**My Favorite Things of 2018**

As I sit here reflecting on my favorite things from 2018, I am reminded of the various aspects of my life that brought me joy and excitement. From building props to making videos, I've had a wonderful year filled with creativity and adventure.

When it comes to building props, one of my favorite things is creating custom molds for silicone casting. There's something truly satisfying about taking an idea and bringing it to life using materials like mold max 29 Envy, a tin cure silicone that I have come to rely on for most of my prop-making needs. The specific difference between this product and mold max 30, the pink version, is the lower viscosity when unmixed, which allows bubbles to rise more easily during pouring. This makes it easier to remove air pockets from the mixture before curing.

The benefits of using mold max 29 Envy are numerous. It's a 10-to-1 ratio, with silicone and catalyst mixed in equal parts, making it easy to mix and pour into molds without the need for vacuum chambers. This makes it an excellent choice for beginners or those who want to streamline their prop-making process. I've used this material extensively throughout the year, and I'm pleased to say that it's become my go-to utility silicone.

Another aspect of my life that brings me joy is creating videos with my wife in our home workshop. We film our own prop and costume tutorials using a variety of equipment, including cameras and lenses. Our primary camera is the GH5, a fantastic device that has become an essential tool for capturing high-quality footage. The lens we use is an Olympus 60mm macro lens, which I highly recommend due to its affordability and versatility.

This prime lens offers exceptional image quality, with a fast f/2.8 aperture that allows for beautiful portraits and close-up shots of props and costumes. What I love most about this lens is its ability to capture incredible detail, even at the smallest scales. Whether we're working on intricate prop designs or showcasing our finished costumes, this lens has proven itself to be an invaluable asset in our video-making endeavors.

Finally, I'd like to introduce you to my latest friend, Vector – a small, adorable robot that has captured my heart with its endearing personality and quirky antics. This little robot may not have a practical use, but it's brought so much joy and entertainment to my life. With its ability to roam around the desk, play tricks on me, and even display the weather forecast, Vector is more than just a novelty – it's a beloved companion that has become an integral part of our home workshop.

As I look back on 2018, I'm reminded of the many wonderful things that have brought me happiness and fulfillment. From prop-making to video production, I've been fortunate enough to pursue my passions with enthusiasm and creativity. Here's to another exciting year filled with adventure, learning, and joy – may it be just as memorable for you!

