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Not So Simple Switchable Materia Bracelet

Not So Simple Switchable Materia Bracelet

You want sleek, fancy, and mass-manufactured? Then you go see Shin-Ra about your fashion needs. You want a hand-wrought, reliably quick-switching linked materia bracelet that doubles as a defense in hand-to-hand combat? Then you come see me. It ain't pretty, but it's gonna get your rear end back home. And the rest of ya, so long as you're not an idiot. I don't work cheap, though.

*cough* So! Immediately upon the news of a Final Fantasy 7 remake, I had a thought: "I wonder if we'll finally get to see materia accessories!" And obviously that immediately kick-started my brain. This is actually the most SIMPLE of the designs I'd wanted to do, in part because I thought it would have more "universal appeal" as I was making it exclusively for Desert Bus for Hope. I started getting this image of certain "underground" materia accessory makers who had to work with what they had on hand, not really caring about making things look pretty; it was about function, utilizing the full power of materia, the ability to switch them out quickly during combat, and the added benefit of the accessory itself being used to shield its wearer if necessary.

Not even gonna pretend otherwise; this was a lot of work but so much fun to do. The rings are stainless steel, the snap is "plated steel", the "decorative bracelet bits" themselves are backed securely with felt for comfort, and this? Is not nearly as heavy as it looks. Oh it's PLENTY sturdy, alright, and that's what took me the most time: using everything I've learned through experimenting with various materials. The bulk of the materials used? Foam and cardboard. Wouldn't know it to look or to feel it; unless you're talking about the weight. And sturdy? Oh yeah, that's sturdy. I took a lot of time destroying test pieces. The great joy of materials testing, you know.

The "mechanism" itself is a simple "rod" of metal which swings down for "materia loading", then swings back into place and holds there with an exceptionally strong magnet. (It makes the most satisfying clacking noise when it's empty.) There's no danger of materia falling out or the magnet itself falling off. As for those beads themselves, they're all vibrantly dyed "candy jade", which won't lose their color in anything short of boiling water or a chemical bath. ...I assume no one would attempt either.

Thank you to badgersprite for you generosity in the final bid of $333.00!

Date: 26 August 2015
Link-bo and Zelda-bo

Link-bo and Zelda-bo

Best rainy day activity for kids and chocobos? Totally dress-up. Grab some fabric, make some props, make a mess (...then clean it up...), and have a blast!

Story of my life: I hadn't really meant these to turn out quite so large... or with so many accessories... but things happen and I'm really, really happy with the result. I don't even know if anyone else will love these as much as I do, but I am remarkably hopeful. The chocobo bodies themselves are redesigned from the inside out, with a much more solid structure to allow more stability, and feature fully wired and poseable toes, legs, wings (along with the first three primary feathers of each wing; the rest are un-wired for easy folding), necks, heads, and feature limited articulated top and bottom beak-jaw-things.

And then the costumes, oh boy. Initially I'd had the idea to do just a couple of super-fancy accessories for each of them, but I just kind of... kept coming to the thought, "Remember when dress-up used to be fun, and cosplay wasn't about exacting proficiency?" So, I decided that I would do something "simple" and make it look at though excited, unpracticed hands made these things. ...I was, at that point, not aware of how insanely difficult it would be. I mean yes, lots of things got simplified, and it was a lot of fun putting it all together! But. That came with figuring out how to make everything look super-simplified while also making them stable and ultimately well-made. I think I finally fulled it off, anyway. And of course they can swap outfits. I mean, come on.

Thank you burningdragoon for your generosity with a final bid of $719.00!

Date: 22 August 2015
Simple Switchable Materia Bracelet

Simple Switchable Materia Bracelet

All of your standard single-equip materia are included to swap out when you need them most: Magic (green), Summon (red), Command (yellow) and Independent (purple), all in a tasteful piece of subtle stainless steel chainmaile jewelry which may, in a pinch, deflect a small attack. But it would likely have to be a very small attack, okay? Don't get yourself hurt out there because you thought you were a bigshot and tried to deflect a 6-foot sword with a tiny little bracelet band. Not cool, and I will not be held responsible.

I wanted to work a single switchable/swappable "materia" bracelet down to its absolute simplest. And it still took me a long time, but the result is definitely a super shiny proof of concept. The idea can (and will) certainly be expanded upon. Plus, well, shiny. Shiny is always important.
(Sold, but always available for commission.)

Date: 02 June 2015
Simple Linked Materia Bracelet

Simple Linked Materia Bracelet

Need a linked materia option that's also a versatile fashion accessory? This style has you covered! Magic materia plus an Independent materia make for nearly limitless options! (Personally I recommend Mega-All + Master Magic, but y'know, whatever the battle calls for.)

I really, really wanted to get back to chainmaile. For some reason. And I wanted it to be relatively simple, so... I should have picked another project. Oh, it's a simple enough weave, but the gauge of the wire for the rings is quite a bit thicker than I was used to. Combine that with the fact it's nice, sturdy stainless steel and that pretty much makes the easy method of this chain weave completely impossible to achieve. So it took two days. Can't argue with the results, though.

