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DerynifanK

March 17, 2024, 03:48:44 PM
Happy St Patrick's Day. Enjoy the one day of the year when the whole world is Irish.

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

Started by Evie, March 11, 2012, 08:52:30 PM

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Evie

Unexpected update....


Thrift store finds by evian_delacourt, on Flickr

I found some goodies at the thrift store when Hubby and I went shopping last night.  See the little guy next to Grub?  Well, I saw him and figured that was about the right height for a somewhat malnourished seven-year-old (compared to the size of my other figures).  The body she originally had looked more toddler-sized, and Sextus didn't even know he had a daughter yet when she was two.  Sure, it's a male body and not a female one, but at seven, Grub wouldn't have developed womanly curves yet, and the new body can be sanded a bit to make it look less masculine.


Leftover parts by evian_delacourt, on Flickr

So I did a bit of Frankensteining.  Here are the spare parts.


Taller Grub by evian_delacourt, on Flickr

And here the newly re-bodied "Grub" is standing in front of her Great-Uncle Denis.  (Her daddy Sextus was still in the bathtub, so I've got her next to Uncle Denis so you can see the change of height.)  It looks like she'll need a new gown...this one fits her like a short tunic now!  But with her new bendy arms and legs, she'll find it easier to get into mischief than ever before.

If you're wondering about the other bits and bobs in the first picture and what I did with those, I'm going to use the tripod base thing as a table pedestal, and I've washed and put the smaller Barbie head on the nearly identical sized LIV doll body so it can be fully jointed.  Not sure what I'll do with the LIV head, since it's too big for me to use for anything, but maybe someone on my doll forum will want it.  I don't know if the resulting hybrid doll will end up being in the Mini-Deryni collection or used for something else.  She doesn't really resemble anyone in canon that I can think of, though maybe she could pass for a grown up Briony?


Body swap by evian_delacourt, on Flickr

She has a similar face sculpt to my Richenda figure, I think (I'd have to see them side to side to be sure), so if I do use her as a Mini-Deryni, it might be in that role.
"In necessariis unitas, in non-necessariis libertas, in utrisque caritas."

--WARNING!!!--
I have a vocabulary in excess of 75,000 words, and I'm not afraid to use it!

Jerusha

The updated Grub is great.  She looks just mischievious enough to keep Great-Uncle Denis thumbing through his penitential for years to come.  :D

The other doll could be a grown Briony - but you better find her some clothes before her father shows up, or she'll be taking Sister Theresa's place as a nun!   ;D
From ghoulies and ghosties and long-leggity beasties and things that go bump in the night...good Lord deliver us!

 -- Old English Litany

Evie


Helena wearing beaded gown by evian_delacourt, on Flickr

I made this gown for Araxie, but she is at home today, so Helena is giving it a test fit.  I embellished this simple gown with gold beads to give it some added visual interest.
"In necessariis unitas, in non-necessariis libertas, in utrisque caritas."

--WARNING!!!--
I have a vocabulary in excess of 75,000 words, and I'm not afraid to use it!

Evie

Here's my latest stuff:


New game pieces and boards by evian_delacourt, on Flickr

A friend from my 1:6 scale forum sent me the tiny chess board pictured at center right and playing pieces to go with it. It is a magnetic board, but the magnet is not very strong, and the pieces don't stick to it very well, especially with the bases of each piece barely able to crowd together to fit on the tiny 1:12 scale board.  I had a magnetic sheet (one of the kind you can use to cover up a metal floor vent) in my craft stuff, so I printed off a few larger chess boards and used a glue stick to attach the paper "boards" to the magnetic backing.  The square board is 3" x 3" and the rectangular one is 4" x 3".  I figured those would be more realistic sized boards for 1:6 game play.  While looking up game boards, I happened across a photo of a Gluckshaus board in a museum and thought it might be nice to have a tavern game in the collection as well.  I have not done anything to finish the boards since these are just trial boards, but once I have one that works well and that I want to preserve, I'll use my spray matte sealer to fix the colors and make them water resistant, and then possibly use a brush-on gloss or semi-gloss clear coat to add some more protection to the paper side of the board(s).  Or since the magnetic sheet is white on one side, I might just hand paint the final game board designs and then seal the colors appropriately.  While painting a board from scratch might be somewhat fiddly work, the author of the Deryni books might decide she wants a cardounet board to look slightly different from a regular chess board (we'd discussed a few possibilities at DragonCon last September), so using a painted magnetic sheet would make it fairly easy to create a customized game board.