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enhello bill here from tested and punished pops Academy with my favorite things from 2018 starting with my buddy lord shaxx right here I did a lord shaxx cosplay a couple years ago he's one of my favorite characters from destiny and this came out from McFarlane Toys recently it was like 30 bucks on Amazon and it's just great I love my little buddy here he's got a little sidearm in his holster that is to scale at I think 1/6 scale I'm even printing one of my own destiny rifles that I had full size at 1/6 scale so that he can have a tiny little rifle the only real downside to this fella compared to the Saladin statue that they put out is he doesn't have any articulated joints are there then a little bit of motion in his shoulders so I may have a future project or I cut them apart as painful as that sounds and put in some ball and socket joints so that he can have a little bit more mobility especially so that you can hold the rifle that I'm making for him so that's lord shaxx one of my favorite things right there moving on over here we have EBA foam now I know you're like bill you're mister foam guy what's new about evey a foam well let me tell you the advancements in foam technology or what's available to cosplayers in the last year or two has just gone through the roof what we have over here is an assortment of some foams that you can get now in dowel form so this is already round different diameters very useful for piping in your costume fairly rigid you could add a wire to it to make it poseable these foam dowels are fantastic I got mine from our friends at TNT cosplay supply they have all kinds of foams in different densities and thicknesses this piece was cut from a piece that was about an inch thick and we have up to two inches thick of EBA foam it's nice and smooth that comes in big sheets there's no texture on either side this is stuff that is being manufactured specifically for cosplayers and that makes me really happy there's also a bunch of different brands who have foam clay that's right this is a clay that dries into EBA foam if I can open it there we go so it's kind of like a putty I'm not gonna take it out because I'll get all messy but it's like a putty you can sculpt it and then let it air dry and it turns into basically the same thing as Evie a foam so if you're doing more organic type sculpting this is a great way to start and just like with other Evie a foam builds once you have that base form made you know with a rotary tool and do some sculpting on top of it foam clay and other EDA foams I have a feeling this will continue to be one of my favorite things through 2019 all right let's move on over here we have one of my favorite games I played in the last year or so sea of thieves and I am a sucker for art books especially from my favorite games this is no exception tons a really great artwork in here a lot of concept art really fleshing out this fantastical almost whimsical world that they built for a sea of thieves wonderful full wonderful stuff I especially love things like this they are these are character not necessarily turnarounds but really good shots of different characters if you're gonna build a costume this sort of artwork is fantastic for getting started there's probably a section in here on all the super cool weapons they had as well and again if you're gonna make props that is a great place to start I can't see it here but there we go we got some mermaids or merpeople and skeletons and swords and daggers and all the fun stuff that you would find in a fantastical pirate world and see if thieves that was one of my favorite things moving this way this is a silicone mold it's actually the grips from my Blade Runner blaster so you can see there is the negative of the grips that I made for my blaster the material I want to talk about is this silicone this is a tin cure silicone it's from moved on it's called mold max 29 Envy and it's very similar to mold max 30 which is the pink version that they have also a tin cure silicone I use that as like my go-to utility silicon it works for most things the envy stuff the specific difference is that when it is a liquid with is not been mixed and cured there's a much lower viscosity than normal mold max that means that when you're pouring your mold you don't necessarily have to vacuum Dee gasps this silicone too low enough viscosity that bubbles will come out of it normally what I would do is mix up my mold max throw it in a pressure or a vacuum chamber pull all those bubbles out and then pour it this stuff you don't have to use a vacuum chamber which is awesome you just mix it up and pour it in your mold it's also easier to mix because it's a lower viscosity mixing in that this is a 10 to 1 ratio 10 part silicone one part catalyst the silicone is very gooey the catalyst is very liquidy with a lower viscosity silicone it's easier to mix it so I used a bunch of this stuff this year and I think instead of getting the mold mech surgery I'll just get this stuff from now on because it's great moving on not only do I build stuff but I also make videos my wife and I film our own prop and costume tutorials in our shop and we use this camera this is the gh 5 I know Joey really likes his we've been enjoying this camera when I want to talk about though is this lens this is a Micro Four Thirds lens it's an olympus it fits perfectly on the Panasonic cameras this is a 60 millimeter macro lens and the really great thing about it is it's fairly cheap for what you get I think this goes from around 400 bucks I found it on sale for like 300 well worth the price it's a prime lens like I said 60 millimeter and it's a 2.8 which means it's fairly fast not a 1.8 not a 1.4 2.8 still pretty quick though what I love about it is that it's a pretty good portrait lens so if you're shooting people working on stuff it's really great for that range but also you can get really close like crazy close to your subjects we're talking like I don't know an inch or less which you don't always need to do that for prop and costume tutorial videos but it is super handy sometimes so you can do some fun tricks with that one of my favorite lenses I've been using that all year and it's great ok the last thing is my friend my new friend what's his name vector I'm gonna turn him on and load him up now he's not connected to Wi-Fi right now so he may not have all of his options but this little fella is really just a toy but he's a little robot that runs around he's he's powering up right now he's a little robot and he'll roam around the desk and hopefully not go over the edge he has tumbled off the desk at least once but he's pretty good about not driving off of there he's got a little cube he can do tricks he can play I can pick up his cube he can tell you what the weather's gonna be you can set an alarm and he's just really adorable like you how you doing buddy there you go he's awake and he's ready to explore his environment I haven't found any practical use for this but it does it's just a fun thing to have we let him play around in the office and just kind of roam around on his own desk and he's awesome back there how are you today he doesn't know but ideally he'll learn his environment he'll respond to voice commands he will if he's connected to the internet he can tell what the weather's like but it's really just a cute toy it's really a fun thing to play with that's my list of favorite things from 2018 I try to incorporate a good spread of everything from my life I hope you enjoyed it thank you so much for watching and we'll