Camille Young

I just launched my first ever figurine available for preorder at Fangamer.net. Avarus was inspired by Chrono Trigger’s Mammon Machine: a device used to draw power from an evil source for the sake of greed.

4.5in x 3.5in

I used a combination of old, dried out scrap Sculpey III and Super Sculpey for the original. The dry texture allows the clay to hold sharp edges.

The sculpting process took about a month and a half. One of the biggest challenges was making everything symmetrical. I mainly used an x-acto blade, a large sewing needle, and a colour shaper tool to sculpt the details. I used fine grain sandpaper to smooth the surface but it became shiny and polished as I handled it, working between bakes.

The artists at Mana Studios will cast them in resin for me, and then I’ll paint them by hand. A little Rub n’ Buff gives the surface an antique patina and the color highlights are painted with acrylic and cel-vinyl paints.

I decided to incorporate the word ‘mammon’ into the symbolic icons which cover its surface. Mammon means material wealth and gain regarded as an evil influence.

The tick on the front symbolizes the machine’s purpose, while the Anubis heads on the shoulders foreshadow destruction brought about by greed. Lavos’ three forms are represented on the back and Queen Zeal’s greedy eyes look out from under her crown. The meaning of the electrical diagram is left as an exercise for the engineers out there. Moth wings represent how ephemeral material wealth and gain are: “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy…” Matthew 6:19