Closer view of 1:6 Gluckshaus board prototype by evian_delacourt, on Flickr

I really love this Gluckshaus board.  In the original photo, it looks like the sides of the board are raised, so I might need to find a small picture frame or miniature moulding strips and make a raised frame for the final version of the 1:6 board as well, though even the flat picture of it has a nice trompe l'oeil effect. 

Of course, for the littles to play Gluckhaus, I'll need to get miniature dice and a nice assortment of coins, since it's a gambling game.


Closer view of chess boards and pieces by evian_delacourt, on Flickr

The longer board was originally inlaid in a painted tabletop, I think, to make a dedicated chess table.  I like that design, but think a removable chess board would probably be more versatile.

The game pieces are not the modern standard shapes, and it's really hard to tell for certain which pieces are meant to be rooks, knights, bishops, etc.  But since the mini-Deryni play "cardounet" rather than actual chess, that's actually a point in their favor.  This way the pieces can end up representing whatever game pieces KK might decide to describe in some future scene in which the characters are playing cardounet. 


Ready for game play by evian_delacourt, on Flickr

I tested the fit of the pieces on the larger game board.  While they aren't as magnetic as I'd hoped, the larger spaces make it easier to arrange the game pieces without knocking neighboring pieces over.  I found it easiest to stand a piece upright in the center of the board and then use a fingertip to slide it into the proper place.  Since I am just guessing at what the various pieces are meant to represent, I just put the two non-paired pieces in the center of each back row as the probable King and Queen, and then made sure the other pieces were lined up on either side of those symmetrically. 


Board testing by evian_delacourt, on Flickr

I didn't have any mini-Deryni at lunch with me today, so two of my modern littles decided to see if they could figure out how to play cardounet on their own.  This board would be the equivalent of an 18" square board in 1:1 scale, which is a reasonable size, though I could make it slightly bigger.  I just didn't want to make it so big that the pieces would look completely undersized for the board.  The actual playing area of this board is only a little bit larger than the original board the pieces came with, but that small bit of difference ends up being a big help where board setup is concerned.

Now, if you'll take a closer look at the blond girl's body, that's not a jointed Barbie body, that belongs to a Liv doll.  I just stuck a Barbie head on her.  The jointed Liv dolls have much better articulation than even my Fashionista Barbie bodies do, allowing them to pose a lot better, but they originally come with oversized heads that make them look a bit like a Bobblehead.  The bodies are almost identical in size to the Barbie bodies I currently use, though, and the clothing I've already made will fit on the Liv bodies, so as I find more Liv bodies in thrift stores or on clearance, I'm hoping to swap out my lady figures' bodies with these better jointed ones.  They also have mostly flat feet (just a slight arch to them, but it's a natural looking arch rather than the extreme Barbie high-heeled arch), so it should be easier to design proper period footwear for them.  I happened to find another very fair skinned Liv body that matches Helena's face better than her Fashionista body did, so I've already swapped her out to a new body (no photos yet), and if I can find decent skintone matches for my others, I'll eventually swap those out as well.  There is a male doll in the Liv line who also has good articulation, but I haven't bought one yet to see how it compares to my Duncan and Alaric bodies.  If it's better, and is a decent size and shape and the skin color match isn't too far off, they might eventually get swapped out as well.
"In necessariis unitas, in non-necessariis libertas, in utrisque caritas."

