CorsetKitten’s Workshop: a blog devoted to 1:6 dolls, accessories, & photostories

Been doing a bit of thinking about how I want to do them and jiggling around character motivations & histories. I’m playing around with the idea of starting all of the students over as first year students and freshmen, and using them as a vehicle to explore the school.

Doing that would allow me to introduce them all gradually and as the stories moved along and I would have to feel so constrained that half of them are sophomores or juniors which realisitcally gives me little time to play with them before they shove off to the next stage of their lives.

First, I’m afraid I haven’t been doing much of anything that was worth updating the blog about. More than not I have been worrying about the new job I start tomorrow, and what all that’s going to mean (aside from a drastic cut in hobby time).

Anywho, as far as 1:6 goes for the moment these are the projects on the burner (just bear in mind the gas is on very low so it’ll be a while until they get finished!)

Pictures: Making a couple of mounted wall hangings for the rooms. I’m tired of staring at blank walls and heck, at least if the pics ont he wall are different I can pretend it is a different room!

Demoness: (still undecided if I should use a volks body or a Cy girl or maybe a soldier story). No clue yet what head to use either. Volks has the benefit of having aesthetically pretty ones with boobage…and the demoness is going to be boobacious! I’ve worked out the best way to do the wings, and think the primer will work even in the jointed areas. Is she going to be a blue, green or red?

New roomsets:

• Cass & Tori’s apt (2 bedrooms, 1 living room, 1 kitchen 1 bathroom+ hallway. Also small (very small) patio.) This set is going to be important since not only will it be the place where Cass does a lot of her work stuff, but also I think its going to end up becoming the place where Merrit & co. end up running to when they find their fat in the fire. It’ll also give me a place to stage the more drama-esque elements related to Quinlan Confidential episodes.
• Psychotherapy Practice office (Paloma & Chris’ offices) 3 rooms - reception/waiting area, 2 offices.
  
• Loft apt (the simplified version) Still undecided if this is going to belong to Paloma or possibly MIB guy. He still needs a name *sigh*

The more complicated (and larger) loft apartment will eventually get made but since right now just about all my supplies have to come from stock on hand or be cobbled together out of something else. ***I will be ever so happy to have a paycheck at the end of September!!!*** The major loft will have to wait although I guess I could always post some sketches if anyone was curious . That one will be massive compared to my previous rooms and sets– according to my basic calculations it’ll measure about 90cm-about 35.5 inches (3ft apx) at the highest point (where the beamed roof is)and the width 110cm 43.5 inches (apx 3.5 feet) with and the length at 130cm- 51 inches (apx4.25 feet) . (this will be broken down into bases, and the secondary level. So it should be a lot easier to manage even with the enormous size.

I want to figure the best way of doing it it will be lightweight. And interlocking so that I don’t have to have the complete 2nd level attached when I’m doing shots that won’t require it. I also want to make the fixed staircases, balcony and pillars will be removable and to do it so that the set will be completely flat-packable (yes, I’m thinking about 2.5 years from now!!). I also need to finish the classroom.

The rooms are being made as separate bases. I’ve given this a lot of thought and I think it’s the best way I can do it. Part of the reason is that I want to be able to give that added element of believability by being able to see another room through a hall or doorway. If I can but the two rooms against each other then that’s do-able. It also means that I can dedicate walls to particular sets instead of going through the bother of always setting a room up from scratch when I want to shoot. (setting up from square one –more than anything else makes me not shoot scenes or stories. Just call me lazy!)

So the wood got cut down, glued together (although me working out my dimensions was something of a nightmare (metric? ugh!). I’ve gotten the brackets screwed in on them as well to help keep them in square.

The fun part of all this hasn’t happened yet! (No, I’m sorry…building stuff IS fun…but not when you’re working with the space limitations here.)

The fun part is putting together a couple of mood boards for each room!!! I’m going to pick some color palettes and furniture & decide where to go from there. That also goes hand in hand with developing Cass’s character more (and probably Tori’s too).

Well this last weekend has been fruitful in two senses….

Figure wise:
I got to sit down and work on Viv and Cass. Viv is the re-rooted Ice head and Cass…well Cass is Takara’s Midori Washio head.

Here’s how they came out.

