Show off your pumpkin pics and tells us about the experience.
#105351
Clever title, I know.... I'm a sucker for clickbait, hehe! ANYWAY, here's my first installment this year. You might be saying "wait, that's not a pumpkin", and you'd be right. It's actually a disc golf driver. If you play disc golf, you know that a unique disc is almost as important as your skills, and a lot of players custom dye their discs after removing the factory embossments. I'm one of those guys. I saw my orange driver, and thought "hey, that's a pumpkin face waiting to happen...", and I took some time to mask of the disc, cut out the 'Face of the Minions' with an Xacto, and mix up a special concoction of shaving cream, dye, and a bit of hot water. Unfortunately, I have a few spots that bled out that I'm gonna try to fix, but outside of the tiny bit of collateral damage, this disc is BOOtiful! And yes, those are my toes in the pic.

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Last edited by chuckwagon on Wed Oct 27, 2021 8:57 pm, edited 8 times in total.
#105413
Finished the "Big 4" Universal Monsters on my other Discraft drivers today. Unfortunately, I ran into a bit of the same problem with the sort of bleeding under with the dye as I saw happen when I did my 'Face of the Minions' design. On these particular discs, the original artwork is printed on a sort of imbedded design, so my cling paper that I roll out onto the disc often has weak spots over those areas that can allow the dye concoction to seep under. All in all though, I think they turned out fantastic! The dye concoction is a mixture of shaving cream, a small amount of hot water, and iDye Poly. I use clear Con-Tact brand shelf contact paper on the disc, then lay my pattern out, tape it down, and go to town with my Xacto knife! I pull out the cut section , and then smear and/or dab the dye concoction on the exposed areas. I usually leave them overnight, but length of time can also dictate the penetration effectiveness of the dye, so for black dye, the longer the better.

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SuperSonic liked this
#105559
I was waiting on this pattern when I saw the sneak peek in the newsletter! I knew I had the PERFECT pumpkin in my stash. A gray 9 inch round gemmy, which has been the same size for all of my carves thus far this year. It requires me to shrink the pattern down, but so far it's been fine. I thought the exterior flat gray color was great for this carve, and I came up with the idea to spray some automotive upholstery glue on the inside and roll some silver glitter around. I thought it would symbolize the before and after of the Tin Man from when Dorothy and The Scarecrow first came upon him in the forest, all rusted and seized up, and when he got a fresh oil and polish after entering The Emerald City.

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Last edited by chuckwagon on Wed Oct 06, 2021 11:38 am, edited 1 time in total.
SuperSonic, shaft28 liked this
#105572
Oh, how I am enjoying these patterns!! Yesterday I was finally able to carve The Tin Man when I returned home from a work trip, and I was anxiously awaiting the next installment, and when I woke up today there he was in all of his straw stuffed glory! Fired up the dremel, and quickly went to work. I'm not sure the exact measurements of the FUNKIN brand foamie I used, but it was a skinnier one. Last time I used this size was when I carved The Ghastly Ghoul. The longer/taller pumpkins are great for these sorts of patterns. There always seems to bit of "pumpkin hair" when I use carve with a dremel that overhangs the edges of the cuts ever so slightly, but it easily rubs off with my finger or even an emery board. Of course, I had to take a few pics of the two together! Onward down the Yellow Brick Road I am hoping to meet with The Cowardly Lion to complete Dorothy's fantastical fellowship of friends, and then possibly a pattern of Dorothy herself! We shall wait and see, my pretties.....

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zombombie, amandap80, mesmark and 1 others liked this
#105616
This 2013 throwback pattern of American Werewolf in London has been on my "to do" list for quite some time. I'm taking more and more breaks during my carves with every new season that passes to allow my aching finger joints a bit of recuperating time, so I try to take progressive pics of the carves from start to finish when I take a 2 or 3 minute breather. It's kinda cool to look back on them like a time lapse. I'm thinking of a video for YouTube in the future, but we'll see...

One thing I failed to add a pic of here (because I didn't get a pic, and I'm too lazy to walk back out to the shed right now) is a little "hack" I stumbled on, that I thought I'd share for those of you that use a Dremel like myself... I'm sure many of you suffer the same misfortune of frayed or almost hairy edges left behind by your drill/carving bits as they get a bit worn out. You can clearly see it in my pics below. I think I have found a semi decent solution to clean those edges up after a carve. Last year I bought a bulk pack of polishing bits on eBay that I used for an antique copper piece I was restoring. They are almost like a very fine still wool. They work wonderfully for knocking down those fuzzy edges, and making them look nice and smooth. I'll try to post a pic or even a new thread in the tips and tricks section when I can, for reference.

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amandap80, SuperSonic liked this
#105617
Some tiny details in that one looks awesome and the edges do look polished. :thumbsup:. I still use saral paper although the transfer paper works well on foam. I would not have the patience for the poke method these days but I do remember using it on real pumpkins.
#105653
The Cowardly Lion now joins his friends, Scarecrow, and Tin Man!! Who will be next? We already have a Wicked Witch pattern, so will we see Dorothy finally make her appearance in the magical land of Oz, and join her companions as they follow the yellow brick road??

I still have a bit of cleanup to do on the edges. I think my drill bits are getting pretty dull, so I'm not getting the clean cuts I prefer. But, from even just a short distance, you can not see the slight imperfections, and as the sun goes down it's even less noticeable.

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#105728
These are all stupendous projects and carves you've got going here!

I especially love the Face of the Minions disc you've got there. Fantastic work. Can't wait to see what you cook up next! :jack_o_lantern: