1:3 SD sized photography props

Yikes! This blog has been severely neglected, I didn't even post about Kizuna Yumeno, my very first SD-sized doll :O Nor the long-promised SGDC2014 event report....gomen~! She was a birthday cum anniversary gift from the fiance :D

I have been kept busy with pain management, wedding preparations, and even some renovation talks (will be moving out after my wedding)...whatever little useful time I had left was devoted to fulfilling the final custom request accepted in 2014. I hope to finish that by June before things go into full swing, but ack, need to earn some $ to tide me over, so I wanted to list some more 1:3 items and hopefully get some sales.... -_-"

Being in a lot of pain most of the day means I'm miserable a lot of the time, means I need to find ways to keep happy, and making stuff for my dolls keeps me happy. So I make stuff.

Better, cheaper, and faster than therapy.

There's not a lot of progress photos, but here are a few that I found on my phone (couldn't keep it in and had to share progress with the bf, so pleased with myself for figuring stuff out HAHAHAHA)

With 1:3 scale, things are....woah. really large. especially when I'm used to 1:12 and smaller. I had to find ways to reduce the weight of the props as well. I will list materials I used and where I got them at the end of the post, as most of you know I don't tend to nurture my social media very well, sorry :( Hurts to sit at the computer and my fat fingers make it difficult to type on my teeny smart phone. 

As always, I didn't draw up any plans, just measured the IKEA shelf that was supposed to be Kizuna's home so it would fit. I want to also make it light and portable so I can move it to my window for photoshoots.

IIRC it's about 70cm height vs 40cm wide. All I knew was, I wanted a window. The window is a sliding window cos, I like stuff that works in mini too :D :D :D  CAN YOU IMAGINE!! A PIE COOLING ON THE WINDOW SILL!!!! It all started with this idea, and I just made everything around the 2 pieces of glass which were 5" x 7" photo frame glass that I had lying around. Not sure why I even had them at home, but ey, whatever works!!! (oh ey, I think might have been left over from a project I made for the fiance...hrm.)

*stares off dreamily in a painkiller haze*

Ah anyway. This was a test shot to see how well she stood against the window, or if I needed to add more width/height.

Tara~~!!! I initially wanted a smoother finish for the upper half, but screwed up the last piece of PVC foam board and had -just enough- 2cm wide wooden strips....I think it all worked out great :D :D :D 

Please excuse the really messy background. I took this shot to show off the chair to Asuka, she didn't even notice the chair and thought I was bragging about the knitted top XD which yeah, I did, about 3 mths ago!!!

I first discovered http://ana-white.com/ a few years back when I was randomly surfing late at night for prop ideas pre-event (forget which one) on my phone, but never quite found the time to work on scaling down the plans. The site is chock full of relatively easy plans which I find easily adapted into miniature, especially 1:3 or 1:4! Was tempted to use inkscape to scale it down to fit whatever random wooden strips I had stashed away, but the site uses imperial measurements, so I gave up on doing all the crazy math and just re-drew everything on graph paper, the old fashioned way. Works better with my doll anyway.

It's about 12cm wide. I think. *squints at photos*

(painkillers really fuzz up my memory worse than it already was)

All I know was, I needed it much taller than the plans specified, as Kizuna is a very leggy woman kekeke. I think the legs were about 19cm, all I know is the seat had to be about 20cm off the ground so she can sit with proper posture (HAHA) since her legs can't be tucked in at angles less than 90 degrees.

The table was just a few pieces of leftover wood strips put together to make a foldable table. The tabletop was not attached so I can switch it out for other tabletops, and I prefer the foldable legs so I can make it lower or higher depending on what I required for photoshoots. A tad flimsy, but it works :D

Tabletop was an old whiteboard thingy. Warped, so I reinforced and flattened it with wood strips too.

Then just after I dug out some old props, it started to rain and my photos turned out quite grey. bah. good excuse to go lie down after the 4 days of working on these few props.