I have been trying to paint Cass for literally months and it has proven to be a very frustrating experience.
When I actually managed to paint her last time …I messed up and she looked rather wall eyed (you can see that version here). I liked the general feel I had then but I don’t know about her new look….or should I say looks?

I decided that I wanted one that was “frouffed-up” so that she’d look good if it were an evening out kind of scene, and one that was more plain looking — “working” aka being semi-tomboyish. So one has plucked brows and girly girl lipstick color.
I may repaint them again in the future–but for now I need Cass to start re-shooting the new episodes of the Quinlan Chronicles. So…kind of close is better than not at all I think?

Clothing wise:
I managed to pick up some reduced fabric (6 bucks for 4 meters) and a bunch of trim. I was pissed off to find that the place I got my 000 hook & eyes from has stopped carrying them (ah well, it’s a flea market, so I guess I can’t moan too much)
but I did manage to get some metallic trim that I think will work well for some medieval-esque outfits.

I have been sewing but not as prolifically as I’d like.
Hopefully I’ll be well enough later this week to take better pics. (I need to take pics of the outfits I’ve made)

But just to show that I’ve been doing something….here’s a picture of Sonia.
Next time I try making it I think I can safely say I’m swearing off using PVC!

NDR It’s been a busy week and it’s cut into my hobby time.
I’ve also had a couple of migraines which also cut down the hobby stuff. However, despite that I did manage to complete 2 more sewn pieces. I’ll update either tomorrow or Friday with some pictures.

(be patient, please?)

Well the mini-heatwave we’ve been having means that my original plan for the day (baking cinnamon rolls from scratch to bring to work tomorrow) has been canned. Too freakin’ hot for that!

Instead I’ve done the following:(more pics to follow a bit later)

• Continued working on the pole dancing (woo sexy shoes!) shoes/boot feet for the cy girls.
• Re-rooted a cy girl Ice head
• Boil permed (sort of) Midori’s head so that the hair might not boof out so much from her head. (she got slightly over cooked though)
• Worked on some more sewing patterns.
• Have cut out at least 12 shirts (this is stuff meant for trade/sale. need to earn some bus money)
• ” ” 4 skirts
• ” ” 5 waist cinchers/underbust corsets. These are from one of my older patterns when was just learning to sew; these might end up in the trash.

Quick pic

Ok, maybe nothing as dramatic as The Invasion of the Body Snatchers… but still….

I’ve had Fashion Royalty “Miracle Child Ayumi” for a while.

She is without a doubt one of my all-time favorite face molds but due to the crappy Fashion Royalty body she comes with I haven’t done much with her. In fact, to date I have a developed background but that’s about it. I find her a character that I want to use–but– It’s hard to get all excited and jazzed up thinking of stories & plotlines to put her into when I know that her ability to pose (or gods forbid stand) is just above zero. I really like her. She’s nifty (and probably in line for a repaint in the future)

Which means either I have to:

1) accept the fact and find creative ways to shoot her in scenes that minimize the lack of posability (which might not sound like a lot of work except for the fact that I am spoiled and really hate fiddling around with figures that won’t stand on their own. (this is especially so since these days my work room is on a serious slope due to the house’s subsidence into the ground)

OR

2) I can find a replacement body

I’ve been looking for more than a year now, trying to find something I could use and be happy with. I haven’t had a lot of luck. Finding a matching skin-tone body has been a complete wash. There was a possibility that the skin tone might be a match–but frankly, considering the POS that the otaku is, you couldn’t pay me to use one. Not to mention the posability is actually not that much better than the FR body!!!

What can I do?

Only one option I can think of–Find a body and repaint it to be a closer match to the skintone. So with that in mind I looked at what I have on hand that might be usable. I came up with a Volks Dollfie excellent base body & a cy girl 2.0 body.

• They’re both very poseable and are a definite improvement.
• Both bodies would require sanding and probably either chalking & sealing or spraying to be a better match. I’m leaning towards using the Midori 2.0 body as is one of the palest Cy girl bodies and is closest to Ayumi’s skintone.

This is what she looks like on either body:

So… The question now is… Am I going to be able to get the skin tone close enough? I’m seriously leaning toward the CY 2.o since I think it is just a better fit. Plus the girl looks good with some meat on her bones!

