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*tee hee*
Majora’s Mask is weird but weird good and it’s also my favorite Zelda game
So when it was chosen by Patrons as what I should craft next, I felt like “I won”.
In the game, your main goal is to “save the clock tower” before a mighty force of nature strikes
the clock, deleting you and everyone you know. The main mechanic is a repeating
time loop that keeps gameplay interesting, plus you get to wear a lot of “cool masks” along the way.
Within the center of Clocktown is the requisite Clock Tower,
which I’ll be building today as a regular clock and not a countdown to the end of all things.
To begin building the clock tower, I’d like to introduce the first material: cardboard.
We’ll start by building a sturdy base, making four rectangles of equal size,
then shaving off the short ends at slight angles to make four trapezoids.
Then they're hot glued end to end, but one of the sides needs a chunk removed for the doorway to
the interior, which is where the Happy Mask Salesman stays and does nothing all game.
Plug that hole up with the cardboard from your favorite sodium rich instant noodle,
then build another skinnier, taller trapezoid cube to sit on top.
And here are the nutrition facts if you were curious. Oh no.
"I'm going to die"
*spinach crunch*
For the sloped transition between the two main tiers of this cake, I’m glueing on strips of
paperboard. Then the doorway at the base needs some extra bulk with a few layers of cardboard.
For a lot of the geometric details like this, I used a 3D model I found on sketchup to help get
the measurements and scale right. It even has a had some bonus details, like t-posing Skull Kid.
Hidden behind the clock, there’s the secret party entrance which will have a stairway,
but for now, just a paperboard hallway. I wanted to include the transforming
feature of the clock tower so that the clock can face upward, so I made the top as four
columns using paperboard with space between them. The inner sides of the columns are trapezoids,
then the outside of the columns are kinda trapezoidish,
but angled here so that they lean inward. Each column is capped off with an angled
chunk of xps foam from my foam graveyard. And here’s the top view real quick.
After consulting the game, I realized I needed to partially plug this crack so that
the transformation feature would work properly. I gave the tower a couple of foam ramp arms that
will get detailed with wood later and that completes the main structure for the tower.
But are these cardboard bones sturdy enough to stop the strength of the moon?
Not yet.
*nothin but net*
Next, I’m using one fourth of a dollar store foam core board
to make over 2000 bricks to cover up all the cardboard.
Using an OLFA knife, I diced these julienne strips into pristine rectangular tic tacs,
but they need to be weathered and textured a bit to add some character..
Into the coffee can with a bunch of rocks they go, then shake angrily.
There’s no way around it that laying bricks individually is tedious.
I like to start with the corners, which helps to keep the rows straight
as I build across later. It’s dangerous to go alone,
so I recommend coercing another person to help you go double time.
すみません Excuse me!
Or just learn the Song of Double Time and skip to the end.
As you can, I left a lot of bricks overlapping the flat edges.
That’s because it’s weirdly pleasing for me to shave off these hangnails.
It’s also quicker than trying to cut bricks to size as I glue.
All of these half bricks go back into the bin for later.
Whoa, nice orb. That can go right here. After a little styrofoam shaving until
this orb is more knob like, I glued on a shell of bricks and that completes the clock tower topper.
For the inside of these columns, paperboard texture is bad, but goop texture is good.
My spackle is a little old and dried out though, so with a cup of water on
hand and a nice wet finger, I squeezed the goop into the cracks and smoothed it out.
With enough fiddling, it will have kind of the stone texture I’m going for.
Now to add some texture to these bricks with another one of my favorite goops.
Using this texture paste, I like to first add a bunch of dollops here and there,
then spread it around really quickly before it starts to dry.
The last step is to take a torn piece of paper towel and you know what time it is…
The texture paste adds some nice detail, but it still sheds a lot of dandruff,
so i like to seal it all in with a coating of mod podge and black paint.
