Re: Work In Progress--Deryni Action Figure Project (was Duncan Action Figure)

[Jerusha]

Very cool!

[Evie]

And just for kicks and grins, I ran the text of those letters through Google Translate:

"Lorem itself pain he is amet consectetuer to post a comment. I really need to focus on consumer impact. I really miss. It's easy, you will feel to the home and the great gods into labor over the mountains, instantly. Until than the cats, it's just nothing, technology that your kids the value of what, prefix meaning half. No problem for the mass. Unfortunately, the foot of the just, even customers, nor economic, beef production, layout. In fact, the just, a wide range of to, financing a, the magazines and newspapers of life, the just. Here's the price of a soft foot football it was said to the cat. A whole week. Tomorrow protein. Morbi always like this. Blackjack team in the region. Aeneas as a lion around the world, of loans, living environment, Japan and the, for example. It's the Internet before, in the protein, bio-, from the newspaper, relax. Welcome to Indian as illegal trade bills. Each makeup. Traffic financing. Even if it's just propaganda. I'm thinking if it's just. For example, Pakistan. The internet. It's the period of time, to improve the wide range of regional employment, which they have always a lot of freedom, it is just a lot of neither, but very important. In fact, than it is now afternoon or, in the tens of thousands of mourning, ie, the near future, the Internet. Overview of China's industrial and have time to stop. In addition, planning to keep the plant site. Read before. Yes, this is the jaws of the United States to start the development of indoor air quality. It's timing. Rather, it's funny a lot of options. Members great arrows. But the problem was the timing of the development team members, the organization wants to market now,"

Yeah, we're going to need some Deryni Healers, preferably some with a specialty in mental health...   

[revanne]

Suddenly I feel a whole lot better about my grammar and punctuation 

Am concerned about Helena's sunburn though. As a possessor myself of a white skin that blotches at every available oppurtunity (always feel very pale skin is a substandard mutation) I feel she should cover up in the Alabama sun before she gets sunburn in some very tender places. And I somehow think that Duncan would refuse to heal her muttering "Well, I did warn you, woman, the penance fits the sin!"

[Elkhound]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lorem_ipsum

[Elkhound]

Suddenly I feel a whole lot better about my grammar and punctuation 

Am concerned about Helena's sunburn though. As a possessor myself of a white skin that blotches at every available oppurtunity (always feel very pale skin is a substandard mutation) I feel she should cover up in the Alabama sun before she gets sunburn in some very tender places. And I somehow think that Duncan would refuse to heal her muttering "Well, I did warn you, woman, the penance fits the sin!"

She should at least wear a light shawl.  (It could be worse--you could have put her in a sarong!)

[Evie]

Thanks for the link, Elkhound!  I'd seen that explanation before, but forgot where I'd seen it, and didn't think to look right there in Wikipedia, silly me!   

My original intent for the sheer fabric was to cut the gift bag apart in such a way that the pieces could be used to make a short capelet to be worn over Helena's bare shoulders and cover her chest and arms down to about waist-level.  But I only have one such bag, with no idea where to find a replacement in the same color if I messed it up, so I chickened out and just wrapped it around the gown with no alteration aside from removing the drawstring.  I was also afraid that if I had to sew it back together, the seams would look messy even if I used French seams, because the fabric is so sheer.

Fortunately the 21st Century has high SPF sunscreen, which I'm certain Helena would have taken precautions to use before venturing outside (hopefully with a bit of help to get her upper back coated as well, and NOT by Duncan!), so hopefully she'll avoid burning on those rare occasions she ventures outdoors into full sunlight in that dress.  It's more of an evening gown, really.  Though she still risks adding to her collection of freckles, especially if I happen to find myself with a fine-tipped paintbrush and the brown watercolor pencil handy, not to mention a bit of spare time....   

LOL @ Duncan's muttered refusal!  Yes, I suspect if Helena were to return home with a sunburn, she'd think it an apt time for the old adage, "Physician, Heal thyself."  I certainly can't imagine her stammering her way through asking Duncan to do it!  "Could you...um...well, see, I have this sunburn, and...ah...could you see fit to lay your consecrated hands on my...er...never mind! Briony, do you have a moment, dear?"

