1:6 scale Dolls & Action Figures » Corsetkitten's Workshop: a blog devoted to 1:6 dolls, props, & photostories

Takara CG Electra gets a makeover: part 1

1:6 scale Dolls & Action Figures, Customs & Re-stylings, photostory stuff, Wrenwood Hall 4 Responses »

Jan 092012

It’s been a while since I pulled any of my Cy Girls / CGs out to do some work on (or to take photos of). The good news is that I decided that one of them will be cast as one of the actresses in the Wrenwood Hall photostories/ Quinlan Confidential photostories. It’s going to be a kind of strange mix of dolls & figures but at the end of the day it’s what makes me happy, so why not? Right?

I sorted through my remaining CG heads and bodies to decide who I’d use. I have a fondness for the Ice headsculpt but I wanted to have some variety. I narrowed it down to a re-rooted AJ, Catwoman 2.0 (with the prussian blue hair), Midori (in need of a re-root), or Electra who I’d gotten off feebay a few years ago. It was a toss up between Electra & Midori and I chose Electra because I don’t have any other characters currently using that sculpt.

Well this is how she’s looking now.

Since I got her off feebay, used and out of package with only a smattering of her original accessories she wasn’t in the best of shape and her hair was pretty awful. D’oh! I didn’t remember to take any photos of her before starting the re-root process!

I’ve started re-rooting her with some saran from Restoredoll.

I’m rooting it in long and planning on giving her wavy or even curly hair when I’m done. At least that’s the plan! It might change as I go along. If I manage to get her rooted & styled to my satisfaction I’ll repaint her this week.

More talk about Dioramas and Dolls

1:6 scale Dolls & Action Figures, dioramas, Making Stuff, Something to share, Wrenwood Hall 2 Responses »

Jan 052012

It’s taken me a few days to really think through what I want to do. I have a couple of different projects on the burners (yes all concurrently!) and my brain is certainly working overtime even if my fingers aren’t!

So, as I mentioned in the last post I am starting work on the dioramas for The Actresses. I Really need another tag to call them by since it doesn’t truly define all they do or what all of their stories will be about. Anyway, I should also mention that I am also working on the diorama for the pseudo-medieval costume drama (Wrenwood Hall).

So far I’ve managed to:

Realize that I should indeed still use the old living room base for the Actresses’ living room. I’m still debating about actually finishing the fireplace or just pulling together a 2nd plainer one to do what I want. I just don’t see the fancier one working since I’m de-glamorizing the place considerably.

Scrounged around and found some old wood that I can use to modify the remaining roomset base into something I can use for the apartment (the kitchen–which will be a medium size between the base I use for the LR and the small base I use for the University Dorm rooms, offices and student lounges).

Bought a box of spackling compound , a large container of white PVA glue and a bit of doweling.
Made a rough paper model for me to visualize how I want the 1st Wrenwood Hall roomset to look. (yes, I said 1st. If I manage to have enough supplies left over I may try to make a 2nd smaller room (on the new kitchen base). Maybe.

I’ve also been thinking about the actresses themselves. I forget how nice it is to sometimes step back from your main projects (like the University themed photostories). I have a rough cast of Actresses and support staff pretty much ready to go — unless I decide to customize some of them a bit more….(which, yes, we know I’m going to, Don’t we?)

I’ll check back and try to update with some photos in the next day or so!

Top 10 toys of 2011:aka the reasons I love 1:6 scale! pics

1:6 Props & Miscellany, 1:6 scale Dolls & Action Figures, Eh, what?, Top 10 Lists 4 Responses »

Dec 312011

Yesterday was a write-off due to migraine. But today…

Here is the list of my Top 10 Toys of 2011!

Counting down to my favorites–beginning with #10

#10 Ishani rebodied on a Hot Toys Female True Type body

Description of Toy/Toyline: Ishani’s got a Fashion Royalty Isha head that I repainted, but I’d been struggling to find a body that was going to match her skintone and give her a better range of motion than the default FR body. Will was kind enough to send me the True Type body to see if it would work (he’s a great guy!). I did some operating on the HT body to make it workable with the FR head.

So why did she make my list? Ishani (rebodied) made the list because she’s now got a much more posable body with an increased range of motion. That is a very good thing!

Downside to it: (aka why it isn’t the #1 toy on the list!): Well the truth is that I have a few issues with the Hot toys body. While it is IMO a vast improvement over the Fashion Royalty default body, I can’t say that I love it. For one thing, nothing I have fits it with the exception of some Ken clothes! I had foolishly thought that the clothes I made for my Takara CG female action figures would fit. I was wrong. So Ishani has moved up into the ranks of “needy” dolls. Meaning I need to sew a mini wardrobe for her before I can start using her in photostories and shoots. The other thing that makes it rank low for me is that the torso is vinyl and is prone to staining, and it’s kind of a pain to wrestle into and out of clothing.

