Let me preface this review with the following: I don’t knock Triad Toys as a company. I think they have good intentions (if somewhat off the mark). My biggest concern, and the main reason I generally avoid buying anything from them is the Quality Control issues that seem to have plagued most of their releases.

So I wasn’t too certain what to expect with this doll/action figure other than that I should be prepared for her body to fall apart in my hands.

Purchased: Triad Toys Alpha (hispanic version).

She comes with:

• Black bathing suit (ala 1980)
• Flat feet
• Semi-high heel feet
• Flat hands *default on figure*
• Trigger finger Hands

First Impressions:

The body is considerably lighter than I expected (weighs 136 grams). I expected it to be a bit heftier, and to feel a bit more like a Takara CG. However, it is nicer than I expected and has an evenly dispersed tone/color in the plastic. The face sculpt looks considerably better in person than in pics online and I think there is a lot of potential in it. I’ve heard a lot of complaints about the appearance of the knees but IMO they seem ok. After all, in real life not all knees are sexy!

Things I like:

The face sculpt: is a nice change from Triad’s usual fare of “angry” women. I’d say it’s a good relatively neutral look, and is something that could easily be tweaked in Photoshop for alternative expressions. IMO Neutral = Good!

The body: looks a lot nicer in person. The joints are reasonably firm and most of the joints aren’t eyesores. I like the way the bust has been sculpted and the fact that the bust joint allows for a pretty good range of motion when it comes to turning the torso. The  hip area is nice as well allowing a smooth transition  which I can see will make costuming & clothing the doll a much nicer experience.

Alternate Feet/footwear options: A definite plus is the fact that she comes with flat & Semi-HH feet. It’s also worth noting that the Alpha can wear/ use the boot feet etc from Takara CGs.

Clothing options: the Alpha can wear Ken clothes/pants. I’m not sure how well it fits the Dollsfigure clothing or CG default clothes.

Things I don’t like:

Stumpy neck syndrome. She’s got it. But to be fair it is no where near as horrible as it was with Triad’s first releases (the ones that were on the hotly contested triad/ Soldier Story bodies). Those were horrible!

The default face paint & hair: I understand that Triad was probably going for the “Neutral” look–but they could have done so with some lighter shades and had a better looking default face. The current paint applications along with the “meh” hair (reddish brown mix) doesn’t do much for the figure.

The Eyes: have been sculpted fairly small. IMO the sculpt might have looked a bit better with slightly (1 mm) larger eyes. But hey, some people do have small eyes in RL.

Hip/Leg joint Range-of-Motion: This seems pretty limited (not terribly, but enough that it’s noticeable to me). Generally in this situation I’d take the action figure or doll in question and shave out some of the hip joint & ass area to allow the upper legs more ROM. However, since the alpha feels rather light I’m suspicious that that area might actually be hollow pieces fused together…which means if I pare it down I’ll end up with a hollow hole which would suck more than the limited articulation.

Quality control Issues: Right out of the clamshell box —Some kind of melt marks on the leg, as well as what appears to be stress fracture/discoloration on the knee. Also a lot of flashing is either still on the figure or has been removed in a really haphazard (and messy) manner (I am not surprised, just a bit disappointed.)

Also a couple of random paint marks on her face (nose & chin). These don’t matter as much to me since I will be stripping her face & repainting her. *fingers crossed the paint stains come off*

In Comparison to the Takara CG 2.0 body:

Oh, I’m not going to apologize for the fact that I am biased toward the Takara CG 2.0 bodies. They are IMO the best thing out there and will likely be the gold standard until someone makes something better. I’ve done a basic (not overly intensive) comparison between the 2.0 and the alpha. If you have questions or want more pics let me know and I’ll try–but no promises with the move going on.

For comparison I’m using a Takara 2.0 body from Catwoman (the comic version) with an AJ head, and the Triad Alpha Medium bust. CLICK THE IMAGE FOR LARGER VERSION (easier to see)

1: The neck posts--The Alpha has a considerably thicker neck. This means that if you want to use non-Triad heads on it that it will take extra work and customization on your part. (Watch Silent G’s blog for a tutorial on how to do that–he’s working on one!). It’s also worth noting that the Alpha has a limited downward tilt to her head/neck. That _is_ easily fixed with a scalpel knife (you simply need to make the channel wider that the neck knob goes into).

2: Elbow joints– The Takara 2.0 has a double jointed elbow which is superior to the single joint that the Alpha has. Why Triad, did you do that when you had the double joint on the Otaku? Why downgrade the ROM?

