Building Up A Stock For 2015 Diorama Projects

There's a great craft store in Perth (near Ottawa) that my wife and I visit about twice a year. They have a whole display of small wooden bits like those pictured above. Stuff like this is hard to come by at a reasonable price but this store has a huge selection for great prices. I'm planning on getting to building some new large dioramas that are more planned than what I've made before I'll be printing them and selling them as prints when I get the first comics published.

Wait, what? Comics? Yes, heard over to the Homeless G-Men blog (see side bar) and have a look at what I've been doing for the past six months. Also coming up in November will be my annual show at the Cameron House (Toronto) so head over there soon to see some finished paintings.

Here's a link to the store's website http://perthfabrics.com/

talk soon,

A.Shay Hahn

madcraftshoppe@live.com

 

Men In Suits

Hey everyone, I'm still here I've just been busy on the other blogs (see mad craft shoppe and Homeless G-Men posts) but I thought I'd stop in to let you know all is well. I still have plans to finally shoot some of the dioramas and make prints of the pics but one thing was holding me back and I've discussed it here before, normal looking figures. It's very difficult to find highly poseable (is that a word?) figures for a reasonable price. ie;  a Marvel Universe Professor X will run you over $20.00 easy, so when you find some guys like Agent J up there you scoop'em up. I actually have eleven of these dudes and soon I'll be painting them and swapping out the heads.

So yes, there are still many plans in the works and there will be more builds and tutorials for you to see. In book news I want to do one more pass on Any How Town Book One and then send it to an editor so they can fix up some of the grammar in the book and then I'll put it online for  you to read. More on that later.

Alright I'm heading out to the backyard to do some drawing today

hope all is well

A.Shay Hahn

madcraftshoppe@live.com

 

Building A Popsicle Stick Factory

Here are the first three steps in assembling the empty factory room that I'll use for a few different shoots for AHT, Noir Town, my comic series or whatever I need it for. I wanted a lot of texture so I brushed on rough aquarium sand (photo 1) and then added a very thin application of air drying clay (photo 2) this is my first time working with air hardening clay I hope it sticks to the wood, I lightly applied a coat of wood glue to it to help it hold I also added wood glue to the grey basecoat (photo 3). I can't wait to start painting in the highlights it should look pretty boss.

In book news I am on hiatus from the Any How Town series, I just need a break from it, I have to write a new query letter, firm up the intro and then send it off to an editor for corrections. I just can't deal with it right now I get bored when I open the file and I shouldn't be bored, it's an exciting book and I want to get it out, it has been one hell of a learning experience but I'm going to work on the first book when I have the urge and the necessary commitment. I have made mistakes along the way , it's my first book I can't be too hard on myself but I really thought I would have secured an agent by now. The book will still be finished and published (along with the rest of the series) but I have to do something else so I'm working on a new book this time for a young adult audience, I've nailed the concept and the period I'm just doing a tonne of notes today to get it firmed up so I can start writing.

Happy Valentine's Day

A.Shay Hahn

madcraftshoppe@live.com

 

Back into Book Two and tiny pilots

It seems like it's been about three weeks since I've done anything of consequence in regards to the book series, my injury really took me out of the game for awhile there but we're back after a great week at the family cottage and I'm ready to finish Book Two and do some tiny edits in Book One.

I took the time while I was at the cottage to do some beta testing of my own with the help of my nine year old nephew, I read about thirty pages to him and am happy to report that I had his attention almost the whole time, there were just a couple of little dips that pointed me towards a couple of new edits, thanks N. you were a great help.

I forgot how much I enjoyed reading to him, if there ever is an audio book edition of Any How Town I'm the man for the job.

It's great to feel positive again about the work and I'm ready to get the second book finished in third draft form before the end of August, get an agent or begin submitting directly to publishing houses. Still not 100% sold on ebook self published formats, when I picture kids reading the books, I see the physical book in their hands so we'll keep that on the back burner for now.

expect more posts and progress to come. Also excited about these eight pilots showing up at my house sometime soon, just because the dioramas are on hold doesn't mean I can't still pick up some folks to populate them when I get back to them in January.

all the best,

A.Shay Hahn

madcraftshoppe@live.com

My Studio current shots

Here are a couple of photos of the studio after I spent most of the afternoon getting it tidied up, there isn't a painting in sight and instead there are box dioramas in many different stages of completion taking up every available spot.

