Tonight I set Pearlene’s arms back in their sockets and secured the other half of the sockets to them.
Posts from July 2013
Cola’s new hair
I made a wig for Cola last night out of my grey faux fur with 3" pile. I accidentally cut it against the grain of the fur so that the hair sticks up straight, but I decided that vertical hair suits Cola’s energetic personality. I also tried shortening her hair with about 85% success. Here’s what a wig made of the uncut 3" grey looks like on Doctor Z [whose hair was also cut from the fur so that it is pointing down]:
Crutches by MyFroggyStuff!
Temporary armpit crutches, not forearm crutches.
Hmmm, maybe I should make Peter forearm crutches instead of a walker. The walker is being a shit.
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Claw machine by MyFroggyStuff!
Hey, about three months after I decided to make a claw machine of my own, MyFroggyStuff posted her own tutorial!! Someday I’m gonna get around to making mine…
This entry was originally posted at http://modernwizard.dreamwidth.org/1555113.html. You can comment here, but I’d prefer it if you’d comment on my DW using OpenID.
Adding fats, la la la
I have been bulking up Pearlene’s body for the past few days with Apoxie Sculpt. I like her thighs and her butt the best!
The Real Heroes works well as a base body since it’s thick to begin with and sturdy enough to handle weighty additions. Its simple construction allows it to be taken apart with ease, while it provides enough articulation to do the basics.
Cola the Zombie Killer
As much as I think Cola is adorable, I’ve decided that her character is slightly more complex.
Cola [legal name: Nicola] Fiore got her nickname because she is so bubbly. She says hello to everyone and never forgets a name. When she says, "How are you?" people feel like she really cares about the answer, and they end up telling her more than they expected. People describe her as warm, kind, caring and gentle. She is popular and beloved enough that people have suggested more than once that she should run for local office.
Cola runs her own yoga and aerobics studio, CoreWorks, specializing in "adaptive workouts," that is, yoga and aerobics for people with disabilities. She has a low-key teaching style in which she promotes "feeling at home in your body." She comes to Wharf Lane Apartments to teach weekly classes, which Chaz attends and enjoys very much. Chaz encourages Isabel to come with her. After a series of classes, during which Isabel learns that she is more flexible than she expected, she feels proud of herself and less hostile toward her fats.
Of course, Cola has her secrets. When the Cold Choice makes its yearly appearance and PWS have to confront brain shortages, Cola trades in black-market brains of dubious quality and/or provenance, always at a significant markup. She is one of the most successful Killers [black-market dealers] because she presents her illegal options as a favor that she’s doing for you because she doesn’t want to see anyone suffer.
Though Cola is considered one of the most trustworthy Killers, she faces opposition. Firsthand accounts swear up and down that she has passed off expired brains as fresh and pig brains as human. And who knows where she gets her brains anyway? Her supporters insist that she would never dupe PWS that way and, besides, the expired brains were just a few days over anyway. And all her brains are certified cruelty-free. Cola’s reputation mostly protects her, but the rumors never wholly disappear.
Then she is arrested for conspiring to kill people and harvest their brains for resale. She hired nursing staff in elder care facilities who would kill clients in ways that seemed to be of natural causes. She justifies herself by saying, "I offer a painless, compassionate end to people whose time has come. And they get to be useful. Doesn’t everyone want to leave a legacy and do something good for the world?"
During her trial, it comes out that Cola herself has spondis. The press gleefully labels her Cola the Zombie Killer. Her defense tries to argue that her spondis-related brain damage left her unable to tell right from wrong. The PWS community is pissed off by the defense’s insulting and erroneous assumption, "Cola making us look bad," the abnormal public thinking that their stereotypes of PWS as evil, remorseless, grisly murderers are justified, etc.
The opinions of PWS split on Cola. Her supporters can’t really deny that she did it, but they say that she acted out of compassion. Her detractors think that she committed unforgivably revolting crimes. Chaz reacts with anger born out of a sense of personal betrayal, saying that she should be punished harshly because she’s "a bad example and a traitor to her own kind. She took advantage of us all for her own selfish ends!" Anna notices that Cola’s hits out on old and almost always disabled people demonstrate ageism, ableism and an obsession with being "productive" and "useful," with the implication that elderly and/or disabled people aren’t worth living. Isabel feels confused, surprised that Cola has been doing unethical, illegal things and tainted by association because she attended some of Cola’s classes.
This entry was originally posted at http://modernwizard.dreamwidth.org/1554528.html. You can comment here, but I’d prefer it if you’d comment on my DW using OpenID.
Yamarrah on her body!
I filled in Yamarrah’s deep neck socket with Aves Apoxie Sculpt this weekend. Here she is waiting for her shirt and for some wiring. I think her sculpt is beautiful, even unpainted. I like how rectilinear and smooth it is.
Right now I’m planning to do flames along her neck, flames for eyebrows [!], flames up her forearms and possibly flames on her ears. This may change once I actually start scribbling on her.
Perdita nears completion.
Last night I took off Perdita’s scalp, erased her eyebrows and lips and increased the size of her breasts. I wasn’t planning on adding to her chest size, but I mixed up way too much Aves Apoxie Sculpt for another project, so I decided to slap some on Perdita.
At left, a Disney Pocahontas head on an articulated Barbie body illustrates the splayed thighs that so many doll enthusiasts find "unladylike." At right, Perdita shows her current condition.
Continue reading Perdita nears completion.
Peter modified yet again
Reduced the back of his skull globe and lengthened his legs back to original length.
