Here he is, folks — Lumberjack Fallow! He is a DAM Toys Nazi Officer head on some cheap AA male action figure body.
Continue reading Lumberjack Fallow, king of Toxic Waste
Posts from November 2013
Chaz’ chair coming together
Some weeks ago, I used one of the last warm days in November to empty a can of fluorescent pink spray paint on the base of Chaz’ electric wheelchair, a 1:24 scale ForTwo Smart Car. Today I finally connected the wheelchair’s seat — a salon chair that I acquired this summer — with the base.
Continue reading Chaz’ chair coming together
Update on Zombieville kids
Here’s a photo of the two older kids I have constructed. Not-Baozha is at left, and at right is an Obitsu W-02 prerooted, prepainted head for 27cm female dolls on a DiD Timo Ducca body. Not-Baozha is 11 inches tall, scaling out at 5.5 feet. W-02 is 10 inches tall, scaling out at 4.5 feet.
Another Zombieville kid’s poseability improved
To make a kid between 12 and 14, I stuck Baozha’s head [from a Medicom Bambi figure] on a Spin Master Liv doll. Unfortunately no longer in print, Liv dolls are highly articulated representations of teenagers, so they have smaller breasts and hips than, say, Barbies, as well as overall shorter stature.
I like Livs better than, say, Obitsus, as Livs’ proportions are more realistic. However, Livs have only single-jointed elbows [but double-jointed knees?!], so they lack the extreme flexibility of Obitsus. Inspired by fellow Figurvore member John/kd230692’s body mods to improve poseability in the Barbie Fashionista arms, I performed similar operations on this Liv body.
Continue reading Another Zombieville kid’s poseability improved
Quick and dirty articulation of a Kelly doll
Because Zombieville needs kids, I’ve been piecing some together from existing spare parts and some new purchases. To fill the toddler slot, I purchased a Kelly doll — the original design, rather than the more recent elongated one, as I find the former much cuter.
However, while the original Kelly dolls are cute, they, like most playline stuff by Mattel, have abysmal articulation. Several years ago, I used my Dremel, pipe cleaners and hot glue to add articulation. I used the same principles again this go-around, refining them a bit. Results below.
Continue reading Quick and dirty articulation of a Kelly doll
Tis the season to repurpose ornaments.
In my recent travels, I have discovered the following Xmas ornaments that work well for 1:6 scale purposes.
Short-term doll stuff to do
Paint base of Lumberjack’s neck.Give him dreads.Find him a Red Sox cap.Give him gloves OR paint hands to match head.Make him cigarette[s].Make him WILL WORK FOR BRAINS sign.Weather his pants.Weather jacket.Weather hat.Prime Metel head for new Sheila head.Give Sheila 2.0 faceup.- Make Sheila 2.0 wig.
- Style Sheila 2.0 wig.
Get 1mm elastic.String Metel body.Wire Metel body.- Mod Gloravnia’s head for Metel neck.
Prime Gloravnia’s head.Remove Absinthe’s faceup.Prime Polly’s head.Paint pine tree bases.Sort stuff on desk.Sort stuff on floor.Pick needles to use as tools.Cut needles.Make handles.Assemble tools.Do I need other tools?- Ask for them.
Mount Chaz’ chair on wheelchair base.Put magnets on window frame.Drill Kelly body.Wire Kelly body.Adapt shirt.Adapt pants.Remove hair.Remove faceup.Add hair.Do new faceup.
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Ooooh ripply hair!
David Bowie, almost certainly somewhere in the 1970s, possibly in concert?
EDIT: Google Image Search identifies this picture as him on the set of the Boys Keep Swinging video, 1979.
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Revolving BJD door
Ginevra has been sold. With the proceeds, I put a down payment on Muggins and paid another installment on Polly. I now have two installments of five, or $186.24, left to go. Furthermore, I’m pretty sure that I’m getting a Kelly doll [for a Zville toddler] and Lumberjack’s head in the mail today! Very exciting!
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Muggins!!!!
>^-_-^< I just put a 50% down payment on Muggins, who I purchased [purr-chased?] as an unstrung kit. She’s the British mold in polyamide [3-D printed plastic] with unfolded ears, 4cm high at withers, solid dark grey [I thought pure black was a bit too, uh, black], with orange eyes and big round pupils. Yay! Isabel’s kitty cat is on her way!