I'm not even going to be working on them for a while, it was just so out of control I had to tame it for when I return to the basement to start finishing them one by one and then moving them to the table (second photo) which will be converted into a light box for staging and photos.

Until that time I'll be finishing the mural at the Cameron House this week and then working on the second book of the AHT series.

cheers,

A.Shay Hahn

madcraftshoppe@live.com



Popsicle Stick Two Car Garage and Staircases

A quick tutorial on staircases, I've posted one before but here's another one. I used two tongue depressors as the left side and then stood the dominoes on end. I used some really skinny dowels to act as a support and then let the whole thing dry. Once dry I repeated the same process on the other side of the stairs then tilted the diorama on it's back and attached the staircase.

The photo is just a progress shot to show you what the treads of the staircase will look like.

The next shot is the base coated garage without signs, props etc.

The second photo is another process shot.

The third photo is of these cool toothpicks that have these great notched tops they will make great balusters for staircases, inspiration is everywhere in the Dollar Store you just have to look at it.

In Book News I've submitted to three more agents and am working on the second book, let's hope by the end of the month I have someone repping these great stories.

A.Shay Hahn

madcraftshoppe@live.com



Film Noir City where all the citizens are Four inches tall

Here's another nice WIP shot of our waterfront set that connects to our Metal Works set. Did some great edits on the first eight pages of Book Two and man I am glad I did. These books are about getting the characters into trouble as quickly as possible and of course some exposition and set up is needed, but once you start cutting so much more time opens up.

A.Shay Hahn

madcraftshoppe@live.com

Strange Games On the Porch

Hey folks, digging deep into Book Two Edit today but I thought I'd get this post up of my weekend "Dollar Store" finds and what I was building yesterday while dealing with an incredibly sick little dog.

The top three photos were found at a Dollar Tree in the Birthday Party/Loot bag are. The first pic is of tiny kaleidoscopes, these will be great for parking cones and water pipe bases. The second  photo is of small Barrels of Monkeys! These will be great for barrles and trash cans.The last picture which is a Tic Tac Toe game will be great for pipe racks and the little plastic circles will be used to fill in bric a brac on shelves.

The last photo is a two and a half tiered water way, a boat can fit through the bottom section and I'll be working on building the next bridge where the white foam board span is. This one is going to be pretty busy looking, lots of pipes and small details, already really excited to get this one on the go.

Alright Book Two, let's do this.

This is the last week of the SALE at the Press Club, the show will come down and I'll be focusing on the books for the next three months, head over to "the mad craft shoppe" and have a look.

A.Shay Hahn

madcraftshoppe@live.com

Popsicle Stick Two Car Garage

Took a break today away from the books, I've been staring at my laptop screen for days and it's burnt my eyes something fierce, so instead I put together this quick build for a two car garage that connects to the "workshop" build, you can see it a few posts back.

As per usual it's made from popsicle sticks, coffee stirrers, mini dowels of various sizes, foam boards and matchsticks. It's ready for base coating but that will have to wait a few days, I figure I'll do this paint job and the waterfront one on the same day.

In AHT news I'm going to work on rejigging my query letter and synopses a bit, it's good, but since I have received a few rejections from literary agents it obviously has to be better. This world is too important to not keep improving every aspect of the work and that includes the mandatory query letter and all the administrative work that comes with trying to get published.

Lucky for me I have an incredible contingency plan in place that I can use if I decide to stop approaching literary agents.

have a great weekend,

A.Shay Hahn

madcraftshoppe@live.com

 

The Next Three Months of Summer Action Madness

First off, sorry for such a brief post and tweet this morning but I wanted to get out for a walk with the dog and get my head ready for what is coming. We finished watching the Third Season of Boardwalk Empire this eve, it just is hands down my favourite show, perhaps of all time. It was very inspiring and got me up and thinking about more builds and staging for the next wave of dioramas.

