Masterpiece Timeframes: By a Mediocre Painter

Mediocre Articles & Blogs – September 21, 2025

We're Slow & We Know It!

Let’s Face it, We’re Slow        Which as a business, may be the dumbest thing to admit, but at Mediocre Studios, we’re brazenly honest. I am not here too blow smoke up your rear and lie to you. If I don’t think I can make your timeline, you are going to know. On average we have ten orders ahead of you. During the “Con Season,” we may have 15-20 orders backlogged. That’s not to say we wait and only work on one at a time, but there is a threshold where quality can suffer when you rush something or take on more than you can handle at once.        We’re a small business, we take pride in our work. While I have shipped items, I was not personally proud of, I strive to make every masterpiece a work art. Some shops will throw out fancy words like bespoke, artisanal, but here, we check our egos at the door and stick to the tried and true; Mediocre AF. So, this article is going to break down what takes us so long, so you have a better understanding of who you are purchasing from.   1. We’re a Studio, Not a Warehouse        Unlike mass-produced items which reside on a warehouse shelf somewhere, our costumes and props are made to order. They don’t even exist until you place your trust in our business. From modeling, printing, sanding, welding, to sewing, painting, and finishing, our team puts hours (sometimes months) into every single detail. That level of care can’t be rushed without sacrificing quality—and we refuse to cut corners.        Fresh off the printer, a part looks rough. It has visible “layer lines”—tiny ridges that come from each pass of the nozzle. To an untrained eye, it might seem finished. But you deserve better than that. You have undoubtedly seen it at a Comicon. The dude dressed up as Randy Macho Man Savage selling 3D printed props weapons. But take a closer look, or don’t because honestly at 10 feet away I can tell he just glued them together and painted them. These shops are about quantity, not quality. To be fair, they have to be, but we don’t.        Too us, this is not acceptable. This is your hard-earned cash and you should expect us to earn every penny you spend with us. When we founded Mediocre Studios, we boldly declared WAR on Layer Lines.   2. Sanding, Sanding & More Sanding        This is where the quiet, tedious, annoying work begins. We sand every piece by hand—again and again—working through finer and finer grits. Sometimes we take a piece all the way up to a 2000 grit wet sand, The goal? A surface so smooth it feels like glass.      Every single surface has to be sanded smooth—and we mean every surface. Power sanders might sound faster, but they remove too much material too quickly. That can warp the piece and ruin the snug fit between parts. So instead, we sand everything by hand. Piece by piece. Curve by curve. Until it all still locks together perfectly, but without the harsh texture of layer lines.   Multiple Pieces, Multiple Hours        Most props aren’t just one solid object—they’re made of several intricate parts that need to connect seamlessly. That means hours of careful sanding across multiple surfaces, constantly testing and re-fitting to make sure tolerances stay tight. It’s a slow dance of “sand, check the fit, sand again,” repeated until everything slides together flawlessly.  Filling & Drying        Even after sanding, the eye can still catch the smallest imperfections. That’s why we fill, prime, and sand again, layering in strength and smoothness until the surface is seamless. Each step has to dry or cure fully before the next begins. Rushing here would mean flaws later—and that’s not acceptable to us. But filler isn’t instant—it can take several hours to dry before we can even think about sanding again. And that’s just one coat. Every time we change sandpaper to a higher grit, we repeat this process multiple times: fill, wait, sand, repeat. Each cycle gets us closer to a surface that looks like it was cast, not printed.        Only when the piece is assembled and perfectly smooth do we paint. By this point, the layer lines are invisible. What was once a raw print now looks like a prop that stepped out of a film set. transformation is striking: the raw plastic you’d never want to display has become a flawless, professional prop. By the time you see it, you’d never guess how many hours of sanding, waiting, and handwork are hidden beneath that glossy finish. This is just step one, might be step two, but who is counting at this point.   3. Painting Slow & Methodical        Painting is where the piece finally comes to life—but it’s also where patience is everything. Each layer of paint must fully cure before the next is applied. That’s hours of waiting between coats.   Could we rush? Sure. But here’s what happens when you do: •           The paint can crack. •           It can run, drip, or leave streaks. •           It can peel or flake after just a little use. •           It can stay tacky forever (nobody wants a sticky sword).        