Building A Popsicle Stick Wheelbarrow

This one is a little trickier, only because you'll be using your drill to make very small holes, so be patient and keep a few extra pieces around in case the wood splits.

PHOTO ONE AND TWO- I had this wheelbarrow that I picked up at a dollar store and new that I needed more of them. I didn't want to spend a bunch of money on them so I figured out a breakdown of how to build one. The base is a little square of masonite that I had a from another wooden kit, I glued down three Pre Stretched Canvas corner pieces (There's that reference again) to make the sides of the wheelbarrow. I then measured two matchsticks and lined them up and drilled a hole for the wheel pin to fit through, this took a couple of tries once I got the hole I then reinforced it with some glue after placing the wheel.

PHOTO THREE - The only mistake I made was that I didn't drill the holes for the handles in advance, so make sure you do that first. Once everything was dry I built the front of the wheel barrows with two popsicle sticks and a coffee stirrer. Once everything was dry I went over it again with glue just to reinforce the areas that looked a little weak.

 I think they turned out pretty well, but I probaby should've built four of them, I've said it before and I'll tell myself this time, multiples are everything, the more you have the more real the diorama will look, it's all about the details.

A.Shay Hahn

madcraftshoppe@live.com

Building A Popsicle Stick Push Cart!

These are really easy to make, I suggest  you build four at one go, provided you have enough wheels, it's always about the wheels, ain't it?

PHOTO ONE - Here is the finished product, painted, you can see it is a very simple matter of taking Deserre's Prestretched Canvas corner pieces (If you just said, "What?" You must be new here.) and laying them down, then attach two coffee stirrers to either side. While that dries glue together three popsicle sticks cut to size, this will be the chassis that supports the tip and that the wheels go through.

PHOTO TWO- Here's a view of everything you'll need.

PHOTO THREE- When the popsicle sticks are dry, drill two holes for the axles, cut your mini dowels to size and fit through the holes. Drill another hole in the top piece of your cart, this is where you'll be building the handle. Once everything is dry, just assemble, attach the wheels and then glue them into place.

Now they are ready to paint!
A.Shay Hahn

madcraftshoppe@live.com



Building A Popsicle Stick Diorama, Large Scale

Okay, I've decided to go for it, in November I'm going to take all the bits and pieces that you've seen me post over the past few couple of years and buils one large scale diorama piece. I'm heading into the carp shop next week to figure out if I should build it as a box or if there are any better options. So stay tuned

in November and watch the tutorials come together.

Also in Research and Development I bought a few of the dinosaur kits and have started a few crazy builds, these should be fun.

A.Shay Hahn

madcraftshoppe@live.com



Building Popsicle Stick Vehicles, Research and Development

You never want to get stuck in a rut and just build the same stuff over and over again, sometimes while I'm working on a painting (see madcraftshoppe bog, sidebar) I just glue some pieces together and try to make something new. I had the wheel from the first photo hanging around forever - when I found that the spacing of the pipes matched the holes in the piece that is attached to the undercarriage I knew I had something cool that I could build that I've never done before.

In the second photo you see the cross piece at the front of the vehicle has two separate wheel "arms", this was a real breakthrough and I can't wait to finish this guy. I feel the same about the last photo, when I was building the "Karzas" (scroll down a few posts) I wanted to get to adding a side car to a couple of the vehicles, but I was stuck in my ways and never got around to it - now I have and just look at the results! I haven't quite finished this guy yet, but I'm really glad I pushed the envelope on the design and ended up with a "side car" that shares duties as the front wheel.

Keep experimenting!

A.Shay Hahn

madcraftshoppe@live.com

Building Popsicle Stick Cages, even more options

Okay, okay these aren't popsicle sticks, they're coffee stirrers and I use them alot for details on things when I'm doing these models. I neglected to take a photo of step one so I'll just tell you-

STEP ONE (no photo) Lay out a grid of coffee stirrers, maybe sixteen by sixteen glue them down and let them dry (okay, fine I'll do a photo next week). Once they are dry cut them up into sections - make sure all sections are the same size. You'll need two for the front and back of the cage and two for the sides.

STEP TWO (photo one) I used some cut up match sticks as interior supports for the cage and let them dry, the photo should make it pretty obviou.s

STEP THREE (photo two) just basecoat in grey and then stipple on some red oxde/burnt umber mix to give it a rusted quality, then find some raffia or other bits to glue into the bottom to make it look like hay.

See ? Super simple.