Since deciding to start linking the dioramas together I finally faced the fact that it's time to built some really great street scenes, for the past while I've only been doing interiors so I have to get some transitions built and the above photo (sorry, I didn't get the source) will be next, each side will be distinct and also be able to fit together and duplicate the above photo.

I also want to do more work on exterior levels and I love this diorama (second photo, I have to get the source and credit the builder) I have built as much of a waterfront as I want to right now but I want to do something with levels that shows two levels of a street scene, something happening above and below.

The days to come will be broken up as follows, I'll be finishing Book Two in the Any How Town series in the next month, the draft is in great shape and will gain some much needed colour and edits in the weeks to come. I am thrilled to be able to sit out in the yard (weather permitting) and write, I want to go right into fleshing out Book Three which is plotted and I've written the first forty pages or so. What I love about writing this series is that each book gets crazier and crazier, everything changes, new strange characters appear, the environments are more dangerous and the kids find themselves with new allies, new abilities and new clues - it's incredibly exciting, I can't wait for you to be able to read them.

The diorama project will continue in fits and spurts, I'll do a chunk of building and painting and continue to plan the "film stills" that I want to shoot and turn into prints.

I'll probably talk more about the dioramas on the blog for the next while, I can't give anything away when it comes to the books, I want to keep all of it under wraps, but there will be some drawings to tease you along the way until I get representation and sell the books.

You are going to love them.

Once again you have two more weeks to see my show at the Press Club, it's the Ninth Anniversary (of me quitting working for anyone else but myself and clients) and all the work is priced to sell to continue funding the above projects, so head to 850 Dundas West and pick up a piece and be a part of something huge.

If you have any questions don't hesitate to contact me at the address below, or leave a comment or follow along on twitter.

A.Shay Hahn

madcrafshoppe@live.com

 



Popsicle Stick Docks, popsicle stick buildings

Here we are, back to where we started so many years ago when I first built some docks out of mini dowels and popsicle sticks but this time it's far more advanced. Like I mentioned in my last post ( I don't remember if I did, lets pretend) the dioramas are now connecting to each eachother. The docks now attach to the Iron Works diorama. You can now pull your skiff or lifeboat or whatever right up to the docks and unload your cargo through the giant wooden doors and into the Iron works.

Once this is painted I'll do some lit/staged shots.

The materials used in this build were Paper Towels, mini dowels, coffee stirrers and popsicle sticks attached to foam board - all materials purchased at the Dollar Store.

have a great long weekend,

A.Shay Hahn

madcraftshoppe@live.com



Battle In the Skull Pit! Day Two

Two things going on here, the top photo is from a session of noodling around with a lamp that I did today, I want to do some "practice" stagings for the dioramas and get a sense of what light/ bulbs/contrast works for getting the kind of "film noir" feel that I want for some of the photos. There were a few successes and quite a few missteps along the way, but it's all part of the process.

The second pic is the attached 2nd floor of the Skull Pit prior to painting, it fit nicely onto the first floor and I've since added some window ledges to the piece, can't wait for it to dry so I can slap on a base coat and the get to detailing the whole thing.

Man was that ever a lot of popsicle sticks to bust up for the bricks, still undecided on the treatment for the floor of the 2nd floor, not sure if wooden slats would would, it may end  up looking too uniform, I'll give it a little time before I decide.

In book news I'm just about prepped to sit down and read my draft of Book Two, I always have more transcribing to do on the book but I'd much rather read it first and get some new notes down.

As always I am funding these projects with sales from my show at the Press Club (850 Dundas West, Toronto) you can see the work at my other blog (go to the mad craft shoppe in the links) all the paintings are on SALE for the month of May and it would be a great help if you supported my work by heading out and picking something up, it won't break your bank and you're guaranteed to see something you like.

oh the weather outside is delightful,

A.Shay Hahn

madcraftshoppe@live.com



Battle In the Skull Pit! Diorama

You just gotta have a Skull Pit in Adventure Stories, you know, a place the hero gets tossed down into and must battle some huge beastie or giant warrior of some kind while a crowd cheers on the villain from above.

