Welcome to the Mighty Nein!

 

As most of you will know, I'm a massive nerd when it comes to fantasy/sci-fi.

I live and breathe all things geeky, but until a couple of years ago I couldn't fully consider myself a 'nerd' as I'd never experienced the utter joy that is the definitive role-playing game of Dungeons and Dragons. I still haven't managed to actually play yet, though I plan to DM for my friends at some point once I've got a session planned out, but in the meantime, I get my fix from the incomparable Critical Role; a weekly stream where 'a bunch of nerdy-ass voice actors sit around and play D&D'

I've been watching them for a good few years now, and with well over 500 hours worth of incredibly compelling storylines and emotive performances from the cast, it wasn't difficult to get swept up in the adventures of the heroic band of colourful characters - Vox Machina, and now, with their latest campaign, the motley crew known as The Mighty Nein.

I don't normally like making figures of other people's characters as they know them far better than I ever could, but I loved the new group so much I couldn't resist! So far I only have two (one of which doesn't quite count) but I fully intend to recreate the whole group! (and no, it isn't a typo, there really aren't actually nine of them, there's a huge in-joke related to nein/nine so it was inevitable that they ended up with that as part of their name)

Adventures in Articulation!

Three posts in one day? Oooft, I'm on a roll!

As you may have noticed in my previous couple of posts, there are a few new faces I've never formally introduced here and most of them have had rather a lot of plastic surgery!

New clothes and converses!

 As you can see the happy couple have had me make them all manner of things in the last week!

Max demanded a shirt, and while I haven't got any tiny buttons for it yet I'm happy to leave it open like this without them. I don't have a sewing machine so everything here was done entirely by hand.

The fabric was originally bought to make Julip rugs from but it was perfectly scaled for a checked cotton shirt!

Once all fully glued and stitched together I soaked it in hot water with a touch of fabric conditioner then dressed her in it so I could get it to hang more naturally with the sleeves rolled up. It worked really well and feels far less stiff than it did to begin with. It also filled me with confidence in my sewing skills as it didn't immediately disintegrate upon being immersed in liquid!

I definitely didn't make her camera - its a little resin DSLR I got from a friend a few years ago to use with my Julips. It was far too big for 1/12th scale (even though I think that's what its sold as) and probably slightly underscale for 1/6 but it's close enough to pass I think. I glued on a ribbon strap, painted the whole thing with matte varnish and added a little blob of gloss on the lens and the LCD display at the back. In an ideal world I'd love the gear from this set to play with but I couldn't find one at a good price so this will do in the meantime.

 I knew she needed a pair of converses so I ordered up a pair online, but they're coming from the other side of the world and I'm ridiculously impatient so I thought I'd make her a pair in the meantime and the new ones can always go to someone else when they get here.

I used this paper tutorial from Mitchymoo Miniatures with a few minor tweaks as I was working with fabric rather than paper and obviously at a larger scale.

I built up a wooden last on the existing foot rather than epoxy over it as I may want to swap shoes at some point in the future and wanted these to be reasonably easy to take off.

Styrene base with balsa wood and micropore tape ftw!

The printable canvas I used for miniature paintings the other day was the perfect material for the heel supports once soaked with water to soften it.

The main part of the shoe was thin denim from an old pair of jeans. I lined it with the canvas material, then punched in some holes for the laces with a thick needle.

I painted on some metal 'eyelets' with a tiny touch of silver nail varnish applied with a toothpick. This not only did away with me having to track down small enough eyelets, but also stiffened the edges of the fabric so it didn't fray. I know real Converses have another row of stitches on the other side of the eyelets but it was just too close to be able to stitch without risking tearing so I just painted them on later. The rest is all stitched though.

The tongues were just cut out sections of the same thin denim. The toe cap parts started off well, being glove leather they clung to the shape of the last really well but when I glued it on it turned out far bulkier and angular than I anticipated. I gave each a few coats of superglue to give them a nice shine and to harden them.

Because I know from personal experience that Converses aren't exactly known for their waterproof properties I rubbed on a layer of beeswax before assembly so at least my dolls can step in a puddle without ending up with wet feet!

