Monsters of the Deep Display
A Department 56 Halloween Vignette
Nichole Mitchell of 56th and Main
www.facebook.com/56thAndMain/
Back in 2017, when the organizers of the 25th anniversary Gathering of the NCC asked me to do a presentation at the conference, I was honored to be asked and immediately agreed. I then had to come up with a topic for my presentation that would highlight some aspect of my village displays. Since fans of my displays seem to enjoy the sculptural aspects of my work, I decided to focus on how I use my Hot Wire Foam Factory tools to transform the look of Styrofoam into other materials, such as wood. I often use foam and my favorite tools to simulate wood in my displays. I make boardwalks, railroad ties, canoes, boats, pillars, and posts; all made of polystyrene foam and all look like they are actually made of wood.
The sample display I made to show examples of the sculptural techniques I demonstrated at the conference is called Monsters of the Deep, after the Department 56 original snow village Halloween piece featured in the center of the display. All wood surfaces in this display are actually made of foam that has been sculpted using the Hot Wire Foam Factory tools. The rock formations around the display are also carved from foam.
To create the boardwalk and dock, lengths of foam were cut from a larger block of foam using the HWFF Original Scroll Table. The posts of the boardwalk were created using the Freehand Router. Then, I used the Engraving Tool to sculpt rotting wood texture into the boardwalk, dock and posts. The wood simulation is completed using a dark brown base coat of acrylic paint with dry brushing of lighter colors on top of the dark base.
On the left side of the display there is a shy sea-monster trying to hide under a decaying dingy. The row boat was sculpted from a block of foam and the inside of the boat hollowed out using the Sculpting Tool. The texture of rotting wood was done using the Precision Engraving Tool as for the boardwalk and dock. The sea-monsters exposed body parts were hand-sculpted from polymer clay and hand painted acrylics. His eyes were wired from small LED components with an on/off switch hidden behind the boat.
I hand-sculpted the other polymer clay features such as the yellow-spotted octopus, bits of monster slop and angler fish skeleton. Like the sea monster’s red eyes, the angler fish’s green light was wired using LED components with a switch hidden behind the fish.
Finally, the front of the display features a realistic waterfront made of acrylic resin. The octopus is embedded in the resin as are the bits of monster slop to complete the illusion of real water. With the exception of the Department 56 building and “Time to Feed the Monsters” village accessory, every detail of this display was sculpted with my HWFF tools and my own two hands.