventus from Oakheart Armory, and oggled the beautiful handcrafted leather top hats made by J & L Trading Company.
We enjoyed shows on each of the three stages by the Pirates Inc. singers, a troupe of fire dancers, and Airship Nikolai – which had two of its members as the bride and groom and were also fun people to hang out with. The Nikolai crew also built their stage, a gold hued Russian pirate ship, in one day out of scrap material. Wow! We also met two authors; Ericca Thornhill and Raymond Scott Edge.
Other attractions included a blacksmith who would have been giving more demonstrations had the recent storm not drowned his fuel buckets, some friendly face painters, and a scavenger hunt for children with a really fun concept (you had to find certain characters as they wandered the site). Generally just a fun time. They could stand to improve a few things, but I feel like it will be awesome given some time and elbow grease. If you are interested, there is another review by Charles White and a picture blog about the event by Robson Abbott.
We mean to hit up some other events this year. The Kansas City Steampunk Social (check out Upcoming Events) is one that we can’t attend this year, but it was recommended to us. We will, however, be attending Cyphan 2 selling our wares. Hope to see you there!
- Sparrow
I Have Such Wonderful Things to Show You
We were recently hard at work this past Saturday, cleaning out our workshop
(as seen in it’s mostly original state) and discovering the creepy things hidden within.
I’d say Van found it very pleasing, indeed.
On my own part, I’ve been slowly updating our links section with a fine slice of the internet novelties the two of us enjoy. We hope you enjoy them as well (and encourage, nay, implore that you offer up your own choice cuts!). Here’s a little bit about the places we have just linked to.
As artists, we tend to gravitate towards people we admire (and trade links to back and forth on AIM squealing like little schoolgirls). Marcus Status is one such person, specializing in…a little of everything that can be made with hands (and probably some things without). Check his DA page, linked earlier, to find links to his Etsy and his professional portfolio as well.
Eric Freitas‘ clocks and mechanical sculptures are likewise impressive, from planning stage to completed piece they are each and every one utterly amazing. Go ahead and gawk for a while, you can come back when you’re done letting your pupils dilate to the size of quarters.
Are you back? Okay.
In a similar vein with Mr Freitas’ clockwork sculptures you can delve into the steampunk finery of Clockwork Couture. We’ve ordered items from these folks several times, and always get fast delivery, friendly service, and quality items. Wonderful people!
And how could I mention steampunk without plugging our friends from Cafe Extraordinaire? If you’re from Central Illinois (and even if you aren’t), these nice people are trying to start up a steampunk themed cafe that will feature live entertainment and art shows. Give them a hand, if you’d like to see this come to fruition.
Last but not least, you will find Belegarth and Dagorhir, two foam fighting groups. Both of them are generally free to join, invigorating to participate in, and full of some of the most interesting people you can hope to possibly meet. Belegarth has a more combat oriented crowd, while Dagohir has more character based fun.
That’s pretty much it for my update! Now if you’ll excuse me, I have a muffin to go -mance…
- Sparrow
Where Thou Has Need to Arm Thy Heart with Strength
We inventoried our guns yesterday, so as to better track their individual progress through the arcane processes by which we make them better, stronger, and even faster. For we have the technology. 45 as yet unmodified follies, lollies, and lick-m-lollies await new springs, removed safety precautions (like air restrictors, overflow valves, and sadly underpowered battery arrays), plenty of etching and paint, and even some light kits, copper lined (extended) barrels, and whatever strikes our (or your) fancy. The manner in which we obtained this exuberant haul could only be described as Faustian. We believe it our goal – nay, our purpose – to breathe new life into these once forgotten tools of delight and destruction and pass them on to you, our growing consum-…uh, fan base.
The picture, by the way, is both a bit of harmless April-fools fun from our Facebook escapades…and a shameless attempt at earning your kinship and adoration. We charged these lasers for you, we hope you enjoy them.
- Vandal
So Begins Our Loquacious Legend of Lax Legerdemain…
This is my first blog-ish entry into these pages, so I’ll begin by elaborating on the who we are and why we’re here. War Paint started when Sparrow and I volunteered to paint faces at a festival held at the nature center she works at as her day job. Well, it more started when we realized we were painting quite a few faces (volunteering at a cancer benefit and some Relay for Life events) and realized that perhaps we could do this sort of thing for a living.
“This sort of thing” of course not being limited to painting children to look like dragons and super heroes. I’ve been drawing for years (though not marketing the skill) and Sparrow had done numerous commissions in the communities she runs in…so we added drawings of myriad levels of detail to our menu board. Then we went to a Belegarth’s Oktoberfest so we could paint crazy twenty-somethings up like orc, goblin, and drow (of course also offering to draw their characters). And it sort of snow-balled from there.
