Fallindoll Rabi complete!

It's been a long time coming, but I've finally finished customizing my Fallindoll Rabi, Eleanor.  You can read more about her initial customization process over here.  I've since applied lashes, switched up her eyes, and created an outfit for her.  This is the first time in a while that I've finished sewing a dress I like.  I modified a Blythe dress pattern I had laying about to fit her and it's not perfect, but I'm so happy with actually finishing it, the flaws don't bother me.  Now all I need to do is finish her counterpart, Fallindoll Force *sigh*.  Thanks for looking!  I hope you enjoy her!

Belated Workspace Wednesday! Eleanor's Faceup (Fallindoll Rabi)

Eleanor, a Fallindoll 27cm Rabi

So, this is what I worked on most of yesterday :D.  I knew I wanted to try something a little over the top with both Rabi (newly named Eleanor) and Force, but I waffled a bit over which direction to take.

Eleanor here isn't completely finished, she'll be getting some custom made eyes, a new outfit, and still needs lashes, but the majority of the work is complete :).  I airbrushed her body in a flecked agouti coloration with little black spots and gradient hands, legs, and ears.

Die cut vinyl detail, drawn in Adobe Illustrator.

I designed the vinyl appliques using Illustrator and exported them to my die cutting machine's program.  Drawing these designs would have taken forever, wreaked havoc on my poor hands, and still wouldn't have been the effect I wanted.  I measured the different areas of her face to get the spacing and layout correct.

Her hands and feet have already chipped a bit of the paint with movement, which is to be expected.  I'm thinking about going back over them with my black Plasti-dip spray since it worked so well the last time I used it on a doll.

I'm super happy with how she turned out :).  Force (yet to be named) will be completed in the same fashion with different designs (more lace like, in cream or white), which I'm still working on.  I hope you guys enjoyed!  Thanks for reading :D.

Toy Fiend Friday! Monster High Jane Boolittle Overview

Jane Boolittle and Needles

This week I'm taking a look at one of the newest Monster High releases, Jane Boolittle.  As a fan of all things dark, creepy, and a little spooky, I was really excited about a voodoo themed doll.  The fact that she comes with her own little voodoo doll sloth is just icing on the cake.

Her outfit is really cool, without being too flashy.  I really love the animal print, skulls, and bones.

The one thing that annoys me, though, is that her feathered epaulettes keep falling off.  They're basically propped up and don't really grab on to anything.  Her color scheme incorporates all of my favorite colors.  I really love the blend of teal, pink, purple and red.  Her skintone is also very pretty, and will be fun to repaint.  It's a soft lavender with blue undertones.

Jumping right on the sloth bandwagon!

Her hair is also very nice, though I'm sure that ponytail isn't staying :).  It's made of soft fiber as opposed to the rough nylon most of the Monster High girls are rooted with.  It's very easy to style and combs out well.  I haven't decided how I'd like to repaint her yet, but I definitely want to stick with her jungle theme.  What do you guys think about Jane?  Have you picked her up yet?  Still looking?  Passing?

Thanks for reading!

Monster High Repaint Highlights of 2013, Taking a look back.

Two posts in one day!?  I know, it's craziness.  I was in the middle of migrating my files to our cloud storage and came across all of these photos of repaints from the last year.  It didn't seem like so many until I found myself staring at the hundreds of photos in my folder.

I really worked hard on coming up with a definite style this year and though I tend to deviate from the norm from time to time, I'm pretty happy with how far I've come.  In those folders, I also found pictures of some of my very first Monster High repaints...

 My second Monster High repaint and my most recent.  Three years apart.

I remember being pretty happy with this Gloom Beach Clawdeen when I finished.  She was the second Monster High repaint I'd ever done (from 2011), and the first doll I'd painted in years since taking a break from the hobby ages ago.  I was seriously out of practice, but the job market was absolutely horrible and I was grasping at straws trying to find some way that I could contribute monetarily.  So, I began customizing dolls and toys.  I enjoyed it and people were buying my customs. 

I was so elated that people out there liked my artwork enough to buy it that it fueled me to keep going.  It wasn't a fast or easy process, Monster High was quite new back then and the dolls were so hard to find in stores.  I've met so many amazing people and the community has just been fantastic overall.  Of course there are trolls sometimes, but the good infinitely outweighs the bad. 

I'm still far from finished and nowhere even remotely close to perfect, but I'm content?  I think that's the best way to put it.  My techniques have changed, my materials changed, even the way I approach a repaint has changed.  Three years can really make a difference.  Thank you guys for sticking with me through the awkwardness :).  I hope this year's repaints will be even better than the last!

