Mimicry is the Best form of Flattery

Welcome back, this time around we're making a monster that everyone seems to love (don't ask me why): a mimic.  For anyone who might not know: generally in fantasy mimics are shape-shifting monsters with big tongues and lots of teeth.  They can hide in plain sight by disguising themselves as mundane objects like doors, crates, coat racks, whatever.  More commonly though they'll pretend to be valuable things.  Things that lure in adventurers and then snatch them up before they even realize it was a trap.  In that vein I went with a classic treasure chest look, but of course you can make them into whatever form you want.  Here we go:

Yep.  That's a mimic.  Bonus cat at the end.  I'd also like to explain my dislike of mimics and it's fairly simple really: they're a crutch.  They're easy.  Lazy DMs love them because they always work.  No matter the story, the twist can just be "mimics" and by a combination of memes and the shapeshift ability everyone will nod along happily.  Gah.  I hate it.  Okay, I'm down off my soapbox.  Why then am I making a mimic?  Well because my players will love it.  Naturally.

What you'll need:

• dollar store paints
• decent primer and sealer (optional)
• dollar store craft knife
• dollar store hot glue gun
• a cork
• toothpicks
• basing material
• that's it!

This build was surprisingly simple, the hardest part was carefully cutting the cork in half.  With just a craft knife this can be finicky so please be careful.  I've had my share of mishaps and they're never fun.  At the least cuts while crafting are a constant annoyance.  Slow down a bit is all.  Anyway  I also used a large base (that's 2x2 inches on a grid) but this is mainly because the cork fit better on the base that size.  I didn't feel that carving down a cork to a 1x1 inch base was worth the hassle.

Position the "lid" of the chest how you like, using toothpicks for teeth and hot glue to hold it in place.  Don't be afraid to use alot of glue inside the mouth to make it more sturdy; it gives the inside a nice, gross, oozy look too.  My lid broke off at one point and so I reinforced the outside hinge with a toothpick and hot glue.

Next I made a tongue and eyes out of hot glue and made the silver banding out of hot glue as well. If I were to do it again, I think I’d prefer cardboard strips.  Just for some different texture on the main body because we end up with alot of hot glue texture with this build.  Anyway base it, prime it (optional) and paint it up.  Voila! The laziest monster you can throw at your par- I mean, a terrifying shapeshifter all ready to use!  Do me a favor though?  Make the encounter something new.  Don't phone it in.  If you're using a mimic it should be memorable and terrifying.  

Rawr.