Peter and Rement Beauty Counter
Here’s Peter with the Rement Beauty Counter that I got in the mail yesterday. It’s too short to be set on the floor as is.
Continue reading Peter and Rement Beauty Counter
Aren’t you a cute little AAAH WHERE’D YOUR HANDS GO?!
Janna alerted me to a box of cheap Barbies at the ReSource resale shop on Thursday. Because I need more dolls, I checked them out. Though they had haircuts, they were all in good condition, with the slight smudges of definite love and wear. Surprisingly, most were Fashionistas, which made them a real temptation, since they were $3.00 apiece. However, I have three Fashionistas [Shopping While Constipated and two Dream House friends — I sold the other two] that I have yet to do anything with, so I didn’t want to stock up on them just for the sake of cheapness.
I could not, however, resist the one below. She had ridiculously loose joints, several pinpricks in her face and, most glaringly, no hands. For these reasons, I only paid a buck for her. In my current hacking and slashing mood, I thought I could experiment on her with body mods. For easy reference, I have named her Perdita, which means "the lost one" in Latin, in keeping with her neglected, salvaged state. I have a feeling that I may end up more attached to her than some of my much more expensive dolls.
Continue reading Aren’t you a cute little AAAH WHERE’D YOUR HANDS GO?!
BJD jargon, as used on DOA
An incomplete glossary of selected terms from the BJD subculture, assuming that the reader at least knows what a BJD is:
Suwarikko
Sanding
DOA
Eye putty
Restringing
Adoption: the process of buying a BJD on the secondary market. Some people use an extended metaphor of their BJDs as children.
Blushing/Brushing: application of chalk pastels and/or acrylic paint to a BJD’s body to represent variations in skin tone. Called "blushing" when applied to a doll’s head, but "body blushing" when applied elsewhere.
Bonding: emotional attachment that an owner ostensibly develops to a BJD.
Boy/Girl: a BJD, depending on the assigned sex of the doll, almost always used with possessive pronouns [e.g., "My girl looks so cute holding your boy!"] as part of the BJD:child metaphor.
Dolly diet: restriction of BJD-related purchases, usually because one has recently overspent.
Event head: a limited edition head issued by a BJD company as part of a sales event.
Faceup: hand-painted blushing, eyebrows and lips on a BJD’s head. Term seems to be a combination of "face" + "makeup."
Fullset: a limited edition BJD sold with a particular faceup, eyes, wig, outfit and sometimes accessories. Also used as an adjective, as in, "I’m selling her with the fullset dress and bonnet, but keeping the shoes."
Group order: a business transaction headed by an organizer who combines many small orders into a single large one, takes orders for participants, then submits all the orders as a single large purchase to the doll company. Item prices factor in a base price, a percentage of shipping from the doll company to the organizer, then shipping and handling from organizer to partner. The organizer collects payment, places the order, receives the items, then ships them to participants.
Grail doll: the one particular BJD that someone really wants, but often has difficulty acquiring because of limited edition, scarcity, expense, etc.
Heel feet: BJD feet sculpted with toes flexed up so that a doll can wear high heels. Sometimes sculpted as a single piece with the calf to eschew ankle joints and add stability.
KIPS: small silicone discs used by Volks in a BJD’s joint sockets to help the doll pose better. A type of sueding.
Mod: either a truncation of "modify" or "modification." To make change to a BJD, usually through the addition of sculpting epoxy putty or through the use of sandpaper and other subtractive tools, or the change itself.
MSC: Mister Super Clear, a Japanese spray used to seal a faceup or body blushing.
MSD: Mini Super Dollfie, the line of ~40cm, 1:4 scale BJDs created by Volks. As the first commercially available BJDs of this size, they have also become the standard by which other dolls are measured. Thus MSD also refers more generically to the size of the doll, i.e., 40cm and 1:4 scale. Sellers of BJD clothes, accessories or props may refer to things as "MSD" or "MSD size," which does not necessarily imply any association with Volks MSDs.
NSFW/NWS: not safe for work/not work safe. These labels appear on shots of BJDs with visible nipples and/or genitalia that, it is assumed, may not be prudent to view at one’s workplace.
OC: original character or a BJD representation thereof, in implicit contrast to the many BJD representations of fictional characters from other media.
Recast: an illegally duplicated BJD, often much lower in price than the legitimate original. Recasts may be literal recasts, i.e., products of unauthorized use of official molds, or copies achieved by reverse-engineering a mold from an existing legitimate BJD.
Reshelling: deciding that a different type of BJD would make a better representation of a character [often an OC] than the doll one currently has, selling the current shell and buying a new one.
SD: Super Dollfie, the line of 60cm, 1:3 scale BJDs created by Volks. As the first commercially available BJDs of this size, they have also become the standard by which other dolls are measured. Thus SD also refers more generically to the size of the doll, i.e., 60cm and 1:3 scale. Sellers of BJD clothes, accessories or props may refer to things as "SD" or "SD size," which does not necessarily imply any association with Volks SDs.
Shell: a BJD representation of a fictional character, often an OC.
Sleeping head: a BJD head with fully or partly closed eyes. Fully closed eyes do not require the use of eyeballs and may not even have sockets, while partly closed eyes have sockets and can use eyeballs. There is no standard terminology for sleeping heads. One company’s "sleeping" [e.g., Fairyland] is another company’s "romantic" [Soom], "reminisce" [Elfdoll], "slack afternoon" [Dollshe], etc.