A.Shay Hahn

madcraftshoppe@live.com



Building Popsicle Stick Houses, Advanced Edition

Okay, so my "Building Popsicle Stick Houses" tutorials have been viewed many times over so I thought it was time to up the game a bit for anyone out there who wants to move on from those small "fishing shack" or "shed" sized buildings. These photos and the upcoming posts will take us into the more  advanced land of building, you will need all of the techniques that I've taught you so far to get through to the end and be able to call yourself a true "Master of Popsicalia".

PHOTO ONE the first step is to plan what you're doing, just take a bunch of masonite and luon bits and start to arrange them in a way  that appeals. I decided to get this house up off the ground and put down some blocks. I also kept this 21st Century Toys Soldier nearby and use him as a measuring stick and although the fit under the second floor is a little tight, he can still stand comfortably. I used the small dowels for aesthetic effect, and  then glued them into place and supported them with some popsicle stick " floor boards". This step could have waited until the end but I did it anyway.

PHOTO TWO Here's a back view where you can see some popsicle sticks, blocks and other bits that were used to hold things in place. DON'T FORGET to wait for things to dry, you don't want the walls to come crashing down - just slow down trooper.

PHOTO THREE Once everything was set I started in on gluing the "bits", the odds and ends of popsicle sticks that I use to make the ground, you could go get sand and stuff from modelling shops but I'm not into that right now, we'll do a "texture" workshop somewhere down the line, but not soon, there are lots of proper model building sites on the Internet where you can learn those techniques. After that was glued down I used the canvas supports that come with prestretched canvases to make the "cinderblock" wall, it's important to have different looks on your model if you want it to really look "real". Then I began making the "brick" walls, just take a WHOLE BUNCH of popsicle sticks and break them down into brick sized pieces, yes, this is boring, but most hobbies have a boring part- making brick walls is boring, no way around it.

PHOTO FOUR Ebay mail! Look at these great 21st Century dudes, I'll have to swap some heads with other figures but was really happy that these guys showed up.

all for now
A.Shay Hahn
madcraftshoppe@live.com

Building A Popsicle Stick Doghouse!

PHOTO ONE Here's a quick one for you legions of fans out there on the Interspace, I took two of the pieces from the house kit that I bought a week ago or so (yes, scroll down and make it snappy) and used them as the ends for my doghouse. I also traced my entrance and cut it out with a pair of scissors, the wood these kits are made of is soft and easily cut. Then I used two trimmed popsicle sticks to connect them and added to extra pieces for support. I put it aside and let it dry

PHOTO TWO After the piece was dry it was a simple matter to clad the doghouse in popsicle sticks.

PHOTO THREE I basecoated the piece with my usual brown/black mix, it was a little dark, should've added some white to it so I could get to the end product faster but hey it just goes to show you, you're always learning when you do these builds.

PHOTO FOUR I did THREE passes with both red and white to get the finished colour that I wanted and I'll add that in my second coat of white I did dirty it up with some raw umber, after all it's a doghouse and is probably kept outside.

So there you go a quick one for a rainy day, currently I have TWO really big pieces being built and I'll get those posts up later today.

While I have your attention head on over to "The mad craft shoppe" blog (see links) and check out some paintings, yes I do accept paypal and there are some good auctions that I'm looking at on ebay, so I need your help.

keep on stickin'em together,

A.Shay Hahn

madcraftshoppe@live.com

send us an email! send some pics of your builds!

Building Popsicle Stick Crates and Boxes

TOP PHOTO Nothing makes a crate more interesting than putting something in it, here I took some Raffia and glued it into the crate then I painted a couple of wooden beads (very handy, get a bag)  and glued them on top. I first based the beads in black then just stipped (dry brushed) a mix of umber and white over them. I don't know what the objects are supposed to be, but hey.

SECOND PHOTO To make the crate on the left I built  each piece separately with popsicle sticks and then used then ends of popsicle sticks as inside supports to hold it together, the box on the right was actually built around a little cardboard box, which is a quick and handy way to make them fast. I'll do another tutorial on this later.

THIRD PHOTO I really dig those baby alphabet blocks, I'm sure I've bought over one hundred of them. I wanted a few sturdy crates for people to stand on so I just covered one in popsicle sticks and painted it. The pile of logs is made from the spare ends of wooden dowels, I had a bunch lying around and just glued them together, it's simple, but looks great.

FOURTH PHOTO Here's what a bunch of them look like together - sweet!

FIFTH PHOTO - Here is a new idea, these are winches - I'll get to them in the next post

SIXTH PHOTO- I always let the unpainted stuff pile up and then do it all at once, that way, if you have mixed up too much basecoat chances are it won't go to waste.