3: Waists — The Alpha is long waisted compared to the 2.0 body. This is possibly part of the reason her legs look weirdly dumpy(knee joints not included). The actual joint on the CG 2.0 is cleaner/closed and generally speaking neater. I’ve had the Alpha waist joint pop at weird angles leaving a large area of “open” to her interior.

4: Busts/bust joints — The Alpha has an undercut bust joint which is rather nice. It will make fitting clothes a little easier and is a nice design feature. The Takara 2.0 has a combined bust/torso joint which functions well although for aesthetic purposes isn’t quite as nice as the undercut bust on the Alpha.

5: Hip/thigh joint — For movement & practicality the Takara 2.0 body edges out the Alpha in this area. The 2.0 has a wider range of motion and posing.  Aesthtically the  Alpha is better as it is shaped more normally and will look good in skimpy clothing & lingerie.

6: Hands/Joint — The Takara 2.0 wins hands down (LOL) as it has a superior range of motion without having to adapt or adjust the joint in any way. Other pluses are that the 2.0 can use hands from TTL, and Earlier versions of CGs (in this photo is using the hands from a 1.5 cg). While the ROM for the Alpha’s wrist is limited you can adjust it with some customization work. Another plus for the Alpha is that Triad has made an accessory pack of hands in different poses.

7: Crotch area — The Alpha wins this one for Aesthetics. It is a more natural looking shape. The 2.0 has what I call “the man crotch” which requires more care in designing clothing for to minimize that MC look.

8: Knees — Without any doubt the Takara 2.0 is superior. The ROM with the Alpha is very similar but aesthetically the 2.0 is just cleaner and flows better witht he line of the body. The way the design was done for the Triad Alpha it seems to draw attention to the joint which is a No-No IMO.

9. Feet — People have complained about the Large size of the Alpha’s feet. I don’t really think they are that large. they are hard plastic so if they really bothered you (or you wanted to use some smaller shoes) you could carve or sand them down.) They seem appropriate to the rest of the body. The plus is that Triad included a semi-high heel pair as well as the flat feet…I’ve been told that they will fit the shoes for some of the Tonner 16″ dolls. (I don’t have any so I can’t check!). Also another nice aspect is that the feet can come off on the feet cup instead  of at the base. That makes swapping out the feet/footwear a considerably easier experience.
Another positive is that you can remove the peg and foot and use feet/shoes/ bootfeet from the Takara CGs. You’ll need a pair of pliers for that though.

10: Sitting — not as important to those of you who plan on just having your figs standing around…but pretty damned important to me! The Takara 2.0 sweeps this one. The Alpha is unable to sit down with her knees together (so un-ladylike!). Pushing the Triad Alpha’s knees together results in her torso/hip area laying backwards…..This may be adjustable with some judicious scalpel work and paring (there was also an issue with standing up straight with legs–possibly related to the same area). Because the Alpha feels hollow I’m not certain how much scalpel work can be done on it without leaving gaping holes.

The Alpha Overall:  They seem to be decent for the amount they cost—bearing in mind that it will be a continual crap-shoot about the QC issues. When budgeting permits I’m willing to add a couple more Alphas to my collection.

In my clearing out stuff I realized that while I don’t have much in the way of 100% cotton Fat Quarters or yardage, I did have an entire box (like a copy paper box) filled with strips that I had bought over the last couple of years with the intention of making 1:6 quilts…mostly ticker tape quilts since those were the only ones I knew how to make. Of course, I ended up making a patchwork quilt too….and then for X-mas for my friend Carmen I made a 1:6 string quilt. I hadn’t blogged any pics of it at the time (wanting her to have gotten it and it being a surprise and all that…).

So here are a few photos: (this was my first time making a string quilt) I’m still learning (and fumbling with making bindings and stuff but I’m getting a bit better with every quilt I make.

here’s a detail: It is hand quilted but you can’t really tell in the photos.

At the moment I just can’t seem to work on anything 1:6 related. I’m too stressed out and on edge. But…I don’t want to just give away (or try to sell) my scrap pieces. So what am I supposed to do? (I don’t want to use valuable suitcase space for it either!) I decided that I’d take all the scraps I’ve got and see if I can cobble them together into a 1:1 scale lap quilt (more or less in size anyway). That way I can just do it without thinking so much, I can get away from my desk and all the paperwork and phone calls I have to keep juggling (now that the internet is working again), and hell, actually make my first human scale quilt.