Split: a type of group order where an organizer advertises that they want to buy a doll, but only for certain parts. The remaining parts are then available for split partners to purchase. Group order procedures then follow. Also the act of selling parts of a doll separately on the secondary market.
Sueding: the addition of some type of grippy material to a BJD’s joint balls and/or sockets to help the doll hold poses better. Materials include suede, hot glue and KIPS discs.
Yellowing: the discoloration of a resin BJD when exposed to sunlight. May be counteracted to some degree by stabilizers that keep the resin pigmentation from changing too much, the addition of UV resistance to resin, coating the BJD with MSC or another sealant or just keeping the doll in the dark, but is ultimately inevitable.
This entry was originally posted at http://modernwizard.dreamwidth.org/1552158.html. You can comment here, but I’d prefer it if you’d comment on my DW using OpenID.
Workin’ on Barrett
I erased Barrett’s default eyebrows and sheared his default hair this evening. Amazing how much younger he looks! I also changed his shirt, since I decided he was too uninterested in his looks to wear a snazzy red button-down. He got the puke sweater instead.
Whoo hoo!
Just came across a picture of Timonium on the BJD Showcase Tumblr, a collection of messily done BJDs. That makes…hmmm, let’s see…how many BJDs of mine that have been mocked on various boards and blogs?
- Jareth 1.0 for looking deformed
- Frank for being a defacement of a Volks LE
- Sardonix 2.0 for having a schematic, indestructible faceup made of undiluted acrylic paint
- Timonium for being messy
In a special subcategory is Araminthe. When B&G Dolls put out their LE Burrysa with neutral and snarling heads, a thread started on Den of Demons mocking the crabby expression on her snarling head. I didn’t even know this doll existed until I saw the DoD thread, which inspired me to purchase Araminthe. No one has specifically mocked Araminthe, but her sculpt has been made fun of.
I’m quite sure that someone out there is heaving their guts out over photos of Jareth 2.0, but I haven’t found proof of that yet.
Man! Just wait till I puke all over my color-mismatching hybrid between a super-expensive LE Iplehouse head and a mechanically recalcitrant, cheapo body! [That’s Yamarrah, folks.] Maybe I can make the BJD Showcase again!
Actually, you know what annoys me the most about Timonium’s appearance on that Tumblr? My photo was used without attribution. I told the blogger to either put a source link or take down the photo. Otherwise, how are Showcase readers gonna know where to fling their poo, huh?!?!?!?!?
This entry was originally posted at http://modernwizard.dreamwidth.org/1551703.html. You can comment here, but I’d prefer it if you’d comment on my DW using OpenID.
Oh Dollmore, should I ever forgive you?
Dollmore, the dirty rotten cheatin’ BJD co. that recast its 70cm Model Doll male sculpts from Dollshe’s sculpts of the same size, continues to piss me off. They keep making dolls that I want, but cannot buy on the primary market because that would mean supporting a dirty rotten cheatin’ BJD co. Unfortunately, the Dollmore dolls I want never materialize on the secondary market.
The first Dollmore BJD I lust after is the 1:6 scale Melissa Hon, who first entered my field of vision about three years ago as the inresination of the protagonist of Intellectum, the doll-based series I never did, about a magical library, its employees, patrons and denizens. I have never seen owner pictures or sales posts for her on DOA or Ebay, and I only found someone who owned her a few months ago, but she has not procured pictures for me because she has been too busy. My desire for this particular doll has only increased over time because I have never seen her for sale outside of Dollmore, where I cannot bring myself to purchase her. In short, I want her because I haven’t been able to obtain her.
The second Dollmore BJD I lust after is the latest sculpt in their Dollmore Trinity series, Elysia. She’s 105cm tall, which is about 41 1/3 inches. That’s 1:2 scale — child size! To compare this with dolls with which I’m familiar, the length from her shoulder to the lower edge of her wrist ball joint is 30.5cm, just a smidgen taller than any of my male Soom Faery Legends. From hip to floor, she’s 54cm, which is on the smallish side for the total height of a 1:3 scale female BJD. She weighs 7.15kg, which is nearly 16 lbs.! The fullset version I linked to contains doll, faceup, wig, eyes, dress and shoes for $2780.00. $140.00 EMS s/h to US is extra.
I love her because her full features suggest childhood, but, despite her childlike size, she is generic enough to represent other older ages. Her open mouth makes her look pensive, wondering, speaking or stupefied, depending on the angle, so I like its multitude of interpretations. I like her because she is so big…not as unwieldy as a mannequin, but as big as I always think 1:3 scale BJDs should be when I see glamour shots of them: large enough to enter the uncanny valley, but small enough to remain obviously unhuman. I also like the fact that her joints are simple and almost perfectly spherical where possible, giving her the air of an antique doll.
This entry was originally posted at http://modernwizard.dreamwidth.org/1551501.html. You can comment here, but I’d prefer it if you’d comment on my DW using OpenID.
Yogurt
I just ate a yogurt that supposedly expired at the beginning of May. Not dead yet!
Babycat cracks me up. Whenever she sees us opening up the little Greek yogurt containers, she goes O_O and parks at our feet, licking her little chops. If we give her the peach or strawberry yogurt, she sticks her little face in the container and licks out all the leavings. She refuses to do the same with the blueberry, though.
This entry was originally posted at http://modernwizard.dreamwidth.org/1551259.html. You can comment here, but I’d prefer it if you’d comment on my DW using OpenID.