Comments??

So are you tired of the shiny body look?

Don’t like your figures in pictures showing so clearly where your lights were positioned?

Do you want a matte and slightly more human look to the skin? Have you got an hour or so to spare? If so then read on!

Seriously. there isn’t much to it and I think there’s a grand total of about 3 or 4 pics…

But first…a bit of background on why I did this!

For a while I have been wondering if it was worth the effort of sanding the cy girl 2.0 body down to remove the shine and make it matte. Those bodies are really wonderful as far as pose-ability go. However they are very shiny and they do have that some-what weird looking crotch area. (I won’t mention detailing that at the moment.

I’m very meh about sanding bodies. I gave it up when I got rid of my Volks Super Dollfies years ago. The order of the day with those dolls was spending hours (and days) sanding down joints, seams, and making aesthetic changes with the aid of sandpaper. The thought of having to go through all that again for a cy girl didn’t fill me with much joy.

However… As Mark so rightly pointed out–most people walking around aren’t shiny. (ok some of us with poor complexions probably do!) the absolute plus side to doing it is that the figure is small in comparison and won’t take nearly as long!

You will need the following items:

• 1 figure (that you want to de-shine)

• a couple pieces of 400 grit wet-dry sandpaper. (easier to use this wet, it keeps the dust level down, and keeps the figure cleaner)

• water (I use an old tea bowl because of the wide mouth–but anything that will hold water will do–just don’t drink it!)

• paper towels or a soft absorbent cloth–to wipe up excess water/spills/drops. Occasionally you can also wipe down the body too.

• be safe: use a mask or respirator whenever you do any kind of sanding. If the stuff gets in the lungs it can be nasty!

The How-To part:

Get your workspace ready: if you’re working on your computer desk–like I am–you’ll want to put down some stuff to keep things from getting too messy. (I like to use greaseproof paper (or baking parchment) since it is cheap and disposable–and puts up nicely with repeated soakings and spills without bleeding through to my cutting mat below.)

• I generally take a sheet of 400 grit wet-dry sandpaper and cut it into smaller pieces so that it is easier to work with. (think about 2.5×2 inches).

• fill the tea bowl with warm water.

• Put some music on or a video. It’s repetitive work so it is good to have something.

• Wet the sandpaper and pick a place to start. I like to start on the lower leg-shin area. gently sand using small circular motions .

• Repeat, Repeat, Repeat. Remember to periodically rinse and when necessary-replace the piece of sandpaper with a new one.

• Move on to other parts of the body as you complete each area.

• When you are finished take the figure and rinse it off throughly in running water to remove any sand/grit & plastic remnants.

Before and After pic:

Now, it’s up to you– you can blush & detail the body. You can seal it. It’s up to you! (but the shine is gone!)

A follow up to my previous post regarding the Otaku figure I received. If you’re a Triad Fan-Boy skip this and read something else…

I went to pick the Otaku up last night from the shelf she was on.
It’s a fairly simple action. Non-invasive. Not rough. Not stressful.
However, somehow–don’t ask me how–in the process– HER LEG FELL OFF!!!

WTF?
Ok I can understand Triad saying the hands & feet needed heat and careful handling to remove–but their Quality control REALLLLLLLY must SUCK. I’m sorry, I can’t name another action figure OR doll that I picked it up and a permanently attached body part came off! (with no assistance!)

Looking at the broken joint it is difficult to tell if it was caused by a glue/adhesive failure or if the small bit of resin/plastic just gave up the ghost. It doesn’t look like the plastic has stress-fractures but due to the small size (and I’m not willing to waste my time studying it with a jewelers loupe).

I think I can safely say I am NOT going to be getting any of them in the future unless they are in trade for services or other goods. I AM NOT willing to spend money on something that seems to be lacking.

And yea, I can fix it if I want to put the effort into it. I might. But right now I think I might well be playing frankenstein a lot sooner than I planned. I mean, the figure’s essentially bust (a pisser when I consider the amount of time I spent trying to mod it).

Also another point:as I mentioned previously I am very sensitive to some chemicals and to a lot of agents used in fragrances, cleaners, plastics (yes even some mega house & re-ment product plastics). I commented that the Otaku was very smelly when she arrived.

