I took on another beginner project today. The tabletop crafting has hold of me and the only method to get away is to actually take on a project and make something. It felt really good to actually start and finish a project. Yes, it was small, but that’s OK. Starting small and learning as you go is how things are supposed to work. Today, I made a version of the Dungeons and Dragons monster the Gelatinous Cube. The monster is essentially a ten foot cube of monster goo that sweeps dungeon corridors and occasionally eats player characters.
It’s a beginner project because it doesn’t require a lot of parts or skill. More skill than I have in order to avoid hurting yourself apparently, but more on that in a minute.
I grabbed an old sheet protector from a three ring binder that had been laying around here collecting dust for far too long. I trimmed out a 6” x 6” section of the plastic. I still have the other side of the sheet protector set aside so if I choose to make this project again I can use that… although I might look for a better solution. Many tutorials say to use “plastic” but they’re not super specific about what that plastic actually is. I think if I try this method again I might want to use plastic that is a little bit heavier. I considered trying to glue together some acrylic picture frame parts to make a cube, but at 1/8” thick it was way too much. It just wouldn’t give the same feel.
I tried to mark out the shape I needed to cut on the plastic with a marker. It didn’t work well at all. I couldn’t get the ink to stay on the plastic. The idea is to have 2” x 2” sides and a 2” square top. Cutting 2” squares out of the corners of the 6” square should give a “plus” shaped form. Then, where the edges of the 2” top would be, score the plastic but don’t cut through it to help with getting an accurate bend. I couldn’t get the ink marks to stay. It was frustrating. In the end I mostly eyeballed the whole thing. I grabbed my metal straight edge and my xacto knife and got to cutting.
Once the “plus” shape was cut out of the 6” square I laid it flat on my work surface… and that was my next error. I should have put parchment paper under the plastic first. Parchment paper would have kept my project cleaner, would not have picked up the tiny pattern that is actually in the cutting board and would have helped me get the glue to peel away much easier than I did.
So, adding glue. The errors just kept adding up here. I used the high temp glue gun and I don’t think I needed to. It warped the plastic a little when I was first laying out glue. That’s OK because this monster isn’t supposed to be gelatinous and not a Quadrone (that’s right – a reference to the Modrons from Monster Manual 2 – I’m old). Still, the glue came out hot and fast and I am not practiced at hot glue sculpting yet. There’s an art to using the hot tip of the glue gun to make the glue look the way you want it to. Also, the key word in “hot glue gun” seems to be *hot*. I blistered my thumb when the glue slid off the cube and onto me. I was unhappy. There may have been swearing.
Then came the part that I somehow failed to grasp when thinking about the project. Patience. This would have been a significantly better project if I’d had some patience and didn’t try to rush things. One of my favorite comedy routines has a character named Ed Grubberman. I quote Ed all the time, “Yeah, yeah, yeah, patience… how long does that take?” That’s right before a painful lesson too. Perhaps I should have paid more attention.
I tried to put my own little spin on this project by adding some “floating gold” on the inside. That’s something that is shown in one of the old pictures of this monster. In terms of sweeping up in the dungeon there are frequently bits of things that haven’t been completely dissolved yet. I used some large cut glitter on the inside. It was not quite the effect I wanted. The glue did not dry clear, so it’s hard to see. I may try another after my thumb heals a little ~ but I’ve seen another version of this that uses resin. I am definitely not up to resin yet.
I took this picture with one of my miniatures to give this some scale and context.
I will certainly use this when the chance arrives and I can torment some of my players. In the end, I’m actually pretty happy with the end result. I’ll take those lessons learned and take on my next project. Hopefully with less injuries in the process.
What projects have you finished lately?
