Category: Miniatures

Wee mini pottery!!!

10/27/2019

So this months obsession has become mini pottery. I was watching a Twitch stream by creator The High Palladin. She makes a lot of small mini things that are useful. One of the things she has gotten is a mini pottery wheel. It is sooooo cool! I love it! She got me so obsessed, I got one of my own so I could give it a go.

I went to Blicks, a local art supply store, and got some air dry clay to play around with. I suck.....big time....but it is so fun and so zen. I may eventually get to a point where I have something useable. I have never actually done pottery before. I have watched many people do it. I have read books. Once I ordered this wheel I watch a bajillion YouTube videos of people doing it. Amazingly enough that is not the same as doing it. :P That is fine. I will continue to try. Eventually I will get it.

About a week after this one showed up, a second wheel showed up. When I was ordering my wheel, the first one I ordered ended up coming from China, and listed the shipping as 2 months out. So I cancelled that one and got the other one. Then while I was playing with the other one, the first one I ordered showed up. Even though I canceled that order. THey already gave me my money back. So I guess I have 2 mini wheels now.

Ok...so now pic dump of wheels and attempts.

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Animation puppet building update

11/24/2013

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For a while now I have been promising an update on my animation puppet building, so here it is. It is photo heavy. I apologize, but that is the best way to show you what is going on.

I have been experimenting with how to build puppets so I can improve my animations. As fun and cute they are as is, I am limited on what I can do by the materials I am using. Previously I talked about my first puppet. I wasn't happy with the hands, so I also rebuilt the hands with a different technique.

I was not really happy with the eyes, nor was I happy with the way the hair turned out. I used the same body, and rebuilt the head to do some experimenting. I found some googly eye tacks at the local Hiron's drug store. Here is how the new head looked with the googly eyes:

Looks kind of silly, but a bit cute. Didn't turn out too badly. Next problem to solve was hair. I had a heck of a time figuring that out. Here is the hilarious first try:

That did not work for me. Also had issues getting more than just the top of the head covered. So I headed to the local Joann Fabrics to find fuzzy fabric. I found a couple of types. My first attempt was aweful. I couldn't get it to sit right, so I decided to cut a piece for the crown, then strips to fill the rest out. Here is just the corwn and the rest of it:

That worked much, much better. Interesting swirling going on because of the way the fur was attached to the base.

Next project was to build up the chest and cloth him. I built the chest up with cushion foam. Then I cut and sewed felt for a shirt. It was harder than I thought, though I shouldn't have been surprised, given how much I suck at sewing. I then cut the bottom off the legs of a pair of jeans and sewed them into tubes for pants. Pics:

Just getting the clothes on made the whole thing fall apart, so next I gotta figure out how to keep that from happening. I love this guy. I think it is going to work fine.

Next project I need to work on is the video for the steampunk film festival. I think that if I can get a good enough animation I may be able to also submit it to the Northwest Film Festival.

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Progress Retarded. Animator bummed.

2/13/2013

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SOooooo......

Working, I suppose. I am so far behind. I wasn't feel great for a while, then I procrastinted, so I most likely won't have anything done for Fandance. I am still going to try, but I am sooooooo far behind. I did not stick to my timetable at all. I also changed ideas midstream. That is a very bad idea. I still want to do my original idea. I have sets built and have done test dequences and stuff. But I wrote a filk to Princess fo the Night by Saxon. It is Doctor Who themed. So now I am leaning toward a music video for that. I want to do both, but reality tells me that both won't be completed in time. I need to stop being so indecisive. So now I am sitting in a pizza place forcing myself to plan and design, after which I will go home and build. And record the song. I ended up needing to take my uke in for a tune up. It wouldn't stay in tune for more than a few chords. Makes it difficult to record a song when your instrument won't stay in tune for the whole song. It is all good now. So I really need to do that today.

I also spent most of the day fueling my bad self with caffiene. Kind of over did it. My brain is kind of all over the place right now. I am hoping food will help drill down my focus a bit so I can get some stuff done.

Ok, I probably should finish eating and do some actual planning before ileave here. At least have a plan for the rest of the day.

EDIT: So I came home and worked a little bit. I have decided to dress several of my little guy as Doctors. For your edification, as well as my memory of which soldier is to get which costume, here is a labeled picture:

So the next step is to glue magnets to their feet, then figure out how to clothe the little buggers. I made the ones with plumes to Baker, as I can hide with hat and hair, and Matt Smith, for the same reason. I plan to make little glasses for Tennent and go see if I can find teeny, tiny celery for Davison.

I did not get anything recorded yet, though i did practice for a good long while tonight. My goal is to get it done tomorrow, post it to Soundcloud and then here so you can hear it. I think it is very clever, if I do say so myself. And it is fun. I just have to quit being so picky about how my uke playing sounds.

So now I need to get to bed, as I haven't been sleeping well and I need to make myself sleep tonight so i can function.

I leave you with a pic of my RPG test set:

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More minis, Happy Holiday, and various other things...

4/8/2012

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I hope everyone is having a good holiday, or is enjoying spring, whichever you do. I personally celebrate Passover. This year it snuck up on me so I did not have a Seder here. I didn't go anywhere either. I made some deviled eggs and gefilte fish and some veggies, but that was it. Oh, and I left a cup on the table for Elijah. This week is always my hungry week. We can't eat wheat, barley, oats, spelt and rye. That is 90% of my diet. I prepare by buying Matza, buying up lots of veggies and chicken, buying macaroons ( I LOVES the Passover macaroons that Manischewitz makes.) I usually make my own Matza flour out of Matzas. Right before Passover starts, Matza bread (well, cracker realy) is CHEAP. Buying Matza flour...not so much. I have a wonderful blender that reduces them to powder really fast.

The last few days I have been playing with my miniatures. Here are a few pictures:

I made 2 potato chips bags. I made these out of candy wrappers. For the record, it is HARD to get the glue to work on slick plastic and slick foil.

And here's the final product. I am making chips to put in the green one and leave it open on the table. Now I need to figure out how to make labels.

I tried to make some buttons for the remote I made. First I dampened a 3x5 card. Then I cut the wet card into little squares.

Lacking any real molds, I took a square dowel and pushed the wet squares into craft foam hearts and let them dry. Worked great, but I can't use them. WAY too big. I can't make them any smaller, so I will just leave it black.

I also made some paper cups. I soaked some card in glue and molded it over some chop sticks. The down side was that they stuck to the sticks. Next time I will just dampen it. These will be the bottom of the cups.

I then glued tubes around the chop sticks, then shoved the bottom into the tube. Worked great. Here is the finished product. Now I just need to figure out straws and lids.

So that was my foray into minis for this weekend. It is nice and in the 60's today, so I am tempted to go photogging. I probably won't, as I woke up this morning with a rattly chest. But I am tempted, and if I give in don't be surprised when I post photos.

ALSO....last but not least, you can still go and vote for my video at the Douglas Adams Video Contest. It closes April 15th.....which is 7 days away. Yup, just ONE WEEK to get me to stay at #1!! We can do it. :)

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Wee mini pottery!!!

Animation puppet building update

Progress Retarded. Animator bummed.

More minis, Happy Holiday, and various other things...

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