It’s been a couple weeks now and she’s still stinky enough that I have to keep her on the other side of the room from me. I dunno. I had held out some hope of being able to use these figures as replacements for the FR Ayumi body but the more I deal with it the less likely that seems. I may have to bite the bullet and try to paint a body to match her skintone to get the look I want.

So for me…I just have to say

OTAKU–JUST SAY NO!!!!

Please note that as with everything else posted in this blog & website–these are my opinions only and all readers are welcome to their own opinions. This is my flame-free zone where I am allowed to post my thoughts and reviews on products I’ve obtained.

Why do I sew?
I find sewing is usually an exercise in frustration, trial & error and eventual triumph. That said, I can’t say that the actual act of sewing is much fun for me. But the end results can be.

I sew for usually 2 or 3 reasons.
They are:
1) what I want to dress a figure in doesn’t exist.
2) It exists but is waaaay out of what I consider a reasonable price-range
or
3) I get inspired to try something new.

So this weekend was a half-half success. Saturday I had a migraine so I got next to nothing done. But today (Sunday) was the exact opposite.

Today I’ve I managed to:
1) make a new pattern up for a semi-tube dress (I’m not sure that that’s the correct terminology since it isn’t really tube-like…more A-line really)
2)sew 2 versions/variations of it for the 2.0 body
3)began an experiment using magnets & bratz shoes.
4) decided to re-root one of my Ice heads with brown hair/mixed so maybe I’ll feel more inspired towards repainting it. It’s a nice sculpt…but the default paint does nothing for it.

As I’m not feeling photo-graphically inclined right now *eyestrain from sewing* so pictures will have to wait until I get home from work tomorrow.

I realized I neglected to post about them– so here they are.

As you can tell I’m still trying to work out patterns for the Cy Girl 2.0 body. These aren’t fantastic, but I think they’re a step in the right direction (ie not all cy girls will have to wear pleather or ken clothes)

as usual–click the thumbnail for a full-size pic

Hopefully I’ll get better as I go along…

I’ve managed to get a really smashing chest-cold this week (started on weds) and I’m feeling pretty well drained. If I manage to get much done this weekend I’ll post pictures. (right now the only thing I have to show is some 1/6 jewelry for the girls)

Hope everyone else is feeling better than I am!

Only a quick update: I have started work on the 1:6 patio dio. (forgive the hurried & slightly blurry pics. My free time is somewhat lacking this week)

Seeing this is the first time I’ve really mentioned this project I’ll give you a brief run down on it!

One of the comments I rec’d on my past photostories that has always bothered me, was that my figures never actually seemed to be outside in their sets & photostories. True, I could have done a lot in Adobe PS (and have) but sometimes digitally editing photos is just more hassle than it’s worth. With that fact in mind I didn’t give it much thought–until I started looking at other folks’ “outside” shots and envied. And that of course made me covetous…and then–well, I broke down and decided why not? What have I got to lose?

Some great examples of the outdoors portrayed in 1/6 scale dioramas are here:

Deering Productions:Devil of the Woods (woods scene)

Deering Productions: suburban scene

And for non-cultivated outdoors, nifty temples, and spooky crypts: Mick Baltes website

Backyard/ Garden example — Amithi: Der Hotel-Garten

So after some thought (and a lucky buy on fee-bay) I’m ready to give it a go. I’m not aiming for anything fancy. Yet . Just a simple “backyard patio” for the occasional cook-out or drinks scene.

How it boils down at the moment:

• Scored 6  1-ft sq slate tiles & some smaller pieces of marble tiling. These are going to be attached to the board (once I get the cement, that is). Nope. I like the small 40mmx40 mm mosaic pieces so I am going to search for some more of those. They’d be more accurate for 1:6 scale flooring.

• Over the weekend I picked up some “weatherproof” plywood which I am planning on using for the base. On Sunday (after all the stores shut at 4pm) I realized we didn’t have any tile cement…So that’s on the list of things to pick up at B&Q.
• Picked up a battery operated “desk”fountain at Woolworth’s for £5.00. This will need an overhaul & reconstruction. When I’m done with it I want it to resemble a more realistic fountain/contained waterfall.

It looked like that (the box above) before I took it apart.