Here is the original post dealing with Ishani: http://corsetkitten.com/blog/archives/4540

#9 Tristan

Description of Toy/Toyline: Tristan is a Neo Goh Guy body & head made by volks. I re-rooted him with a mix of restoredoll hair and NDR hair.

So why did he make my list? Strangely enough Tristan has made the list because I think he’s my best “guy” custom this year. I don’t do so well when it comes to painting guy faces and his is one that I didn’t get the immediate urge to wipe off! Also I have a serious shortage of guys and Tristan helps lessen it a bit.

Downside to it: (aka why it isn’t the #1 toy on the list!): He’s still pretty girly and there are some flaws with his face-up. My rooting skills are only so-so and it shows.

Here is the original post dealing with Tristan: http://corsetkitten.com/blog/archives/4575

#8 Art Nouveau vase in 1:6

Description of Toy/Toyline: Who made it is a mystery although it does have “Germany” stamped on the backside of it. It’s made of metal–possibly tin or lead/or an alloy. It’s a hefty little vase for its size–which makes me think it could be lead. It was an ebay find that was listed under 1/12 dollhouse stuff. It may be 1/12 but I find that it works perfectly well for 1:6. It’s 1 3/4 inches tall (about 43.5mm)

So why did it make my list?: Come on! It’s art nouveau and 1:6? What could be better? You’re bound to see it making various “background” appearances. I love the cattail design! (see it in the background pic of Tirrem?)

Downside to it: (aka why it isn’t the #1 toy on the list!): Frankly it’s in pretty poor condition (although not so bad when you assume it’s probably more than 15 years old, right?). When I move and have a proper workshop I may try to determine what it’s made out of and what the chances of me applying enamel to it. Depending on what I find out I might try to sculpt and cast something similar that I can then enamel. It’s certainly a nice excuse to get into metal enameling!

#7 Nerissa’s & Mallory’s Quilts

Description of Toy/Toyline: Err..I am the toyline, I guess? They were all made out of 100% cotton fabric, sewn and quilted by myself.

So why did they make my list? Two reasons: 1) They are needed pieces to complete other dorm room set ups and 2) They’re just nifty. I learned a lot in the process of making them and I like it when i manage to do that.

Downside to it: (aka why they aren’t #1 toy on the list!): There were a lot of mistakes I made on both of them, especially Mallory’s quilt. Because of those mistakes they really aren’t up to the quality I expected of myself.

Here are the original posts dealing with the quilts: http://corsetkitten.com/blog/archives/4826 (nerissa’s) and http://corsetkitten.com/blog/archives/4843 (mallory’s)

#6 Ezio : Hot Toys head

Description of Toy/Toyline: Ezio is the head from one of Hot Toys action figure releases. I’m not too clear on what he is except that he’s a video game character. He was a great gift from Will when things were going spectacularly crap (and even if the head had been a flaming piece of crap I’d have appreciated it for the intention behind it). His sculpt makes him look like a moody bastard.

So why did he make my list? As I mentioned earlier there’s a chronic shortage of the male species in my 1:6 collection. Ezio (I keep wanting to refer to him as Enzio LOL) is slated to be a rival of Cass’s and a sometime lover. He might come to a bad end I don’t know yet. I do know he’ll be getting a new name.

Downside to it: (aka why it isn’t the #1 toy on the list!): The head is nicely sculpted but the coloring was way off to use on one of my regular HT true type bodies (did I mention he looks like a linebacker with those shoulders?) so I had to give him one of my 2 Hot Toys True Type Asian bodies. It was a much, much better match (although that now means that Gill’s only got one body–but he’d be ok with that since it means one less rival for Viv’s attention).

#5 Volks Excellent Base Bodies

Description of Toy/Toyline: Volks 27cm/1:6 scale dollfie bodies. These are old bodies made pre-2005. These 2 bodies in particular are gifts from the IFDC convention. For more information about the bodies (volks) check out The Volks Perfect File.

So why did they make my list?

They made the list for 2 reasons — 1) they’re more bodies for me to make customs out of, and 2) they have the bust types that I have been trying to get for a long, long time. The busts on them are smaller than the Volks EB-J and have a more natural look to them (you can’t tell from these photos, sorry!)

Downside to it: (aka why it isn’t the #1 toy on the list!): These are the old version of Volks excellent base bodies. That means that they have big gaps around their hip/thigh area (where the joint-age is). They’re shiny (which means I will have to sandmatte them) and chances are that if they are going to one of my more beloved figures that they’re going to need thigh/torso surgery. But that’s down to my personal preference. Of course the biggest downside to these excellent body volks is that volks has discontinued their production! Which means I scoop them up whenever I find them (and can afford to. These were my xmas gift for this year).