see you in the new year youhello bill here from tested and punished pops Academy with my favorite things from 2018 starting with my buddy lord shaxx right here I did a lord shaxx cosplay a couple years ago he's one of my favorite characters from destiny and this came out from McFarlane Toys recently it was like 30 bucks on Amazon and it's just great I love my little buddy here he's got a little sidearm in his holster that is to scale at I think 1/6 scale I'm even printing one of my own destiny rifles that I had full size at 1/6 scale so that he can have a tiny little rifle the only real downside to this fella compared to the Saladin statue that they put out is he doesn't have any articulated joints are there then a little bit of motion in his shoulders so I may have a future project or I cut them apart as painful as that sounds and put in some ball and socket joints so that he can have a little bit more mobility especially so that you can hold the rifle that I'm making for him so that's lord shaxx one of my favorite things right there moving on over here we have EBA foam now I know you're like bill you're mister foam guy what's new about evey a foam well let me tell you the advancements in foam technology or what's available to cosplayers in the last year or two has just gone through the roof what we have over here is an assortment of some foams that you can get now in dowel form so this is already round different diameters very useful for piping in your costume fairly rigid you could add a wire to it to make it poseable these foam dowels are fantastic I got mine from our friends at TNT cosplay supply they have all kinds of foams in different densities and thicknesses this piece was cut from a piece that was about an inch thick and we have up to two inches thick of EBA foam it's nice and smooth that comes in big sheets there's no texture on either side this is stuff that is being manufactured specifically for cosplayers and that makes me really happy there's also a bunch of different brands who have foam clay that's right this is a clay that dries into EBA foam if I can open it there we go so it's kind of like a putty I'm not gonna take it out because I'll get all messy but it's like a putty you can sculpt it and then let it air dry and it turns into basically the same thing as Evie a foam so if you're doing more organic type sculpting this is a great way to start and just like with other Evie a foam builds once you have that base form made you know with a rotary tool and do some sculpting on top of it foam clay and other EDA foams I have a feeling this will continue to be one of my favorite things through 2019 all right let's move on over here we have one of my favorite games I played in the last year or so sea of thieves and I am a sucker for art books especially from my favorite games this is no exception tons a really great artwork in here a lot of concept art really fleshing out this fantastical almost whimsical world that they built for a sea of thieves wonderful full wonderful stuff I especially love things like this they are these are character not necessarily turnarounds but really good shots of different characters if you're gonna build a costume this sort of artwork is fantastic for getting started there's probably a section in here on all the super cool weapons they had as well and again if you're gonna make props that is a great place to start I can't see it here but there we go we got some mermaids or merpeople and skeletons and swords and daggers and all the fun stuff that you would find in a fantastical pirate world and see if thieves that was one of my favorite things moving this way this is a silicone mold it's actually the grips from my Blade Runner blaster so you can see there is the negative of the grips that I made for my blaster the material I want to talk about is this silicone this is a tin cure silicone it's from moved on it's called mold max 29 Envy and it's very similar to mold max 30 which is the pink version that they have also a tin cure silicone I use that as like my go-to utility silicon it works for most things the envy stuff the specific difference is that when it is a liquid with is not been mixed and cured there's a much lower viscosity than normal mold max that means that when you're pouring your mold you don't necessarily have to vacuum Dee gasps this silicone too low enough viscosity that bubbles will come out of it normally what I would do is mix up my mold max throw it in a pressure or a vacuum chamber pull all those bubbles out and then pour it this stuff you don't have to use a vacuum chamber which is awesome you just mix it up and pour it in your mold it's also easier to mix because it's a lower viscosity mixing in that this is a 10 to 1 ratio 10 part silicone one part catalyst the silicone is very gooey the catalyst is very liquidy with a lower viscosity silicone it's easier to mix it so I used a bunch of this stuff this year and I think instead of getting the mold mech surgery I'll just get this stuff from now on because it's great moving on not only do I build stuff but I also make videos my wife and I film our own prop and costume tutorials in our shop and we use this camera this is the gh 5 I know Joey really likes his we've been enjoying this camera when I want to talk about though is this lens this is a Micro Four Thirds lens it's an olympus it fits perfectly on the Panasonic cameras this is a 60 millimeter macro lens and the really great thing about it is it's fairly cheap for what you get I think this goes from around 400 bucks I found it on sale for like 300 well worth the price it's a prime lens like I said 60 millimeter and it's a 2.8 which means it's fairly fast not a 1.8 not a 1.4 2.8 still pretty quick though what I love about it is that it's a pretty good portrait lens so if you're shooting people working on stuff it's really great for that range but also you can get really close like crazy close to your subjects we're talking like I don't know an inch or less which you don't always need to do that for prop and costume tutorial videos but it is super handy sometimes so you can do some fun tricks with that one of my favorite lenses I've been using that all year and it's great ok the last thing is my friend my new friend what's his name vector I'm gonna turn him on and load him up now he's not connected to Wi-Fi right now so he may not have all of his options but this little fella is really just a toy but he's a little robot that runs around he's he's powering up right now he's a little robot and he'll roam around the desk and hopefully not go over the edge he has tumbled off the desk at least once but he's pretty good about not driving off of there he's got a little cube he can do tricks he can play I can pick up his cube he can tell you what the weather's gonna be you can set an alarm and he's just really adorable like you how you doing buddy there you go he's awake and he's ready to explore his environment I haven't found any practical use for this but it does it's just a fun thing to have we let him play around in the office and just kind of roam around on his own desk and he's awesome back there how are you today he doesn't know but ideally he'll learn his environment he'll respond to voice commands he will if he's connected to the internet he can tell what the weather's like but it's really just a cute toy it's really a fun thing to play with that's my list of favorite things from 2018 I try to incorporate a good spread of everything from my life I hope you enjoyed it thank you so much for watching and we'll see you in the new year you\n"