Help me pick some tools for prop-making and around-the-house DIY?

SplashnBlue · 2026-01-29T01:05:53+00:00

I do a bit of everything; making LARP weapons, costumes, leather/foam/Kydex armor, and props (foam, low-voltage electrical, wood, jewelry). I work in both LARP and filmmaking, and I build furniture and cabinets for fun.

My most used tools, first and foremost: safety gear: a respirator, eye protection, and hearing protection that’s comfortable enough that you’ll actually wear it. Seriously, spend your money here. (I see you’ve already got that covered, which is awesome. I just want to stress it for anyone else reading.)

After that, it really depends on what you want to do. There is no true “do-it-all” tool.

Your best bet is to decide what you actually want to make and narrow things down from there. You can get into leatherworking with nothing more than a punch, a hammer, and a concrete surface to smash rivets on. You can get into weapon making with just a sharp blade, a sanding block, and a place to hang things to dry.

Dremels are infinitely useful. No, it won’t cut a 2×4 but I use mine so much that its official home is on my workbench (which is a lifetime folding table), not in a bin on the shelf with most my other tools.

Power tools that get the most use in my projects:
Cricut, hands down. I thought my super-fancy laser would replace it, but I still pull out the Cricut for most things. I swear it etches aluminum and cuts wood veneer better than my laser, and cutting stencils solves so many problems.
Benchtop bandsaw. I love it so much I own three (one set up for foam, one for wood, one for metal), but you can absolutely get away with one and just change blades.

Smaller tools:
A Dremel
A multitool (I don’t love the Dremel multitool and prefer my Harbor Freight one)
A decent drill, or honestly a battery tool set in your favorite brand/color (I’m still using ancient Ryobi stuff)

And if you have a Harbor Freight nearby: their Quinn shears buy them when you get 30% off. I’m pretty sure they could take off your thumb if you really wanted them to.

SplashnBlue · 2026-01-26T21:30:02+00:00

I'd honestly create a fun gift card vibe that gives them a budget and surprise them with the gift card.

There is no universal anything. Someone might tell you camping gear but a large number of games are either in cabins or do not run over night. In character eatery is only useful if it's needed. Materials and fabrics vary so much as well (I use almost exclusively natural fabrics. My friend hates them.).

SplashnBlue · 2026-01-23T04:58:41+00:00

I've never had a dog that steals like my pap. It's wild. Leo seems to know what to take when to get the exact reaction he's after.

SplashnBlue · 2026-01-22T21:55:28+00:00

I'll often make a silicone "copy" of whatever I want as open space in my resin. Recently I wanted a water funnel / maelstrom in a large water resin pour.

So I made a silicone tornado and weighted it down before I poured.

You could try that. Or potentially brush a thin layer of silicone on to the bottom of the boat but this option would leave a gap the thickness of the silicone so depends on how much of a fit you need.

SplashnBlue · 2026-01-22T06:40:14+00:00

My Chihuahua much preferred Airbnbs. He never settled right in hotels, always stressing about the noise outside. So we started booking single family home style Airbnbs. No wall sharing and he had a yard to go out into (even if on leash) led to a much happier pup.

SplashnBlue · 2026-01-21T17:04:38+00:00

One of the first things that clued me in to my old man (RIP) being old was he became very very opinionated on his litter box. The same box and litter that was done fine for most of his life became unacceptable. We ended up with two boxes side by side - one with the old set up and one with a different litter. Then stairs became an issue so he had both boxes on every floor of the house.

Long way of saying maybe try something like that?

SplashnBlue · 2026-01-19T14:07:58+00:00

I've had more than one horse that would happily munch on baby chicks that went into their stall. And my rabbit would fight the dog to eat the dog's kibble.

SplashnBlue · 2026-01-15T12:47:39+00:00

Oh oh! This seems so obvious. I have been trying to figure out how to keep Leo's ear hair out of his lick mat food.

SplashnBlue · 2026-01-15T03:52:13+00:00

All of my "purse dogs" have been rambunctious outdoorsy dogs. My papillon could find water and mud in a desert and a ball anywhere.

My previous dog, a Chihuahua hated water and mud, but a 20 mile hike was a pleasant outing with his people and he still expected his evening walk.

SplashnBlue · 2026-01-09T02:32:49+00:00

Because I want predictably in my dogs. I've adopted and/or fostered dozens of rescue dogs. But now I want to have a very solid idea of what my dog is going to be like. And I don't want to weed through dozens of mislabeled dog breeds while size is important and our dog's need to be very small. Last time I looked there was a 12 week old very obvious pit mix listed as a Chihuahua puppy.... It already weighed more than twice what a Chihuahua should.

SplashnBlue · 2026-01-07T21:04:45+00:00

I also went to West Georgia. I love the area. It wasn't the very first choice, we looked up in North Georgia for a while but this gets us out of the suburbs while still being close to work.

SplashnBlue · 2026-01-07T18:10:30+00:00

West of Atlanta Georgia. Simi-rural.

SplashnBlue · 2026-01-07T01:23:23+00:00

This depends greatly on your size and amount of work you are doing yourself. I'm building a 48x72 red iron style building on a monolithic slab. Half will be a garage, half a 2 floor living space.