#4 My 1:6 dorm beds

Description of Toy/Toyline: Set of 2 flat-pack able 1:6 beds that I made for my dorm room sets. Pretty Basic and meant to be a stop-gap until I get back home and can make proper ones.

So why did they make my list? Like the quilts they were needed for the Dorm room sets. The best thing about them is that they’re flat-packable so I won’t have a hard time packing them up.

Downside to it: (aka why it isn’t the #1 toy on the list!): The biggest gripe I have with them is that I made the bottom out of wood…I wanted to make them with metal and springs but didn’t have the $$ at the time to buy the supplies I needed so I went with the wood. They work as they are, but they’re not exactly how I want them so they’ll get re-vamped in the future. Also, my application of varnish wasn’t so even and I’d consider sanding them down (eh, maybe) in the future.
Here is the original post dealing with the beds: http://corsetkitten.com/blog/archives/4565

#3 Chair & table from Carmen

Description of Toy/Toyline: A lovely arm chair & table set from Carmen. From the get-go she knew that I really loved the colors used in the armchair and it was among my faves. We periodically swap and make stuff for each other and these were just perfect! (there were also some 1:6 sheep pillows for Raven but I didn’t pull them out in time for this post)

So why did they make my list? Durr! They’re great stuff! I love the fact that they’re nicely made and I didn’t have to make it myself, or beg Mark to make it for me!

Downside to it: (aka why it isn’t the #1 toy on the list!): There isn’t really a downside to the pieces–only the fact that I had a few other things that edged them out of 1st place!

#2 1:6 Dresser & Desks

Description of Toy/Toyline: Custom made Desks & Dressers made by Mark of MHModelmaking .Yes that’s his blog but it’s mostly about airplanes–I’m trying to convince him he needs to start a 1:6 blog for making stuff! He doesn’t think anyone would read it or comment…IF you folks who read this blog would be interested in him writing about 1:6 stuff please leave a comment on his most recent post on his blog!

He made them all out of wood and spent a lot of time on them (they were my Valentines Day gift for 2011–they do indeed last longer than a box of tasty, delicious chocolate!)

So why did they make my list? I’d think it’d be pretty obvious that the build quality, the detailing and the overall usefulness made them hit really high in the rankings. All the drawers open and close, and the desk can be reconfigured 2 different ways. I might complain about how hard it is to get Mark to see how much I neeeeed something –but once he decides to do it he does a freakin fantastic job. I mean amazing. The guy could be building 1:1 furniture with the care and precision that he puts in. I just wish I could clone him!

Downside to it: (aka why it isn’t the #1 toy on the list!): Hmm, if I told you that I might have to kill you! No, seriously, the only reason they’re not #1 is that I fell in love with 2 of the customs I did this year. They beat everything. Anyway, here is the original post dealing with the dorm room: http://corsetkitten.com/blog/archives/4262
and you can check out the website for more info about the process: http://www.corsetkitten.com/dioramas/

And the #1 slot for 2011 goes to…… Astrid & Nerissa

Description of Toy/Toyline: Both Astrid and Nerissa are custom volks dollfies. Astrid is an Old Type C head on a hybrid Neo-Excellent J body. Nerissa is a pale Neo volks head on a volks pale excellent A body. She was rooted with restoredoll Black Orchid saran.

So why did they make my list? They made it to number one on the list because there’s something about the way they’re painted that just speaks to me. I get a lot of joy out of posing them and planning storylines for them. They’re usually located somewhere in my desk-workspace.

Downside to it: (yes even at #1 there’s a downside!): I think I could have painted both of them better/more cleanly. I don’t however want to wipe their faces and try again since I might lose that little spark that makes them so special!
Here is the original post dealing with Astrid: http://corsetkitten.com/blog/archives/3971
Here is the original post dealing with Nerissa: http://corsetkitten.com/blog/archives/4677

There you have it. My Top 10 for 2011.Comments anyone?

Merry Christmas & Holidays! Meet Mr. Tirrem Mesu!

1:6 scale Dolls & Action Figures, Customs & Re-stylings, Something to share 6 Responses »

Dec 252011

Merry Christmas, Happy Chanukah, Winter Solstice (*a bit late*), Yule, etc. I hope that the winter is good to everyone and that the new year will be filled with good times and great friends!

Our gift giving this year was very laid back. I gave Mark a set of Technical Pens (hard not to keep them for myself), a new keyboard (he’s very rough on his….think of the Samsonite Gorilla commercial and you’ve got a good idea) and last was a customized volks dollfie for him. I’ve noted for the last couple of years how Mark is always happy to comment on my dolls and figures but that the one he always seems to include (and kind of covet) most is Merrit.