You can see the blocky toecaps there. :(

 I couldn't find any decent thread to use for laces so to begin with she had to settle for toothfloss! XD

Some white grosgrain made the perfect edges!

The 'socks' are just tiny scraps of white fabric stitched around her ankles.

Here's the final shoes with better laces.

The infinity scarf was some scrap stretchy fabric I had lying around and her bracelets were tiny rubber rings I found in the plumbing department of B&Q! The black and white checkerboard one is simply a thin rectangle of pleather from an old purse stitched together and painted, with a bit of matte varnish on for protection.

As Juno stole her messenger bag I decided to make Max a rucksack instead. I'd saved the detachable hood from an old waterproof jacket of mine ages ago which I thought would be the perfect material, so after having a google for inspiration I got sewing. I liberated the zip from a cheap purse I'd initially bought for its 'chainmail' 

(Oh hey, sneak peek of another fig in the works! :P)

 I'd never sewn anything with a zip before so this was something of an experiment.It's a little stiff to open and I accidentally broke the top of the actual zipper part but it still works, you just have to be careful.

It has three front pockets - one big one and two little ones. The smaller ones are actually made from folded over bias binding. XD

I didn't have any wide enough grosgrain for the straps so I improvised with some soft grey ribbon. It really looks the part on one side and is velvety and fuzzy on the other size for 'comfort' 

I didn't realise that my thread was dark blue instead of black until I was nearly finished which is a bit of a pain in the arse but I can always go over the stitches with a touch of black paint.

It won't hold a huge deal but it'll be handy for going out and about with. I'd like to customise it with some patches and badges eventually as its a bit boring right now.

As something of a music aficionado Max really needed a set of headphones...

They turned out a little big but I'm really pleased with them nonetheless, especially considering what they started life as!

You know those plastic ring things round the neck of plastic bottles?

Yeah, those.

Trimmed to size and with the protruding plastic cut and sanded down, its perfect for the main structure. I can't take full credit for this observation however, I saw it here first!

As for the speaker parts, I stumbled on these really randomly the other day in Staples. They're little novelty thumb tacks with hooks so you can hang stuff from them. I bought a packet with the intention of doing just that but it wasn't until I decided to make some headphones that I realised just how perfectly shaped they were.

A little scalpeling, sanding and superglue/bicarbonate of sodaing later they were done, only requiring a couple of coats of glossy black nail polish and some silver for highlighting the detail. The padding on the earcups and headband is just trimmed down fleece. The cups look really plain from the sides so I may eventually add some kind of brand symbol or logo to jazz them up a bit.

The 'cord' is just some synthetic thread sandwiched between the earcup and the padding. It doesn't connect to anything but with a little blob of bluetack it can be stuck to a hip under the clothes so it looks like it feeds into a pocket and presumably a phone or MP3 player.

While Max pretty much told me what she wanted to wear straight away, Juno hasn't been quite so easy to dress though, she's fickle.

To begin with she wanted something very summery and hipsterish, so I made her a simple crop top and some knee-length harem pants...

...but apparently she was cold so demanded a coat, which I slaved away on for hours, but the front didn't turn out as I'd have liked so that too was rejected...

...in favour of this.

I'd made her jumper years ago for one of my male figs but it didn't fit him particularly well but with some better stitched edges it makes a good baggy jumper for a Barbie.  The fabric was thicker than the stuff I used in Max's shirt so it doesn't have quite the same number of folds and wrinkles despite the fabric conditioner, but never mind. The shorts were cut down from an old pair of Barbie jeans but I'd like to make some better ones. I handstitched the tights and left too much of a seam allowance so there's quite an obvious inseam now, lol.
The boots ended up waaaay too short and stumpy so she'll probably fall heir to the converses I ordered unless I can get her some alternatives. The infinity scarf is from a pair of £1 shop thermal socks and sheds like nobody's business.

I didn't realise until after I'd dressed her that she's really going for an Amy Pond look which I swear wasn't the intention!

