While pondering how to build the next large scene for my story I thought I’d have some fun making Nieva a change of clothes and some useful hunting equipment. She will shortly be in warmer climes and needs to replenish her food supplies (I think Rime scarfed most of her food!) ;)
In my story Nieva is goes deer hunting. I decided she needed a spear, but after creating it I wondered how feasible it would be to kill deer with a spear so decided to make a bow and arrows too…
Nieva tries the bow
Youtube is a wonderful resource and I found several “how to” videos for making miniature bows. (I am not the only crazy person out there! Lol!) In the end I made up my own bow, loosely based on what I’d seen. I used three pieces of floral wire twisted together then bent at each end. I covered the bow in floral tape which was ok, but didn’t quite disguise the “nobbly” nature of the twisted wire. I was able to string floss between the ends and there is enough spring in the floral wire to make the bow work. I cut down wooden kebab skewers for the arrows, and I repurposed a bit more of the old golf glove as a quiver. The bow is capable of firing the arrows 3 - 4 feet - although not with any degree of accuracy! I think Nieva looks like she could be in the Olympics though!
Ultimately a quick internet search came up with the spear being easier to use and become proficient at, plus easier to make and maintain. Anyway, Nieva can take her choice…. And for anyone opposed to killing animals I will just say that Nieva is hunting only to eat!
Equipped for any eventuality!
When making the spear I used a bit of thick foil for the spear head and this looked quite effective so I got carried away and decided to make another knife for Nieva. This time she got a machete - which will be very useful in the wooded areas she is going to be traveling through. The machete blade is made from a piece of foil taken from the top of a wine bottle. This sort of foil is easy to glue and cut and has enough body and sheen to look convincingly metal-like….also using it is a great excuse for drinking more wine! Did you know - the foil on top of a wine bottle was originally put there to keep vermin from getting at the corks and wine. These days it’s purely aesthetic. As it costs money and resources but ends up in the landfill there is a trend to get rid of it. At least I’m doing my bit by recycling some…better get drinking while it’s still around!