Muse of Necessity

by fimbulvetr

I like to build things. Most of my family is well aware of this given how much I used to play with Legos when I was younger, and how I traveled to Australia to race a solar powered car I helped build in college. In both cases it was not the final product that appealed to me, but the process of creating and continuously improving something of my own design. This desire to build is so simple yet fundamental to my being, it’s even the reason I study physics. Unfortunately, I am not building much at the moment in the lab, so to make up for it I’ve brought my K’nex set from home. I’ve been tinkering with K’nex since high school, building models and costumes props for the last six years now. It lends itself more readily to large scale designs, which is why I’ve preferred it to Legos. Which brings me to today, when I finished my latest creation, a crown and sword for a costume based on the Witchking of Angmar (shown below).

Witchking of Angmar

Some of you may remember him as a villain from Return of the King, who was poked by Eowyn and Merry only to implode like a dramatic hot air balloon. I had wanted to try to make this costume because I already had a grim reaper cloak, so I just needed the sword and crown. As it turns out,  the sword was quite easy since I’ve made many swords before. The crown was a different story. This was the first time I’ve tried to replicate something as intricate as a crown, and while it certainly does sit well on my head, it could always be better. Luckily, I have two months before the end of term costume party, so by that time I will have refined this into some awesome. For now, I will leave you with this preview.

[peg-gallery album=”http://picasaweb.google.com/data/feed/api/user/105819570346662635782/albumid/5974063122238260209?alt=rss&kind=photo” ]