It probably sounds a bit insane (especially after I spent all of last night ironing the scraps LOL). But I’ll share as I go along (although I’m sure it’s not going to turn out as nicely as the miniature version—since I’m using random slices and remnants of fabric!)

Ok, that’s it for now (and Saturday AM I will update with the furniture and stuff for sale. I forgot I need to take a photo of the Kenmore Kitchen set for it).

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!

I’ve been giving them a lot of thought but it hasn’t translated into a whole lot of action. There are a few reasons for this… The main one being that space is still limited and I really have some pretty grand ideas in mind—which while commendable (hey, I do have high standards, what can I say?) aren’t practical when it comes to making a transatlantic move.

So It’s left me thinking about 1) what to do, 2) how to do it and 3) why am I bothering?

1) What I’m going to do: Along with giving things some more thought (and working out the details for the photostories themselves) I’m going to push on-ward and try to get the living room and kitchen done. I’m also going to throw together a basic diorama to use for generic scenes on “the set” of the tv series the actresses work on.

2) I know I’m going to be pretty harsh when it comes to breaking down the dioramas to move.  It doesn’t mean I’m not going to do them, only that I’m going to avoid investing too much effort in this batch.  I’m simplifying them.

I’ll be putting most of my effort into the details –like furniture and props– etc rather than worrying sooo much about the set ups. Because I do (worry about the logistics of how an apartment is set up! No one will ever see the whole thing but I get very nit-picky about details like fire escapes, landings and front door locations). Plus that makes it less expensive and right now less expensive is a very, very good thing. Once we’ve relocated and are settled then I can really dig into making them as good as I want.

3) I’m doing this because I have to.  If I just fritter away my time and don’t have something worthwhile to show for it I’d be pretty bummed. And it’s criminal to waste your time when you never know how much you really have left.  Not to be morbid, but I might be dead next week. Or tomorrow. You just never know.

It might not make sense and I’m probably babbling but this is what’s on my mind.

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 !

(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!)

  <—— Stunt packages! Your  packages are more boxlike (although they are covered with brown paper!)

I’m afraid I couldn’t afford super-rocket-mail this time around so I don’t think your presents will get there before Santa does! (But maybe the elves will sprinkle a little pixie dust on the postal service—so who knows??)

Anyway now that I’m done with the holiday hoo-ha (except for mark’s present) I can try to settle in and get photos taken and get to actually making other stuff. Hope everyone is doing ok!

It is pretty bright. Nothing wrong with vibrant colors — but wow, huh?

The patches all started out as individual squares. And no, before you start thinking I’m an absolute masochist–there was a reason for this: I had already had a number of them cut (to the wrong size for my Insanity quilt) and this seemed like the perfect way to use them and not end up wasting the fabric. I didn’t know if it was going to work but I gave it a try and I’m pretty pleased with  the overall look. Next time I’ll try to do it as a Nine Patch rather than just random placements.

This quilt marks a lot of firsts for me.

• It was the first patchwork I completed. The other one I’d started got tossed in the bin as a needless exercise in frustration),
• The first time I made my own bias binding (not as hard as I thought it was)
• The first whole doll blanket that I bothered to quilt by hand. Although I have to admit that it was a pain, and it is part of the reason why Nerissa’s Quilt is only lightly quilted.
• I used a combination of tying & hand stitching to quilt the quilt.

So I sewed all the patches together, quilted it, washed it and now comes the really hard part–deciding which character gets it!  After sticking them on it I came to 3 conclusions. Shayna could have it (but since I’m working on the insanity quilt for her it doesn’t seem right she should have two. Does it??Nope.) So….either  Mallory or Parker will get it.

Maybe you folks can help me decide? Who do you think owns this quilt? I’ve snapped a few pics of each with the patchwork quilt so you can help me decide! There’s a poll at the end of this post–please vote!

Sooo..what do you think??

The room’s temporarily set up. I set it up initially based on where the sun was going to be most of the day  (I didn’t want it getting in my re-ment boxes, or on my dolls). But now, I’m finding that if I want to do anything in the room I really need to re-think where my table is going (I had to give mark one of my work tables so he’d have something to put his computer on, so I’m sort of at a loss). In spite of all that I DID GET STUFF DONE!!!   I’ll give you the basics here but soon I’ll do individual posts about some of these things.