The Mushroom Girl: Kinoko Juice Kiki

A very, very long time ago when I was almost brand new to the idea of doll collecting I stumbled across one of the cutest, most stylistically sculpted dolls I'd seen so far.  Unfortunately, at the time, there was very little information about the doll, it took me a great deal of searching to even figure out what the name was, much less the maker.

Imagine my disappointment when I discovered that not only were these dolls sold exclusively in Japan, they were also hand made and sold in limited quantities at very high prices.  At the time, I gave up on ever finding one for sale in the US, much less being able to afford it on the secondhand market.

That little doll was Kinoko Juice Kiki and I'd wanted one for as long as I can even remember.  A few months back, I stumbled across a Japanese auction for a dirty, damaged, and long neglected Kiki.  I didn't care and I bid immediately, hoping like hell not to be outbid.  To my absolute disbelief I won!  Three weeks later, she arrived and I couldn't wait to get to work.

I did not take progress pictures, as there are certain proprietary aspects of the doll that I wouldn't want exposed to anyone looking to copy.  Specifically the unique, handmade eyes that a copy would not arrive with. 

She arrived with a laundry list of issues that needed to be fixed.  Her eyes, which cannot be replaced, let alone even found on a secondhand market, were my biggest issue.  The material was cracked in one eye, right through the iris.  I have no idea what the artist uses to make them, but I filled it in with UV cured resin to blend the distortion created by the crack.  I ended up with a barely visible line and a few air bubbles, but I am very happy with the result!

Her default faceup wasn't salvageable, so I repainted her as close to the original style as I could, with a few subtle changes.  Her headcap was also stained pretty badly.  When I sanded the stains away, I discovered that she had yellowed pretty badly.  So, I took a magic eraser to the rest of her body and she cleaned up surprisingly well.  One of the connections on her hand had been worn almost completely away (or it was broken and sanded, I couldn't really tell), so I had to resculpt the piece back up to fit into her wrist with epoxy.

Unfortunately, she didn't arrive with all of her extras.  Only one of the optional hands was included, but I don't mind a bit.  It's been almost impossible to find clothes and shoes that fit her, but YOSD fits pretty well, though a bit large.  The dress she's wearing in these photos was made by DollsAhoy and was intended to fit Blythe, that's how teeny she is.  Blythe pants, though, won't fit because she has much bigger hips and legs.  I had several pairs of the shoes she's wearing in different sizes (from trying to find something to fit Hujoo).  They're a bit long in the toe, since her feet are very round, but overall, it's as close as I think I'm gonna get.

I still haven't finished with her, but the process of working on her has been so fun.  Most of my BJD girls have arrived as 'damaged' or 'junk' items.  I really love restoring them back to their original glory <3.  I still have heads in storage that I've been working with on and off for a while that haven't been photographed, haha.

I'm so, so incredibly glad to have found one of these amazing little dolls.  She's definitely a grail of mine, if not THE grail.  Thanks for reading!

Attack on Titan GSC Colossus Titan Nendoroid Review and Video Demo

It should come as no surprise that I'm hopelessly addicted to all things Attack on Titan.  I'm not a terribly huge fan of Nendoroids, but I do own a couple.  They're very cute, but I like a larger range of poseability in my figures (like Revoltech and Figma).  However, I've had the Colossus Titan preordered since it first became available, there was absolutely NO way I was passing on this playset.  It's simultaneously one of the cutest and most disturbing figures I own!

Even the packaging was pretty cool, I love the alternate faceplate peeking over the top!

Tons of pieces with smaller Titans, buildings, Survey Corps, and civilians.

The playset comes with everything you need to recreate your own little Shiganshina District, complete with teensy buildings and a removable broken Wall Maria.  The playset also features three of the showcased smaller class titans from the earlier episodes of the anime.

There are two different faceplates for the Colossus Titan.  The 'realistic' version and a super deformed version.  I prefer the super deformed look with the articulated jaws :3.

Unfortunately, as with most Nendoroids, this figure is practically incapable of standing on its own.  I got my hopes up after seeing the beefier feet and legs, but the head is still just too hefty for them to support it.  Although this figure is heavily articulated, the range of motion is still limited by the body, meaning he can't sit properly =_=.  Normally, problems like this would drive me absolutely bonkers, but it's something I knew to be aware of before purchasing.  Honestly, this set is just so cool, it makes up for the shortcomings in poseability.  If you're a huge fan of the show, I definitely recommend giving this set a look :).  You can check out the video demo below to get a better idea of the working parts.  Thanks for reading!