Score!: a new addition to my set pieces
I love the Doll Page Show and Sell Site. It’s an online marketplace where people post free ads for their doll stuff, mostly FRs [Fashion Royalties] and high-end Barbies, though 1:4 scale Tonners and BJDs of all sizes form a steady minority. There’s also a small, but steady, minority of naked rescue dolls that I’d expect to find at a thrift store or garage sale. Prices are pretty reasonable for the secondary market, and, if you stalk the new ads, you can find some exceptional deals. The only thing I dislike about the site is that sold items do not automatically disappear from the search results, which means they keep hanging around to taunt me. :p
Anyway, I have sold a few items on the Doll Page and purchased even more. I got a kitchen hutch with crockery for $30.00 shipped, which was just about what I was willing to pay. The seller actually refunded me s/h [$15.00], as one of the crocks broke in transit, so the hutch ended up being just $15.00.
Some aforementioned cheap nudes also came from the Doll Page.
FR London Calling Kyu Barrett also came from the Doll Page. Just to give you an idea of the low prices you can find there, I bought Barrett for $75.00 shipped because the seller wanted to clear him out so she could buy someone else. :p Other MIB dolls of his type are asking $100.00, $115.00, $116.00 and $215.00 shipped. Asking prices are higher on Ebay.
My most recent Doll Page score is a MIB Rement Beauty Counter for $55.00 shipped. I had never heard of this piece before last week because it’s really rare and from the early days of Rement [2005, according to HLJ]. The most recent one that sold on Ebay went for $74.98 shipped, while there are a few that remain up for between $135.99 and $189.00 shipped, both of which are ridiculous prices.
Anyway, here’s a box photo by seller kari. Accessories not included. This set piece will show up in Rumpy Pumpy to display either jewelry or bags and other accessories.
All the 1:6 scale BJDs: who I’ve got
In reference to my running list of all the 1:6 scale BJDs, this is who I’ve got:
- Alchemic Lab Unoa Light Azurite
- Batchix Nan Sook
- Elfdoll Kathlen [head only], Doona Ryung [head only]
- Lumedoll Lumelight Arine x2 [+ 1 head only], Blaze [head only], Elin, Lucas, elf Koit [head only]
- Soom Mini Gem Garam, Uyoo, Romantic Uyoo; Faery Legend Aenigma [+ 1 head only], Auber, Kremer, Metato.
- Souldoll Soul Little Metel
- Tinybear Bonbon
I would love to acquire the following:
- Dollmore Kidult Melissa Hon
- Elfdoll Devil
- Limhwa/Eosdoll Mari/Sara
- Notdoll Symposion of any sculpt
- Soom Mini Gem
Garam and/orSosle
Melissa Hon is because she looks like the protagonist of Intellectum. The Devil is because she was the sculpt of Submit 1.0. Mari/Sara is because I would like to rescue that sculpt from its associations with the odious Kristin. The Notdolls are just because I want one and regret getting rid of my tanned Lucy. Garam and/or Sosle are is because they replicate the big-eyed charms of my favorite Mini Gem Uyoo. EDIT: Now that I’ve got Garam and Romantic Uyoo, the other two discontinued Mini Gems, I kind of want Sosle just to have a complete set.
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Rumpy Pumpy and the Body Shop
Both of these are significant places in Zombieville, in Burlington’s South End, right next door. Rumpy Pumpy is at 402 Pine Street, while the Body Shop is in the same building at 404.
Rumpy Pumpy is, of course, Peter Paxton’s store. It’s a resale and consignment shop for vintage and funky shoes, bags and accessories. Because he lives off a trust fund that his rich parents provided him, he runs the store as a hobby. It never seems to do lots of business, but it has a reputation as the coolest outpost of fashion in Vermont. It supports local artists by displaying their work on its walls. It also participates in the yearly South End Art Hop and First Friday Art Walks.
The Body Shop is owned by Pearlene Eustis [see P. Bo hacking posts], a PWS and militant Z Pride activist. There’s another owner too, as yet undefined. The Body Shop is a cafe and community center. While Rumpy Pumpy welcomes PWS and works hard to support the city’s arts community in general, the Body Shop explicitly welcomes and supports PWS. The owner hires PWS and offers menu items that contain fresh human brains. The walls showcase art by PWS, while a small stage in the back hosts bands, speeches and rallies by/for the PWS community.
The Body Shop welcomes Toxic Waste denizens hanging out, using the toilet and/or wireless connection, charging their phones, receiving mail c/o the Body Shop, pretty much everything except for taking baths in the bathroom. In return, the Body Shop asks for some contribution from the Toxic Waste denizens. There are a few designated places where PWS can make contributions: washing dishes, maintaining Web site, bookkeeping, transporting day-old food to the Chittenden Emergency Food Shelf, arranging art exhibits, arranging bands, speakers and other events. Toxic Waste denizens regularly volunteer at the Body Shop, then end up working there part-time.
The Body Shop has a back corner, kind of behind the stage, for the Brain Trust. They hold their weekly meetings in this semi-private location, as well as any ad hoc subcommittee meetings. Anyone can sit there, but, if the Brain Trust shows up, people in their spot have to move.
This entry was originally posted at http://modernwizard.dreamwidth.org/1550470.html. You can comment here, but I’d prefer it if you’d comment on my DW using OpenID.
Head slicing on Pearlene
I decided that I could not save Pearlene’s lovely russet hair, as my resizing goals require me to actually see the full size and shape of her head, so I gave her a very bad haircut. I then did some more experimenting with photos of her in Photoshop.