Usually after this step, I like to go outside and prime the whole thing in black
to make sure I didn’t miss any white spots… But it’s been pretty wet and cold, which is
the opposite of good spray painting conditions, so I used some watered-down black paint instead.
Every single brick gets an exciting basecoat using the same neutral gray,
then the whole thing is drybrushed in a lighter gray, and there it is, so vibrant.
Then I broke out the airbrush for the more exciting details.
The clock tower has a bunch of edgy face tattoos and to get the designs just right,
I used a site called noclip which lets you explore 3D maps extracted from game files. It’s missing
the clock though, which is a bummer for a clock-focused tower, but it does include the carpenters.
Plus the two that inexplicably float in the sky.
Just like you remember. Before we start atomizing stuff
and launching it into the air, it’s a good idea to wear a mask to protect your lungs.
For all of the rings and abstract designs, I made quick and dirty stencils,
then used acrylic ink to paint between the lines.
The circles were all traced from various lids,
everyone has circles lying around, but other shapes were just freehanded on some cardstock.
And finally, we just need to paint on one more ear and my name is Studson
and you’re watching Studson Studio. And here’s the full tower with all
of the stenciled designs. Next, we’re going straight into an oil wash using mineral spirits,
which are hazardous, so don’t take off that mask just yet, otherwise…
A lot can be said about the power of oil washes and I’m not gonna say it right now,
but check out Black Magic Craft’s Oil Washes for Beginners video if you’re interested
in learning more, link in the description. I did a single pass of a burnt sienna oil wash,
then since I already had some black acrylic wash mixed up, I threw some of that good grime on too
because I didn’t feel like mixing up an oil wash. All right, part two of the clock tower is
complete, now time to go back to part one and I make a clock.
Starting with this clock kit I got because I wanted this to be a
real clock and not a three day death timer. I feel like an old CD or DVD would make a
great circular base to mount this on, and I happen to have this old disc lying around.
All that needs to be done is to use some sand paper to scratch off the graphic
and give the plastic some tooth so I can more easily glue things to the surface.
“Why’d you do that?” Oh that’s looking perfect.
This will make a lovely face plate, and then to seal off the mechanism, I have this disc sized
lid to enclose the battery compartment. Then I beefed up the clock diameter with
a few strips of foam board glued to the lid. For the clock face, I considered just printing
out this graphic and calling it a day, but that would look awful and I would recommend
slamming that dislike button. Instead, I was inspired by
this entry on the Cwafty Blog that used a wood burning tool to burn in the lineart.
I don’t have a woodburning tool, but I do have one of these. Most people know there’s
an L in this word, but if you’re American, the L is actually another D hiding sideways.
And if you’re mad about this pronunciation… “I’ll stab you in the face with a soldering iron.”
I'm joking, the only face that’s gonna get stabbed is this clock face.
And speaking of clock face, I glued balsa wood to the disc, then used a compass to
trace out the proper circumference. To transfer the clock art to the wood,
there’s a nifty material called graphic paper which can be used for trace downs, but if you
don’t have any, you can make your own that kinda works using a pencil, which is good enough for me.
After tracing out all of the major areas, it actually transferred more
of the graphite than expected. The next step is heat up my soldering iron (soldering iron).
Taking it nice and slow until every line is cooked to golden brown perfection.
I finished up with the sun icon on the bottom of the face, then changed my mind and decided I
wanted a moon so night mode is engaged instead. I wanted the clock to have a bit of depth,
so I added the outer ring as a separate piece of wood and it’s ready to paint… later.
First we need to make the back of the clock more presentable.
I have this ring of wood from a package of French Brie, which is already clock shaped.
I hot glued it around the perimeter and it was almost big enough, but I had to patch
it with another chunk of the cheese wood. Then a little more detailing...
