Unexpected Complications: rethinking a character?

 photostory stuff, QC: character info  2 Responses »
Apr 302010
 

Eh.  This is the thing: I planned to do a short photostory. I promised it to a friend of mine and I’d had it all planned out (in my head) partially scripted.  I was feeling OK about it (I didn’t think it was stellar but as a bit of entertainment it’d be ok–kind of like potato chips vs.  a piece of pizza).

Anyway, that was all moving along smoothly until I stumbled onto a problem.  Or maybe “remembered” is more accurate.  I’m speaking in particular about Imogen (aka Ayumi).

The plan was to use Imogen as the  stereotypical heartless bitch & wicked man-stealing woman.  You know, the hard edge to contrast with Alison’s very soft & giving edge.  That would guarantee some good drama, harsh words & maybe a revelation or two…But…..

But…

Then I had the bright idea maybe I needed a “refresher” on what Imogen’s personality & history was. To be honest off the top of my head all I could remember was that she was head librarian, not very social, and  had a wanker of a neighbor who was always stealing her roses.

So I dug up her personality & profile sheet out of the archives… weeeell. :unsure:

Can I say I was surprised to find out that I’d made her Alison’s best & closest friend? And that it was mutual?   :blink:   What the hell was I thinking?

Which leads me to where I am now.

Rethinking a character

I’ve spent the last week mulling this over & trying to come up with an alternate plan. Sure I could use another character instead (except that I really want to use her), and I don’t have any one sufficiently interesting on hand.

The Pros of using Imogen:

  • It adds some further drama/tension  to the situation
  • It develops the relationship dynamic between Alison & Imogen more
  • It may reveal more information to me about their secondary & tertiary relationships & shared friends
  • I get to use two dolls that I really like
  • It might make for a more interesting story (or a 2 parter)

The Cons of using Imogen:

  • I have to re-script (most of it)
  • It will require a different way of “hooking up” August & Imogen. By default it will require further explanation
  • It will be a more involved photostory which I can’t perceive wrapping up in one episode (well not unless I made it another 15+ page photostory)
  • It means I’m going to have to give some deeper thought about how the two of them (Imogen & Alison) would fix their friendship after the reveal.

So. There you have it.

I’d thought about changing Imogen’s personality but I’m hesitant to do so.  I think I’m going to have to find a way to make this work. Maybe I can get some good scripting done & it’ll flow from there.

I sure hope so.

 Posted by corset_kitten at 2:22 pm

Ayumi gets re-bodied! *w/ photos!*

 1:6 scale Dolls & Action Figures, Customs & Re-stylings  3 Responses »
Apr 262010
 

This post has been a looooooooooong time in coming! I bought Miracle Child Ayumi back in 2007. Thank you again Ursula for giving me Ayumi-envy so much so that I bought one!!

I didn’t know exactly what role she was going to play in my collection I only knew that I really liked her headsculpt.  It didn’t take me long to lose patience with the FR bodies (sorry the posing standards just aren’t up to my needs) and so consequently Ayumi got shelved with the “I’ll get back to her at some point”.

Back in 2008 I started seriously considering giving her a new body and again I didn’t really like my options enough to commit to one.

Then last year in 2009, Jendini posted some photos in flickr of her Ayumi who had been re-bodied onto a Volks Neo Teen body. I  was surprised (considering how anorexic she had looked on a regular volks body) and thought “Ah hah! At last! Here’s something I can run with!”. When I asked her about how she managed it she gave me a couple of photos that she’d done to show how she held the head on to the body.

So yesterday I was feeling all full of nervous energy (had to go to the dentist this morning which fills me with extreme amounts of anxiety) and thought I’d give that a try.  While I didn’t manage the magnets (or inserting them/holding them on quite the same way) my method still worked and I’m happy with the outcome.

I’m confident that I’m going to play more with Ayumi (Imogen) more often now! :biggrin:

 Posted by corset_kitten at 11:20 am

Furniture Challenge #1-updated!

 1:6 Props & Miscellany, Customs & Re-stylings, Something to share  8 Responses »
Apr 242010
 

Ok, so despite the fact that I didn’t finish the furniture today, I’m still pretty pleased with it. And if I’m honest, I could have pushed a bit harder and finished it today but I don’t want to rush it more than I already did–and end up screwing it up.

So instead…. You get to look at a partially completed project! :tongue:

What’s left to be done?

Ah ha! Glad you asked! :cheerful:

I need to:

  • grout the tiles on the table top & chairs
  • I want to add additional detail to the chairs
  • dry brush the whole set to give it some patina
  • Seal it all.

So…that’s what I did. When I’m finished with it completely I’ll try to remember to take photos  (preferably outside since it is meant to be a patio table) :wink:

 Posted by corset_kitten at 9:18 pm

Furniture Challenge #1

 1:6 Props & Miscellany, Customs & Re-stylings  Comments Off
Apr 232010
 

So, I know all you folks who “drive-by” my blog are probably familiar with Figurvore.  If you aren’t take a few minutes & stop by –we’re pretty nice (really!) :smile:

Anyway let me get to the point of this post. On Figurvore there’s a challenge for this month (we’re doing them every couple of weeks as a series of exercises to help us as customizers to grow & expand our skill sets).

