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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

Actually, it's KK wanting Evaine and Rhys, so they will be going to live with her rather than living with me.  If I end up making a Camber, I'll probably end up making two, so we can both have one.  Of the Camber-era characters, Evaine and Rhys are two of my favorites (my other favorite being Joram), but I'm at the point where I can't start adding a whole new generation of characters because I simply don't have the space to do so anymore, so any Camber-era littles I make will get a chance to meet their great-great-something grandkids, and then they'll find homes somewhere else.

There are actually several different Birthstone Barbie lines, so it would help to know which year your Birthstone Barbie was produced.  I suspect you might be referring to the 2002 version; if so, I agree that's a pretty head sculpt and her hair is a perfect length.  The lip color also looks more natural than most of their "lipstick" colors.   Mattel tends to recycle head sculpts (the different sculpts actually have names!), so I'll be on the lookout for dolls that have that sculpt.  If I can't find one of those exact ones easily, chances are good that I can at least find a blonde Barbie with the same or a similar facial sculpt and with a usable hairstyle (i.e., no bangs/fringe, layered hair, or short bobs, since I wouldn't want to have to remove all her hair and replace it).  Another thing I want to avoid is a doll that will need her eyes completely repainted, since I am not very good at doing repaints from bare vinyl yet.  Changing the eye color is easy, but completely repainting an eye from scratch and have them come out looking right is not nearly as easy, and I'm still not quite happy with how Araxie's repainted eyes turned out.  Unfortunately there's no good way to remove a Barbie's eyeshadow while leaving the eye paint intact, so I tend to steer towards Barbies that either have no eye makeup at all (which is rare) or else with eye makeup that's either so pale that it's barely noticeable, or else that can pass for the natural shadowing of the eye socket (neutrals such as very pale taupe work best for that).  Medieval women did wear makeup (and in fact Rothana uses kohl for eyeliner on her wedding day), but medieval makeup didn't look like our modern-day cosmetics with the nearly infinite variety of eye shadow colors we've got now.  (Actually, I'm not sure if they wore eye shadow as such at all.  The point of medieval makeup seems to have been to make the face look paler, accentuate the eye and brow shapes, brighten or lighten hair color, and add color to lips and cheeks, but not to add color anywhere else to the face where it doesn't naturally exist.) 

Rhys will probably take a lot  more work than Evaine will, though.  For one thing, unless I want to do a lot of complex plastic surgery that I haven't got much skill at yet, he'll need one of the more modern Fashionista Ken style heads that can be put on an action figure body more easily than the old style Ken heads.  So that will drastically limit the head sculpts and hairstyles I have to choose from.  Plus, he'll need to be blond so I can recolor his hair red.  Either that, or I'll have to pluck him bald and make a red wig for him.  That might actually be easier, since his hair is described as "unruly" and "wiry," which implies a certain amount of texture (at least waves if not curls), and I'd end up either needing to curl his original hair (similarly to how I did Derry's) or else make a wavy wig for him (similar to the one I made John Nivard's, without the bald spot).

If I do a Camber, I've got some thoughts for his head sculpt, but I need to run a photo of the sculpt I have in mind by KK first to see what she thinks.    And he may need a wig attached, since she prefers real hair over molded hair.   She'd prefer a 1:6 scale Derek Jacobi, but I don't think his head exists in action figure form, and I can't afford to order a custom-made one.
"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

While looking for costume inspiration for the Mini-Deryni, I happened upon this website via Pinterest:

http://ranaan.altervista.org/html/SCA-Gallery.htm

I can easily see our young King and the upper nobility in Gwynedd wearing clothing like this.  Don't look for that level of embroidery skill from me, though!   ;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!

Aerlys

Wow -- those are absolutely stunning! I can definitely imagine the ninth image down being worn by Kelson as his Haldane red.

Thanks for sharing.
"Loss and possession, death and life are one, There falls no shadow where there shines no sun."

Hilaire Belloc

Laurna

Wow! Amazingly beautiful costumes.  To have the ability to weave the fabric in the design and cut of the final product. To weave in borders around the neck line and hem line. It is nearly all done before the garment is even cut out. I wish wish wish such things were available. I love the three men's red tunics with swords.  Yes, I can see His Royal Highness King Kelson in one of these.
May your horses have wings and fly!

