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

[Jerusha]

I can definitely see how Camber in his grey robes appearing suddenly before Duncan or Alaric would raise the hair on the backs of their necks! 

[Evie]

LOL!  I might send you a board, Elkhound!      

Jerusha, I'm sure the hooded robe is even more effective in dimly lit conditions and with the hood pulled forward so that the face is in complete shadow.  At least he's not dressed in black robes and hood and carrying a sickle!   

[Evie]

Joram's head and Duncan's head double by evian_delacourt, on Flickr

Here are Joram's head and Duncan's spare head in case he ever needs an emergency head replacement. As you can see, the area where the head attaches to the body is a little different.

Neck join area by evian_delacourt, on Flickr

Joram has an older style neck joint, which would need to be cut off and modified to fit on an action figure body. Duncan's head double has a socket that fits the rounded top of a modern Ken body or an action figure body with an attached neck.

With action figure body by evian_delacourt, on Flickr

Here they are beside a spare body. See how the spare Duncan head is more compatible.

Spare Duncan borrows a body by evian_delacourt, on Flickr

Spare Duncan tries on the body. Despite a lousy color match and a bad case of giraffe neck, it can fit with little to no modification. Joram, on the other hand, will need plastic surgery to fit on any body besides an older style Ken body. And I'd prefer to find a better color match of action figure body for him without the grayish undertone.

[Laurna]

Aack! The head pan is filling up.
Oh poor Joram, neck surgery sounds gruesome. One wrong slip and he'll be nicked for life. (I did that, shame on my surgical skills).
There is hope; Camber made it out of the head pan. I have faith that Joram will too.

[Shiral]

Joram's head and Duncan's head double by evian_delacourt, on Flickr

Here are Joram's head and Duncan's spare head in case he ever needs an emergency head replacement. As you can see, the area where the head attaches to the body is a little different.

Neck join area by evian_delacourt, on Flickr

Joram has an older style neck joint, which would need to be cut off and modified to fit on an action figure body. Duncan's head double has a socket that fits the rounded top of a modern Ken body or an action figure body with an attached neck.

With action figure body by evian_delacourt, on Flickr

Here they are beside a spare body. See how the spare Duncan head is more compatible.

Spare Duncan borrows a body by evian_delacourt, on Flickr

Spare Duncan tries on the body. Despite a lousy color match and a bad case of giraffe neck, it can fit with little to no modification. Joram, on the other hand, will need plastic surgery to fit on any body besides an older style Ken body. And I'd prefer to find a better color match of action figure body for him without the grayish undertone.

"I don't KNOW what happened, Alaric. The last thing I remember was finding a little cake that had a note saying "eat me."

"And you ATE it?" (Alaric Facepalms.) "Oh Duncan!..."

[Jerusha]

Is it just me, or does that action figure body look a little malnourished?  Maybe Duncan has been doing too much fasting?  I can sort of see it with the aging Camber....

If Camber's head made it out of the pan, where is it now???  Hopefully not in the fire!   

[Elkhound]

Do you remember how in one of the later Oz books there was a princess who had several heads---she'd exchange them each day?  She decided that she liked Dorothy's, and offered her any head in her collection in exchange.  Dorothy didn't like the idea.

[Evie]

Is it just me, or does that action figure body look a little malnourished?  Maybe Duncan has been doing too much fasting?  I can sort of see it with the aging Camber....

If Camber's head made it out of the pan, where is it now???  Hopefully not in the fire!   

It's actually the True Type Muscular body that Denis used until fairly recently.  It's meant to look lean and muscular, although in these photos I'll agree those look more like ribs than muscle.  Here's what he looked like with his original head:

Spiffy new body modeling McLain kilt by evian_delacourt, on Flickr

Camber has a body now; I found a body in my bin that was the only one in my collection that would fit the sort of neck and neck opening he had.  I posted photos of him on the 21st, so scroll back a page to see them.

[Evie]

A private message conversation with Aerlys reminded me that some of the later GI Joes come from the same era as Joram's original body, so I took a look through my body bin to see if on the off chance I might have a GI Joe body already.  (I never know what will turn up at thrift stores, but I tend to grab whatever articulated bodies I can find.)  I found one that I think dates to the 1990s, and while the neck joint area isn't the same as an old style Ken's, it could be made compatible with a minimum of effort and risk.  So I made the head swap.

Joram has a new body by evian_delacourt, on Flickr

I had to cut the attached neck joint from Joram's head and adapt the neck joint knob on the GI Joe body slightly to make the head fit on it properly.  I used silicone putty to adapt the neck knob so it would hold his head on securely. Once the putty cures for 24 hours, I should be able to remove his head safely to take photos of what I did.

Jointed hands by evian_delacourt, on Flickr

This body has an unusual feature--articulated fingers!  They may not be the prettiest hands, but those joints make the hands very versatile.

Grippy hands by evian_delacourt, on Flickr

The jointed hands should allow Joram to hold a variety of items, since their grip isn't limited to a single position, unlike the single-position grip that most action figures have.  There are times when I would have loved this sort of feature on Duncan's hands, but the closest thing available to this kind of hand that would work with his type of body is a hand that is built on a wire armature so that you can bend the fingers as you wish.  That style of "bendy hand" is prettier, but I would be afraid of changing the finger positions too often and stressing or breaking the wire inside.  So this seems to be a reasonable compromise.  I wonder if I can find more bodies like this one?  It seems ideally suited to wielding a sword or other weapons...or, since this is Joram, he could lift a chalice with equal ease.

[Evie]

End of a long week by evian_delacourt, on Flickr

As we wind up the work day, Joram waits for me to finish closing up the office so we can head home.   

[Evie]

So Joram has chausses now (as of yesterday), and I managed to get a new jerkin cut out and one sleeve attached before the end of my lunch hour. I am trying a different cut and style of jerkin, and will probably let KK decide which one she wants to keep for him, since Duncan and Joram can wear the same size jerkin. The chausses were a different story; Duncan's legs are about half an inch longer and more muscular in the thighs than Joram's, so I used one of Duncan's chausses for the pattern, didn't add any seam allowance (so the resulting chausses are about 1/4" narrower), and cut them half an inch shorter, and that worked out fine. I'm home sick today, so after taking my daughter to her doctor, hopefully I'll have time to work on adding the other sleeve to the new jerkin. Photos later if I get a free moment and feel up to fooling with taking pics and uploading them. I think I've got what my daughter has, but I'm still at the scratchy throat stage and not quite feeling like death warmed over just yet.

[Jerusha]

I hope both you and DD feel better soon.  Since Rhys hasn't gone off to KK yet, maybe he can help you avoid that "death warmed over" stage. 

[Laurna]

Too many changes, Too many demands. Lots of vitamin C and rest. And a Rapport or two with a healer and with the ones you love.
Glad to hear Joram will have some clothes before he goes to KK's.
Stay healthy!

[Evie]

I didn't feel up to doing very much today, but since the jerkin was mostly complete anyway, I went ahead and finished it.

Joram wears a new jerkin and chausses by evian_delacourt, on Flickr

I still need to make him some shoes and his own belt (he is borrowing Duncan's), but Joram's ensemble is nearly complete.

Luke gives his stamp of approval by evian_delacourt, on Flickr

Luke gives Joram his stamp of approval.  Apparently his stamp is located somewhere in his belly fur. Poor Joram!   

[revanne]

Joram: "Evaine! I told you not to try those spells you found in the Protocols of Orin. Look what a monstrous demon you've raised!"

(with apologies to Luke  )