Now it looks a bit more like this:

Here’s a close up of the pump–note the tiny intake port! (I’ll have to put very fine mesh over this if I do decide I want some sand in the fountain)

Things to take into consideration:

• The back garden is very small due to the fact Mark’s workshop (aka the shed) takes up the majority of what is already a small space. This means working room/photographing room is limited. I’d originally thought of setting it up permanently but realized that wasn’t feasible.
• The weight of the slate tiles is considerable. They’ll only get heavier when i add on the marble side/accent tiles.
• In order to facilitate easy usage & access I will mount the tiles onto a base (weatherproof plywood) which means when it isn’t in use it can be propped against the fence & covered with a tarp.
• I will need to disassemble the small table and bring it downstairs for when I want to take shots of the diorama scene. I’ll need to keep my eye out for a better replacement. Also note that the table/diorama can’t be left set up full time since Max & Pudge could use it to springboard over the wall & onto the canal bank or into Elaine’s garden.
• What to use for foliage? I have some small benjamin fig saplings that may work for some of it. But the rest I’ll have to keep an eye out for–plastic or real plants.
• Figure out what kind of resin/glue/sculpting medium to make the “waterfall” rocks out of. Whatever I choose needs to be waterproof/paint-able.

Here’s the 1:6 table & chair patio set off fee-bay a while back. (excuse the hurried photo) The chairs are slightly oversize, but otherwise pretty cool. That will need a new table top cut for it (either glass or plexi) and I need to hammer out the top supports a little since the table is now more oval-and lopsided–than round.

I’ll update as the project progresses!

Meet the Otaku 1.0 : Triad Toys newest entry on the market.

So, these figures are supposed to be the next best thing since sliced bread…

Triad Toys has put them out as the most recent offering in the 1:6 scale fem figure market. Anyone involved with the market knows that it’s been slim pickings for a while, and there hasn’t really been the promise of anything new on the horizon (to make the price point drop anyway).

Triad took pre-orders and decided to to a limited run of 1000 figures per skin tone (slated to have 3 skin tones in total) . IMO The preliminary pictures looked ok. Nothing that I personally would rush out to buy, nor, did I feel, it was something that I’d really kick myself in the ass for later if I didn’t get one. Right now a messa folks are going totally ga-ga over them. But I had my reservations… so much so that I didn’t buy one.

I’ve been seeing a lot of pictures of them in the different action figure forums.

Some good. Some bad.

So, how did I end up with one? I, who thought from the get-go the otaku wouldn’t be my cuppa tea? Serendipity. A kind friend and fellow collector let me have one and I have now gotten it in my hot little hands. What do I think?

Ok, I’m spoiled. I’ll admit it. Between the takara cool girls/ cy girls and the volks dollfies I have I’m expecting a high stardard and level of posability.

Let me start with the plus side as I see it:

• The obvious plus side to it is that it’s 1:6, and its busty.
• It has a pretty sturdy build which makes for some diversity in the figure pool.
• The more 1:6 figures out there the better off we, the collectors are.
• The hands are nicely sculpted (for the most part-they still aren’t really feminine enough for my tastes but what the hell. At least it is another pair to add to the supply bin. (I’m going to see if I can change out the pins so i can stick them on the cy girl hands.)
• whatever resin or plastic the figure is made out of is fairly soft. This is good because it means subtractive modding (such as I have done) is more easily done than with the harder resins and plastics out there.

Now the down sides–as I see them:

• But the posability seemed to be an issue from the start. I mean, Triad marketed these figures as the type to primarily display clothes (lingerie) or nothing at all. They lack the waist and bust joints of the takara cy girl 2.0 and I think that’s a major draw back. These aren’t going to be major players when it comes to using them in photostories and displays (at least not without some serious Frankenstein-ing) I like functional toys-if I wanted pretty-but-useless I’d be collecting porcelain dolls or something along those lines.

I’d like to make a point here that right now the torso of the Otaku is similar to that of the original super dollfies made by volks back around 2000. It’s one piece, no joints and limits how the figure can sit and pose. I’m sure volks wasn’t the first company to use the design, and Triad won’t be the last, but I wanted to comment on it anyway.