I had taken some foam core to cut a stencil out to use on my unit’s boxes and ended up cutting three of them for our emerging clientele. Someone had purchased a confetti-loaded pop gun and was showing it to his friend at our booth. On a whim, I offered to “steampunk it” for five dollars…we ended up painting about eight of them that weekend. We had discovered a beautiful niche market within a community we’d been a part of for almost ten years: Belegarth needed on the spot artists. We are happy to oblige.
Along the way, someone was oogling one of the pop-guns we were working on and said “Do you guys paint NERF guns?” To which I replied with aplomb “Haven’t yet but we’ll figure it out!” And so this happened. Never beeing the one to reliably sustain an online gallery, I had simply posted the original pictures of “Primitus” to my Facebook…and then a friend showed his friend and it made it to Walyou and we figured we should finally finish this web site (and also get on Twitter).
So now we’re here (and we’re plus one, more on that later), attempting to turn our hobbies into a livelihood…or at least break even. We’ll still be at the festivals and benefits painting faces, but now we know better than to limit ourselves to a single medium. If you need art, we can do it. If we haven’t already done it, we’ll figure it out. Some of our current projects include a venerable armory of refurbished (read: improved) toy guns, a rack or two of costume items (of both common and couture varieties), and maybe one day a mechanized kappa suit for fighting dragons…
-Vandal
This is What Happens When Nerds Date
Sparrow here! So Animus suggested we blog about our awesome date from Valentine’s Day weekend. Maybe it will amuse you, more likely you will recoil in disgust at our flagrant flaunting of feverish fondness.
Or something.
We are a strange pair. We enjoy a variety of things, some of the latest being collecting random clothing for costumes and the movie Megamind.
First step to a great date: Go to a thrift store, spend $12.
We decided, for kicks, that we would cosplay as Bernard and Roxanne (from Megamind). However, as Animus was adamant I could not, under any circumstances, cut my hair, we opted to crossplay. So I chose a brown skirt with a blue turtleneck, and he got himself a snazzy pair of gray slacks and a red tie. Thus, our $12 Bernadette and Rocky costumes were born!
Step Two: Go to Starbucks.
Then we went to Starbucks and ordered a Venti soy triple Ristretto hazlenut mocha with caramel drizzle and rainbow sprinkles (we brought our own sprinkles). I have no idea what all of that means, but it was delicious and you should try it at the risk of irritating your local Starbucks baristas. The whole drink, by the way, is an in-joke with a crazy Megamind community we are both very fond of.
You can see the rest of our pictures from that here: <a href=”https://picasaweb.google.com/115666239619972995125/CheapDate?authkey=Gv1sRgCI-Wm7va0bmAVQ”>Love, Non Sequitor</a>.
Step Three: Get steampunked up and go to Rocky Horror Picture Show.
After we had our fun drinking enough sugar to choke a horse, we scurried back to Animus’ place to change our costumes. We had heard about a showing of the Rocky Horror Picture Show with a live shadowcast, and decided dressing in our steampunk finery wouldn’t be out of place.Animus had also purchased a jacket for me from Clockwork Couture, so I was eager to show it off.
As a point of interest, the show was being put on to help benefit Cafe Extraordinaire, a steampunk themed cafe that will be opening in Champaign, Illinois.
Rocky Horror was a blast, if you’ve never been to a live show, do yourself a favor and GO!
This third step, unfortunately, does not come with pictures. It did, however, come with free beer courtesy of a really nice German exchange student named Timone.
Step Four: PROFIT!
After Rocky Horror, we returned to Animus’ abode for some well earned snuggle-times.
And that’s the story of our nerdy Valentines!
Curious About What We’ve Been Up To?
We now have a Twitter (you can follow us by clicking the link on the right hand side) and have been otherwise up to our gills in those boring thing called ‘day jobs’! Can’t live with them, can’t pay the bills for the imaginary Ferrari without them. And man, the bills for imaginary Ferraris get really expensive when you go with the invisibility option. Too bad I can’t find it now. I’ll just have to content myself with sitting in a cardboard box making ‘whoosh’ noises.
In other news, I got a hold of several Nerf Mavericks (what do you call a group of Mavericks, anyway? A barrel? A shot?) way back around late November. I gave one to Animus, to see what he would do with it – which is how a lot of really neat things happen. Seriously, give him something and tell him “do something with this,” then stand back to watch the magic. Lo and behold, he produced a thing of beauty.
Meet Primitus!
It’s a standard Nerf Maverick with the air restrictors removed, Russian Roulette mod (the barrel pops our further like a real revolver), and penny mod (makes the springs coil tighter inside).
- Sparrow