Muggins: "[Yay! I can’t wait to see Mom! I love you Mom! Feed me yogurt!]"
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Janvier Jett makeover?? Substitution??
Janvier Jett has never really cohered as a character for me in that way that, for example, Sardonix, Timonium and Yamarrah have. I’m now wondering what, if anything, to do with her.
Here are some options:
- Keep her as is and invent a personality for her. The problem is that my dolls don’t retroactively grow personalities. I always create a character first and then find a resin form for them.
- Sell whole doll. But I spent so long putting together that outfit that is like the pinnacle of the meretricious style that I love. I think I like the outfit more than the doll.
- Repaint. But, no matter what I do, that headsculpt is always going to be Janvier Jett to me.
- Reconceptualize — new outfit, new eyes, new hair, new character. Probably not possible, given my fixed association between the doll and the character.
Of course, I could always:
- Get rid of her and acquire another doll.
There’s this IOS Infernale head [no longer in stock on the site] on the marketplace, and I’m thinking that perhaps the population of BJDs who bug me could use another open-mouthed vampire who’s really, really into fetish gear and who lacks social skills…even more than Timonium does! Hmmm…
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Polly’s accoutrements
I have decided that Polly, my Elfdoll Kathlen sleeping head on Asleep Eidolon mermaid body, will use the Mattel Becky manual wheelchair that I have spray painted black. She, a freshwater mermaid, will also wear a T-shirt that says CHAMP LIVES! [Champ is the lake monster that supposedly lives in Lake Champlain.] Her chair will have a bumper sticker on it that says SAVE THE LAKE.
This entry was originally posted at http://modernwizard.dreamwidth.org/1598337.html. You can comment here, but I’d prefer it if you’d comment on my DW using OpenID.
Chittenden County Doll Club, 11/23/2013
Four of us gathered for CCDC’s first Thanksgiving/Xmas themed meetup. It ended up being mostly Xmas themed, so our dolls enjoyed gifts, Xmas candy, decorated trees and holiday mayhem from RealPukis. :pContinue reading Chittenden County Doll Club, 11/23/2013
Zombieville still needs kids.
I had this realization about ten days ago, but that prompted the creation of a whole new character [Sheila] when I really just wanted a variety of very young tertiaries.
Looking through my raw dolls, I see that the following may be employed to make some Zville kids:
- Hujoo Wings body [remove conical breasts! 🙁 ]
- Davry [DiD Timo Ducca head]
- Young Anneka [Obitsu W-02 head]
- Annie [Knickerbocker doll]
Looking through my entire population of dolls, especially those in storage, I see that the following may be employed to make Zville kids:
- Baozha [Medicom Bambi head + modded Obitsu body]
- Chow [CG02 head + DiD Timo Ducca body]
Submit could also sub in as a kid in a pinch.
In conclusion, here are some prospective kids ranked by ease of creation:
Easy
- Submit [add wig] → 6 to 8 y/o
- Annie [head swap, redress] → 6 to 8 y/o
Medium
- Baozha [touch up, redress] → 12 to 14 y/o
- Chow [rehair, redress] → 12 to 14 y/o
Advanced
- Young Anneka [match Wings body with head, remove breasts, dress] → 8 to 10 y/o
- Davry [repaint, rehair, fit on Chow’s body, redress] → 8 to 10 y/o
Even though I can easily assemble six kids from the parts I have, I still want a toddler. >_<
I should really purchase my Annie doll an Obitsu body so that she can have more articulation.
This entry was originally posted at http://modernwizard.dreamwidth.org/1597766.html. You can comment here, but I’d prefer it if you’d comment on my DW using OpenID.
Cheap bonsai trees for dolls
Here, by talented artist ira_scargeear, an amazing person who sculpted her own Sephiroth BJD from scratch and really made him look like the character. Okay, but here she’s talking about making bonsai trees for dolls with wire, toilet paper, natural sponge and paint. Do I need more foliage in my life? Hmmmmm…
This entry was originally posted at http://modernwizard.dreamwidth.org/1597606.html. You can comment here, but I’d prefer it if you’d comment on my DW using OpenID.
Doll stuff that’s really hard to find
Decent glasses in 1:6 scale and 1:3 scale! NOT sunglasses, NOT glasses with narrow bridges and ridiculously wide lenses, NOT uselessly thick frames, just glasses!
