Sunday best

It's always a delight to see the smile of a happy client. Liz purchased my "Jack", who was renamed "Danny" after Daniel in the Bible. Liz Van Dyke & Danny will be telling Bible stories to children at their church. There's even a stuffed lion for Danny to hold as he and Liz tell the story of "Daniel in The Lion's Den".

Liz also mentioned Danny will accompany her to the local children's clothing store when she buys him additional outfits. That should cause quite a stir. But he'll need to look his Sunday best!

New Cheeky

My original 2T cheeky mold has been retired. So rather than have another mold made for the original sculpture, I decided to sculpt a new 2T cheeky character. I'm far from finished, but the personality is beginning to emerge from the PaperClay.

The process is to sculpt, then sand. Then adjust and sculpt some more. Then sand some more.

In the past, I've opted to sculpt a separate jaw right from the start, and leave the jaw off of the head sculpture. This time I'm sculpting the entire head. Then I'll have the mold made, then a casting generated from the mold. I'll cut the jaw out of the first head casting, then use the jaw's cut-away chin to build a complete jaw. After that, I'll have a mold made for the completed jaw piece. And the casting from that separate jaw piece will be used to build the first figure.

Point and shoot

Just back from a trip to Northern California for a family visit.

The threads stripped on my Nikon point-and-shoot digital camera so I could no longer attach it to a tripod. My Canon FS-10 video camera's battery pack died, too. I took advantage of both minor annoyances to purchase a Samsung MV800, a point-and-shoot digital camera that also shoots excellent HD video...all in one.

Now that I'm back, I shot photos and video of my Mortimer Snerd conversion figure and put him up for sale on Ebay. Hope someone gives the little guy a home soon.

I preferred a nerd

Well. the next experiment is turning a full-size Otis head into a full-size nerdnik. The first cosmetic steps are to give him buck teeth and (non-moving) eyelids. As you can see, I only have one eyelid in. More nerdiness to follow.

Touch-up

I did a bit of touch-up on my "Jack" figure and recorded a new video.

All done

Otis is ready to take the stage. Well...he needs a body. His new partner is providing that. I just had to make his head.

Goof proof

Here's the most recent look at Otis. He's going through the paint touch-up stage and getting the last of his mechanics installed. Tomorrow he'll get strings and triggers for the animations. After that, the trap door gets sealed and he'll be fitted for his wig.

Won't be long now.

Wong done right

I'm building two figures using my full-size Otis head for my good customer, Wayne. But he's been bitten by the "do-it-yourself" figure-building bug. He purchased my "Mr. Wong" head design from Braylu Creations and built the character pictured above. He named him "Bill". I think Wayne did an absolutely splendid job. I love what he did with the mustache and eyebrows. Beautiful subtle shading on the figure, too.

Take a bow, Wayne. Nicely done!

He needs a shave

My second full-size Otis is now at the point where he needs a shave...permanently The jaw and eyes are in place temporarily just for the photo. He actually needs another coat of paint before we move on to the shading. That's always a fun task. He really comes to life after his "stage make-up" is applied.

The final mechanics don't go in until all the painting is completed. 

DIY

Many of the heads I've sculpted over the years have been available for purchase through special arrangement with Braylu Creations. Some folks like to "do-it-yourself" like I did when I built my first figure from a Mike Brose "Fred" head. Dozens of ventriloquists have bought and built figures from my head designs.  I'm proud to say that includes the late Clinton Detweiler, who purchased, built and sold several figures from my heads before his untimely passing.

One of my most loyal customers who has purchased several complete figures from me has been bitten by the "do-it-yourself" bug. He's made his own full-size Mr. Winkle (re-named "Al"). The figure is pictured here with a Lovik figure I recently repaired for him.

My only caution to the DIY folks out there is that once you've built one figure, you may not be able to stop (as in my case).

Paint-ready...almost

My full-size Otis figure is almost ready to paint. I have just one more head-prep task to do. And that would be to form his eyelids (non-blinking). I like the eyes set in place before I make the eyelids so I can mark the right spots. I want them to cover the very most upper portion of the iris so he looks a bit sleepy, dense (or intoxicated with white lightenin'). I'll use Magic-Sculpt to make those drowsy eyelids.

And yes, I do know that each eye is a different color. That's the way Otis' new partner wants him.

Uncle Herman

This goofy old guy is now for sale on Ebay.

I dig the wig

This Mortimer conversion figure got some hair today. I used a faux-fur wig sent to me by Braylu Creations, sewn from a new wig pattern for 2T figures. It worked great. I have been using a wig pattern of mine that required hand-sewing nine darts. The wigs worked really well, but took a lot of time to sew. This pattern has only two darts. By folding and trimming, you get the same good result, but with a lot less hassle.

Flappin' his jaw

 

Moving right along, I installed Otis' jaw today. I like to get that set so I can tend to any gap correction before I start painting. His jaw swings open and closed freely, but I'll need to close up a small gap between the jaw and neck area. Overall, though, the initial fit was pretty good.

You may notice the jaw's interior has some Magic-Sculpt around the tongue. That's because I sculpted the jaw with a full set of lower teeth in case I wanted to use the Otis castings for different characters. But Otis only has one lower tooth, so I had to convert his teeth to gums.