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Ever have one of those foam "Poof" footballs? Right now, they cost 4 bucks flat for a huge one at Wal-Mart. They are fairly substantial, and they consist of a soft foam with a kind of rubberized outer coating.

Ever have one of those moments where the light goes on above your head?

I thought I might be able to make one into a fairly convincing spore pod. Here is what I have documented so far (Waiting for the glue to set):

Step 1: Cut the Football in half. I used a small hobby saw.

Step 2: Peel back the "petals." How I did this is by cutting down the length, starting from the top, and then cutting about 1/3rd of an inch behind the petal, separating it from the center foam.

Step 3: Form your wire supports. I'm cheap, so I am trying to make jumbo paper clips work as the wire support. Since it is a bit thin, I doubled it up by twisting it together. It helps to have two pairs of pliers for this.

Step 4: Hot glue the wire supports to the interior of the petals. Use hot glue (low temp, as you don't want to burn the foam).

Step 5: Add veins, innards, and other fleshy-ness with the hot glue gun. Spikes are simply toothpicks stuck into the foam around the bottom. Use a pair of jumbo paper clips, twisted around eachother and covered in hot glue, as a central tentacle (or multiple tentacles, builder's preference). Use the hot glue, squeezed from about 6-10 inches above and swirled around, for stringy innards.

Step 6: Base if desired, prime and paint!

And There you have it, it looks like I've outlined the basic principle. I'm sure you can figure how the rest of this is going to go. I hope I have kickstarted your own ideas for the spore pods, as I am really tired of seeing the same old plasma hatcher pods!

Looks quite amazing dude!

Is that like the tyranid drop pod thing?

Lol that is what the Mycenetic Spore is... and thanks!

Just wait until its finished! I have big plans for this.

Pretty crafty, im interested to see just where this is going, keep us updated.

Hmm, I'm wondering whether careful application of heat might soften the foam enough to allow it to keep its 'peeled' shape permanently, without the wire? And if you're really lucky, heat might also put a nicer texture on the inside? Try this under adult supervision only, kids...

As a cheap Spore, they look perfectly acceptable, and have the advantage of doubling as a small cushion

Got the basic shape made, veins drawn, Gooey stuff applied, and Primed gray today. Have a look:

I'll update the method once I'm sure it's easily replicated.

looks like an Alien egg... awesome

That is pretty amazing.

pretty much the best spore pod conversion I've seen.

Ew! It looks slimy and nasty!

Great job!

There are few times in my life where I've seen a model and actually said "Ew!" out loud. This is one of them. That is a disgusting, sinewy alien egg. In other words, perfect. Very interesting idea for a conversion, and I look forward to seeing it painted.

That's a great idea although I'm bemused that your calling that thing a football when it is most certainly a Rugby ball!

That, my dear man, is pure genius. And the really good kind, too, not just the one where you get mad at the person for being too smart.

Thanks for all the kind replies!

To get this thing painted, I am planning on making a cheap wash out of a very small amount of red, brown, and black craft paint mixed with a larger amount of water. This should give it an appropriate fleshy hue on the outer extremities, and hopefully will pool into darker shades on the interior. A bit of drybrushing in some bleached bone, and it should look pretty fleshy and nasty.

Any better suggestions?

I love you.... IT! I mean IT!

Edit: The innards is hot glue? or maybe something else?

Yes, hot glue is all that consists of the gross innards. Just use your hot glue gun, about a foot above it, and wave it around while dropping strands of glue into the center. It makes it good and stringy gross!

Edit; Main post updated with the additional steps, minus pictures.

pick up a ton of horrible gaunts off ebay or something and model them into that thing.

thats the best pod ive saw so far :3

A side note for anybody who is curious:

Footprint is about the size of a large blast template. It might even be a bit large, but better too big than too small, right?

Yeah, it looks disgusting enough!


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Yeah, it looks disgusting enough!

Soladrin wrote:looks like an Alien egg... awesome

QFT

I was gonna post the same thing but was too slow.

If anyone tells you it's too large to use in a game, cut off the top of their head, fold down the edges and use that as a mycetic spore instead. A just punishment for deriding something as awesome as this.

J.Black wrote:If anyone tells you it's too large to use in a game, cut off the top of their head, fold down the edges and use that as a mycetic spore instead. A just punishment for deriding something as awesome as this.

That made me laugh. I wouldn't win any sportsmanship awards this way, huh?