The Kotobukiya metals ones are quite durable, but often too narrow, with bows that are too short. I have some that Forever Virginia printed on transparency paper a few years ago, but I’m running out!
I have half a mind to design my own 1:6 scale glasses and then print them out on transparency paper. My dolls need to see!!
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Sheila is done!
I made Sheila a headcap today. I first made a core out of aliuminum foil and then covered it with Aves Apoxie Sculpt as necessary. The core gave my headcap more structural integrity and also saved me some Apoxie Sculpt. I’m surprised that I made the dead version of Isabel a functional headcap without a foil core!
Sheila also got a wig of brown faux fur, subdued with Mod Podge, with added bangs. She also got glasses.
Chaz, the Batchix Nan Sook that I first did, is at left, compared to Sheila at right. Now that I see them together, I know that I could put them in the same scene without any difficulty. Though they have the same basic headsculpt, they look plenty different. Chaz’ bright clothes, raised eyebrows and smiling mouth give her an open, cheerful air. Sheila’s open mouth, lowered eyebrows and glasses make her features seem narrower. Interestingly, Chaz looks more youthful to me than Sheila, even though Chaz is at least in her mid-20s and Sheila is somewhere between 8 and 12.
Continue reading Sheila is done!
Continuin’ to make Sheila
Sheila now has a faceup and a doll. She still needs a headcap and hair. Opening her mouth and giving her straighter eyebrows than Chaz really helps to differentiate her!
Continue reading Continuin’ to make Sheila
Makin’ Sheila
I did some subtractive mods on an extra Batchix Nan Sook head recently. I think Nan Sook is inherently adorable, but I wanted Sheila to look at least slightly different from Chaz, who is an unmodded Nan Sook. Another unmodded head is at left for comparison, while Sheila is at right. I sanded down the depth of her eyelids and eye sockets. I also removed some of the tip of her nose. Finally I made her mouth deeper, straighter and wider. Ultimately I think most of the differentiation between Chaz and Sheila will derive from faceup, eyes, clothes, characterization and the fact that they will never appear in the same frame together.
Doll Chateau does it again!
Known for their stylized, sculptural dolls that are frequently scrawny and guaranteed to provoke strong, divided responses, Doll Chateau again comes out with something really unusual and supremely cool. This time it’s an arachnid girl, Elizabeth, with a human torso joined to a spider’s lower half. She has two arms and six spider legs. Like the extra-elongated dolls that DC has recently issued, she has an exaggeratedly tall neck with an extra ball joint toward the top, and all her fingers are articulated at the base. She’s amazingly cool. I wonder if that body could be adapted for 1:6 scale use.
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Most frequently used tags
As of today, these are my top tags, in order from most to least frequently used:
- love has fangs
- faceups
- labyrinth
- wigs
- sexist stereotypes
- sets 1:6 mine
- isabel
- signature style
- sardonix
- jareth 1.0
It cracks me up that "sexist stereotypes" ranks so highly!
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Delphine is done!
I did all the improvements that I said I would on Delphine, and here she is [at right], done, with Béatrice [at left]. Showin’ off one of my few faux furs in natural hair color!
Continue reading Delphine is done!
Katherine Taylor-McBroom’s collaged, reflection-like dollhouses
Burlington City Arts hosts revolving exhibits of local artists’ work in the halls of my office building. Down in the basement there are currently some fascinating mixed media pieces by Katherine Taylor-McBroom. I found the architectural collages less interesting than these 3-D collages incorporating 1:12 scale dollhouse pieces, public domain photos and illustrations. Her use of reversed and/or mirrored elements combine with a desaturated palette to give these works a haunting, dreamlike atmosphere.
Unfortunately, the light down there was very poor, so I was not able to do justice to these pieces in my photos, which often washed out. Photocopied figures peek out of windows and lurk behind working doors. The layered nature of the work practically invites peering and poking, while also evoking a palimpsest and/or layers of memory. Brilliant stuff.
Continue reading Katherine Taylor-McBroom’s collaged, reflection-like dollhouses
8- to 10-year-old kid from spare parts!
I knew that photographic inventory of my raw dolls would come in handy… I just realized that I can cobble together an 8- to 10-year-old kid from parts in my bin: one of my extra Batchix Nan Sook heads on one of those chocolate Hujoo bodies. To accomplish this, I need to:
- adjust Hujoo neckpost
- mod Nan Sook head so that it doesn’t look identical to Chaz
- sculpt headcap
- paint head to match body
Very easy! The most challenging aspect of kid dolls is finding clothes for them.