So here it is (in progress of course) I finished the first level today and will hopefully get to build the top floor tomorrow. The skulls were purchased at Hallowe'en (they are featured in an old post somewhere) make sure you stock up on them and there will be some hanging skeletons attached later. I also hope to build a cool mechanism that will be used to lower our heroes down into the pit. I am undecided about building a railing around the pit, we'll see.

hope you like it.

A.Shay Hahn

madcraftshoppe@live.com



Popsicle Stick Houses, Advanced Edition

Some new tricks at work here, if you check the bottom photo you'll see that I covered the window hole in plastic and then "scumbled" over it with some dirty yellow ochre, scrumbling is a term that means "mush it around" so do that and it will turn out fine. This house will be the light source for the finished diorama.

All of the other techniques can be found on this blog in the tutorials so scroll around and have some fun.

The second part of this "make better dioramas" is that even of them will now connect to another diorama, this "DEPOT" piece will connect to the "Warehouse" set which I'm not sure if I've posted here yet.

keep your friends close and your wood glue even closer,

A.Shay Hahn

madcraftshoppe@live.com

 

 

Popsicle Stick Courtyard

Awhile back I decide to take these things up a notch and turn them into projects worthy of staging some serious photos of, I knew it was going to take some work, it actually turns out that it takes a lot of work but as you can see almost every element that I've done a tutorial on can be seen at work here.

The first photo shows the humble beginnings of this "set", there are boxes cut out with coffee stirrer windows, popsicle stick bricks, barbecue skewer gates and our newest trick: signs made from fridge magnets.

hope you like what you see, if you have any questions, just send them my way

A.Shay Hahn

madcraftshoppe@live.com



The Tiny Sculpture Studio (WIP, 1:18 scale)

Tough and tiring day all around, nothing worked out at all, from some repairs I needed to do around the house to a picture (recently framed) falling down and smashing to pieces, ah yeah, that's life. The only way to shake it off (that's a lie, haven't shaken it off yet) was to distract myself and start building this artist's studio.  The statues are these hilarious Ultimate Fighter figures that you can get (say it with me) at the Dollar Store. The best thing about them are the props they come with, these folding chairs are fantastic and can seat a 3.75 scale figure nicely.

The Horse is also a Dollar Store purchase, I just based everything in a black/yellow ochre mix and then dry brushed some light gold over top to get the metallic effect.

more on this later,

A.Shay Hahn

madcraftshoppe@live.com

 



The Abandoned Popsicle Stick Warehouse (1:18 scale, WIP)

 

 All items purchases at the Dollar Store, so yes you too can build one. This piece is made of coffee stirrers, popsicle sticks, wooden dowels and a dismantled wooden dish rack. The windows are covered with thick plastic and the wall treatment is layered on paper towels to add texture.

The build is coming along really quickly, there's lots to do but the Batman films are really helping to fill in time while I wait for the glue to set.

Once again here is the announcement of the reception for my paintings that are currently hanging at the Press Club (850 Dundas West, Toronto) on Saturday, May 4th from 6:30-9:30 to see the work head over to my other blog (see links) the mad craft shoppe.

cheers,

A.Shay Hahn

madcraftshoppe@live.com



A Two Storey Abandoned Popsicle Warehouse (1:18 Scale WIP)

 

This is the second day of the abandoned warehouse build, and to get through the boring parts I had to watch the Batman movies, because how can you not think about Batman when building an abandoned warehouse? The window slats are coffee stirrers, the back windows have been covered with thick plastic (backside) soon to be aged. The debris on the base coated ground are popsicle stick odds and ends. The base boards are popsicle sticks and the wall treatments are paper towels.

Feel free to ask any questions about the builds

A.Shay Hahn

madcraftshoppe@live.com



Matchstick container conversion

Here's a quick post of some matchstick containers that I converted into these "bombs". I don't really like posting bombs given the current state of the world, I may even change them into something less deadly, but they look good in this set.

If you're enjoying the large scale diorama work I've been doing please support it by heading to the Press Club (850 Dundas West, Toronto) and checking out my paintings all proceeds go to building these large scale pieces and the writing of my book series, Any How Town.

Head over to "the mad craft shoppe" blog (see links) to see the work.

cheers, I'm off to Giant Tiger to go hog wild in the craft section.

A.Shay Hahn

madcraftshoppe@live.com