• Continued working on the Insanity Quilt. I’ve begun sewing the hexagons into “flower” shapes. Finally decided that I want to do them in sets of 3 (so 3 red, 3 purple, 3 blue etc) for when I finally construct the thing.
• Painted 6 paintings (on 1:6 scale canvases that I stretched and primed)  for etsy.
• Made 4 new bonsai trees (also for etsy).
• Began the great sort out of doll clothes in an attempt to assign them to specific characters. (I thought that by doing that it might be easier to dress them quickly & make it easier to shoot spur of the moment stories).
• Made a 1:6 random patchwork quilt for one of the girls’ dorm rooms (not sure who it belongs to yet). It might belong to Parker. Maybe.
• Made the comforter for Nerissa’s dorm room.
• Made the comforter for Nik’s dorm room.
• Wrote a bit of Giselle’s backstory & worked on Kendall’s too.
• Worked on developing my ideas and concepts for Marissa (FP Kyori) & Kendall (Perk Collette).
• Had a birthday (it sucked. what more can I say?)
• Modified Kendall & Eugenia so they can sit upright.
• Moved boxes around into some kind of organized chaos–so that I can try to start shooting some photos of the stuff I did do! LOL
• Sourced a replacement worktable for me (since mark needed my other one).
• Baked an apple cobbler *mmmmm cobbler….*
• Worked on the Quinlan-Chronicles Website–still have to upload the updates & changes though.

So it wasn’t a total loss being without the internet. But I’m happy to be online again!

Not sure if anyone’s interested in them, they’re going as lots (obviously) since I just want them out of the house (since it’s all about clearing out & divesting myself of “things”).

I uploaded them on flickr first, so you can go there to check out the details on pieces (the size of the pieces).

http://www.flickr.com/photos/corsetkitten/sets/72157627412652589/

Just make me an offer & I’m happy.    Please remember that I’m in the UK so postage is from there.

So far I’ve thinned it out to 15 boxes. That’s not bad, but there is still a ways to go! What I’ve done initially was to go through and cull out the fabrics I’ve either ignored or decided not to use for various reasons. It stands to figure if I haven’t been iunclined to use them in the last year then I doubt they’re worth taking with me. Wheeewh! Quite a lot there. Luckily a lot are smaller pieces and people might want them. I’ll be batching them up tomorrow probably and offering them here and on forums.

But of course that still leaves me with 7 or 8 more boxes of fabric to cull. *sigh* I feel like it’s impossible….except—I noticed something as I went through box by box & piece by piece.

I have a lot of fabrics that I’m holding onto with the idea of making ONE specific item of doll clothing out of them!!

How crazy is that?

So what I’m going to do (in the midst of everything else that I’m doing & dealing with) is try my damnedest to crank out those pieces of clothing (mostly shirts) this week so I can add those fabrics to the “adoption” pile.  I mean, that sounds like a good way to go, right?

Anyway I need to stop for lunch and then back to the great sort out of 2011~!

We’ve shown the house 3 times since then, and we have 2 more appointments for next week.  This all sounds great, right? Good interest, and the house is priced competitively for the UK market (specifically our city–there are some real crappy places going for 10k more than our nice house).

Yea.

It IS good.

Maybe even great.

But I’m totally a wreck. I’m on edge all the time, waiting for them to call, or to make sure everything is as neat as it can be since someone wants to look at it etc.

I know. I knoooooooooooow that that’s what you have to do when you want to sell your house. I know. It just adds up, especially when Mark is going on about not wanting to take less than the asking price (which to be fair, yes, it is reasonable especially when someone can move in and not have to do anything, AT ALL to the house. Nothing needs fixing, or replacing and it would be the ideal property for a first time buyer (or someone like me who’d just like something that’s off to a good start and only needs routine maintenance.)

Anyway, as I was saying, this being constantly ready for people to pop by etc has meant a real stop in the physical making & doing of things for 1:6. It sucks, but that’s what it is. And on top of that I have had to really acknowledge and face the fact I need to again go through my things and clear out all but the totally irreplaceable.  That means the majority of my fabrics are going to have to go and find a new home, as will much of the remaining barbie furniture and things.  You know, all those pieces I’ve been saving. They need to go.

But–clearing them out–I have to find a time that I can do it that means the room won’t look like it exploded if someone’s coming to view the house. Ugh. I’m guessing I’ll try it one box at a time and go from there.

On the house viewing/selling front: The first person who came to view it last week made a low-ball offer of 85K. The house is listed at 89,500  sorry entry error on my part– it’s 89,950 so we refused it.  (Not because we’re greedy but because the estate agent fee & the lawyers fees will equal almost 6K when we finish).