--WARNING!!!--
I have a vocabulary in excess of 75,000 words, and I'm not afraid to use it!

Elkhound

Is Gluckshaus like backgammon?  Cardounet is more-or-less chess, isn't it?

Evie

Yes, cardounet is similar to chess, although it varies a little bit.  KK wasn't sure exactly how yet when I asked her (I think since she was planning on writing in a cardounet scene or two in future, she didn't want to be pinned down, though some of the pieces in the scene she read at Dragoncon have different names).  And if you look at the history of chess, there are several period variations of the game that existed before we got our modern version, so cardounet could be similar to one of those variations.

Gluckshaus isn't like backgammon at all, although there was a period game similar to backgammon that was called tric trac.  Gluckshaus is a gambling game played with a pair of dice.  If you roll a 3,5,6,8,9,10, or 11, you either put a coin in that square if it is empty, or else take the coin that is already in there.  If you roll a 7 (I think it's numbered differently on this board, but it's normally the 7), you have landed on the Wedding, and so you always leave a coin as a wedding gift, so this square eventually collects a nice pot of coins.  If you roll a 2, the Pig, you get to take all of the coins off the board except for those in the Wedding square, because the joke is that even a pig wouldn't steal from a wedding.  If you roll a 12, the King, then you get to take all the coins off the board, including the Wedding gifts, because the King gets to collect taxes from everyone.  And if you roll a 4, then traditionally those coins go to the house (or the owner of the board), though if the game is played just for fun, usually that just means you neither lose nor win any coins.  In the version of Gluckshaus that I created for Visionaries, I added a slight twist in that the players were gambling for imaginary stakes and just using tokens rather than coins.  I've played Gluckhaus before (the real version rather than the Visionaries version), and it's a lot of fun even if you don't toss in such fanciful stakes as Nur Hallaji dancing girls and beachfront properties in Bremagne.   :D
"In necessariis unitas, in non-necessariis libertas, in utrisque caritas."

--WARNING!!!--
I have a vocabulary in excess of 75,000 words, and I'm not afraid to use it!

Evie

Sorry for the very belated update, but it's been a fairly hectic month.  I don't have photos for this one, unfortunately, though I hope to address the lack of them soon.

Projects in various stages of progress:

Deryni rosaries--cynicalmedic was kind enough to provide me with a bunch of lovely beads she found at an estate sale, and some of them look like they will work well to complete this project, once I have time to unstring them and restring them into the rosary.  I had hoped to get to that this weekend, but Real Life happened.

Bookcases--The pink plastic wine cabinets have been taken apart and spray painted with brown plastic primer.  I hope to transform them into "wooden" shelving with faux woodgrain soon.  They are a bit taller than the "waist high" bookcases Duncan is supposed to have in his study, but maybe they can go in another diorama.

New horse--I haven't found the Apoxie sculpt stuff to fill in the melt marks in my vintage Marx horse's hoof yet, so in the meantime I found a Barbie horse at the thrift store that I will use to practice my horse repainting technique on.  Hopefully that will have the added benefit of turning the Barbie horse into something that resembles a real one a little more, instead of one with cartoon eyes.

Stone wall backdrop--I have taken some pink insulating foam and etched faux "stonework" into it.  I plan on painting it with acrylic paints to use as a castle wall backdrop once it's done. 

Richenda's and Helena's heads have been moved to new Liv bodies, which are even more poseable than the Fashionista Barbies I had before, plus they have regular (flat) feet rather than pointy toed feet meant for wearing high heels, so they should be easier to make medieval shoes for.  I am still trying to find more Liv bodies with the right skintone to rebody Mirjana and Araxie.

And in the meantime, I've taken on a commission to do a Friar Tuck 1:6 scale costume for a friend who liked the look of Duncan's Servant of Saint Camber robes and offered to trade a bunch of clothes and accessories in exchange for me sewing a costume for his Friar Tuck.  So that will be a project to take on over the holidays.

