More Elmore

The Elmore sculpture is done. I sealed the back of the head today. After I sand the seam, he'll be packed and shipped to Braylu Creations for mold making. I hope folks like him.

Tell all

I'm managing several projects at once. The victories create elation. The failures make me crazy. And because I'm working multiple projects, the reactions are exponentially more intense. Weird.

But here's a progress report.

My project for the 10-year-old entrepreneur is going along quite well. I'm using a Braylu casting for the head. I've cut out the jaw and added sidewalls and a platform for the lower teeth and tongue. Now I'm working on the eye sockets and I've installed the brass eyebrow tubes. I've added the first layer of Magic-Sculpt to the under-portion of the jaw so that it will open and close without showing too much space.

My Elmore sculpture is almost finished. After some sanding, he'll be shipped to Buzz James at Braylu Creations for mold-making. Buzz will be selling Elmore castings as the second in the so-called "Kenny Croes Collection".

My Santa is also nearing completion, though he's presented a few challenges. I think he'll turn out fine, but not without some consternation.

In between, I'm sanding and painting hands so the body assembly can be completed.

Oh... and in between that, I go to work every day.

A Winkle in time

Someone (I hope) will decide to take in "Mr. Winkle" after winning the auction on Ebay. I warn you, he's as crotchety as ever. Will someone claim him for their own? Only time will tell.

Busy hands

I'm busier than usal with my dummy makin'. Between special orders, my own projects destined for Ebay, and my Elmore sculpture for Braylu Creations, I've been reeling with work.

The jaw I mentioned is pictured to the left. Teeth and tongue have been added. I did a bit more jaw-opening adjustment last night. Just one more "plug and play" addition to the head, and I'll be ready to start sanding. I want to add side walls inside the jaw opening with slide-in slots for the tube n' axle placement.

My first Uncle Earl, now being built with the Braylu-supplied casting from my sculpture, is well underway. He's been painted and the eyebrow mechanics have been installed.

I'm also nearing the final stages of my Santa Claus figure.

If the jaw fits...

I've enjoyed sculpting a new Elmore character. Braylu Creations is going to make a mold of him, sell the castings to ambitious vent figure builders , and sell the castings to me, too, so I can make completed Elmore's to sell.

The easy (as in fun-easy) has been sculpting the nose, ears, forehead, eye sockets, etc. The really challenging part has been scuplting and fitting the jaw. Besides wanting to end up with a good look and a good fit, I've wanted to understand how I got there so I can do it again. After trial and error, study, trial and error... error... (and many bad words), I've made a jaw that fits well and looks good, too. And I think I can do it again. I'm not ready to give y'all a peek just yet. But soon I'll post a photo.

No email

Bummer. No email for 24 hrs. Host is changing servers. Withdrawls are starting already (or maybe i've had too much coffee).

Kids today

I just received the down payment on a special order. It’s a figure for a 10-year old entrepreneur. Two years ago, he bought, then refurbished and redistributed 32 old gumball machines to earn money. He owns his gumball business, donates some of this earnings, saves the rest and buys himself something special once a year. This year, it's the figure I'll build for him.

And that's not all.

The young fellow is a state champion second-degree blackbelt in Taekwondo, sports a mohawk haircut , and performs as a ventriloquist. Yes, he's a very impressive young man.

I have a feeling I'll be making a first hard figure for someone who'll be rich and famous someday.

Bumpkin in New York

Seems Elmore has made a friend in the Big Apple. He's winging his way east to his new home.

Think ahea....d

I'm the kind of guy that paints himself in the corner, runs out of room when handprinting a mailing label, saws off the tree limb I'm sitting on, and seals the dummy head before I've figured out the axle placement of the jaw mechanics.

I'm sculpting a new head for Braylu Creations. He'll be a goofy guy somewhat resembling Elmore, the fella in the video below (and for sale on Ebay, by the way). I was saving the jaw sculpting and placement for last because I thought it would be the most difficult part and I wanted to have fun first.

So I finish the second ear and begin to stroke my chin in wonderment about the jaw. Then it hits me. I've sculpted the head... completely. What's worse, the back of the head had been sawed off, but I glued it back on so I could Magic-Sculpt the entire pate. "How am I gonna get inside the head to place the jaw?" I ask myself while slapping my forehead with an open palm.

So this morning, I took my hacksaw and sawed off the back of the head... again. Fortunately, I accomplished the task without doing too much damage to my previous efforts.

By the way, I also started work on my first "Uncle Earl" from the Braylu casting. I'm pretty excited about that. (There's a casting for sale on Ebay, too!)

"L" of a deal

Say "hi" to Elmore. He's named that because the MORE he talks, the MORE "L" he creates. (Thank you, Paul Winchell). Soon he will be looking for someone's world to confuse and complicate. If you think he'd be perfect in your world, you can locate him soon on Ebay.

Collection of one

Braylu Ceations is now offering for sale the first casting in the "Kenny Croes Collection". We're calling the character "Uncle Earl". He's an old guy and should be fun to make into a vent figure. Click here for a look at the feller.

Owner Buzz James is sending me the first castings so I can build a complete figure. We'll add a photo of a completed figure and possibly a video, too. Braylu Creations also can sell you everything you need from head to toe to make a completed figure of your own.

Of course, a collection intimates that there is more than one item. So I'm feverishly working on a model for a second character. As they say... COMING SOON!

A good goof

This goofy fella is nearing completion. He needs a little more touch-up, but he's nearly ready for his debut on Ebay. He's the first using the new Braylu headstick design and he works very smoothly, too.

Kicks from sticks

The new headsticks made from PVC pipe have worked out really well. Here are a couple of photos showing how I set up the stick. (You can see the many experimental holes I drilled). :-])

In the end, the holes nearest the top worked best. I also drilled two holes at the end of the triggers for the cords, but the angle was too severe. So I re-drilled holes in the center of the triggers and that angle worked much better. I had to drill two because I double-up on the cords and the width of the trigger wouldn't allow for a hole large enough to thread two strands. The double-hole set up works fine, however. I'll smooth the edges of the triggers with my Dremel for more finger comfort. You can also see the hole at the bottom of the pipe where I’ve inserted a rubber band for attaching to the eye hook in the body to keep the head erect.

I really like this new headstick design. Want to try one out? They're available now at Braylu Creations, and they're very reasonably priced, too.

Will it float?

I love that silly Letterman bit when he and Paul Schaffer bet on whether an object will sink or float in a Doughboy swimming pool. Well, I'm wondering if an idea a friend of mine has will sink or float.

An unnamed friend in the vent supply business has offered to make a mold of a head I sculpted and make castings. Then he'll market the castings on his website and sell me castings at a steep discount so I can make and sell completed figures.

I love the idea. As you know if you read this blog, I make conversion figures from Charlie McCarthy toy vent doll heads. To acquire the heads, I used to buy used Charlies on Ebay. Then I was tipped off about a close-out of new Charlie McCarthy dolls at a great price, so I scooped up a bunch. But sooner or later I'll have to start buying them on Ebay again. My arrangement will allow me to make vent figures from castings of my head sculptures, too.

The above headshots might be the first character we try. He's a little different from my Mr. Winkle character, but he's in that generation. One interesting feature of this head is that he has a slight smile on one side of his mouth, and a slight frown on the other. If I recall correctly, Paul Winchell liked Jerry to have a smile slightly bigger on on side than the other. This figure will also use larger eyes (1-1/2").