Of course, there was no way I was going to make him a Merrit (like the Highlander, there can be only one!) but I did want him to have a figure that he’d be able to really invest his time and energy into….I’ve given him various action figures and dolls in the past and they’ve all been swallowed up into some storage box somewhere. So I was understandably worried that I’d make him this one and it’d also go MIA. I knew he’d want a Merrit–which meant a volkd eb-N body & head….which 1:6 volks N bodies are pretty rare on the ground these days!

Which meant that I had to ask Mark what he wanted…. If I was going to do it I wanted to do it right. I wanted it to be something that would appeal and that he’d want to have around.

He thought about it.

Mark: I want a Merrit!

Me: No. That’s not an option! You have to have someone else! Someone different!

Mark: Hmmm.

Me: Hmm?

Mark: I want an Anti-Merrit! I’ll have a Tirrem. That’s Merrit spelled backwards! Tirrem Mesu!

Me: Err…like the dessert?

Mark: Yes, but spelled differently!

An Anti-Merrit? Like an Anti-christ? Hmm. This was a hard one for me to take onboard. I mean, Merrit is the coolest character. I love him even though I’m always working on new ideas and things to cause him trouble!

So I picked Mark’s brain about how he at least wanted Tirrem, the Anti-Merrit to look. I figured Mark will have to develop his personality & backstory. So far he’s told me that Tirrem is from Massachusetts or New Jersey and is rich and is pretty crap at Mechanical stuff (Mark told me this morning that Tirrem has a number of motorcycles and a Jeep and keeps mechanics well employed)

Ok, so what was Tirrem supposed to look like then? (I vetoed the blue hair & mohawk). We sat down and looked at what the options were for hair, and Mark decided he wanted some bright orange hair. I don’t know if that was because orange is the complimentary color to Blue (which Merrit has) or what. Got the hair and Mark decided that he wanted Tirrem to have hair like Sideshow Bob from The Simpsons.

So….Here’s Tirrem! (I was not allowed to give him the Quirky eyebrows I was inclined to since Mark said he wanted “regular” and not to make Tirrem “squinty”.) LOL

I did my best but the hair isn’t really as sideshow bob-ish as I’d have liked.

Mark also said that Tirrem only wears Black and Orange. So I had to make him a black long sleeve T shirt (and a sweater too), as well as a pair of black jeans with orange stitching.

Of course there were a few rules that came with Tirrem. They were:

1) Tirrem has to be kept on display at all times (out of Electra’s reach). He can’t be stored in a box somewhere.

2) Mark must take one new photo of Tirrem each week and either post it on his (alomst empty flickr account) or on his Blog.

Mark agreed to those terms so that’s that! Merry xmas !

Surprise! A Friday Monologue for You!!!

1:6 scale Dolls & Action Figures, Friday Monologues, QC: character info, Quinlan Chronicles, Something to share 11 Responses »

Dec 092011

Since I’m feeling pretty down about the holiday I thought I’d take my mind off of it by subjecting y’all to another Friday Monologue! It’s been a while since I put one up so now seems like a good time to help get me off the bus to holiday blues land!

(as usual click the image for the story)

I don’t promise that it’s good, I don’t promise that it’s entertaining….only that it is what it is! Enjoy (I hope!)

Alison gets her groove back! plus a few pics–warning doll boobs

1:6 scale Dolls & Action Figures, Customs & Re-stylings, QC: character info 4 Responses »

Dec 012011

The last two weeks have kind of ended up being a write-off. We were getting insulation put in and between the multiple times the people came to survey the attic/the landlord/and the actual installation of the insulation I got almost nada done. (since all my stuff was piled high & boxed to allow access into the attic).

So back to talking about Alison…Do you know who she is? If not check out her basic profile here: Alison.

In the process of everything going on I took her out of the box and did some thinking. You probably don’t realize that Alison is actually one of my favorites. I don’t know why for certain, but I think it is because of her personality.

She’s actually pretty nice and she isn’t bitter or particularly vindictive (and maybe she should be considering some of the storylines and plots that I have in mind for her). But despite me liking her personality I’ve got to admit that there are a few reasons she doesn’t get much in the way of screen-time. Or attention in general.

To begin with me and her head have a not-so-great history. She started out as a bit part named Nyssa:

As you can see she didn’t have much going for her. Awful facepaint, long frizzy hair and a beauty F body (that made her neck look weird). I really just couldn’t get on with the head and eventually tried repainting it.

So then she became this rather perplexed looking person….who eventually got her face wiped yet again. to become Alison.