A second viewer came yesterday but decided the road we’re on is too busy, so no offer there.

The original viewer came back today to view the property (with partner) and made an offer of 88K. They both kept gushing about it. About how great it looked, how it was like a show home(we’ve made it clean and neutral), and how original it is compared to what else they’ve seen.

So why gush about it— and then offer under the price? That’s something I don’t really get.  I guess it’s going in the right direction but Mark is holding tight to the asking price (And for once I feel he’s justified in it.  The property is well worth it, and we’re willing to include all the appliances and any furnishings they want from it).  The viewer commented specifically that she’d wanted the appliances….so I don’t know.

The estate agent is calling me back in a while–she’d called from a really crummy connection so that I really couldn’t hear/understand what she said.  Basically I got:

“Negotiation…static static...” and she said she’d call me back in an hour or so.  Why does all of this make my guts knot up? I mean really, I feel as anxious as I did when I was applying for my visas. How crap is that??!!

Oh yea, did I mention that mark has been talking about living in a camper again? *sigh* I could do it for a week maybe, but not 3 months and sure at hell not 12 months! That’d be one of my personal ideas of hell!

And before you go how squeeeeeeee /cute it would be…think of 2 cats (rockety & rambunctious cats), a 6’4 guy, and a rather large girl like myself are gonna all get along and play nice in there! (not that exact one, but something similar) *cries*

Anyway folks, that’s how it is at the moment!

So this is going to be similar to the sewing challenge I set myself for last year. I want a MINIMUM of  TWO new projects completed each week. Ideally I would like to push to have Three projects each week.  I’m not at a loss for projects to take on and do, so I think this will be a great way to work through the backlog.  For weeks that I get more than two projects done I’ll figure out some kind of reward for myself (maybe-depends on $).

So. There you have it.

Projects will be due on Fridays since that’s easiest for me. And yes, it IS all about me!

First pair of projects is August 5th

• The first project will be to re-make the dorm beds.  I’ve got issues with the ones I have now so that seems like a great place to start (that came up because I’ve been trying to gather the things together that I need for Merrit & Nik’s bedroom as well as Shayna & PK’s).  I have to draw up some plans, and see what wood I have hidden behind my door. (Yes, I have to hide my “special” wood or else it ends up in someone else’s “collection”!) LOL 

• The 2nd project is: Originally it was going to be the class photo. However during my efforts to assign student roommates/etc. I have come to realize I am short a few more girls. So the 2nd project is to paint 3 heads (and re-root them if needed).  a new class photo. Much less demanding.  I need this so that I can have an upto date reference of them. It helps a bunch when I’m sitting in the cafe trying to write about them since some spring to mind more readily than others. Then after that I can take the class photo. It just seems counter productive to take it and then to have to re-take it so soon.

Ok, so! I’d better get started!

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.

This isn’t the most intensive of tutorials but it’s mostly to illustrate certain points.  Sorry about the poor photos but hopefully you’ll get the idea of what to do.

What you need:

Supplies:

• Wool roving (also called tops) You can get it in a variety of colors and weights. I get mine off ebay but you can find it on etsy & some local craft fairs. You want to get Merino Wool preferably 18 micron. This is the stuff I buy: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/200579047909 the seller has always been prompt in shipping (although YMMV!!!)
•   Make certain you are buying wool (not nylon). You don’t need much to do a cg or barbie sized head.
• Soap (whatever you have in the bathroom will do).
  
• Water
  
• 2 hands
• time…and patience!
  

I find it easiest to stick some music on so you have some kind of entertainment while you’re doing this. It’ll take a bit of time depending on how many you want to get done in a sitting.

What to do:

Step 1: Pick the roving color(s) you want to use and carefully separate some from the main piece of roving.

Step 2: From there separate the roving into smaller pieces.

Step 2A: The size of these will impact the final size (diameter/thickness of the dreadlock) so I’d say the thinner the better.  (the examples I have shown are actually much too large, but it’s just a quick tutorial!!) But it’s also a case of trial and error so see what you do and what works best for your needs in that regard).

Step 3: Wet your palm with a couple drops of water(maybe 1/2 a teaspoon) and rub with a bit of soap (don’t need much soap). Then pick up your piece of roving and pull it gently through your palm to wet it (with the water & soap).

Step 4: Once the piece is wet begin rolling it back and forth along the length of your palms (like when you’d make clay snakes).  It is important at this point that you do this quickly while applying pressure. The heat generated by the friction of your palms will help the wool to felt. Just remember: Wool + Wet + Heat = Felt (and dreadlocks).

