davidd's A DOLL A DAY 2023

[davidd]

21 April – A Doll A Day 2023:

A neighbor's holiday rental tipi frame fell down as a result of high wind gusts during the summer. Janie and Triv, being reasonably well versed in tipi-raising at this point, took a break from their own maintenance work to help with the rebuild.

The tipi poles are tangled together in a mess, like the old pick-up stix game.

The wind ripped the metal mounting brackets right out of the deck planks.

Janie uses a socket wrench to remove the bent brackets from the tipi poles.

Triv and Janie measure and mark the "tripod pole" locations on the deck platform.

[Alliecat]

Wow, lookit that scenery!!!! I know, you said there's building going on not too far away, but your photos always convey a nice sense of wide-open spaces. What did the neighbour think of the dolly helpers??
There's an Ernest Hemingway figure! Haha! That's a hoot. I wonder if there are other famous writers? Was he part of a series?
I can identify with the "one thing after another".... sighh...

[davidd]

 What did the neighbour think of the dolly helpers??
There's an Ernest Hemingway figure!  Haha!  That's a hoot.  I wonder if there are other famous writers?  Was he part of a series?

I was working up there by myself. Well, me and the girls.

The neighbor, when he's there, is one of those who thinks he's getting more done by pushing pushing pushing to be productive productive productive.

The result: his tipi fell down. The ones I put up of my own, with dolly help, are still standing.

I find working with "the girls" helps me focus on the details rather than distracting me as it might seem. They aid me in doing things right... or right-ish... or more or less good enough.

The "Hemingway" figure is a custom work in progress I am putting together myself using "close enough" parts and accessories I find online. That head is some actor, I guess he's famous but I've never seen anything he's in. I need to re-do my repaint of the hair and beard, try to achieve a bit more subtlety. It looks too "painted" at the moment.

---

22 April - A Doll A Day 2023:

Another Day, Another Dungeon

[Alliecat]

That dude does not look very welcoming.  I'll pass on the visit, thanx.

Interesting that the dolls help you focus.  I know I'd be just the opposite -- distracted. 

Oh, that's cool that you're doing a custom repaint!  Faceups are not something I would try, let alone trying to make it look like an actual person.  He looks pretty good!

That head is some actor, I guess he's famous but I've never seen anything he's in. ...

Is it George Clooney...?

[davidd]

Is it George Clooney...?

I have a Clooney figure, but this isn't it. According to the eBay listing, this is supposed to be... hang on, gotta look it up... Gerard Butler.

I'm not doing a complete face-up. I don't have the coordination or artistic talent. I'm simply trying to repaint the dark brown hair a more late-career Hemingway-esque greyish white. Or whiteish grey.

---

23 April - A Doll A Day 2023:

Remember, kids: fancy fashion dolls and battery acid don't mix!

Fortunately for me, Janie, who readily admits she can be fashionable if she so chooses, bridles at the merest hint that she might be a fashion doll.

[dargosmydaddy]

Wow, she is really a Janie-of-all-trades!

[Alliecat]

That doesn't look fun! I hope she didn't get any battery acid on her.

[davidd]

I hope she didn't get any battery acid on her.

Nah, no worries, Janie's a pro!

Wish I could say the same for myself.  

---

24 April - A Doll A Day 2023:

"Annnddd... we lift the poles in to place! Li' dat!"

"Okay, now don't let go of the rope until I get the brackets secured, or..."

"I know, I know: '... or the whole thing might fall down and squash us like bugs!'"

[Alliecat]

Great perspective in the first one, and great sense of action in the second.

[davidd]

25 April – A Doll A Day 2023:

Kumik 13-20 fashion doll head... in a jar.

I purchased this 1/6-scale head sculpt several years ago after seeing it featured in photos by one of my Flickr contacts. I have never been able to get this head to look as attractive as it did in his photos, so it ended up as a "laboratory specimen," a head in a jar.

25 April - A Doll A Day 2023

[Alliecat]

Interesting effect.... I'm not sure it's a laboratory I'd like to visit...

[davidd]

Playing "Catch Up" again -- it's been an exhausting week, culminating with a leaking water heater.

How 'bout we take a look at the current diorama situation here at Ye Olde Dolly Dungeon:

26 April - A Doll A Day 2023:

This 1/6-scale dungeon diorama is the most useable, or least decrepit, of

my diorama projects. I cleaned it up a few days ago because... well,

you'll see!

---

27 April - A Doll A Day 2023:

This karate dojo was constructed for six-inch (15cm) size figures

and has rarely been seen or used.

It has been filled with random junk for years now.

---

28 April - A Doll A Day 2023:

I started work on this pub or tavern diorama in Pinky Street scale

(4 inches or 10 centimeters figures) nearly eight years ago. Never

finished, it is now deeply buried in The Storage Shed of Doom

---

29 April - A Doll A Day 2023:

The largest of my diorama projects in size is this Smart Doll

(1/3-scale) living room, which has never been photographed in full.

Here you see it photographed full... of random stuff.

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30 April - A Doll A Day 2023:

This cardboard box lined with crumpled paper that has been spray painted

is, or was, a 1/6-scale broom closet. It was used briefly once, about five years ago,

and has been a random catch-all space ever since. I had plans for it, but

considering everything else I have plans for, it might be time to bid farewell

to this project

---

1 May - A Doll A Day 2023:

May Day is Lei Day in Hawaii

Stay tuned for more Disastrous Dioramas tomorrow!

---

[Alliecat]

Welcome back
It's hard to choose when there are so many projects one wants to do. Probably picking one and staying with it would be better than starting multiple ones?
That dungeon looks like the basements of some of the real-estate listings I've just finished scrolling fruitlessly through (at stupid prices too).
Sorry about the water heater. Houses are money pits. Hope you get it fixed soon.

[davidd]

Sorry about the water heater.  Houses are money pits.  Hope you get it fixed soon.

The water heater was a major annoyance because money happens to be really tight right now. Somehow I scraped together the funds from a variety of sources, made the hour and a half drive to Home Depot, purchased a water heater, made the hour and a half drive back, and swapped out the old one for the new one... and it worked! Yay!

---

Back in December 2017 I began constructing a steampunk or dieselpunk industrial background out of styrofoam packing material, spray paint, and random bits of wire. This is what it looked like then:

Steampunk Diorama - December 2017

I find it hard to believe I started this project nearly six years ago now.

The basic structure still exists, and I've used various iterations of it in occasional photographs, but, as happens all too often, the setting was neglected, and ended up becoming a dumping ground for all manner of rubbish. This is how it looked earlier today:

Steampunk Dumping Ground

I have other plans for the shelf space this diorama takes up, so I decided to move the steampunk set to a different location. In the process of moving it, I figured I may as well clean it up a little bit to see if I could salvage it. To my surprise, it cleaned up rather nicely. Even more surprising, after six years, the battery-operated built-in lighting still works... without replacing the batteries!

It's still a work in progress, and needs considerable touch-up to be fully functional, but so far it's not looking half bad:

Steampunk Diorama Reborn!

Here's another version, gussied up with Instagram filters:

Auxiliary Generator at Wardenclyffe, circa 1907

[Alliecat]

Wow, those must be some really good batteries!
It's pretty cool the stuff you make out of styrofoam packing pieces.  They always look really good.
Yay for success with the water heater.
The 3-hour round trip sounds like a bit of a drag if you weren't looking forward to a road trip.  Is it also 3 hours for things like groceries?