We refuse to let that happen. So, we wait. We let every layer set before the next one bonds. Base coats, metallics, weathering, sealants—all stacked carefully until the piece doesn’t just look painted. It looks real. Weather is an important factor. If it’s too humid, paint dries slower, if its cold, paint can crack when applied to heavy. If any of these issues arise, we sand everything ALL THE WAY back down and start again. That means, you wait longer than if we took our time from the start.   4. Customization Takes Time        Many of our clients ask for specific sizing, color adjustments, or unique design features. These personal touches make your piece truly one-of-a-kind—but they also add steps to the process before we can ship it out. Fabrics, foams, resins, paints, and specialty hardware we use aren’t always available off the shelf. Sometimes we have to wait for suppliers, track down unique items, or even custom-dye fabrics to get the look just right. On occasion, we have even had our modeler create something from scratch (UF-50 Bloodhound armor and Helmet). You may not have asked for these features, but the order before yours did and while we can multitask with the best of them and manage finishing several orders simultaneously, there are limits.        Something we do, that is unique to Mediocre Studios. Every helmet, weapon, armor piece, etc has a graphite coat applied underneath the paint. Why? Name me one set of armor in lore that is plastic underneath. Eventually, you will drop it, scrape, scratch it, bump into someone at a pub crawl, a con, a Halloween event, and no one, no one, wants to see their precious item damaged to reveal plastic. So, underneath every piece is a graphite coat protected by a 2k Hard Coat. As wear and tear occurs, you will see a glint of metal coating under the paint and not cheap plastic.   Materials Need Time Too        Resins need to cure. Paint layers need to dry. Sealants need to harden so they don’t crack. The proper cure time for a 2K Hard Coat is 2 WEEKS. Weeks, not days. These “invisible” hours are just as important as the crafting itself, ensuring your prop or costume holds up under lights, travel, and wear. Making sure they don’t break the first time you trip or drop something.        We don’t think of what we make as “items.” We think of them as pieces of your story. Maybe it’s for a stage show, a film, a cosplay convention, or just to bring a character you love to life. Whatever the reason, we want the moment you open that box to feel magical. We’re cosplayers and gamers too. We drop in on Helldivers 2 on Fridays and mop up the flood on Sunday. We get it. So, we dedicate ourselves to making an item as good as we possible can. Sure, we have a few misses from time to time, but damnit, we try.        5. Relentless Pursuit of Excellence        For us, “good enough” is never good enough. Every costume and prop that leaves our shop should look like it belongs on stage, on screen, or in the spotlight—not like it just came off a machine. That means we obsess over the smallest details, the ones you might never notice consciously, but that make all the difference in how your piece feels and photographs. Most shops will print your armor with only 2 walls / perimeters, which is fairly standard. This is directly tied to the strength of an object, albeit surviving a drop or someone being abusive at ComiCon. We don't meet the standard in this regard, we exceed it.   All Masterpiece armor is printed four - six walls thick, depending on the component. Our is designed to last longer than you will cosplay.    6. Growing into the Future        We know the wait can be hard. And we don’t want long turnarounds to be the norm forever. That’s why we’re already working on expanding our capacity and streamlining our workflows. We’re finding ways to be more efficient without ever sacrificing the quality we’re known for. We’re growing—cautiously, thoughtfully, but with excitement. Because we want to give you not only the best props and costumes we can create, but also the best experience we can offer. We recently brought on additional help to expedite the sanding and assembly process. We added a dozen more printers to our studio. We are growing.   42. Thank You for Your Patience        This studio didn’t appear overnight. We built it with our own hands—piece by piece, just like the props we make. We started small, with borrowed tools and improvised workbenches, never imagining how far it could grow. And then the orders came. And kept coming. Suddenly, we weren’t just hobbyists making things we loved—we were a team. A small team, but a passionate one.        We are overjoyed and overwhelmed every single day by the support we’ve received. Every message, every order, every kind word has been life-changing. You’ve helped us turn a dream into reality, and we’ll never stop being grateful for that. But being a small team also means that every hand is vital, and every piece takes time.        So, thank you—for waiting, for trusting, for being part of this life-changing journey with us. When your package arrives, you’re not just holding a costume or a prop. You’re holding our story, our late nights, our sanding dust, our laughter, our pursuit of perfect. And the best part?     This is only the beginning.