And yeah, I'm more than up for custom pieces/colors/designs. I mean, this was a prototype. And it worked. Yay there.
(For Sale)

Date: 05 May 2015
Simple Linked Materia Bracelet

Simple Linked Materia Bracelet

Need a linked materia option that's also a versatile fashion accessory? This style has you covered! Magic materia plus an Independent materia make for nearly limitless options! (Personally I recommend Mega-All + Master Magic, but y'know, whatever the battle calls for.)

I really, really wanted to get back to chainmaile. For some reason. And I wanted it to be relatively simple, so... I should have picked another project. Oh, it's a simple enough weave, but the gauge of the wire for the rings is quite a bit thicker than I was used to. Combine that with the fact it's nice, sturdy stainless steel and that pretty much makes the easy method of this chain weave completely impossible to achieve. So it took two days. Can't argue with the results, though.

And yeah, I'm more than up for custom pieces/colors/designs. I mean, this was a prototype. And it worked. Yay there.
(Sold.)

Date: 04 May 2015
A Little Hint of Evil Corporation

A Little Hint of Evil Corporation

Your super soldiers are freaking out, your scientists are nuts, your secret police force are... well who knows what's wrong with them, but it's got to be something serious because one of them has this weird obsession with robot cats and he talks to himself a lot. Like, a lot. But at least you've got this sweet bling. The bling won't cause you any unnecessary moral quandaries.

If not already excessively clear, I'd been wanting to so something with the Shinra logo (from Final Fantasy 7, if you are unfamiliar) for a while now. I had a very large pattern started, pretty much an enormous wrist cuff... but then I considered the possibilities of simplifying to the point where the Shinra logo is actually quite subtle. That seemed almost too simplistic, of course, so I had to come up with a band that wasn't. At all. Me being me, I wanted something very non-traditional and off-center. I mean, it does partly represent Shinra, after all.

As a side note, the sheer amount of stabilizing and reinforcing this design was maybe a little excessive. Then again, I can't classify "actually strong enough to survive 100,000 hair flips or more" as excessive reinforcing. (Sold)

Date: 06 March 2015
ch0c0b0

ch0c0b0

Codename: ch0c0b0. Charlene to her friends. Cybernetically enhanced after... some dramatic thing that happened, Charlene is part machine but still all chocobo. Her wings were replaced with solar panels, her leg enhancements allow her to outrun even the Hardy Daytona, can pick up hundreds of radio stations, and of course she gets WiFi, like, anywhere. She prefers organic oil, by the way.

My second and final Desert Bus for Hope 2014 chocobo! For once, this design was actually greatly simplified. I'd had the concept of "chocoborg" in my head since last year's Desert Bus, and I had every intention to go full-on RoboCop with the body... until I realized maybe that was a little disturbing for a chocobo meant to raise money for charity. So I cut way back, went "mostly organic with enhancements", and now you have a ch0c0b0. The beak is static, but her head, neck, legs, toes, and individual tail feathers are all poseable. While I'd meant all of the "hardware" to be silver, I kind of stopped at leaving some of the gold and copper components "silver frosted" because it looked nice. Artsy reasons.

As for the wings... I'd meant for them to have a much wider range of motion. I even had a demo rigged up, and it worked, and I was all set to use it on the chocobo body, but... then I realized it would be just a little bulkier and a bit more fragile than I was comfortable with. (Maybe next time?) So, alas, the wings are now mostly static, though they can be moved back and forth, and up and down with a gentle hand. The wing materials themselves are flexible, though I'd recommend some delicate handling.

The only metal used here were the screws and a touch of wire, by the way. I had a little fun playing with other materials for a metal look.

She was sold for $600 and I watched the snipe happen while I was eating dinner. Heh.

Date: 27 August 2014
Sephiroth and Cloud Dragons

Sephiroth and Cloud Dragons

Well it made sense at the time, alright? And I'd wanted to try something different, so... Sephiroth and Cloud dragons!

Man, the things I went through for this. I'd wanted Cloud to look battle worn and fed up, but Sephiroth to look eager and cocky, and both of them to be separate sculptures in their own right, so... Well, I'm still happy with them. Even if the angles of that folded wing of Cloud's was the most maddening thing in the world to work around, because even then I pushed myself way too much without thinking of the consequences. A long tradition! I'm still so proud of how Sephiroth's wing came out. And, well, I'm happy with these two.

As a side note, dragon!Cloud did at one point have a Buster Sword. Of all the damn things to break during a move, that did. Along with wing parts of dragon!Vincent, which is why you don't see him here. (He is salvageable. The sword was not. Besides, Cloud can't really hold it, so I didn't see the point.) (For Sale: Dragon!Sephiroth, and Dragon!Cloud)

Date: 14 August 2014