I glued 12 pieces of wood to the perimeter,
because 12 is the big clock number that everyone knows,
then flipped back to the front for painting times. The soldering iron left indentations in the wood,
which made painting within the lines very easy baby mode for me. Everything got
coated in one pass of acrylic paint for the basecoats, except that’s not entirely true,
because I did use a Citadel Agrax Earthshade for the dark brown areas. Then I went back to
select areas and added a slight gradient from lighter to darker shades from the top down.
I’ve had this broken set of headphones in my junk box for a while and figured these discs
could be used for the gears on the side. I covered them in foam board to add some
more volume, then used a sheet of textured balsawood for the front face, followed by
covering the edge in coffee stirring sticks, which will need to be trimmed after glueing.
After glueing coffee stirring sticks all around the edge, we’re ready to roll on to the next step,
which is glueing on more coffee stirring sticks, but this time as the spokes of these wood wheels.
Then grab a pitstick pushpop and shake out the knob until
you get the special prize they hide inside.
This little plastic dimple, which will make a nice hub cap for these wheels.
I’m sparing a few of these rhinestone rupees to add some rivets to the caps and spokes.
Then using the hot wand again, I’m burning on an array of moon teardrops.
Then I’m painting on a standard wood scheme I’ve been using recently.
A watered down brown for the basecoat, followed by not-enough terracotta overbrushing,
finished with maybe too much of a khaki drybrush, oops. Then I used
non-wood colors for the non-wood elements, such as gunmetal for the hubcap and rivets.
Then using some "PeRsOn pLaStIc" also known as person plastic,
I enlarged the squares and painted it in gunmetal to make the grating that sits here,
along with a chunk of foam board surrounded in coffee stirring sticks and balsa wood to give
the impression that the whole thing is wood. Then I whipped out the hot rod again to
emblazen the sun icon, scraped away some balsa to add some weathering,
and painted it in colors matching the game. And once you land on that platform in the game,
there’s a staircase revealed behind the clock which you can ascend to
go hang out with your friend Skull Kid. I hot glued layers of foam board as stairs,
then covered the exposed foam with more coffee stirring sticks.
That hole is done, but for this hole, I made a non-functional entrance with more foam and wood,
then freehanded the cool flame decals and orbs that cover the set of double doors.
Some Agrax Earthshade for the rest and that completes the set.
Before weathering these weird woods, I sealed them in a quick matte topcoat so that when
I applied the oil wash, it wouldn’t soak in too deeply to the wood grain and I’d still be
able to soak up the excess with a paper towel. Everything ended up looking a bit too dirty after
this burnt sienna bath, so off camera, I hit everything with a very light khaki drybrush...
Just to bring back a little bit of a highlight.
Like the game, I want my clock tower to be able to transform.
Using a handful of chopsticks from my takeout drawer which is swiftly becoming a crafting
drawer I keep in the kitchen, I’m glueing them together to make a few sturdy beams. Binder clips
hold them in place while they dry, then they’re trimmed to size using a miter box and hobby saw.
To add some stability between these joins, I drilled a couple holes…
And connected the two pieces using a piece of a toothpick, which is like a dowel, but small, and for teeth.
Back on the clock tower, I converted coffee stirring sticks into a ramp.
Save those for later… Painted the wood in wood colors.
Then made more coffee stir stick ramps to reach the stairway entrance up top.
Above the door at ground level, there’s this mysterious red mask thing. I don’t know what
it is, but I made it off camera using foam covered in acrylic texture paste and paint.
But how am I gonna fit this stairway in there? Oooh!
*Secret hole that you'll never see.....*
I lowered the fourway beam down between the columns during assembly, then speaking
of secret holes, I filled the under-knob with hot glue and gingerly set it in place.
For the wheels on the side, I used a combo of CA glue and accelerant so I wouldn’t have
to hold them in place for 100 years, then I used the same glue method for attaching the
back of the clock to the front beam. Now that that’s assembled, time to
return our focus to the clock mechanism. I powered it up with a AA battery, but I
don’t need a clock to know what time it is. It’s time to thank all my newest Patrons, such as...