Was I the only one…
…who liked the Mattel Flavas dolls? Leaving aside the bobbleheads on the girls and the lack of jointed knees [WHY?!?!], I liked them because they looked and dressed most like people I was likely to encounter everyday. Denim jackets, low-riding jeans, baggy windpants and warmup jackets, hightops, loose T-shirts, midriff-baring tops, baseball caps to wear backwards — these appeal to me much more than the ensembles provided with Integrity Fashion Royalties.
Apropos of everyday clothes for dolls, I think it would be fucking hilarious and also awesome if some company did a series of college student outfits:
- "8 AM Classes." Worn, faded T-shirt with university logo, plaid pajama pants, Ugg boots or slip-on sandals, notebook, pen, coffee cup, banana [for breakfast]. Female figures have loose ponytails; male figures have hair sticking up.
- "Go Sports Team!" Sweatshirt with university sports team logo, optional baseball cap with same, pennants and/or signs, air horn [hahahahahah!], little stuffed mascot, concession snack [hot dog or pretzel]. Facial screening includes face paint in school colors.
- "Exam Jam." T-shirt, jeans, socks, no shoes, laptop, notebook, pen, highlighter, stack of textbooks. Facial screening includes furrowed brows, bags under eyes and worried frowns.
- "Blind Date." Dressy clothes, flatter hair for male figures, more complicated updos and more makeup for female figures, cologne bottle for male figures, perfume bottle for female figures, wallets, smart phones and How To Ace Your First Date guidebook for both.
- "Senioritis." Tank tops, shorts, sneakers, baseball caps, shades, bikini top options for female figures, messy hair, books and magazines for pleasure reading, Frisbee, water bottle, sunbathing towel. Headsculpts have big smiles.
- "Now What?" Graduation gown, cap with tassel, diploma, congratulatory bouquet, yearbook, clothes and hairstyles a la "Blind Date." Headsculpts look like O_O.
I crack me up!
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Reproportioning Pearlene
I did some digital manipulations of Pearlene, and I think I can salvage her without the risky use of acetone. For example, just a small reduction of the size of her face on her head [i.e. reducing height of eyebrows, eyes and lips] makes her look so much better. I think I can get away with a repaint, a scalp reduction and a custom fat body [a modded male action figure?] to balance out the width of her head.
Continue reading Reproportioning Pearlene
Prunella, Deedee, Pearlene and the salvage dolls
Another lot of cheap nudes came today, the aforementioned Liv, P. Bo and Jazzie.
First, the Liv sacrificed her hands to Prunella. I cut open the Liv’s forearms at the wrist seams as unobtrusively as I could manage so that the body is available, albeit handless, for further experiments.
Continue reading Prunella, Deedee, Pearlene and the salvage dolls
Shrine to Andrea
As the Andrea tag indicates, I’ve had countless clothes made by her, dolls customized her and trades done with her. I’m amused because I’ve just looked around me and discovered how many dolls of mine she has a hand in:
At work:
- She
rerooted,made clothes for and enhanced the faceup of Steampink AJ. - She did body mods for, airbrushed the body of, repainted and made clothes for Peekaboo.
- She made the peach-colored faux snakeskin sofa that Peekaboo is sitting on.
At home, out and about:
- She rebodied, repainted, rerooted and made clothes for Prunella.
- She sold me Theophany.
- She made parts of the following people’s outfits: Isabel, Carter, Novella, Brandeis, Béatrice and Chaz.
- She repainted, rebodied, repaired and redressed a High School Musical Sharpay head on an articulated Barbie body, which I am in the process of acquiring.
At home, in storage:
- She head swapped and did body mods for Andrew.
- She repainted and rehaired Rori.
- She repainted and rerooted Dom.
- She made parts of the following people’s outfits: Janet, Davry, Marabou, AJ regular.
In sets and medium-size things:
- I sold her Bering Lusk, who she then eventually gave back to me. She also made most of the clothes Bering is wearing.
- She sold me the yellow mini Panton chair.
- She made many of the book dummies.
- She sold me the microwave.
And I haven’t even tried to encompass other clothes or Rements from her that are currently in storage. And I would be foolish to essay a full accounting of all those things from her I used to have, but no longer do.
^_^ ^_^ ^_^
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Yamarrah blank
A calculating cutie, deliberating on how to acquire her next creemee. She is not shown on her body yet because the neck is horribly short, so I have to fill in some of her neck socket at the bottom of her head.
I really like the clean, rectangular lines of her face. The curled tip on her tongue is my favorite detail, and I also appreciate her stupendously wide earspan.
Hackin’ up Barrett
Continued to work on him tonight.Continue reading Hackin’ up Barrett
Life in the Dream House Barbies!
My Shopping While Constipated Raquelle [and friends] arrived today! Here’s the first thing Raquelle did upon deboxing:Continue reading Life in the Dream House Barbies!
Yamarrah is here!
She’s wonderful! She has a little tongue! And little teefs! Iplehouse "real skin" is a nice light tan with a brown base.
This entry was originally posted at http://modernwizard.dreamwidth.org/1548018.html. You can comment here, but I’d prefer it if you’d comment on my DW using OpenID.
Improvement on Timonium’s lips
Darkened them with some wet black watercolor pencil, hit ’em with a few coats of satin varnish and erased some of the blurry dots around his lower lip. He’s ridiculously photogenic, I think, especially in stark lighting conditions.
Cutting Barrett down to size
I’ve been hacking away at Barrett today…
Chittenden County Doll Club, 07/13/13
On Saturday, Lyrajean, goldi, vermont chick and I gathered at the usual place at the usual time for the usual shenanigans. Photos ensued.
Timonium needs cleanup.