Step 5: Repeat step 4 over-and-over….and over! Stop when you have the dreadlock thin enough for your purpose. Be aware of the fact that when they begin drying out they will puff up a bit and so making them somewhat thinner than you want is probably a good plan.

Step 6: Look at the finished dreadlock! yay! You have one….now you only need lots more to go!

Step 7: Apply dreadlocks to doll/action figure head. You can do this in a few ways. I personally prefer to use the tension method with this (use your needle tool) I haven’t had any problems with them coming out. The other options are to find an upholstery needle (with a very large eye) and thread the dread through that and “sew” into the head, Or, you can glue them onto the head (but I’ve never done that and I don’t think it sounds like a particularly good idea).

As you can see from the photo below: I didn’t make the dreadlocks thin enough, nor roll them for quite long enough to make them a bit more solid/felted. (I’m not bothered though since this was just for a quick example & I’ll be de-dreading her later today).

(this is another example of a head re-root I did in this method)

Step 8: You’re pretty much done! Style the hair if you want to. You can use hair gel on it if you need to but try to find a type that does not flake.  (I use Small Talk (by Tigi) for all of my dolls with styled hair. It doesn’t flake/crack etc. and a little drop goes a long way (plus I can use it on my hair too!)

Ok, there you have it, how to give your dolls/action figures dreadlocks! Dani, I hope you find this of some use!

One good thing though: the repetition of cutting the same shapes out of fabric is getting easier the more I do!

Here are 2 quick snaps of Harley & Electra. As you can see Harley is looking much better than she did when we brought her home from the shelter!

And Electra:

Let me know so I can check it out (and let me know if you’d like to swap weblinks).  I know there are a lot of great 1:6 and collectible sites out there that I know nothing about!

How about because I want to start shooting the Quinlan Chronicles? LOL

Now (that hopefully the major dramas of the last few months are over) I can get back on track.  I hope.  I thought one good way of getting more motivated about it would be to update the individual character profiles & information. This is partly for you readers and partly for me, since I use them as “cheat sheets” when I can’t remember all the tiny facts about a given person!

The thing that takes the most time is remembering how I did things the last time I updated, and of course–taking photos for new characters.  Yea, I know it’s a simple matter of shooting a pic, but sometimes it’s just more than I can deal with. So here’s hoping I can keep this juggernaut rollin’!

I’ll update on the blog when I’ve got the Student bits done (I’ve gotten 4 updated so far that need uploadingout of….lots!). Then after that I’ll need to do the staff & Faculty section, and then the other people part.  It doesn’t sound like much….but it is. Plus I want to try to do a little repainting this week too. (I need a few more characters!)

It’s supposed to be a quilt for a twin sized bed and I’ve probably over estimated exactly how many hexes I need for it. I’ve decided I needed about 1000 of them although I probably only need about 800-900….or so (I kind of got that number by eyeballing the size of a hex vs. the size of the bed I want to cover.) I could be wrong (wouldn’t it be nice if I needed much less?) . I’m trying to wrap up making the hexes (they aren’t fiddly so much as they just seem to suck up time.)

So here’s what I’ve gotten made so far:

Can you guess how many hexagons are in those containers?

Last time I took a photo there were considerably less…….

It’s a lot of effort and you know, I have no clue how it’ll turn out or what mistakes I’ve made in the process of doing it. I’ll probably find out once I finish it. One thing I have to say is that in the process of making the hexagons I really do think that once I move I want to make a 1:1 hex quilt. I’ve found it to be good “busy work” for when I’m watching something or listening and don’t really feel like doing anything “constructive”. The nice thing about making them is I don’t really have to think about ANYTHING when I do them. It’s a nice way to sort of space out and relax.

For those of you who guessed–there are (currently) 904 hexagons in the containers. Ouch my fingers! I’ve got 96 more to go before I reach 1000, but I think at this point i’m going to hold off on doing those and see if I actually need them.

Anyway I’ll try to post more on the quilt as I make some progress with it.

We adopted another cat from the local shelter so that Electra wouldn’t get much of a chance to feel lonely and become the spoiled only child (since this would just make trouble when we did decide to get another cat). So I’m introducing you to Harley. She looks somewhat rough, and her life hasn’t been so good up until now but Mark, Electra and I are working to change that for her.

And this is a pic of Harley & Electra (in the bathroom window)

Anyway folks, I’m here and I hope I’ll be feeling the hobby love soon.
Hope everyone else out there is doing fine.