• They have giraffe necks if you want to put any head on it other than the default head. To fix this requires more patience, and a willingness to sand down the neck, and adjust the pegs a bit. Angryboot has shown some pictures of successful headswap & mods and I can see that being something I’ll try on it eventually)
• They’re smelly. (I know this probably won’t be an issue for anyone else, but I’m very sensitive to smells, especially those of specific plastics & resins (ok and perfumes, and hairsprays & paints …just about everything - LOL) I’ve aired it out for a bit and it isn’t as smelly 3 days later, but it remains to be seen.
• The figure has a problem keeping her legs closed. Seriously. (the plus side to this is that again, the figure is made of carve-able material. See below for the modification outcome).
• The paint ops the body have been given baffle me a bit. I’m not entirely sure if they’re meant to cover the overall tone of color of the resin/plastic body? Or what. IMO I think the color of the resin without the “body paint” is nicer. Certainly without it and using some chalk pastels you could get some nice effects.
• The legs are a bit dumpy and short compared to the body. Proportionally the figure is a bit off. Also, the shoulders are really not the kind that will look good in sweaters!

Ok, some pictures now:

Before leg/crotch area modification: Note: this is the maximum her legs can close while seated!!!!

I know, some folks think that’s fine… But you know me… give me a scalpel and off I go! Yea, I could have screwed it up. But…if the figure doesn’t meet all my needs anyway, what is the harm in trying to improve it?

So here are some shots of her after her “surgery”.

They still don’t close enough for my complete satisfaction so I will probably continue to work on them. However I do think that the current mod is an improvement!

So at the end of the day will I be buying any of the next ones to be released?

Yes. Why?

Because I have found out how soft/easy to carve they are and I think I might end up doing a really sever mod so that my Ayumi can have a decent body. Maybe. It depends…I think the new bodies are coming out at the same time as the new Hot Toys figures. And I know I want those.

First off this has nothing to do with my office-worker-cannibal dream! ;P Really!

One thing, let’s face it–I’m cheap when it comes to buying unfamiliar dolls or action figures.

Yes, I’d heard how the bodies from Hot Toys were totally smokin but …at close to 40 bucks a nude figure…….it took me a while to break down and get them. (The main reason I did is mostly due to the ones I’ve seen cheridoll and how nicely they are in scale with the takara cool girls / Cy girls)

So being me, I couldn’t just roll the dice and take a chance on one. Nope. I figured in for a dollar in for a dime and heh, got 3 to be exact. (I should say though, to be fair that I actually got my hands on them a few months ago..I just hadn’t taken the time to do anything or post about them.)

So our new men for future use are: (shown here in a totally pointless pic)

Navy Seal Mountain Ops Sniper (PCU ver.)

USMC Three Infantry Battalions in Fallujah - M249 SAW GUNNER

and lastly,
USMC II MARINE EXPEDITIONARY FORCE - Special Operation Training Group

First I should comment all three have completely different skin tones (not a bad thing as I like some diversity) and the head sculpts are well done, and I’m actually impressed with the default paint jobs. However, I expect that I’ll be doing some repaints anyway. The Sniper is supposed to resemble Mark Wahlberg, the USMC Infantry guy is supposed to look like Christian Bale, and the USMC MEF is supposed to look like Ashton Kushner.

Out of the 3 there’s only one I’m not planning on touching (in as far as re-painting, modding etc and that’s the spiffy Navy Seal Ops Sniper. In my honest opinion he’s got the best face I’ve yet seen on a reasonably priced action figure. I think he has a really cool demeanor and I think that he;s bound to be a thorn in the sides of a lot of the characters. I had been playing with making him a kind of MIB for the city..some kind of underground operative. Not sure about that now, but I’ll see how things go when I try to cobble him into something.

So I thought for a little bit of light humor I’d snap some pics and see how they go. One of the main things I’ve noticed is that while in person the skin tone of the hands match the bodies/heads well in photographs it becomes especially yellow and off-tone. I’m planning on experimenting with repainting them to see if I can get a better result in the future. I also want to fill in the holes that are visible–probably with some gel medium–that way the flexibility shouldn’t be compromised.

At long last, I finished it!

Click the image for a link to the story!

Thanks to Milkshake Melody for lending me Inessa and the gang!
(I’m working hard to finish Tangie, Miel’s & Meg’s)
sorry the images are so big…