Evie

Some of the motifs could be woven in, if it was a repeated motif in the main body of the outfit (such as a damask or brocade fabric), but most of the work looks like Opus Anglicanum or a similar form of embroidery work to me, or at least woven as trim that was separate from the garment's primary fabric.   Since these outfits would have been cut using primarily rectangular construction techniques to avoid wasted fabrics, it would be pretty difficult to design any border patterns to weave in around the anticipated cuts in the fabric, if not impossible to do so, so embroidering after the fact is much more likely.  Granted, that makes it no less complex; it would still be very time consuming to complete an outfit either way.   The three tunics picture is my favorite, but I can also see Kelson in that "Haldane red" outfit Aerlys mentioned. 
"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


Untitled by evian_delacourt, on Flickr

Well, Evaine's head donor arrived in the mail today.  Here's Mihall checking out the blonde beauty and wishing she wasn't 200 years before his time, not to mention married....    ;D

And here's a closer view of her face:


Evaine's head by evian_delacourt, on Flickr

The hair is a bit overly curly, but I still have to wash, condition, and comb through it to get the tangles out, since she's in "played with" condition, so once that's done, she ought to end up with the "beachy waves" that KK envisions for Evaine.  And Mihall is due for an eye color change and a slight change to his hairstyle, since he's missing the thin braids on either side of his face.
"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 robes are amazing.  While I agree the red trio are befitting the Haldane kings, my eye is drawn to the opulent trio of blue robes.  Prince Albin wears Carthmoor blue if I remember correctly in KKB? 

Nice find for Mihail and Evaine.  Though I'm thinking she should be blushing furiously standing beside the Lord of Lyr in the current pose?   ;D
From ghoulies and ghosties and long-leggity beasties and things that go bump in the night...good Lord deliver us!

 -- Old English Litany

Aerlys

The more I look at these, the more I like them. Evaine's face is perfect! And Miihail isn't as "Orlando Bloomish" as I feared.

I can't tell in the pictures -- will their ears need "plastic surgery" to make them more round?
"Loss and possession, death and life are one, There falls no shadow where there shines no sun."

Hilaire Belloc

DesertRose

Evie, you probably already know this, but styling fashion-doll/action-figure hair is a whole different ballgame from styling a person's hair.

I once tried working out some hairstyles for characters in my original story using a fashion doll, and it DID NOT work at all.  The patterns in which the fashion doll's hair was rooted were completely different from the way actual human hair tends to grow.  I wound up having to work out these hairstyles with my own hair when I had mine super long.  (It's around shoulder-length now but I used to be able to sit on it.)

My point being, those little front braids may be harder to do and make them look good than you might think.
"If having a soul means being able to feel love, loyalty, and gratitude, then animals are better off than a lot of humans."

James Herriot (James Alfred "Alfie" Wight), when a human client asked him if animals have souls.  (I don't remember in which book the story originally appeared.)

Evie

Oh, I've already tried a sample braid, and it looked fine, but I didn't have anything to bind it at the time.  Though you're right, the way the hair is rooted in can affect the styles that are possible to do with it.

One other way that styling doll hair is definitely different from styling human hair is that it's usually a very bad idea to dunk a human's head into boiling water and then an ice bath in order to set the curl....   ;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!

DesertRose

Quote from: Evie on September 17, 2013, 01:08:30 PM
One other way that styling doll hair is definitely different from styling human hair is that it's usually a very bad idea to dunk a human's head into boiling water and then an ice bath in order to set the curl....   ;D

Yeah, I've done some semi-painful things in the name of beauty (eyebrow-waxing, I'm lookin' at you), but I can't say I'd let someone dunk my whole head in boiling water and then ice, most especially not just for a hair-do.  :P
"If having a soul means being able to feel love, loyalty, and gratitude, then animals are better off than a lot of humans."

James Herriot (James Alfred "Alfie" Wight), when a human client asked him if animals have souls.  (I don't remember in which book the story originally appeared.)

Jerusha

Advertisement for Countess Evie's Home for Wayward Dolls: 

"All heads, bodies and assorted extra body parts welcome.  Articulated bodies preferred.  Sticks provided for head comfort on request. Hairstyling available, non-meltable heads only."

;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

"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!

DesertRose

"If having a soul means being able to feel love, loyalty, and gratitude, then animals are better off than a lot of humans."

James Herriot (James Alfred "Alfie" Wight), when a human client asked him if animals have souls.  (I don't remember in which book the story originally appeared.)

Evie

I am a perfectly normal person.  Lots of people impale body parts on spikes!  King Wencit, Vlad Tepes....   ;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!