I picked some pretty crappy barbie furniture for my challenge (y’all can see it in the thread). I was going to just repaint it and leave it at that, except that yesterday I got hit with some inspiration & decided I’d really push myself & try something new (I know that’s the whole point of the challenge, but c’mon, I figured the challenge would have been committing to a color scheme LOL  :blush: ) I have such commitment issues when it comes to color schemes! :wink:

anyway I decided I’d take my set and try to turn it into something one of the characters might be able to use outside on her (as of yet un-built) patio.

I’m under the gun though since the deadline for completing the challenge is this Saturday! So I’m off to do that! I’ll post pics when I get it done (fingers crossed for luck) :wink:

After that I’ll get those emails out to you guys!

ALSO: Next week I’ll be resuming the Friday Monologues. :biggrin:

 Posted by corset_kitten at 1:39 pm

IFDC Steampunk Natalia: revealed!photos!

 1:6 scale Dolls & Action Figures, Customs & Re-stylings, Sewing in 1:6, Something to share  17 Responses »
Apr 142010
 

I know! So long in finally getting the photos up & on the blog for you to see!I’m not really happy with the photos but better them than nothing at all I suppose.

Some further info:

All aspects of her outfit were made to be removable.  After all, a steampunk adventuress she may be–but Natalia might not always want to dress that way!

Her ensemble consists of:

  • Raygun (I need to actually take a pic of it alone)
  • Goggles
  • Necklace
  • Cage crinoline
  • Camisole-type top
  • Panties/bloomers
  • Underskirt
  • Overskirt (lined with biscuit silk)
  • Underbust corset
  • Spats & shoes

The majority of the outfit was sewn from 100% silk (biscuit color, teal) and the underskirt was made of a coppery/bronze polyblend.  Her cage crinoline was made from copper & brass with a bit of leather.

I really wanted to make her a lot grittier but I struggled a lot because I don’t think that my mental image of a steampunk female adventurer would go over so well with many of the convention goers…so I tried to find a happy medium between the two…Not really sure that I did.

I lost patience with the FR body’s lack of tension & ability to hold a pose–but you know what they say; “One man’s meat is another man’s poison” and in this case, as much as I admire some of the headsculpts that Integrity puts out I feel I’m firmly going to avoid any that I can’t re-body.

 Posted by corset_kitten at 3:51 pm

IFDC Doll –almost picture ready!

 1:6 scale Dolls & Action Figures, Customs & Re-stylings  Comments Off
Apr 032010
 

I’ve made really great progress today!

The outfit is finally coming together despite some dithering on my part about which color to use for inside the outer skirt! :blush: Still trying to decide if I’m going to bother with making the hat or not.  :w00t:

I’ve got the underskirt done (It took 2 versions to get one I liked the look of), I was going to go with a more homespun fabric for the shirt/blouse but when I put it all together it looked out of place with the silks…so I used some of the biscuit colored silk. By its self it looked too plain so I decided to trim it. Not a bad thing since it allowed me to add more black–which needs to pull the whole outfit together.

The drapery rough was good but when I tried to make it out of the good fabric it refused to cooperate. :pinch:  which meant I had to try again–I got it functional though IMO it doesn’t look as nice as the mock up piece did.

The Overskirts posed a slight problem (the good thing about costuming for Fashion Royalty dolls is that they do have such tiny waists–which allows for the additional bulk that occurs when you make stuff like this) but I think I’ve worked it out.

One problem I ran into today was I realized that I really should have put an additional hoop into the cage crinoline. So I’ve had to pick part of it apart and try to get another one inserted. I’m not really pleased with how the crinoline is –but I don’t have a lot of spare leather and I think using it for that would be the only way I could get it to look the way I really want it to.  *shrug* This is essentially a charity piece so I’m sorry but I’m not gonna use the last of my skived leather for that. :tongue:

So far the thing I am happiest with this outfit is the fact that it is completely removable.

I think that’s really important since if it’s not then it really limits the use of the doll. (Ok some people don’t care about that, but I do)  I’m really hopeful that whoever ends up with this custom will really appreciate it. It’s more work than I’ve put into something like that for a long, long time. In fact, I think the last thing I did that I put the same kind of effort into was Senkara.

Things LEFT TO DO for the custom:

  • Cut & sew fabric for jacket
  • make shoes
  • finish making the goggles
  • repaint or touch up make up on doll (only slightly)
  • make raygun/weapon & holster
  • make some jewelry
  • make hat

So we’ll see. Time’s running out–and I’d like to get as much done as possible by tomorrow night. :wink:

 Posted by corset_kitten at 6:56 pm

Slow going but pics soon!

 Customs & Re-stylings, Eh, what?  Comments Off
Apr 012010
 

I’m pleased with the progress I’m making on the IFDC doll.

Her outfit is about 1/3 the way complete–would have been more so if I hadn’t changed my mind yesterday about the color scheme.

I changed the accent color from pink to bronze-copper and now it looks way better but I need to re-make things that were pink. I got my busted up watches in the mail yesterday too.

I’m planning on getting the basic ensemble completed by tomorrow so I’ll probably snap a few photos then—although I am not sure if I want to post them before the doll is complete. I’d rather do a reveal all at once rather than piecemeal…

On other notes:

My jaw/teeth are still killing me. So I’m gonna have to go back to the dentist on Wednesday. Not looking forward to it, but when it gets to the point that I can’t eat or drink anything without a lot of pain I gotta give in. It just pisses me off that I spent more than a week waiting for the pain to calm down (I had hoped ti was caused by the dentist tinkering in my mouth & it would go away).  :sad:

 Posted by corset_kitten at 4:09 pm
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