Sneak Peek at Ancient Greece Props!!

Hi All!!

Ancient Greece has a lot of stories known as Mythology! Your ChopShop Monkeys have been busy doing our best to make this theme come alive for you all! I thought I would show you a few of our process pictures, from conception drawing right on up to completion.

We start with a big planning board and several meetings with our crew; we read through the program guide, we draw up a rough map of the creation studio, and start filling it with ideas….lots of ideas! 

Some ideas sadly do not make the cut for one reason or another, usually because it would be to expensive or time consuming. We only have so much time to build and paint props in the back, and only 3 weeks to install in the Creation Studio, not everything works out as planned for a million reasons but sometimes it all comes together!

We talk about what we have in the back that can be used again, as is, or if we can break it down and use parts for something new. [See the last entries in this post, for a peek at one prop that has been re-made and one that was made from scraps and leftovers.]

Let’s start with Cronus…

Axis’s drawing… 

The drawing is then enlarged and transferred to painted and prepped wood; the wood is then cut to shape and sanded….

Then it is passed on to Jill for some airbrush paint…

Next the original drawing is enlarged and transferred AGAIN onto the wall in the Creation Studio so the background can be painted….

Now Axis installs the big head and hand of Cronus…. 

Last but not least I can finish the final painting so it all looks right together!

Some props take longer than others; we try and give a mix of sizes and textures, 3D and painted.

Hades

Axis draws him up….

He enlarges the drawing onto 4’x8’ sheet of prepped and painted wood.

Then it goes to Jill for an airbrush paint job…

Finally Hades gets mounted on the wall and is ready to greet students!

Pegasus

Karen draws it…

She enlarges the drawing onto 4’x8’ sheet of prepped and painted wood.

Then she gives it a beautiful paint job…Up on the wall it goes!

Medusa and Pan peek boards

Karen draws them out…

She enlarges and transfers onto prepped boards…

Paints them up!! Gosh the kids really enjoy these!

Zeus

Axis draws him……Sarah [Jill’s Daughter] chalks it up on the wall….Jill paints him….

Recycle Moment!!! Mushroom sculptures

Jennifer challenged herself to dig around our scrap bins and come up with a mushroom plan….

She pulled out bits of Styrofoam left overs and wood bases, and weird moss and dried out pond crystals [remember the pond in Pre-historic Theme?]

Then she pressed her hubby into service and had him chasing down some tree trimmers for some branches that she cut for mushroom stalks LOL. 

Put all that together with her very cute paint job and this is what you get….

Recycle Moment!!! Centaur!!

Remember Rainbow the rearing horse? Has made appearances in 2011 during the Wild West Canadian Theme and 2012 Medieval Theme…Well here Rainbow is again in 2013 Ancient Greece!  We have given our horse a complete make-over and frankly he is looking marvelous!!

First we took measurements and traced templates…

Axis drew out some new fittings…and designed a new style….and gave him abdominal muscles lol.

And here is our horse, refitted as a Centaur!!

[We would like everyone to know no horses were injured during this re-fitting…Rainbow is still in there, just sandwiched between.]

Well these are just a few peeks at what is up-coming in your new Theme!! Check out your program guide so you don’t miss out on anything!

See you soon!

Jill Mann