She’s certainly my favorite but her face paint is messy and her eyes are crooked. I like the fact that she has a more mature look to her face. But…her face paint is messy (although that alone won’t stop me from using a doll). Anyway, I had her out on my desk and I started thinking that a good part of the reason why I don’t use her often is that I just don’t like the body that she was on. I had her on a volks EB-D (which I call the Basketball Boob body)

I don’t know why, but I just couldn’t get on with it (I suppose the fact that I have out of all my many volks dollfies only 2 with the EB-D body it should tell me something, huh?). So I decided that I’d stick someone else on the Basketball boob body and let Alison have an EB-E body (bigger boobs yes, but they show that they’re subject to gravity–which will get the boobs everytime!) So here’s a quick pic of Alison sporting her new body!

I think I’ll be more inclined to play with her now, and make her some clothes–and maybe even consider working some more on her cafe! She just seems more “ta dah” and with it to me with the new body….So look for some more photos of her soon, and who knows, maybe I’ll do a mini story with her soon?

Nerissa’s 1:6 Quilt

1:6 Props & Miscellany, 1:6 scale Dolls & Action Figures, Customs & Re-stylings, dioramas, Making Stuff, Sewing in 1:6 16 Responses »

Oct 282011

Do you remember Nerissa at all? She’s one of the heads I painted back in August. She’s surprised me by becoming one of my favorite dolls. So when it came time to think about what kind of blanket she’d get for her dorm room I wanted to give her something that was a little bit special and somehow reflected a bit of her personality too.
This is what I came out with.

Yes, it IS considered a quilt (albeit not a patchwork). It’s a wholecloth quilt which means that the top consists of one whole piece of fabric. I did hand quilt it with some nice variegated thread in pinks.

She got a fitted sheet, a pillow & a pillowcase. (needs a flat sheet still)

There you have it. I’m gonna ask you all to forgive my pics. I’m still working out the new set up here and the lighting.

Clothes, clothes, clothes! Who gets what?

1:6 scale Dolls & Action Figures, fashion royalty, Making Stuff, photostory stuff, Sewing in 1:6, What do YOU think? 6 Responses »

Sep 262011

What with all the sewing of the last few weeks I realized that I need to assign pieces of clothing to specific characters.

That’s not reaaaaaaally a problem for the volks/obitsu dolls since they can wear the mattel/ barbie clothing with no trouble. But the trouble makers are of course– my fashion royalty dolls. Yes, those lovely, fashionable dolls! Although the fashion royalty girls can wear a lot of the barbie stuff (and their default clothing) but in general I always find myself struggling when it comes to finding them pants/ slacks since they can’t wear many of the babs bottoms due to their incredibly loooooong legs. So I made them a few skirts, pants and now I need to start the great clothing assignment of 2011!

The tough thing for me about doing this sort-out is…. who should get what pieces? Which outfits look better on…. well you get the idea, right?

So what I’m hoping to do later this week (probably this weekend) is to start shooting some photos of the clothing on some of the dolls—basically asking you to be the tie-breaker and help me decide who gets the clothing!

Are you guys up for that?

1:6 Projects Challenge: wk 1 (heads) photos

1:6 Challenges, 1:6 scale Dolls & Action Figures, Customs & Re-stylings, photostory stuff, Quinlan Chronicles 4 Responses »

Aug 132011

To re-cap—>~~this~~ Last week’s projects were to make 2 replacement beds for the college dorm rooms & to re-root and paint 3 new female characters for the cast.

The projects have come along with various degrees of success. I ran into a serious road-block with having to get the house ready to show estate agents — and then have those self same agents come and check it out and give us their valuations on the property. It took a lot of time to stage the house (and still need to do some further work) so it really ate into free time (it still is as we have more to do *sigh*)

Secondly–I’d like to update about the beds but part of my progress photos are on a memory card that mark borrowed (and I’m still waiting to get it back–so until then, no bed update–hopefully he’ll get it to me soon!)

ANNNNNNNNNNYYWAY…..

I started out with 2 Neo heads (2 pale ) and 1 old C head that I wanted to give high & low lights to in order to make the purple hair look less “flat”. You know what I mean? I wasn’t really expecting a lot out of them other than they’d be some girls and hopefully they’d have some character about them that I liked.

This is how they turned out: (the photos are rather crummy because I didn’t have much patience and didn’t bother to set up proper lighting.)

**I don’t know what their personalites are like (except for Nerissa) or what their dress sense is. So if anyone would like to chime in on what kind of vibe they get or impressions please do!**

April

Emily:

Nerissa

And there you have it. Overall I’m pleased with the results.

I need to think a bit about next week’s projects but I’ll post on Sunday about them.

Yay! I got stuff done!

More Volks Customs & your chance to vote!