Will post pictures as I get more time.   I'm still alive and working on stuff, I promise!   :)

"In necessariis unitas, in non-necessariis libertas, in utrisque caritas."

--WARNING!!!--
I have a vocabulary in excess of 75,000 words, and I'm not afraid to use it!

Evie

OK, here's a short update with photos. 

This weekend I rebodied Richenda and Mirjana.  After putting Richenda on a new Liv body (similar to the ones on either side of Mirjana in this photo, but a darker skintone to match her tanner head color), her head was quite wobbly on the new body, so I used the "grape trick" I learned on the Figurvore forum to stabilize it.   Since the disk at the top of the Liv's neck is similar to the one on a Barbie neck (but without those pesky prongs), I cut small slits around the plastic grape's opening so it would fit over that disk.  Even so, it took a few tries to get the grape on the little knob, and even more effort and a drop of dishwashing liquid to get the head onto it, and for a minute or two I thought Richenda would have a permanent and rather weird looking purple "choker" at the base of her neck, but once I got the head all the way on (and down nearly to her shoulders), I pulled it back up into the proper position and voila!  A perfect fit after all, and the new neck knob works like a charm.

I forgot to take photos of Richenda's body swap because I was still trying to figure out how the technique worked, so here are photos of my second attempt with Mirjana's body.


Rebodying Mirjana by evian_delacourt, on Flickr


Oddly enough, the body on the left looked like it would be the closer skintone match when I look at the two bodies beside her in person, but when I take photos, the body on the right (with the white underwear) looks like the closer match.  So I went with the one on the right.

Again, I used the same technique that I did with Richenda's grape, but this time I just could not get the head over the grape at all. And then it dawned on me...had I even tried to put the head on over just the Liv knob by itself first?  Nope, I hadn't.   Just because Richenda's head was wobbly on it didn't necessarily mean Mirjana's would be, since they came off two different types of Barbies.  And so I took the grape back off to see how well the Fashionista head would fit on the Liv body by itself....


Rebodying Mirjana by evian_delacourt, on Flickr

...and she fit on it perfectly, even without the grape.  All of that wrestling for nothing!  (Though I kept the grape anyway in case the next head I rebody happens to need one.)

Here is Mirjana on her new body, with her former body beside her.  I'll clip the side prongs off and keep it on hand as a spare.  And her medieval undergown and bliaut fit just as well on her new body; I tested that before the head swap to make sure I wouldn't have to create a new wardrobe for her if she switched bodies!  I'm just waiting for her hair to dry before I dress her again.
"In necessariis unitas, in non-necessariis libertas, in utrisque caritas."

--WARNING!!!--
I have a vocabulary in excess of 75,000 words, and I'm not afraid to use it!

Evie

Not much to report on this week, although I did this earlier today, since I found some better, more poseable bodies at the thrift store this weekend, and one was an almost perfect match for Araxie:


Rebodied Araxie by evian_delacourt, on Flickr

I've really got to retouch Araxie's faceup, especially her eyes.  Here is Araxie's head on a body that matches her face's skintone much better than the peachy body she was on before.  (I took a "before" photo of her, but my camera was acting up at the time, so I didn't save.)  The body beside her was another one I bought in case this body wasn't a close enough match.  I remembered her face was more tan than some of my other ladies', but apparently not quite that tan after all.  (The difference isn't as pronounced in room lighting as it is in this photos, but there is still more of a definite yellow undertone to the spare body even when viewed in person.)

So that means that all of my Deryni ladies are on better bodies now than they started off with, which means more realistic posing, not to mention flatter feet that should be easier to make proper footwear for, and that might even let me stand them up without a doll stand on occasion.  Yay!
"In necessariis unitas, in non-necessariis libertas, in utrisque caritas."

--WARNING!!!--
I have a vocabulary in excess of 75,000 words, and I'm not afraid to use it!