While taking pics of him at today’s CCDC meetup, I noticed that the borders of his bottom lip are hazy. Pebeo to the rescue [eventually]!!!!!
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Yamarrah shipped!
Seller PacificBlue [Maria] just alerted me that she has sent my Iplehouse Doria vampire head from Quincy, MA to my workplace by priority insured. She should arrive on Monday!!
Also scheduled to arrive Monday [to my house] is Barrett, my FR London Calling Kyu, who is apparently coming MIB. I can always use a nice, sturdy doll box for something….
My package containing the tan Liv, P. Bo and Jazzie has also left the building, but I’m not sure about the location from which it was sent or the shipping method.
No word on the progress of Shopping While Constipated Raquelle and friends, although I do have someone interested in one of the Dream House dolls coming with Raquelle.
It’s raining dolls!
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“1 month, 1 city, 1K books!”
Awwww, I love the Winooski Library. They just started a campaign to get the library patrons to collectively read a total of 1,000 books between July 15th and August 15th. If we hit that goal, we get an ice cream party!! Books and ice cream! What could be better?! Of course I’m going to pitch in by letting them know of all the books I read.
I wonder if there’s any capacity in which they need volunteers? I would love to regularly scan the stacks for books to sign out shelve books, for example.
This entry was originally posted at http://modernwizard.dreamwidth.org/1546344.html. You can comment here, but I’d prefer it if you’d comment on my DW using OpenID.
Just about the only FR I like
Integrity Toys’ current Fashion Royalty dolls because they’re mostly dolls with dour headsculpts, who can’t stand alone or hold items, wearing very femmey high fashion of a type that I never encounter in my daily life, for sale at a price that equals or exceeds the average Hot Toys licensed action figure. I’m not saying that I inherently dislike these traits; in fact, a quick glance at the small populations will show that plenty of them are dour and/or possessed of the inability to stand alone or hold item and/or very femmey and/or really expensive. I’m just saying that the FR line, in which the dolls consistently display all of these traits, bores the poop out of me. Obviously I am not the target audience.
That’s why, when I do happen upon an FR that I like, it’s cause for a blog post. Case in point: Simply Simpatico Darla Daley, from a 2011 Integrity convention giftset featuring Poppy Parker [the main doll in the eponymous line] and her friend, the aforesaid Darla, wearing coordinating and interchangeable outfit pieces. I give exactly zero shits about Poppy, who has a blond flip and a floral blazer and skirt, reserving all my admiration for Darla, who has a short, severe bob, a lilac dress shirt, floral cravat, fitted grey vest and fitted grey trousers.
Continue reading Just about the only FR I like
New naked little populations
Scored a bunch of cheap nudes from the Doll Page today. Continue reading New naked little populations
Mackenzie!!!
I finally, finally, finally hit that point in Me and My Muses where Mackenzie shows up!
I don’t have a doll of her yet, and I’m still considering how to do two aspects of her physical appearance that I’ve never done before on dolls. She has a receding hairline. I actually accidentally made a receding hairline for Mellifer in one of his early wigs because it wasn’t deep enough, so I think I can duplicate that.
She also has either a beard shadow [difference in facial pigmentation following areas of facial hair growth] or a five o’clock shadow [actual stubble], depending on how recently she has shaved. I’m probably going to go with a five o’clock shadow because it will be easy to create with watercolor pencil dots, as opposed to beard shadow, which is more subtle and requires too much effort to reproduce. :p
I’ve gotta check my drawer of available bodies to see what her choices are. I suppose that, if all else fails, she can always borrow Flower’s [WS] or Mellifer’s [NS] body. That may be the best course of action…depending, of course, on the selected head.
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Theophany needs help.
Just for reference, here is a closeup of Theophany’s current faceup in its worn-down state. She is an NS Soom Uyoo with default faceup.
Her eyebrows remain fine, and I’ve sealed the shit out of them so that they are impregnable.
However, her eyelid creases and eyelashes are rubbing away, particularly around her right eye.
Her lips have suffered the worst, with small rubs on the upper and large, obvious rubs on the lower.
I’m seeking faceup enhancement in the same style to restore her to a reasonable facsimile of her default, which I will then seal to hell so that it does not move.
FR Homme clothes?
I wonder if Barrett’s default outfit would fit Isabel. It’s incredibly LOUD and not really suitable for Barrett at all, except the jeans, socks and shoes.
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Do I know you?
I occasionally get requests to connect on LinkedIn from complete strangers. They include no messages indicating why they want to connect to me. Some of them appear to be indiscriminate spam generated by people somehow pestering vast swathes of people to connect with them, while others make me think that the sender actually sent me them for some reason [i.e., I just got one from someone who worked in my current city in 2011-2012], but I’ll be damned if I can figure it out.
Why do people do this? It’s like walking up to someone on the street and saying, "Let’s exchange business cards!" Why? Who are you? Why should I trust you?
This entry was originally posted at http://modernwizard.dreamwidth.org/1544784.html. You can comment here, but I’d prefer it if you’d comment on my DW using OpenID.
Forest will soon have vines!
I have collected a sample from the woods near my work. It is most likely some kind of grape vine. I’m either going to use the sample itself in the set or make smaller models from it.
This 1909 pamphlet on the state’s shrubs and woody vines might help me identify it.
This entry was originally posted at http://modernwizard.dreamwidth.org/1544304.html. You can comment here, but I’d prefer it if you’d comment on my DW using OpenID.
