Uriel Flies!

Wings are all done! I got them finalized and the armature covered with fabric and more feathers. They pose great and are holding up wonderful for photo sessions which is more than I would've expected. It's interesting how the wings make himlook more imposing!






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Wings Update!

I got the magnets glued to the doll and to the wings successfully, yaaaay!
Here's a couple pix
(click thumbnail to view fullsize):


(The epoxy on the doll was from an earlier idea that *failed*. So I might as well just sand that off).

After the magnets set (the glue had to set for 24 hours), I attempted to attach the wings to the doll and....SUCCESS! It was so much better than I'd hoped. The magnets hold brilliantly and the wings don't even *try* to fall off. The only minor issue is the magnet on the wings likes to try and rotate left or right depending on how I have the wings posed, but I'm getting a couple more magnets in the mail that I might try attaching in between that would prevent that. But it's not really that bad at all, so I may just leave it alone.

The armature I used is from Armaverse, The armature I used is from the individual Phase 3 parts, and I'm really happy overall with how it works. It's so smooth and easy to move, yet holds a pose great. It's much better than using wire and I know that it will last. Here's several shots I took today of Uriel in his different wing poses.

Wings folded. This will more than likely be the most common pose.
(I'm posting clickable thumbs cos there's a lot of pix!)
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Wings forward


From the back, lowered - then raised


Fully extended


More pix extended and raised
(I was digging how the wings created a prism effect as the light shown through them!)




Closeups of the armature, lowered and raised



So all that's left to do really is create the cover to go over the armature. It'll act as a sort of 'cape', but will then velcro down. I'm still working on exactly how I'll do it. It will have smaller feathers cut out of a lighter plastic sewn onto it so it will blend in.
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UPDATE: For information on how I created custom 'dumb-bell' parts long enough for the wings
armature, see here.

New Section: Workshop

I want to start a 'workshop' section where I talk about my doll customizing. ^^

So I'll start out here with the wings I'm working on (still) for my
Dollshe Van "angel", Uriel. They are now attached to armatures used for animation. instead of wire. I tried using 10 awg wire, but the wire broke from too much bending. By using armatures they're stronger and bend so much better.

Work in Progress...






Armatures for wings:


The 2nd photo is the armature piece that will house the receiving magnet (which is glued to the doll's back). I 'nixed the idea of arm loopholes to hold on the wings as they were hindering the doll's joint movement in the shoulder. The wings were too heavy and the loopholes were being pulled inside the doll's body.

By simply attaching the wings magnetically, they can be attached through clothing and can be removed at will for posing and then re-attaching. Also, this will be more convenient for traveling with the doll by not having the wings tied on in any way. I believe the strength of the magnets will be more than enough to go through several layers of clothing.
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UPDATE!
Magnets are all attached (they glued wonderfully!). My test was successful and the wings stay on great! Now to finalize the wings by covering the armature with more feathers. Pix to come of the wings attached to the body...

Ava's Boots from 2009

Sorry no new photos yet for 2010...but here are some of Ava's boots
from last year. I love these little boots!