1:6 scale Dolls & Action Figures, Customs & Re-stylings, Making Stuff, Quinlan Chronicles, What do YOU think? 6 Responses »

Jul 252011

Okay, if you know me at all you know that I dread painting guys. I can never get the volks or obitsu heads to turn out sufficiently manly enough for my tastes. So I decided I’d sit down and do my best to get one or two guys done…Mostly because I had a Volks Goh guy head sitting on a stick on my desk (next to his “sister” head) which I’d re-rooted earlier this month. I also figured that since I had another guy head here on hand, that I’d try to paint him and one of the N heads I have.

Anyway, I need YOUR HELP! Yes, I need your feedback on what year these students are in at Quinlan University. So vote, yea?? Please?

First, Meet Kennedy.
I’m not overly thrilled with him, but on the same hand I don’t know that I could do any better if I wiped his face and tried again. I didn’t have the heart to cut all of his (very) long hair off.

The results of the poll were:
21 said Kennedy should be a Sophomore
7 said Kennedy should be a Freshman
Verity: Old style C-head. She’s supposed to be Tristan’s sister. I don’t know if she’s older/younger or if they are fraternal twins….(suggestions? anyone?)
15 Said Verity should be a Freshman
11 Said she should be a a Sophomore

Meet Tristan:

Tristan is Verity’s brother (again, any ideas folks if he’s an older/ younger brother or a twin?) All I really know is that Parker thinks he’s yummy!

13 people thought Tristan should be a Freshman
11 people thought Tristan should be a Sophomore

Meet Floyd:

(yes he stole Raven’s glasses)

Tan N head &body. Floyd is actually the repaint I am happiest with. I like how he looks sort of like he might be squinting or narrowing his eyes a bit.

16 people thought Floyd should be a freshman
5 people thought he should be a Sophomore
So there you have it folks—I appreciate you taking the time to click the buttons and let me know what you think! and I promise I’ll try not to wipe anyone’s faces!

Doll Repainting Practice (part 2)

1:6 scale Dolls & Action Figures, Customs & Re-stylings, photostory stuff 2 Responses »

Jul 212011

So here we are again! Not a lot to show for the effort I put in but…overall I’m kind of happy with what the repaints came out like. (Excuse the photos since I didn’t bother to take many & I just wanted to get them out of the way!)

First, we’ve got CM 1 (the head has a few issues but whatever).

Not stunning, but still, there’s something there….

Is she a Student or Teacher?

And yesterday’s Blonde girl after her repaint: *I’ve decided to call her Bree*

Again not stellar, and not a huge difference but it’s enough that I like her and I’m pretty sure about who she is. So, here’s a semi-close up of her face.

and here’s the before & after pic:

Anyway there ‘s what I accomplished.

I was going to try to shoot the pics for the FM today but that just hasn’t gone according to plan. If I manage to do them in the morning then I’ll probably have it done for tomorrow evening–but if not, then maybe next friday (like anyone reads em anyway!)

Doll Repainting Practice & Experiments

1:6 scale Dolls & Action Figures, Customs & Re-stylings, Something to share 5 Responses »

Jul 202011

So yesterday I sat down for the first time in a long time (since January in fact!) and tried to do some repaints. It took a lot to psyche myself up into doing it, and the results were mixed across the board.

Part of the reason why I was doing them was that I wanted to do an update on one of my characters (I’ll post about who on Friday). I needed some practice before giving it a go–and I always know when it’s been a while that my painting skills seriously deteriorate. And this time was no different.

Anyway here are a few photos:

1st up is “experiment boy”

His face painting isn’t too hot (it’s rather mediocre) but I do suck at painting guys, and it is a pretty girly head. I wish I’d had one of the obitsu-03 type heads since that works (IMO) better as a guy. I’m not sure if I’m going to bother to repaint him, or just keep him as is. In case you’re wondering, the experimental part is the fact that he is on a Liv doll body that I flattened down the chest on (I know you totally can’t tell from the photo, but next time I’ll try to snap a better pic). It’s mostly because I have a few Liv bodies and no use for them that I decided to give it a try. (Also the fact that there is a massive imbalance in the male-to-female ratio in my student body. For Background guys I don’t see why I can’t do that…?

2nd up is blonde girl:

Initially, I liked her. However, after looking at her for a bit, and then taking her photo I realized I just didn’t find the face gelling for me. So off it went. If I feel up to it I’ll try again tomorrow to give her a new face.

3rd Up is Parker

Parker was kind of the dark horse out of the repainted heads. When I’d tried last time I couldn’t get a face on the head that I liked and that was going to fulfill the niche I needed it to. Now however it does. And she looks pretty good too!

So there you have it. the repaints so far except for the one I’ll be showing off Friday…..In a Friday Monologue! (I bet you thought I forgot about doing those, eh?)