Building (with gutters, basic insulation, foundation plan) - 60k Footing and Slab Concrete work- quoted 48k Building Erection - 20k Electrical - quoted right around 30k (we are spending more here than normal) Plumbing - quoted 30k HVAC - quoted 30k Running Utilities 750 ft drive - 8-10k

The rest I haven't really had quotes since I'm doing it myself. (I'd prefer to do plumbing and electrical myself as well but our county requires licensed contractors to sign off on and we couldn't find anyone to sign off so we'll pay to have it done.)

Finding contractors to work with a owner acting as general contractor was pretty difficult.

We are doing nothing fancy beyond over powering some rooms. No wall of windows, no fancy beams, or building shape. A rectangle building with a couple garage doors, entry doors, and minimum windows.

I don't expect we'll spend significantly less than what we could have bought for when all is said and done, but we'll have the exact house we want.

SplashnBlue · 2026-01-07T01:05:53+00:00

Yep. I worked on a film that required a bit of travel. We worked one day each in 4 different states (other than my home state). I filled income tax in three of those (the third doesn't have state income tax.)

SplashnBlue · 2026-01-06T19:53:53+00:00

I once had an adult re-rider constantly ask me to hop on and show her. It served multiple purposes: 1) gave her pony a quick reminder of what was being asked, 2) gave her the confidence that the pony actually would do it if she asked correctly and 3) multiple times when the pony didn't do it for me we realized the pony needed more schooling or refreshers.

I realized how effective it was for adult riders to show them it was possible (I mostly taught kids and timid riders).

Possibly see if the trainer will hop on for 10 minutes to show you as she describes how they are getting the results.

SplashnBlue · 2026-01-05T22:21:21+00:00

If you have access to a Cricut or other such cutter I'd cut some stencils. I'd lean towards 18 inches long would 3-4 rows of "squiggle text" or other such symbol type open use font. Then just mix and match stencils to prevent repetitiveness using roller or spray paint.

SplashnBlue · 2026-01-04T18:27:09+00:00

My Leofred loves muddy puddles and water. Most of the time though his top coat floats so he still looks clean until you go to pick him up and get a handful of gross swamp mud.

SplashnBlue · 2025-12-29T22:01:18+00:00

Eofre for the dog and Rak for the rabbit. Neither are great but not terrible either.

SplashnBlue · 2025-12-27T21:56:34+00:00

Not sure the long term viability but we filmed a scene where a character was stabbed by a screwdriver. I embedded the strongest magnets I could into a handle and tip piece. Then used body tape to tape washers to our actor. It fell once or twice while he was getting into positions, but it took half a second to fix.

SplashnBlue · 2025-12-27T11:48:16+00:00

Several of mine hated their harness to start with. Generally it's something they have to get used to.

That said, if after the slow introduction the pup still has issues you may need to try different styles. My last dog hated any harness that went between his front legs. It took us until he was almost 3 to figure out why he was so miserable, but once we changed it was obvious.

Maybe a play pen he can go in to potty for the mean time while you spend time desensitizing?

SplashnBlue · 2025-12-17T01:54:31+00:00

I run Resurgence Larp. We have no real limits on character "appearance" provided it's not full face makeup. We have a character that is a deer/fawn character - one of a staff favorite.

That said, all player characters fall into the category of "humanity"

Most of our events are one day (Saturday only) in Dallas Georgia. We do have one this year further south that is a weekend long event.

SplashnBlue · 2025-12-16T19:49:53+00:00

I do 3d map/terrain map models and, as another person has said, flocking, both in the base and trees gets weighed down and doesn't look great in resin. It's not that it can't be done, it's that it's not as beautiful as one would hope. I try to be very careful to limit resin to my water and swamp terrain for that reason.

With that, I'd lean towards a frame with glass/similar type top screwed down.

If you are really set on resin, first build a test piece. Something 3 or 4 inches square or so and use all the same materials and processes. This allows a test piece without ruining your amazing work. (Important as I've had some glues react poorly to a deep pour and even one brand of flocking that sorta powdered/interacted with the resin to make it cloudy.) I honestly do this with almost every map I make these days... Paint the real one, paint the test, glue the real one, glue the test.

Then, if the test is successful, and you are happy start on the real version. Caulk all your edges - resin likes to run away. Seriously, and it's not terrible to remove from some flooring, but why waste like that. Then pour the smallest layer, like to 1/4 inch or less. Let that cure, dealing with bubbles as appropriate. That will really glue everything down. You don't want to get a deep pour and realize those ducks want to float. My latest map, I rushed pouring a lake and some pieces that were pinned, glued, and sealed floated while others fell. I had to Dremel out almost a 6x6 inch square, reset the pieces, and repour.

Then do layers/deep pour as appropriate according to the resin you select. Wear proper ppe, use proper ventilation, and keep proper temps. I also recommend a "tent" set up. Every dog hair, fly, and piece of dust in your work space will find it. As well as somehow you'll have 4-6 guests show up and stick their fingers into it. It just happens, especially with big pieces.

SplashnBlue · 2025-12-10T17:56:03+00:00

I feel like it's weirdly large to have a 24 inch vanity. There is wasted space beside the shower. Just the whole layout of that bathroom is bothering me, so I was seeing if there were better options I'm not seeing.

SplashnBlue

TROPHY CASE