The resulting girl, Sheila Stockard, is 10 at most. Her parents are friends with Isabel’s parents. Isabel and Carter have known Sheila since she was born. They have babysat for her in the past; she calls them Aunt Isabel and Uncle Carter. While Carter is not as close to Sheila as he used to be, Isabel still sees Sheila regularly. Sheila is a rather serious kid with few friends and little interest in pink sparkly shit. She does, however, like dolls, a fact that causes her parents some consternation [and Isabel much joy]. Isabel feels very protective of Sheila, especially because she, like Sheila, was shy, quiet, socially isolated and well-read for her age. Sheila, for her part, absolutely worships Isabel. Conflict occurs when Sheila’s parents discover that Isabel has spondis. They don’t want Sheila to hang out with Isabel anymore. Isabel and Sheila sneak around for a while, but then have to confront her parents’ prohibition head-on.
Notes: Overalls if possible. Glasses. Pierced ears. Glue black boucle yarn to head, then trim close for hair.
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Zombieville needs kids.
I have a 12- or 13-year-old: Alabama. [She just needs hair.]
I’d like to have an 8- to 10-year-old and a toddler.
Hmmmm…
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A mermaid swam into my shopping cart.
This one, with the drowsy head and semi-translucent aqua fins. I put her on 6-part layaway, just for manageability, but I hope to pay her off earlier than that.
I’ve decided that she is going to use Absinthe’s old head, my sleeping Elfdoll Kathlen faceplate, with a new faceup, of course. I may move the finny ears off the Cordelia head and onto the Kathlen head, but maybe not.
No name yet, but we’re working on it.
EDIT: Her name is Polly.
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EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE MERMAID EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!
Asleep Eidolon is now taking preorders for a 1:6 scale mature mermaid BJD! Comes with male or female torso with double-jointed elbows, faceup, eyes, fin ears, shell top, 2 tail fin options, 2 wing options [wings?!] and a whole lotta cuteness.
brb buyin a mermaid
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Doll population movement
The following are going up for sale. We’ll see if there are any takers:
- Karito Kids Ling [Junebug]
- Soom Faery Legend Aenigma + extra head [Ginevra]
- Lumedoll Lumelight Elin [Avery]
- Hujoo chocolate bodies x2
Possibly going up for sale:
- Lumedoll Lumelight Arine [Mazzy]
- Soom Minigem old style body [raw dolls]
- 5StarDoll tiny body [raw dolls]
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Pointy mermaid?!
I just got the idea this morning to combine two of my current BJD interests into one doll: IOS Infernale head + mermaid body. The challenge would be procuring a mermaid body, as no company, I think, offers open edition mer bodies EDIT: in 1:3 scale.
EDIT: Planet Doll offers open edition mer bodies, but they are only in the 27 and 42 cm scales, not 1:3 scale, which is what I need.
EDIT: Peapod Doll offers open edition mer bodies, but only in the 27cm scale.
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TONSIL HOCKEY PART 2!!!
Oooooooh, I just discovered that IOS’ Infernale head, previously commented on in March, appears to be in stock on their Web site for a mere $256.00 including s/h!
Clearly I need to get another open-mouthed doll sticking out its tongue.
I wish I had more money for dolls. I’d like ~$600.00, enough for Muggins and Tonsil Hockey II.
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Hey wait a minute — GIVE THAT BACK.
Yamarrah stole the wig I made for Jareth, as well as his glasses. Well, I guess that wig’s not for him anymore… :p The glasses, however, he’s not giving up so easily.
Yamarrah’s faceup almost done
I’ve been working on Yamarrah’s faceup for a long time, mostly, as can be discerned from the results, with orange, red and yellow Prismacolors. Her tongue, inner mouth, eyebrows and eyelashes are done, and right now she’s resting to see if I like the way her lips have turned out. If I do, I will seal her lips and then work on her teeth.
She’s one of the sweetest dolls I’ve had the pleasure of working on. I can’t really describe it any other way except to say that her mischievous expression and floppy body combine to make her a friendly, cuddly, cheery person. I’ve thought about getting a bronze Soom Mega Gem body to match her head, but I really do like her wiggly, floppy Domuya Flexibody. As much as her inability to hold a pose bothers me, it’s become part of her character now that I don’t think I can sacrifice, even for resin matching. I guess she’s just a really loungey fire elemental!
