Aurora 2?
I was born ready
Last night the aurora borealis was visible across large parts of the Northern Hemisphere of planet earth. I’d been enjoying some family time, and it was a really great end to the evening.
My eldest son Rory (a games designer in his own right as it happens, although he’s a long way from “age 9” these days) upped the ante on our usually rather functional text messaging:
We raced outside and took loads and loads of photos of the incredible aurora as it silently lit up the sky.
Rory and myself have seen the Northern lights once before. That time it was Christmas Eve, and we were stood on a frozen lake in Northern Finland. But that’s a story for another time…
Today, as I looked through all the amazing photos from around the world posted online, I reflected on the mixed blessing of having some family time - we’re in the middle of the Kickstarter for Maskwitches Redux, and that really takes me away from the family in quite an intense way, and I’m lucky they’re so supportive. Pushing a kickstarter to success is non-stop, exhausting promotional work - but the flipside of taking a break and some family time is that I didn’t even think to grab my Maskwitches figures and shoot some material for Maskwitches.
But! Tonight is another night, the solar storm is still raging, and there’s a chance we’ll see the aurora again. And this time I’m work ready.
Today I’ve spent a little bit of time making a special plinth that I can carry in a bag, which will support two Maskwitches quickly and effectively. Normally they get balanced carefully in different poses, but if I’m out in the field that won’t do.
I started with two chunky blocks of wood. Always a good starting point I find.
Glued it and screwed it. It’s now a solid wood brick that will stay put wherever I put it, out on the wilds.
I drilled some holes.
And in goes some armature wire:
I secured the wire with some hot glue.
The witch models will now happily sit with the wire er “up their vestments”, maintaining the pose I put them in, and there’s enough flexibility in the wire to tilt them around as needed.
I want the plinth to be able to appear on shots - I’m imagining that if I can get out tonight, I’ll want to be shooting them from a low angle to get those big skies in the frame. So that means adding some scenic stuff.
First some rocks:
Then some model basing material. I like to try to use a variety of stuff to break things up visually, and to add a touch more complexity, interest and realism.
And we’re ready to go!
It is a bit weighty, but I want that so that it’s nice and solid. If I end up out in the dark on my own, I don’t need to be fiddling about with models falling over constantly!
The Maskwitches figures aren’t nearly as robust as ones I made recently for The Burn, which were made to go outside, and are a larger scale. The Maskwitches are also quite delicate. So I’ve made a special pouch out of bubble wrap to transport them. So now I’ve assembled my kit for tonight, so that if there’s more aurora to be had, I’m ready!
Cross everything for me, because how cool would it be to get some real shots of the maskwitches in front of those amazing skies?
Don’t forget, the campaign to fund the new print run of Maskwitches is live and only runs for a few more days! Don’t miss out on the backer exclusive Witch Pouch rewards!