Evie

Now that I'm on holiday, I've finally got some time to work on a few projects, including this one:


New castle wall by evian_delacourt, on Flickr

This "stone castle wall" is made from insulation foam (the pink 1" thick sort of foam sold at Lowe's or Home Depot for house insulation). I used a pencil to carve the initial outlines of the stone blocks into the foam, then went back over the same lines with a craft knife to create further definition.  A thin wash of black acrylic paint went over this (several layers of the black, actually), then once that was dry, I used sponges to apply gray paint, and then I dabbed some grayish-tan paint over that.  This created the color and "texture" of the stone blocks.


New castle wall by evian_delacourt, on Flickr

Here, Helena and Duncan check out the new backdrop.  I didn't bring enough props with me on holiday to set up a proper scene, but I'll hopefully post some new photos soon.
"In necessariis unitas, in non-necessariis libertas, in utrisque caritas."

--WARNING!!!--
I have a vocabulary in excess of 75,000 words, and I'm not afraid to use it!

Jerusha

Very realistic looking, Evie.   Is that a new cap that Bishop Duncan is wearing, or did I just now notice it?
From ghoulies and ghosties and long-leggity beasties and things that go bump in the night...good Lord deliver us!

 -- Old English Litany

Evie

Thanks!  Yes, the cap is new, although I'm still not too thrilled with how it came out.  I might attempt another one when I get a chance to play with a better design.
"In necessariis unitas, in non-necessariis libertas, in utrisque caritas."

--WARNING!!!--
I have a vocabulary in excess of 75,000 words, and I'm not afraid to use it!

derynifanatic64

We will never forget the events of 9-11!!  USA!! USA!!

Evie

Here are photos of today's project:


Richenda's new gown by evian_delacourt, on Flickr

I spent most of today working on a new undergown for Duchess Richenda.  Here is the mostly completed gown before hemming.


Richenda's new gown by evian_delacourt, on Flickr

This fabric is very reflective and doesn't photograph well.  It is actually a silvery-green color faux silk, although the green tends to get mostly washed out by the camera flash.


Richenda's new gown by evian_delacourt, on Flickr

Here is a closer view of the beaded neckline.  The couching and beadwork goes all the way around to the back opening of the dress.


Richenda's new gown by evian_delacourt, on Flickr

Here is the front of the finished gown.  Richenda is not with me on this trip, so Helena is modeling it.  I may add some additional beadwork later along the hem of the skirt, but that's a project for another day.  It will depend on what sort of gown will go over this one, and if it will be short enough to make extra beadwork worth bothering with.

If Gilda, the resident kitteh, has her back to the photographer, this is only because she has already snoopervised the construction and fitting of this garment and given her approval, so playing to the camera was apparently deemed not worth the extra effort.


Richenda's new gown by evian_delacourt, on Flickr

Here is a side view of the gown to show the (slightly) longer train in back.  The sleeves are extremely snug, and Helena's fingertips tended to catch in the threads I used to sew the beadwork in place.  Fortunately I had just eaten some Smarties candies, so I used the plastic wrapper as a sort of long mitten over her hand, using that to slide it smoothly past the cuff and removing it once her whole hand was out of the sleeve.  Worked like a charm!


Richenda's new gown by evian_delacourt, on Flickr

The "3/4" profile view.  Helena is delighted to showcase this gown, and is certain that Richenda will be very happy with it.  Perhaps the Duchess will wear it under her emerald sideless surcoat, which is open enough on the sides to show off this lovely fabric to best advantage.
"In necessariis unitas, in non-necessariis libertas, in utrisque caritas."

--WARNING!!!--
I have a vocabulary in excess of 75,000 words, and I'm not afraid to use it!

Jerusha

Beautiful new gown, but are you sure Helena will be willing to give it up?  ;)

And for a minute I thought you were going to bribe Helena with smarties to get her to wriggle her hands through.  ;D
From ghoulies and ghosties and long-leggity beasties and things that go bump in the night...good Lord deliver us!

 -- Old English Litany