And maybe tomorrow I’ll have another new face or two to share. This is proving to be a good week “off” without me feeling forced to do anything according to my self imposed schedule.

Ishani gets a Hot Toys Female body! plus a few comments

1:6 scale Dolls & Action Figures, Customs & Re-stylings, QC: character info 6 Responses »

Jul 142011

Yay for friends who support my 1:6 habit, and understand & appreciate my driving need for dolls who are 1) articulated and 2) relatively close to matching in head and body skintones.

You might remember Ishani from a while back…. She was my Fashion Royalty Rare Find Isha. As you can see–even on her default body it’s not a perfect match.

Since she was repainted she’s been shelf-sitting & waiting for me to assign her a part in my photostories. Like the majority of my FR dolls she was waiting for me to find suck it up and shake it off– and accept the fact that she has limited posability.

But my good friend Will came to the rescue and volunteered to give me a Hot Toys True Type Cuban Female body.

I’d really been hoping for a skintone match for my Perk Collette (but not a match) so that left me with PG Natalia and RF Isha (Ishani) as possible matches. Natalia was a decent match (her head was a tiny shade lighter) but Isha (Ishani) has a rounder face/head shape and it just seemed to fit the general look of the body.

To get her to look right it took a bit of minor surgery but Ishani’s head fits on and looks (IMO) good! (I’m fussy so other people might just be happy sticking her head on the body)

My only real complaint about the body (other than the fact that the upper torso is rubber/latex) is that she is very long waisted and she looks a bit out of proportion. Finding clothes for her in my collection that fit has been a challenge…She needs me to sew clothes specifically for her, I guess.

The plus sides of the new body (aside from the increased articulation) is that she has IMO a more natural looking “thick” body. It’s nice to see someone who isn’t stick-thin or built like an adult movie star. Also, the articulation in the neck allows her to tilt her head, etc and really give her some expressive poses.

So…Yeah. Ishani’s the RD for two of the dorms. She lives on campus, and is pretty mellow for the most part. Can I just say how amazing it is that when I got her onto a decent body, and set her up in the roomset—-just how many ideas and thoughts, and yes–details suddenly came into focus about her???!!

Yea, color me a happy bunny! Thanks again Will!

Terry Redux: partial make over for him

1:6 scale Dolls & Action Figures, Customs & Re-stylings, photostory stuff, QC: character info, Quinlan Chronicles 12 Responses »

Jun 222011

Last year sometime I created Terry (aka Terrence Waterstone III). I’d tried twice to get him to come out right but it wasn’t until the 3rd go round that I was at least partially happy with him.

He’s visible here in the (old) class photo. He’s #4 (and as usual click the photo for a larger image).

Anyway, as I said I wasn’t completely satisfied with him. His face was ok but his hair…well. No. Who ever had had that head before I got it must have done some kind of magic to it because no matter how I boiled it and tried to re-set it, it refused to be tamed and just continued to stick out at his head at angles (and it only got worse at the months went by).

I debated wiping his face and re-rooting him, but I decided instead just to give re-rooting him a go. I don’t like re-rooting that much but why not? Especially if it meant not having to re-paint him too.

I took the mohair I had left and decided to use it. It’s not great and the stuff actually began felting itself while I was rooting it. Talk about a major annoyance and irritation. This is the worst I’ve experienced in the whole time I’ve worked with mohair and I’m probably not going to use it again.

I decided at that point that if I got it in I didn’t care if he looked like freakin side-show Bob from the simpsons—it would do. And maybe be better since it would add to the sense of “whatever”ness I wanted Terry to have.

This is how it looks after rooting, and after 3 go rounds with a scalpel knife and hair goop. Still not fantastic, and I might eventually thin down the hair some more. I’m fighting to keep from making it into dreads lol…

Giselle gets Mean!

1:6 scale Dolls & Action Figures, Customs & Re-stylings, fashion royalty, photostory stuff 13 Responses »

May 122011

You can probably guess by the photo above that that means I’ve finally begun the task of re-rooting Private Goddess Natalia!

Along with working on Natalia’s head I’m doing a few other things which includes sewing some simple outfits for FR girls to go in my Etsy shop (one for me, one for the shop….2 for me…one for the shop LOL), AND working on the last couple of props I need to get in place for shooting photo stories! YAY! (right, that’s a Yay, isn’t it?)

Do you ever dream….

1:6 scale Dolls & Action Figures, Eh, what?, QC: character info 4 Responses »

May 092011

Of your dolls?

Last night I had the strangest dream…

I dreamed that I was in Quinlan, and that I kept running into my dolls—except they weren’t dolls. They ~~looked like~~ were people–but I could tell by looking at them which of my dolls they were (if that makes any sense at all?) It was really interesting to see how they translated, and how clearly their personalities came right across. I ran across some places and things that I “knew” from my writing and it was all just really interesting (even if at times a bit spooky & just waaaay out).