Isn't it funny how sometimes memories are seemingly imbedded into the things you make? I can vividly remember sewing Max's shirt during my binge watch of 'Preacher', and the rucksack was made during a similar binge of 'The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes'. Netflix's 'Making a Murderer' was my background noise whilst making Juno's coat and I was watching a series about real life crime scene investigating whilst making the headphones too, so it kind of follows quite a dark theme!

Anyway, I bought a rescue Barbie at the car boot sale this weekend so she's getting a bit of TLC at the moment but I'll definitely be doing more with this pair soon as they're just so much fun to play with!

Max and Juno

Something of an update from my previous post!

My Made to Move Barbie has gained some new clothes and accessories as well as a name - Max...

...in addition to a girlfriend, Juno.

 

I'd actually had Juno far longer than Max but hadn't really found her character yet. She's a portrait of 'Tris'  from the Divergent film series and I saw her in TK Maxx last year for half price and just couldn't resist her. She's got such a beautiful headsculpt and really unusually coloured hair, plus I really liked her trousers. (which Max nicked pretty early on, lol) She also looks nothing like the actress she's supposed to represent which is handy for me as she's essentially a blank slate to attach a personality to. Eventually I'd like to rebody her onto another MTM as while the Fashionista body she has now is pretty poseable, I've become seriously spoiled by the articulation in the other!

I really love the subtle blush in her cheeks, it gives her a real 'porcelain skin' quality.

They're disgustingly adorable together and I can tell I'm going to have great fun photographing them in the future.

Yeah, yeah, I can take a hint, I'll go away now.

...but not for long as the next post will be about all their shiny new clothes and accessories! :P

Extreme face painting!

Although I don't post about them as much, I have a budding 1/6th scale doll collection, mostly of charity shop rescues and the odd one from ebay. (like the super cheap 12" Doctor Who figure with one leg who I intend to make into a post apocalyptic cyborg wasteland wanderer. XD)

I've got another Skyrim inspired one to post about soon actually, but I'll leave him til another time.

I bought this 'Get Real Girls' doll a couple of years ago. The range was designed to rival Barbie, with an emphasis on sport and outdoor activities and absolutely zero pink. The clothes and accessories were really good quality, as were the dolls themselves, though I believe Mattel pressured the company behind them to the point that they ceased production, which is a real shame as they had a lot of potential.

While I liked the body, the headsculpt left much to be desired. The facial features, especially the eyes were far too stylised for my taste so she had to have a bit of work done...

Ignore the clothes - the shoulder armour belongs to someone else but she'll probably end up as another wastelander eventually...although now that she's done I'm kinda changing my mind a bit.

To start with I whipped out the acetone and carefully removed her original face paint.

Then, once I'd given the head a quick rinse to remove any remaining acetone, started adding in a new face. This was tricky as the head had no sculpted eyes, so I was painting directly onto smooth plastic with little visual or sculptural clues as to where the eyes should go, so they're a little wonky. (not helped by the fact that all my good tiny brushes weren't tiny enough for the level of detail I wanted.)

She still looked a bit plain so I gave her some freckles and now I love her.

I added in some white 'highlights' which made more of a difference to her expression than I was expecting, though they look a tad green due to the underlying paint seeping through.

I'd covered up her head so I could seal her face, then unwrapped it and dipped it in boiling water to restyle the hair. It wasn't the best quality hair but I'm not ready to attempt re-rooting and I thought it had potential to look good with a little work.

She's far from perfect but I like her a LOT more than I originally did as she has a lot more personality.

I gave her some new hands as the ones she came with - while not as useless as Barbie ones - came with a magnet set into one (presumably to interact with specific accessories) and were therefore not really all that realistic.

My only other GRG doll had an even more extreme makeover a few years back into an alien thief of unknown species - Hetche!

I really want to get back into my sci fi crew- I had great plans for photostories and things but, like many projects I start, I end up postponing them for ages, which is frustrating to say the least.

Also, random thought but I realised today that this is the first time in the history of this blog that I've managed to post at least once EVERY month! Woot!