[Evie]

(It could be worse--you could have put her in a sarong!)

You should see the itsy bitsy, teeny weeny, yellow bikini that body originally came with!  No polka-dots, though.

ETA:  Oh wait!  I found a picture of her body donor wearing her original outfit:

New ZC Girl Eve body for Helena by evian_delacourt, on Flickr

[revanne]

I take it all back - her gown is a model of decorum.

That bikini looks like something one might be made to wear in some horrendous medieval shaming ceremony - Helena definitely does not deserve that!!

[Evie]

LOL!  Helena's gown is even more of a model of decorum now, if not as much of a fashion statement.

Duncan gallantly lends Helena his cape by evian_delacourt, on Flickr

As you can see, Duncan gratefully seized upon your suggestion that Helena might get a bad sunburn in our Alabama sunshine, and he used that as his pretext for offering her something to help shield her fair skin from the sun's rays during today's lunchtime outing.   


New surcoat in sunlight by evian_delacourt, on Flickr

Here's a few of Duncan's new surcoat in natural sunlight, so you can see the rich blue of the velvet. This photo shows a truer blue than the other two.


Blue velvet surcoat by evian_delacourt, on Flickr

Duncan's new surcoat, taken late at night right after I finished sewing it. In this low light, the deep blue looks nearly black.  This is probably closer to how it would look at a Court revel, when seen in a fire-lit Great Hall.

Now, take a closer look at Duncan's hands in the second and third photos.  Notice how his bishop's ring has swapped hands, and how there has been a swap in which side has the relaxed hand and which has the pointing/gripping hand?  That's because I realized last night, after long months of wondering how I was going to get his right hand to accommodate a ring it wasn't really designed to wear (the fingers weren't properly separated, and even after cutting them apart with an X-acto knife, the ring I'd already made for him didn't want to slip onto the curved fingers properly), it dawned on me last night that I have a spare Evo figure (proto-Jass) with spare hands, including a right hand with relaxed fingers.  So after I took last night's picture, Duncan and proto-Jass both had hand surgery to swap out hands.  This entailed having to hold a blow drier over both figures' hands for several minutes to soften the latex hands so that the wrist pins wouldn't break when I pulled their hands off and reattached them.  It was a fiddly bit of surgery, but both littles survived with their manual dexterity intact.  And now Duncan's episcopal ring can be worn on the proper hand.   

[Jerusha]

Bishop Duncan McLain looks at his new hands and shakes his head in wonder.  "Evie told me it was just going to be a photo shoot."   

[Evie]

LOL, Jerusha!  "Surprise!"   

This weekend, I created a heraldic badge for Nigel's surcoat:

Templates for Nigel's device (3 sizes) by evian_delacourt, on Flickr

I did an internet search for line art depicting a "lion rampant guardant" within a bordure. The middle size is printed from the original graphic's size. Reducing the original to half size produced a small version that should fit on the chest of a surcoat. Increasing the width to 300 pixels (with height changing proportionally) gives me a template to make a shield or banner from.

Prince Nigel, Duke of Carthmoor by evian_delacourt, on Flickr

I found some fabric markers at Walmart, so once I transferred the design to thin white fabric, I simply colored it in.  At this scale, the marker tips don't make neat, thin lines, so I just did the sketchiest of outlines with the black.  Even so, it bled a little bit, but I decided once it dried that the black gave the red areas a shaded effect, which from a distance (one yard or more) looks OK.  (I originally tried just using the red and black, but there wasn't enough definition to make out what the lion was supposed to be, much less that he was facing the viewer, so I figured it needed the darker outlining.)  Nigel seems happy with his new wardrobe. 

Nigel inspects a damaged sword by evian_delacourt, on Flickr

Here he is wearing his new finery as he checks a sword for damage.

[Evie]

Tonight I'm going to a Pirates and Mermaids pool party. Duncan and Helena can hardly wait to show off their new costumes!

   

[Laurna]

Har-har y matey  enjoy your pirates day.

