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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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Alkari

My money's on Helena.  For the opportunity to , er, "minister to" Duncan, she would definitely cheat Deryni-fashion!!  :)

Evie

#16
Duncan says he's going to go hide now....   :-[

:D

BTW, you do realize this action figure isn't anatomically correct, right?  I might be willing to try making a Sculpey tonsure, but I draw the line at having to explain to my kids why Mama is baking miniature "boy bits" in the oven.  Action Figure Duncan isn't looking for that sort of action!  ;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

#17
OK, this will probably be the only update for today, since I still need to do more research and fabric shopping for his other outfits.  But I finished the trimmed undertunic and overtunic last night, so here is Duncan dressed as befitting a Duke's son:


Lord Duncan McLain


Close up view of tunics and "shiral" necklace

I figure this might be how Duncan looked around the time of his courtship of Maryse or just after their marriage, before he became a priest.  He's dressed in clothing that is suitable for a Ducal or even Royal Court (note the gold trim) yet not necessarily his fanciest Twelfth Night garb.  The single brown thread I originally strung Maryse's shiral bead on was too thin, so I braided three strands of thread to create a "leather" cord that would be thick enough to look right, yet still thin enough to fit through the bead.  The simple coronet on his head is just a bit of leftover trim, but I figured the narrow band of gold would be suitable for a young lord wearing his Court finery.  Unfortunately I don't have the materials on hand yet to cobble together a Ducal coronet--the tiny gold "strawberry leaves" motif normally found on Ducal coronets might be a problem to reproduce in miniature.  Gold paint on posterboard, maybe?  Ah well, I figure Duncan didn't wear the Ducal coronet for very long anyway, and since he was already a priest before he became a Duke, he might not have bothered with it all that often except for when the occasion absolutely demanded Ducal regalia.   :D

I cross-gartered those "indigo-dyed trews" with bits of ivory ribbon, and he's still wearing his black plastic loafers, but it turns out those loafers are pretty much the ideal style of shoe for what's worn beneath liturgical vestments, so I'm keeping them (though they might get "dressed up" a little bit with metallic paint markers or tiny rhinestones).  I picked up some scraps of leather and suede at Michael's last night, so hopefully I'll be able to get to work on things like turnshoes, boots, and suede chausses soon, but I need to do a bit more research first and also work out pattern dimensions on something less pricey like a sheet of felt.  And I've still got to locate some suitable black and/or purple fabric for a cassock or two, but I've found some purple satin ribbon that will make a nice stole for when he's hearing Confession.  

I've really got to find some white brocade or damask.  Easter is coming up all too soon, and Duncan wants to be appropriately dressed for Mass.  :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

As to white brocade or damask, check the scrap bins at your local fabric shop, and try an upholstery fabric shop for scrap bins too; sometimes decor fabric makes great garb.  :)
"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

Part of the problem is that I no longer have a "local fabric shop."  The closest ones to my house (not counting one or two quilt supply stores that only offer printed cottons suitable for quilt-making) are all the way across town from me, about 25-30 miles away.  Even the Walmart stores that used to stock fabric no longer carry it, at least not the ones in my area.  So if I can't find some other source (such as damask napkins or a tablecloth at a yard sale or on clearance somewhere), I might end up having to shop online, which is how I got my linen.  There's a Michael's craft store in my town that carries felt and possibly some other types of fabric, but only in small swatches, not by the yard, and most of their tiny selection doesn't look very period.

My local antiques mall recently opened up an upholstery fabric section, but most upholstery fabric is so thick it wouldn't hang properly on something as small as a 12" action figure.  It might work for something that's meant to be very stiff, but otherwise I'll probably be looking for something a bit more lightweight but with similar sorts of designs printed on rather than woven in.  Even with the leather and suede scraps I picked up last night, I'm going to have to use the thinnest bits, because the really thick ones wouldn't work for much besides boot soles or armor.  (Though I suppose my laddie does need some armor....  :D )  And I might also go through my closet for old clothing I was planning on getting rid of anyway, to see if something useful might be cut from a piece of skirt or a blouse back.  Not that I have any white brocade or damask clothing or anything particularly fancy in the back of my closet (aside from my wedding dress, but I am NOT cutting that up for an action figure!), but there might be a ratty old black skirt or something that could see new life as a cassock. 
"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

Just a quick update...Duncan has a new cassock, cincture and stole just in time for Sunday!



I still plan on embellishing the stole with gold trim, but haven't got around to buying it yet.  Maybe this afternoon I'll be able to pick some up.