There was some sort of murder mystery and stuff going on too–but I was more interested in the people/ characters! LOL. It was weird– or maybe I should say bizarre– interacting with them 1-on-1. I think the strangest part was reassuring one doll that she was fine, and that she had a lot going for her even if she was being picked on by her roomate! So has anyone else ever dreamed like that? Or is it just me?

Yes, I bought a Barbie! Seriously! pics

1:6 scale Dolls & Action Figures, Customs & Re-stylings, photostory stuff 11 Responses »

May 022011

I know, y’all are saying: “Wait…Did You say Barbie?!! I thought you only buy volks dollfies, cy girl/ ttl action figures & over-priced fashion dolls? What gives??”

You’re right! In the general scheme of my collecting & kit bash fodder I do tend to shy away from barbie dolls. But there has been one doll (actually there are a few other barbies I’d like–the heads of–but I refuse to pay 80+ for just a head) and that was Kenzie, from the Mystery Squad batch of Barbies. I can’t help it–I really do have a weakness for dolls with that uber curly/ tight curl hair! Of course, getting her was a different story (*I’ve been looking for a reasonably priced one for more than 2 years now*) and at last one came up on feebay!! YAY I thought!

I saw her pic: (She looks bleh, right???!)

and I thought: “Huh. I remember her looking better than that. I guess the seller just didn’t bother to take a clear picture. Heh. That’s to my advantage since folks won’t know how nice she looks in real life! Mwhahah!”

So I watched the auction for a week. I won her (for under 5.oo and I can call myself a happy bunny)!

She had (still has) a few issues. They included:

her hair was actually matted at the ends and the hairnet that she had on was trapped in it. The only way I could remove it (and do anything at all with her hair was to cut about 1cm off it all around.
She has a mystery streak on her cheek where something (??) removed her factory blush.
Her body…ugh. So not articulated!

They’re not major issues and all are fix-able. I decided to re-body her and I had to choose between one of my Volks Dollfie bodies or a Takara CG body. Initially I was leaning towards putting her on the volks but she just ended up looking too spindly & weird. So she’s been popped onto a CG body (this is a midori washio body for anyone who’s curious)

Here she is re-bodied: (these were quick snaps)

The blush streak isn’t too important since I’ll more than likely repaint her (I really did just buy her because I love that hair!!) and get a look that’s more in keeping with my 1:6 folks.

Over all I’m pretty pleased, and I think she’s going to be one of the more laid back & mellow professors at the university. I see her as the sort to hold classes outside, in cafes and wherever else she feels like it.

Anyway, I just wanted to share!

Merrit’s Mom: Janet Daniels

1:6 scale Dolls & Action Figures, Customs & Re-stylings, QC: character info 10 Responses »

Apr 172011

Okkaaaay! I finally finished her! I have to say that overall I’m pleased and feel that she’s come out better than I hoped for even if she doesn’t look as tired and worn down as I’d mentally envisaged her.

I chose not to paint on lines or wrinkles. After all, Ms.Daniels is only 39 and she’s not exactly a dried up old husk yet!! (Ok, maybe to Merrit she is, but c’mon, 40 is the new 30 right?)

Her hair is a little longer than I’d planned on, but I’m kind of loathe to cut it shorter. I was tempted to try to give her a pageboy cut but really, I don’t see her having that style. So….

She was rooted with restoredoll saran. I’m not entirely sure which colors they were (2 different ones though, a darker brown & the lighter reddish brown)

I tried to paint her with a fairly neutral expression. That was mostly so that when I use her in the photostories I can have a somewhat easier time of altering her expression in photoshop.

Finding a body that her head matched was something of an issue. Visually, (as in my eyes & mark’s) her vinyl head was a good match for the Takara CG 2.0 (the pale catwoman body) and a close 2nd to a TTL pale body.

Putting her on a volks isn’t an option at the moment simply because none of the bodies I have look like a close match skintone-wise. BUT….having said that, when I took her photos it became really obvious that she didn’t match either body well enough for me to get away with little post production editing. I cursed a bit, complained a lot and dug through my bodies again, wondering if I’d find anything that would work!

Funnily enough, although not a close visual match, the standard cg 2.0 seemed to photograph best with the head. It’s not perfect, but at least it’s not so yellow. Ugh.

Anyway, we’re not going to be seeing lots of Janet’s bare skin so it shouldn’t really be an issue. The big issue at the moment is the fact that she’s a teacher and I have absolutely zero clothes that would be work appropriate! (I think anyway?)

So! Now Merrit’s got a Mom!!!

Older Entries Newer Entries