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

[Evie]

I have a vision of Luke picking up Little Duncan and walking off with him---some cats like to carry things in their mouths, is Luke one of them?--with the caption, "Archers! Archers!"

LOL!  Fortunately Luke is content to sit on them rather than chew on them or carry them around.  I have to watch out for Gigi, though.  She's generally only mildly interested in the Mini-Deryni, but she's fascinated by anything furry or fuzzy, so I've caught her once or twice trying to drag off the occasional Mini-Deryni long-haired lady by the hair.  Duncan's hair is short enough that he should be pretty safe from her, though.

[revanne]

The nights are drawing in and the temperature is dropping - I could really do with a cloak like Helena's.

Mind you I do have a proper old-fashioned full length clerical cloak which is beautifully warm - I just can't move in it. If I ever need to take a lift in a car when fully robed trying to fasten the seat belt is a major operation. How anyone ever leapt onto a horse wearing a travelling cloak let alone wielded a sword is beyond me.

[Evie]

It does help that horses lack seat belts.   

Seriously, there are quite a few styles of cloak, and not all of them are unwieldy.  I rarely have trouble with wearing them (assuming I'm wearing one with a proper clasp, if it's a style meant to be worn with a brooch or clasp) unless they are long enough to drag on the ground, in which case that would be a pain in wet or muddy weather.  Ankle length or shorter cloaks work better for the purpose.  As with long skirts, the more accustomed you are to wearing such a garment, the easier it is to do so without having to think much about it.  And cloaks tend to drape beautifully when one is seated on horseback.

[Evie]

Miniature tea set by evian_delacourt, on Flickr

I found this tea set at the Cracker Barrel gift shop.  There are three other teacups and saucers with the set, but there wasn't room to display them all.  I'm not particularly fond of the floral pattern on it (which is too washed out in this photo to see clearly, even though I was using the low light setting on my camera rather than the flash), but the alternative was a Winnie the Pooh set, so I figure this will do until I can find something more to my liking.  It's not medieval, but for a more modern setting like I've got on my office bookshelf, it works fine.

Enjoying a book and some tea by evian_delacourt, on Flickr

While I'm hard at work at the office, Helena waits for the close of the business day by enjoying a book and some hot tea.

Ring triskeles by evian_delacourt, on Flickr

I've finished the border design on half of the cloak so far.  Once the entire border is done, I want to add a central motif to the upper back of the cloak.  The colors aren't true in this photo; the circles ought to be a sunny yellow hue. 

In other news, I modified Duncan's neck joint last night so that it would hold his head on securely.  I don't have photos of the process because it took both hands to do.  But if you'll remember from previous photos, his original neck joint was too small for the hole in his head, so I had added a length of clear aquarium tubing to the ball joint to make it think enough to hold the head on.  However, even with the tubing added, the ball joint was just barely thick enough for the opening in Duncan's head to grip, so it was just light friction holding the head in place, making the head too easy to remove (which is how his former head managed to snag on something and get lost in Atlanta).  So last night I took the tubing off the ball joint and made the joint bigger by covering it with a thick layer of two-part silicone putty, so that the overall ball joint was about the size of a small plastic grape (the kind I use inside Barbie heads when attaching them to action figure bodies). The putty took about half an hour to harden to the point that I could push Duncan's head onto the larger knob, but now his head is quite securely in place.  It can still be removed if I need to take it off, but it takes a lot more effort to do so.

[Elkhound]

Would tea have been introduced to Gwynnedd that early? Or coffee?

[Evie]

Nope, neither, which is why I didn't keep this set with my medieval feastgear.  Although they had tisanes (herbal "teas") in the Middle Ages, at least for medicinal purposes if not as daily beverages.

[Laurna]

I was wondering about teas and if Torenth or eastern countries like Tralia or Lorsol were far enough East to have teas. If so, would their merchants have introduce tea into Gwynedd. Perhaps the maps will have to go even further East before tea is discovered. Every little bit of info helps.

I am very glad Duncan will not be losing his head again. That was too traumatic for those involved. Not to say anything about how he feels about keeping his head on his shoulders.

[Evie]

Wencit drank a beverage called darja that was apparently from Torenth or lands further east, but I don't think actual tea is ever mentioned.  Curiously enough, the sketchy maps in the back of the Codex don't seem to show a kingdom in the East that would be analogous to China, although several other real world eastern regions are represented.  I suspect this might have been an oversight, though.  Perhaps the teas and coffees of the Eleven Kingdoms, should they ever be discovered and imported, will come from faraway Byzantyun instead.

I'm also glad Duncan's head is more securely seated on his neck now.  You think that loss was traumatic for you???   

So OK, today's post-lunchtime progress report:

Border embroidery completed by evian_delacourt, on Flickr

I finished the border embroidery at lunch today.  I am also checking the proper placement for a new hook-and-eye style cloak clasp, since I don't like the way the front of the cloak hangs with the pin brooch style of closure.  Once I attach the new clasp and then check the fit of the cloak on the figure, I'll decide if the cloak looks good as-is or if it needs more embroidery on it, perhaps at center back.  The pin brooch would be better suited to a different style of cloak, perhaps a rectangular mantle that is clasped over one shoulder.

[Laurna]

You think that loss was traumatic for you???   

Oh dear, No! Truly, the pictures were indeed traumatic! It was a horrible, needless loss. And I am so glad a happy ending was found. But my concern was for "those involved" meaning you and KK, and of course all the other Littles.   

BTW where did you find those little cloak clasps. They are perfect.

[Evie]

I got the hook and eye clasp at Joann's Fabrics, but Hancocks also carries them, and possibly even Walmart.  The little pin style brooch was from a merchant at Dragoncon.  He travels the con and SCA event circuit selling brass items of interest to medieval re-creationists.  Most of his items (fibulae, brooches, pins, torcs, hair sticks, Viking toiletries kits, etc.) are way too large to use in 1:6 scale, but his smallest size fibulae work for a large action figure cloak clasp.  Normally on a human they'd be the right size to use as pins to hold a Roman or Celtic type of chiton or other draped garment together at the shoulders, but wouldn't work on anything much heavier.

[Jerusha]

I like the new clasp on the cloak.  A lot less bulk.

And we are all grateful that Duncan will be keeping his head firmly on his shoulders from now on. 

Unless Helena should end up wearing something sheer under that cloak and the wind picks up....   

[Evie]

LOL!  Unless Abbot's Tower catches on fire and Helena has to evacuate her bedchamber in the middle of the night, I think there is little danger of anyone seeing Helena clad in nothing but a sheer chemise or nightgown topped by a cloak!  Although if that does happen, I suspect Duncan would have too much on his mind at the moment to pay much attention to what Helena is or is not wearing, given that would mean part of the Basilica (not to mention Rhemuth Castle's curtain wall) is on fire.   

[Aerlys]

Kudos on the cloak! The embroidery s lovely and the new clasp is much more fitting.

At first I mistook the bit of thread for bits of Luke's fur, until I took a closer look. 

[Evie]

I was planning on sewing the new clasp on during lunch today, but when I took out my craft supplies, the clasp was gone!     There was a small hole in the bottom of the bag that was too small for any of the other stuff to fall out of, but apparently not too small for the clasp to fall through, because it is nowhere to be found.  I am hoping it is still somewhere at home, maybe in the chair where that bag was sitting over the weekend.  *sigh* Fortunately I already had a trip to the fabric store planned for tomorrow evening, but I'd rather not buy a new one if the old one is anywhere to be found.

[Laurna]

Oh dear! I hope you find it. I liked that clasp.