[Evie]

Wow, so many pictures to post and so little time!  I am in Tennessee and borrowing a computer for a few minutes, so let me post the photo set that I already have uploaded to Flickr.  I still have to upload my Pirates and Mermaids Party set, so those will need to wait, but maybe I can create a new thread to show off those photos.

Yesterday and this morning, Duncan got a new outfit:

Duncan's new braies by evian_delacourt, on Flickr

First, Duncan gets new braies that he will get to keep, since his earlier pair went to Prince Nigel.

Rear view by evian_delacourt, on Flickr

Here are the braies from behind. These fit him even better than the original pair I made for Nigel (and they are made from soft, lightweight linen, which is what Duncan would be used to wearing next to his skin), so he is happy.

One side by evian_delacourt, on Flickr

Here's the new braies from the side. He'll have them properly covered most of the time, so might as well show them off now.

Black leather chasses by evian_delacourt, on Flickr

After making the braies, I made Duncan some black leather chausses. This is the start of an outfit suitable for travel (his "riding leathers") or even an unexpected skirmish, since the leather chausses and planned matching jerkin would offer better protection than fabric.

Since I had a tape measure on hand this time, I made sure that the chausses were properly long in back.  I wanted them high enough to frame the curve of the buttocks properly, but not so high that they'll chafe. (Well, you know...if plastic chafed!)

Chausses from front by evian_delacourt, on Flickr

I haven't added points (laces) to the front tips of the chausses yet, so they can actually go up a little higher than shown (his chausses are sagging slightly), but the braies have been designed with reinforced slits in front so that I can tie the points to his braies drawstring properly once I find some appropriate cord to use for the points. I may use thin leather lace, but I haven't decided.

Jerkin by evian_delacourt, on Flickr

So here's a project I literally made up as I went along! I used the brown jerkin that Laurna sent me (which I believe originally came off an Aragorn figure) and traced half the back piece onto a folded piece of printer paper to create a pattern for the back, adding in side seam and shoulder seam allowance. (The faux leather doesn't fray, so I didn't add seam allowance all the way around,) I cut the front panels from the same pattern, making minor adjustments (mainly the addition of some extra fabric on each front edge, since I hadn't decided yet if I would add snap closures or how I was going to end up securing the garment.). After I had the basic shape sewn together, I decided it needed short sleeves, so I figured out from the shape of the arms-eye what shape the sleeve cap needed to be, and then created a sleeve pattern. Praying that it would work out the way it envisioned (it did!) and that it would be the right size and shape (it was!), I attached the sleeves. (Sewing on 1:6 scale sleeves is a work of dedication. Either that or insanity, not sure which!) The underarm seam isn't sewn together because I decided he needed more underarm range of motion for practicality, especially when fighting. (Besides, it's easier to dress him that way.) Once he tried on the jerkin, I realized it needed one more special detail to make it look right...dags!

Side view of jerkin by evian_delacourt, on Flickr



I used a white pencil to sketch out where the slits should go along the bottom edge of the jerkin and the sleeves, and to trace the scalloped border, then cut out the dagging. That small touch makes the garment look even more medieval. (Maybe a bit later than the early 1100s, but the novels allow for some historical liberties.)

Rear view of jerkin by evian_delacourt, on Flickr

The dags also allow for greater range of motion while still adding some protection to the upper legs and keeping his tunic mostly protected from travel stains.

Side view by evian_delacourt, on Flickr

Duncan still needs a few more accessories to make the ensemble complete. I need to add shoes and a matching (not to mention sturdier) belt. I don't have any white pleather or ribbon with me, so it won't be his knight's belt, just a belt that goes with the rest of the outfit.

Completed riding leathers by evian_delacourt, on Flickr

Here's Duncan with the rest of the outfit completed. I used thicker soles on the footwear since he would be using this for travel or other outdoor use, so his feet would be soled with thick leather. The adhesive-backed craft foam makes a decent substitute.

OK, gotta go, but I'll post the party photos when I get them uploaded and have more computer time.  I may not be at chat tonight depending on whether we're on the road at that time and if I can log in via my phone, but hopefully I can make it in for some or all of the time.

[Evie]

The link to the Pirates and Mermaids Party photos is in a separate thread here: http://www.rhemuthcastle.com/index.php/topic,1267.0.html