Lone Wanderer Ukulele

This is what comes of simultaneously reading the Hunger Games trilogy while replaying Fallout New Vegas to a soundtrack courtesy Abney Park- You get dystopia on the brain.
This was sort of a mental floss project. I've got a love for the beautifully modified and hand-distressed instruments of the musicians of AP (See for yourself!) and wanted to try something similar. Although this is not nearly as pretty or professional as an Abney Park instrument, I'm more than satisfied with the end result.
I wanted a Uke that looked like it had been kicking around the wastes for years and I think I succeeded!

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All the metal hardware (both stock and aftermarket) was rubbed down with steel wool and then given a bath
in muriatic acid. After a few hours a lovely coat of corrosion and rust appeared.

The corroded metal is, for me, the thing that really sells the character of the instrument. Although it looks like hell it is still 100% playable.

The soundhole cover was sort of an afterthought. The pickguard and side plate were cut from old license plates and screwed on, but the face of the uke still looked too...well, normal. I cut a disc of speaker mesh and cold-welded it into a section of tubing to make a suitably dystopian soundhole cover and voila! Instant facelift.

The majority of the surface weathering to the body of the uke was done by hand with files, rasps and knives. A minimal touch-up was done with black acrylic.

A particularly nice patch of acid weathering on the side plate.

The donor uke was a glossy black to begin with, so I sanded it down and gave it a series of layered coats to make for interesting weathering. The external color was achieved by first painting the uke seafoam green and then lightly dusting it with blue metal flake. This adds a good level of grunge while adding texture.

Old-Time Carvival Shooting Gallery

This was a low-cost, low-stress weekend build. My church hosts a free carnival every summer and we try to have several new activities each time. A shooting gallery was suggested at one of the first planning meetings and I volunteered.

The frame of the booth is made out of masonite. It was short work to zip everything together with corner braces and a screw gun. The front skirts were the last things to go on after the rails had been installed.



 The targets themselves were simple, but fun. I chose a clown face sourced from a 1940s Circus poster and a Lion from a 1950s Jell-o ad because they had the best Old-world carnival feel in my Image library. I printed them all on standard paper then affixed them to insulation foam with spray adhesive. They were then cut out on the bandsaw and attached to 1" strips of masonite which where then screwed to a collection of small cabinet hinges.

 The targets were placed at 10" intervals along the target rails. In order to add a little visual interest to the backboard I utilized a wonderful toy advertisement from the turn of the century. The image not only has a wonderful carnival feel to it but it also reinforced the playful nature of the booth.

The booth was a big hit at the carnival and will most likely return in some form or other at future events. I intend to add a bit more structural integrity and some globe lights when it next appears.

1920s Carbon Ring Microphone Prop

This prop (and a slightly dressier version) was commissioned for Bethany Lutheran College's production of John Olive's "The Voice of the Prairie". It was fabricated out of various odds and ends from the ol' parts box. 

The Microphone itself began life as a showerhead and ring was cut from an old coffee can.

The neck was cut from a length of scavenged steel tubing and the base came from an old wall sconce. It was weathered with rustoleum spray enamels and acrylic paint.

The switch and cord are purely decorative, but help to tie the piece together!