The only straight guy in Zombieville
I just scored a fullset Fashion Royalty London Calling Kyu for $75.00 shipped! He looks like this [picture by AddisonDewitt on the Doll Page]:
Growth of the 1:6 scale forest
My forest set has been months in the making.
Back in November, 2012, I planned to get appropriate backdrops, including a sky, a deciduous forest in spring/summer and a deciduous forest in fall.
At that time, I also decided that I needed some 3D foreground trees, to be played by actual sticks.
Not until March, 2013, though, did I get around to beginning its construction. At this time, the forest was an extremely simple deciduous backdrop with a ground made of moss glued to foamcore. Trees were sticks with stands made out of nails.
I soon added another color of moss and brown crinkle paper to the humus on the ground. My first underbrush made of plastic greenery also appeared.
Next I made Aves Apoxie Sculpt bases, covered with moss and crinkle paper, for my trees. I added a few stands of slender trunks to the thicker ones.
The forest still looked sparse, so I added some sprays of plastic leaves to pass as young trees.
I tried putting down loose green crinkle paper for additional ground cover, but it was the wrong shade.
However, I eventually discovered the right shade of green.
Then I added stands of plastic ferns.
I am probably not finished with this set. I’d like to have the option of a stump or log, a conifer or two and maybe a rock.
EDIT: The pictures were not hiding behind the cut, so I removed them. >:(
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Having a tough time…
…determining the type of hijab my Bantu girl character would wear. Shayla? Al-amira? Khimar? I’m having better luck determining what it’s NOT [abaya, niqab, chador, burqa].
This entry was originally posted at http://modernwizard.dreamwidth.org/1543505.html. You can comment here, but I’d prefer it if you’d comment on my DW using OpenID.
She did it to offend YOU personally.
Yes, fashion blogger and nitpicker extraordinaire Mary Fischer. Sarah Jessica Parker wore sandals and socks the other day just to make YOU barf. She knows that your delicate constitution can’t handle such sins against fashion, and she maliciously plotted to upset your stomach. She’s evil. So am I.
Regards,
someone who won’t wear sandals WITHOUT socks
This entry was originally posted at http://modernwizard.dreamwidth.org/1543254.html. You can comment here, but I’d prefer it if you’d comment on my DW using OpenID.
Shopping While Constipated and other doll notes
- Béatrice’s faceup, especially her mouth, is rubbing off. [Maybe I forgot to seal it?] She needs redoing. She also needs her ridiculously large chandelier earrings…and maybe a hat. Her blindingly white skull makes her difficult to photograph.
- Theophany’s faceup is also wearing away, about which I’m very sad, since I bought her in part for the delicate default Soom faceup. I don’t do this light, layered type of look, so I suppose I’ll have to commission someone on DOA to replicate the same style.
- I really, really, REALLY want a Life in the Dream House Raquelle. All the dolls in the Dream House series have a high level of articulation and, more excitingly, as far as I’m concerned, expressive, slightly cartoony headsculpts that reflect their computer-animated inspirations. The Dream House Raquelle first came to my attention when someone on Figurvore characterized her as the "Shopping While Constipated Raquelle." I immediately loved her smirk, wrinkled eyebrows and asymmetrical features. Picture below the cut.
Continue reading Shopping While Constipated and other doll notes
Dollism Plus US 2014 now has an official date and place!
September 12th, 13th and 14th! At the Hyatt Regency in Buffalo, NY! We’re going to make a road trip of it, visiting Railroads on Parade in Pottersville, NY, on the way there. I’m thinking 1 to 1.5 days to get from here to RROP and thence to Buffalo, 1.5 to 2 days at the convention, then 1 day to drive back.
Hmmm…looks like about 2 hours from here to RROP. We could drive down in the morning, have lunch and spend the afternoon at RROP. We could either spend the night locally or drive a bit father and spend the night closer to Buffalo. The route from RROP to Buffalo goes right through the Adirondacks, so there are plenty of small hotels and B&Bs to choose from.
The next day we could drive the rest of the way to Buffalo, arriving mid- to late afternoon, in time for any late afternoon or evening convention events. The next day would be all convention, and the day following would be all the return trip.
Possible itinerary
Day 1 [Thursday]: Drive to RROP. See RROP. Option #1: Spend night in Pottersville. Option #2: Spend night in some place between Pottersville and Utica [2 hours from Pottersville]. Option #3: Spend night in Utica.
Day 2 [Friday]: Drive rest of way to Buffalo. Attend convention in later afternoon and/or early evening. Spend night in Buffalo.
Day 3 [Saturday]: Attend convention. Option #1: After full day at convention, spend night in Buffalo. Option #2: After partial day at convention, leave in late afternoon and spend night in Rochester [1.25 hours from Buffalo]. Option #3: After partial day at convention, leave in late afternoon and spend night in Syracuse [2.75 hours from Buffalo].
Day 4 [Sunday]: Drive home.
Day 5 [Monday]: Collapse.
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Now the forest set has ferns!
I found some sprays of plastic ferns in the clearance section at Michael’s last week and couldn’t pass them up. Tonight I broke out the ferns, some leftover dried moss and the Aves Apoxie Sculpt to make some more ground cover.
Continue reading Now the forest set has ferns!
Slight progress on the walker
I raised it up higher by not gluing the wheels so far up the chair legs. I also removed the default plastic front cross brace and added double front wheels. Walker is now about 1cm taller [and so is Peter, for that matter, making him more proportional, thank God!].
