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Brad
Selfish Heathen
 
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Zone of Pain
 
2012-06-03, 18:24

Quote:
Originally Posted by Robo View Post
NOT DEUNK.

ok drunk haha

Buy I. Really do like it!,, really!m

And Xaqtly I like the nerd wgn and turtle I like the playground but mainly the nerd wagon
Glad to see Robo finally stumbled into this thread!

OK. So, I'm a week overdue for posting the final steps. It's go time. Last we left our stalwart crafter, he was drilling holes into the body of the harp…

Next step was to give the smooth black harp a light coat of gold spray paint. After painting, I wet sanded the body (apprehensively, too, as this was my first time ever wet sanding anything) with the 600 grit paper. Even though I was careful, the underlying bumps were still pronounced enough that I managed to sand right through the black paint in some spots.



I took a black sharpie to those spots that were completely worn through.



I then took the first step I regretted in this project. I'd read great things about using Rub 'n Buff on crafts to give them an authentic metallic look. Well, that may be the case with some materials and shapes, but definitely not this harp. Ugh. I didn't even bother taking a picture. I evenly coated the harp with a fine layer, rubbing in small dabs exactly as described in the instructions and tutorials I'd seen, but the whole thing looked splotchy and, for lack of a better word, dirty.

So, the next day, I took it back outside and gave it a couple layers of gold spray paint to even it back out. No pics here, either. After drying, I wet sanded with the 600 grit paper again, but this time I was so gentle as to barely touch the surface. This did the trick nicely. The harp retained the metallic gold color and sheen and lost the gritty feel of fresh spray paint.

With the body largely done, and with a few more days to go before it needed to be totally finished, I decided it could use some embellishments. Back to Inkscape!



The in-game harp has these shapes on the body, and I think they're supposed to be holes or depressions or something. It's hard to tell from the low-res graphics. Well, I decided to add these shapes to the body instead of subtracting them. I printed them onto card stock and set them down for a test look.



Seems about right! I then transfered to craft foam, cut them out again, taped them down to a scrap of poster board, and painted on a few coats of gesso.



More black spray paint, more gold spray paint, and then plucking a few down onto the harp to get a feel for final placements.



Glue time! No going back now.



Looking good! Final step: strings. I cut the gold cord into the various necessary lengths and tied each one in what I think is a cat's paw knot. I think I used one less twist than the official technique, but whatever close enough. I cut the final cords a final time after knotting, squeezed hot glue into each hole, and promptly fed the cords down before the glue cooled. Doing them one at a time, I held each cord for several minutes to ensure a solid seal.

And here we have the final product!



And into the hands of miss Zelda:



DONE.

Now, where the heck am I going to keep this thing???

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