The swatch of mini-tartan next to him is one that I ordered because it looked to have the McLain colors of green, black, and white in it, and it was much less expensive than any other mini-tartans I found online.  Now that I've seen the fabric up close rather than just onscreen, it appears that the "black" (or some of it) is actually a dark blue, but given that the more authentic mini-tartans I've found go for $280 per bolt and are NOT available per yard, and I can pick up a quarter yard of this fabric for something like $3, I think I can live with it being not an entirely perfect match.   :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!

derynifanatic64

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

Alkari

Given the vagaries of medieval dyeing processes, a dark bluish-black could be quite in period, even though Duncan as a nobleman could have afforded expensive cloths.  Producing a true dense black was often time-consuming, so the process of dying the individual hanks of thread used to weave the plaid cloth may not always have been quite as rigorous.  You could just say that this is Duncan's less-expensive 'everyday' plaid, that has been washed and worn and thus faded a little!  :D

Evie

#23
Here is Duncan's stole with the gold embellishments added:



I have found a plastic Easter Egg and the pointed half of it makes a perfect fit for the top of a Norman style helmet!   :D  My DH says he has the perfect primer and paint for it, so hopefully that project will be underway soon.  Since Duncan is a bishop, I might be adding a bishop's miter crest to the helmet; that seems to be an easy enough adaptation.  And I think I'll save my dwindling sanity by looking for some nice slubbed silk for the liturgical garments, as KK suggested during chat last night (squee, I have authorial approval on my action figure!!!  :D ), rather than trying to find a yard of liturgical brocade on clearance somewhere and hoping the pattern isn't too large for the cope and chasuble designs.  A yard of ivory silk dupioni or the like ought to do nicely.

My daughter is getting into the act with an offer to create a tiny chain mail coif and hauberk for Duncan once I settle on a final body and head for him.  She's made chain mail jewelry before and already has the jewelry pliers for the job, and I found a bag of tiny 4 mm jewelry jump rings for her to work with for less than $5 for 1200 rings, so this ought to be lots of fun to watch.   ;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

Last night I added the hooded capelet part of Duncan's priestly gear, and also a pectoral cross:


Front view with hood lowered


Rear view with hood lowered


Side view with hood raised


Front view with hood raised

Sorry for the slightly out of focus shots; I was about to head out the door for work and didn't have time to do more than one rushed snapshot of each view.
"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

#25
The mini-tartan fabric I ordered arrived last night, and figuring that I wasn't the only crazy person in the world who has ever tried to make a kilt at 1:6 scale, I did a Google search for mini-kilt patterns online and found this website:

http://vikki.ethernauts.net/highlander.html

After experiencing a brief bout of covetousness for that green/black/white kilt fabric (which actually comes closer to meeting the book's description for the Cassan "colors" than the fabric I found does), I set to work in trying to figure out how to modify this mini-great-kilt pattern to fit the fabric I've got.  I only ordered a quarter yard of fabric, but it's 60" wide, so that's a 9" x 60" rectangle.  To make the kilt, ideally it looks like I'd need a 13.5" x 19" rectangle, but I ought to be able to get that by cutting 9" x 19" off one end of the fabric I've got and then sewing an additional 4.5" x 19" piece to it along the long end.  (I will lose a little bit in seam allowance, so the resulting joined piece will be just a tad smaller than 13.5" x 19", but that's OK because some of that was meant to be seam allowance for hemming, and I plan to leave the edges unfinished to give it that more period "slightly frayed wool" look.)  If I've calculated correctly, the place where the fabric is joined ought to line up perfectly with where the waist of the garment should be, and so that seam will be hidden under Duncan's belt when he's wearing the great kilt.  And if this experiment doesn't work out quite as planned, I'll still have a 9" x 41" rectangle of fabric to work with, although I'd rather save that for making trews and maybe a tunic with for those occasions when Duncan wants to show his Cassani pride without going full-out Border Lord on the Rhemuth Lowlanders.   :D

And before you even ask the question, since I've not got around to making braies yet, the Bishop will be wearing his Cassani kilt "regimental."  Note to self: get Duncan some non-shiny shoes!   ;D

So that appears to be my project for the upcoming weekend, if I have time to get around to it.  But since my Visionaries characters are actually talking to me again, that project takes top priority, since I'm hopelessly behind on getting Chapter 22 sorted and am now feeling the pinch of my "reserve chapters" dwindling at an alarming rate.
"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

I definitely agree with Visionaries being the proper priority (and I'm looking forward to tomorrow's posting already), but now I find I'm starting to crave an entire line of Deryni action figures with appropriate clothing and accessories.

The Duke of Corwyn would be an excellent addition.  ;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

Yes, he would be.  So, when do you plan to start on that project?   ;)
"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!

Alkari

Well, if if Action Alaric is in his darkling phase, at least we won't have to worry about various liturgical colours for his garb.   "Basic black" will do very nicely in all sorts of fabrics  :D




Shiral

I am SO behind on building my Hagios Iob..... ;D
Nice work on Duncan so far, Evie. I especially like his black hooded robe.  It's nice to know  I'm not the only person who's fascinated with the Tiny....

Melissa
You can have a sound mind in a healthy body--Or you can be a nanonovelist!