Tiffany Blue, Monster High Custom Rochelle Goyle Repaint

I've gone through a lot of 'favorite' colors over the years, but I have to say that 'Tiffany' blue has probably been the longest running obsession.  I've managed to incorporate it into almost all of my site graphics and logos, haha.  It's such a nice, bright color without being too overwhelming.  Rochelle is one of my favorite girls to repaint because of her hair color combination.   It's so cute, it's hard not to be inspired by this doll.  This particular girl is still available in my Etsy shop.

'Tiffany,' Custom Monster High Dance Class Rochelle Goyle Repaint

The Dance Class version of Rochelle is undoubtedly my favorite.  I love her bun hairstyle and the dance outfit she wears is just adorable (especially those shoes!).  This particular version was really fun to photograph, I tried out a lot of different ballet inspired poses with her.

I wound the strands framing her face around a few pipe cleaners with a bit of gel to give them a delicate curl, as though they'd fallen loose while practicing.  Her bangs were also trimmed and restyled. 

If I had one complaint about stock dolls, it's that bangs can turn out atrociously bad sometimes =_=;.  That and TINSEL.  Tinsel is the bane of my existence.  I still have quite a few girls waiting to be worked on, so keep your eyes peeled for new photos!

Dimensional Magic: Monster High Gil Webber Repaint

I finally had a chance to work on some long planned custom Monster High repaints this week.  A while back, I finally found the Target exclusive Dance Class five pack with Gil.  Gil is my favorite boy to repaint, I really love his sculpting and skintone.  It's just a shame that he's so hard to get my hands on!  This time around, I wanted to try out a couple of new techniques.

Custom Dance Class Gillington Webber, ~Sold

 If you take a closer look at this photo, you can see that the scales above his eyes are three dimensional!  This was achieved by using a special type of gloss varnish that dries with a raised finish.  It's called Dimensional Magic, by Mod Podge.  The formula applies a bit milky at first, but it dries crystal clear with a slight magnification property which really makes details pop.  You do have to be careful about air bubbles forming, however, but they're easily picked out with a dry paintbrush or popped with a toothpick.

 
I also treated all of his fins with the Dimensional Magic.  Untouched, the fins are cloudy and matte, but once the varnish was applied, it really brought out a wonderfully translucent, almost wet quality which I thought was perfect for Gil.  I really hope that some day he'll have a more widely available release, but for now I guess I'll just have to stick to getting lucky!

Toy Fiend Friday: World of Warcraft Arthas, Sindragosa, and Goblin Trike from Megabloks and Blizzard

Had Heather not posted her adorable little Ragerock and Murlocs, I might have never even known about the World of Warcraft Megabloks.  Late to the game again, gosh, what kind of nerd do I even think I am?

Whilst searching ye olde eBay for two more tiny Murlocs to add to my collection (two is a collection, right?  right.), I came across this monster of a set:

Arthas, the Lich King and Sindragosa, via http://warcraft.megabloks.com

Having not been aware of the existence of a Warcraft Megabloks line, imagine my surprise when I came across this epic set.  I'm in love with Death Knight lore, Arthas is my favorite character.  I play a Death Knight:

Lol, hi, I'm Axelspark.  The Purple Death Knight.

I have a giant, fluffy grey Maine Coon named Arthas (though we call him Artie, for short):

*fwomp*

How in the world (of Warcraft, hurr) did I miss this?  Blindspots aside, I was elated when I was able to grab this set on eBay for about fifteen bucks.  About an hour later (I'll make no excuses for my inability to follow instructions, I just plain suck at assembly) I ended up with this!

The teeniest little Lich King!

 LOOK AT THAT TINY FROSTMOURNE!  His little helm!  This is the most adorable rendition of Arthas I've ever seen > 3 <!  He's just so tiny T___T~  He looked a little lonely, though, so I tossed in a couple of my Playmobil skeletons to keep him company on his frozen throne.

"Who do you want to maim today?"  "I dunno, who do you want to maim?"  Arthas: "DON'T START THAT AGAIN!"

As if a teeny Arthas wasn't frickin' sweet enough, there's this giant ass Sindragosa:

MYSTIC BUFFET!

I still hate fighting her =_=.  Putting her together was a pain, too.  This will have to do until I sort my priorities and finally get my Frostbrood mount (it's only been... how many years? .__.;).

Before I snagged this set, though, I found the Goblin Trike on clearance at Target for about six bucks.  There was no way in the world I could pass it up.

Time is money, friend.

Admittedly, I prefer the look of the Turbo Trike, but I'll take what I can get.  The details on these sets are pretty sweet given that they're comprised of blocks, they even included that kitschy raccoon tail.

It's not a bug, it's a feature!

The smaller kits don't come with secret loot, but I did get one with the Lich King set!

Soul Releaser Secret Loot

I was hoping for a Judgement Helm or Shard of Azzinoth, but I guess I'll just have to keep trying!