This project is giving me so much grief. -_-
Jareth’s latest faceup
Erased the watercolor pencil lips and redid them in paint. Bottom lip is tomato red acrylic. Top lip is same, darkened with a bit of black. Also went over his eyebrows with black paint. Sealed the shit out of his mouth with satin varnish and eyebrows with matte.
Here he is borrowing Yamarrah’s body. The bad proportions make me twitch.
Shortening Prunella
Hacked off a centimeter from each of her ankles, pried open hack-offs to rescue ankle pins, drilled out new ankle holes and jammed ankle pins up there, tightening with hot glue. Gotta do something with her hands next. I like them, but they are way out of scale.
Continue reading Shortening Prunella
All my dolls, 07/07/2013
It’s been about a month and a half since my last census, and things have changed yet again, mostly in the active populations at my house. I’m reusing photos from the last census for everyone except the "out and about" crew at home.
Continue reading All my dolls, 07/07/2013
Prunella the slightly unhinged
I got a package from Andrea yesterday [the first at my new address, yay!] containing, among other things, Prunella Jones. She came to me under the name Gavali, a repainted, rerooted High School Musical Gabriella head on an articulated Ballerina Barbie body drilled to accept action figure hands. Naturally, Andrea did the reroot and repaint, as well as the custom zip-up jumpsuit.
Continue reading Prunella the slightly unhinged
Yamarrah’s body has arrived!
I’m surprised the package didn’t disintegrate on the way from Sweden, however, given that it was a mere shoebox secured with Scotch tape, with the address label on a single sheet of wrapping paper poorly adhered to the box. >_>
Fortunately, however, the contents arrived intact, though fully strung. I expected an unstrung doll, so was actually disappointed that I did not have to reassemble her.
Though renowned for its poor posing abilities, the Domuya Flexi body is much more than I expected. Mine, at least, is strung with just the right tension, and it’s balanced, engineered and weighted well enough to stand on high-pile carpeting right out of the box. There are indeed lots of joints, making the body better suited to sitting, lying, slouching and curling up, rather than standing. However, nearly every single joint has locks so that limbs and torso segments can keep their position. Thus the body is pretty solid, even without wiring, though I am gonna wire the arms.
Anyway, here’s Yamarrah’s body and outfit as it stands. The sweatshirt fits, but it rides up on her shoulders whenever I move her arms, so I will not be using it. Instead I will go with an oversize, lightweight T-shirt of the same color with a boat neck and raglan sleeves [yeah, 1980s!!!]. I just have to commission that. The sweatshirt will do for now, though. Besides the shirt, I’m very pleased with the results. I look forward to painting flames up her forearms and neck to disguise some of the resin difference.
Got some swatches this week for Jareth’s Outfit of Amazingness #1!
Whhhaaa, the neck is too short and wide! *twitch twitch*
Sticking Jareth’s head temporarily on Janvier Jett’s body gives me conniptions of wrongness. Nevertheless, I redid his lips in crimson red watercolor pencil, outlined with dark brown watercolor pencil, and managed to see that it was a great improvement over that previous vile orangey shit before I succumbed to the distraction of HORRIBLY WRONG PROPORTIONS GAAAAAHHHHH.
Continue reading Whhhaaa, the neck is too short and wide! *twitch twitch*
Animated kitty cat parade!
This never fails to cheer me up!
This entry was originally posted at http://modernwizard.dreamwidth.org/1540315.html. You can comment here, but I’d prefer it if you’d comment on my DW using OpenID.
I miss Jareth :(
I mean, I miss my Jareth BJD, whose body is out at the tailor’s. He used to sit right next to my living room chair so that I could enjoy his gleeful fabulosity merely by looking over to the side. Now he’s temporarily gone. I hope he’ll be back soon!
This entry was originally posted at http://modernwizard.dreamwidth.org/1539856.html. You can comment here, but I’d prefer it if you’d comment on my DW using OpenID.
My CG body with the huge boobs
Ever since one of its legs broke off, I’ve been saving both the body and the leg, primarily because a body with that size tits is pretty rare.
Now that I have grown much more proficient in drilling, hacking and Apoxie Sculpting things, I think that I could reattach its leg using a long pin through the top of the thigh and anchored into the crotch. This fix would prohibit rotation at the thigh, but would allow swinging back and forth. That’s good enough for me. Then Anneka, even though she is now in storage, could have her body back.
This entry was originally posted at http://modernwizard.dreamwidth.org/1539701.html. You can comment here, but I’d prefer it if you’d comment on my DW using OpenID.
Now with bonus fetus accessory!
As I have previously noted, Ringdoll does wonderfully gross things with their BJD concepts. Their reissue of Frankenstein [sic] is no exception. The reissue comes out in the beginning of August along with his bride Eva. The basic Eva comes with the following, a direct quote from the sales promo:
- New grey body
- High-heeled feet
- Fetus
- Wig
- Eyes
Hah hah hah hah, that’s amazing! I wonder what a BJD fetus looks like. Does it have eyes and/or joints? Does it come with a ball-jointed placenta and optional bloodstains? Can we pop it in and out of Eva’s uterine cavity?
Just to be clear, I do not think fetuses are gross. In the context of Frankenstein and Eva, however, who are corpse-based cyborgs, a dead fetus accessory for Eva is pretty revolting. Also awesome.
This entry was originally posted at http://modernwizard.dreamwidth.org/1539279.html. You can comment here, but I’d prefer it if you’d comment on my DW using OpenID.
Me and My Muses 6.9: “Who Am I?”
Ellery talks to her muse[s], and the ambiguity rises. Thus ends season 6, and we’re going on hiatus again while I, uh, write the rest of the story…