Okay,back to work, be sure to check out my paintings over at "the mad craft shoppe" blog just find the link in the right side bar, - and send us an email!

A.Shay Hahn

madcraftshoppe@live.com

Building Popsicle Stick Platforms and Ramps

This is pretty straightforward and can also be applied to building tables for your figures to sit at (make the legs shorter), just a quick note here your drying time is VERY IMPORTANT keep an eye on those legs to make sure they stay straight, be patient, do what I do and work on three or four at a time - or build some crates (see last post) while you're waiting.

 Another note if you have a drill that you're allowed to use (or get your parents to help you) it never hurts to drill a hole for the legs to fit into - it will save ALOT of frustration as you wait for them to dry.

 I also add support by gluing in some ends of popsicle sticks to keep the legs sturdy, you don't have to but I think it helps, especially if you're as rough about storing your pieces as I am, I toss the stuff everywhere.

The ladder and ramp are pretty straightforward, just build them separately, let them dry and attach later.

As you can see by PHOTO #3 if you build a bunch at once you can end up with a pretty cool play set really quickly and it's always cool to have levels for your figures.

Lovable Logan poses in front of one of the platforms to give you an idea of scale.

Happy Building!

A.Shay Hahn

madcraftshoppe@live.com

Building Popsicle Stick Crates and Skids

Here's a quick side tutorial for you, something to do while you're waiting for your houses and trucks to dry. Detail is pretty important when assembling a diorama, if you notice that yours looks empty, that it's just a figure and a vehicle and a background (yes I spent a long time with boring shots too, don't worry) you have to fill in the space with something, so make some skids and crates. I think the top photo gives a good view of both projects. The skids are pretty easy, build one at a time and then stack them - but as always, be patient and let them dry or they'll just fall over and drive you crazy.

The crates are made of the corner pieces that come with prestretched canvases, you can also just use popsicle sticks. Make a lot of them, they really come in handy for filling in space on your diorama. The crates are full of the ends of popsicle sticks, which I always keep, they are more handy than you think, just keep a ziplock bag nearby and toss them in there so you don't make a mess. Plop some glue on top of the bits and then let it dry.

PAINTING - You don't need to use a tiny brush to paint the skids and crates, I did the skids with raw sienna with a bit of burnt umber mixed it, I thinned it just a little and then got a medium sized brush and just went to town on them AND, you don't have to basecoat! Just paint the wood to look like wood.

Finally here's a picture of lovable Logan standing with the finished product to give you an idea of scale

NEXT UP: Building platforms and ramps!

have a good one

A.Shay Hahn

madcraftshoppe@live.com

Building Popsicle Stick Vehicles, Painted War Wheels!

Here are the boys all done up and ready to be driven into battle. I had mentioned I was going to do a tutorial on painting metal, unfortunately the pics that I took indoors had a crappy yellow cast to them from the lights and gave no good information.

As an apology here are a couple of tips to get you through until I do a proper tutoral, or scroll down the blog and find the tutorial on animal painting. Alright

TIP #1 - Use as little paint as possible, the technique we're using is called DRYBRUSHING - it means that your brush is dry - so pat out all the water on a cloth and then dip it into your paint. Before you start painting pat off as much paint as possible and then lightly start to work on the area. We build up colour slowly.

As you can see in the bottom photo we went from a dark base, to a medium grey, then a light grey highlight was added to the grille and then after that just little touches of a red oxide/raw umber mix were brushed in to add a rusty battered quality. Turned out pretty well and very little paint was used.

TIP #2 If you want some objects to look bright and shiny, paint them WHITE first. I know this seems obvious but sometimes you can end up doing alot of coats on a section that has a dark basecoat and still not get the POP that you want. My advice is paint it white and then add two or three coats of whatever colour you desire- this works especially well when using red.

Alright next step

Add a figure and a setting.

A.Shay Hahn

madcraftshoppe@live.com

Building Popsicle Stick Vehicles, War Wheels!

Here are views of the other three "Karza" War Wheels that I was building this week, these are the beauties before I take them to base coat, which I thought I was going to include a photo of but I'm not. Basecoating is boring, you're going to dislike doing it, but it is important and your stuff will look all the more awesome because of it. So I've got these guys built, based and ready for paint. A couple of years ago (has it been that long?) I did a tutorial on how to paint animals, this time around I'll do a vehicle painting tutorial on one of these bad boys.

Now it's time to ask something of you internet, it's time for you to tell someone else about this blog, that's right, just let someone else know about all the cool stuff that happens here, maybe drop me a line to let me know that you did.

cheers,

A.Shay Hahn

madcraftshoppe@live.com