I officially give up on the walker.
I’ve grown to hate it. It has sat on my desk, unfinished, for so long, that I now resent its imperfect and failed state. Because I now hate it, It’s unsalvageable. I’ve spent too much time on it for too little result.
I’m thinking about doing some forearm crutches instead.
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Fantasy TV I am no longer watching and also that I am still watching
Not watching:
- Dracula. I can’t stand the concept of Mina as Dracula’s reincarnated wife. Why is this so interesting to modern interpretations? It’s boring and stupid, adding nothing to the story.
- Once Upon a Time in Wonderland. Jafar finally got a backstory in episode 4, but the whole business is moving too sluggishly for me to care. I don’t have enough interest to invest in a mediocre show.
Still watching:
- Grimm. It’s so silly, but I love Monroe and Rosalee. Too bad Nick, the ostensible main character, has no personality whatsoever.
- Haven. This show just keeps getting weirder. It started off as a Trouble-of-the-week show for the first season, but, ever since we’ve dug more and more into Audrey’s reincarnations and their ties to Haven, the loopiness has become loopier, with time travel, waystations between worlds and secret cabals pitted against each other for the control of Haven. I get the sense that the showrunners didn’t expect more than one or two seasons, so now they’re plotting themselves up a storm. I fear they might write themselves into some ridiculous corner, but so far everything is hanging together just enough to be convincing at a quick glance. I watch this just to see what the showrunners come up with next. I sure wish Audrey would develop some friendships with other women. If partners and family members from Duke’s past keep materializing, why can’t some women show up who were friends with Audrey’s previous selves? They could advise her.
- Sleepy Hollow. It’s becoming just about as loopy as Haven.
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Yamarrah continues apace.
I’ve been working on Yamarrah’s faceup for days. I realize that, even though she has fangs, she is not a sanguivorous vampire. She is, as I have mentioned in the past, a fire elemental. She eats igneous rocks and drinks lava. Her fangs help her to pierce the rocks, either to break them down or to get tot he lava inside.
The mystery is what she’s doing in Vermont, way the hell far away from any active fault line. Probably looking for creemees. ^_^
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Dollmore Trinity Elysia redux
I’m still entertaining the idea of a 1:2 scale BJD in the form of Dollmore Trinity Elysia, previously mentioned in July. She appears occasionally on the secondary market, which is good, as I can’t patronize Dollmore’s primary market for moral reasons. Recently one just popped up on the DOA marketplace for ~$2.2K excluding s/h, which I find a damn sight more affordable than ~$3K. Janna says we don’t have the space for a BJD that big, but I’d make the space.
I wish that Elysia wasn’t solely available as various LE fullsets. Very few of my BJDs end up looking exactly as they came from the manufacturer, Araminthe, Janvier Jett and Submit being the notable exceptions in my current population. I derive most of my enjoyment from customizing the heck out of my BJDs and personalizing them as much as possible. In practice, this means that they end up with bright, scribbly faceups, wild faux fur hair and meretriciously mismatching outfits. Therefore, if I bought Elysia, I would, of course, remove the faceup, change the eyes and set aside wig and outfit, thus leaving me with hundreds of dollars of nontransferable doll stuff that I have no use for.
I’d love to get an Elysia kit — unstrung, unpainted. Blah blah blah!!
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Lumberjack update
Lumberjack, who was invented as a Zombieville denizen so I could use my Sideshow The Dead Punk head, does not want to be my Sideshow Punk. He wants to be the Nazi zombie that I saw about 10 months ago. By that, I mean that the Nazi zombie is a much better headsculpt for Lumberjack’s intimidating, commanding, serious presence than that of the perpetually worried Sideshow Punk.
Poor Sideshow Punk. He’s just not looking salvageable these days.
Now that Lumberjack has determined himself as a DAM Toys Nazi zombie officer, I have to procure the head or nude doll only without any of that other crap.
Stuff to buy for Zombieville
black faux furbrown faux furForTwo for Chaz’ wheelchairLumberjack’s head[+ body?]- plaid shirt, jeans, winter vest for Lumberjack
neodymium magnets
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