Overall, pretty pleased with how they turned out. The black wall behind her is a leftover shelf board from her IKEA shelf abode XD I proped everything against my window for this test shoot, I RIKES. Maybe I'll build her a kitchen sink, cabinets....worktop.....oven....AUGHHHH NEED MORE MATERIAL TIME AND AUGHHHHHHH I WANNA PLAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY

Materials used:

Window glass: IKEA RIBBA photo frame glass 5"x 7"

Wooden strips for everything: Various widths from Daiso (Singapore)

Table Top: Portable Whiteboard from Popular Bookstore (Singapore)

Chair plans: Heavily adapted from http://ana-white.com/2010/10/squared2-chair

Wood Glue, Acrylic Paint, PVC Foam Board (Art Friend), Foam Glue, Pins (to reinforce joints), Lego (as Mitre/Square), Fine grit sandpaper, Filler (for chair joints, not necessary but a nice finishing touch, you can probably use wood putty or similar)

Model: Kizuna Yumeno, Smartdoll by Danny Choo

Wig + Jeans: Default

Knitted top: Made by me, pattern adapted from http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/blush-2

Hairband + Coffee Mug + Donuts: Made by me

Macbook: Gift from Cousin, pocket mirror

Ceramic Plate: Random purchase ages ago, forgot where

Miniature Swing Set in 1:4 (MSD) scale

As a 'treat' to myself (and Clover) for working hard for SGDC2013, I decided to take some time out for a personal project....a swing set for Clover! Been meaning to make one for like, forever, but given the scarcity and cost of materials here in SG, I've put this project aside. Recently, Daiso has re-stocked quite a lot of different wood materials, and so....a night and a morning later.....Clover has a new toy! XD

/rantmode on

FIRST OFF. NO TUTORIAL. NO PLANS. If ever I do come up with some (if that is at all possible with my attention span), it would be a paid one anyway, cos it is a lot of work. THAT IS ALL.

/rantmode off

I don't have a fixed way of doing stuff, seeing as how plenty of improvisation is necessary (mostly cos I mess up. A. LOT.), it all starts with a vague idea of what has to be done, vague measurements based on my favourite numbers, a cursory glance at google images, and powered by very little patience and a whole lot of tenacity.....it starts off.....

like this. YUH USELESS CRAP. I CANNOT DRAW TO SAVE MY LIFE. laugh at my primary school long division method, but yes, i'm even too pre-occupied to reach for my phone-calculator. :(

so. off to google.....and .....nada. I wanted something foldable thinking I could bring it out.....*manic laughter* SO MUCH FOR THAT. HOWEVER!!! it did throw up something interesting:

https://us.readersdigest.com/images/offer/fh/project_plans/pdf/FH01SEP_PatioChair.pdf

So. Since I have no fancy-shmancy woodworking tools nor a laser cutter *whines* I decided to wing it and modify it as I made it up in my head.....

this is what I had to work with. forgot to include sandpaper. protractor, right-angle L-shaped ruler/square (get 'em from greedbay or hardware stores), pencil, ruler, nippers/pliers (?!), pins, pin vise, small drill bits (DAISO!!!) and saw/mitre (need a new one :(, Art Friend )

mehhehe a vanity shot of how I arrange my bits *snort*. these are straws hot-glued onto the lid of a Daiso box :D

speaking of Daiso.....here're the materials I used. more for personal reference.

and a level (?) which holds my bank dongle-thingummies on my whiteboard for majority of the year :-/ ALSO FROM DAISO ROARRRRRRRRRRRRRR yuh my typing/worktable is not level :(

so I fudged up the chair bit, totally forgot that I had mentally made an earlier modification to it and only a few mins after I glued down the final planks, did I remember. :( By that time, it was near impossible to rip off the support planks without damaging it, and so,

NOTE TO SELF: PLEASE REMEMBER TO REVERSE THE SUPPORT BEAMS KTHXBYE

so it is a fixed-seat rather than a portable one SIGH. ANYWAY. if you don't understand what the above was about, no worries, cos this isn't meant to help anyone but myself HAWHAW *miserable groan*

while searching for those screw type eyepins at a jewellery findings place at Peoples' Park Centre, these handy little clasps seemed like a nice find, for 1 buck, buy 1-get-1-free, WOOOTAGE. WHY THE HELL NOT EH! Chain from my earlier beadworking-jewellery making days. FINALLY they get put to good use.

they're really fidgety and slippery though. takes quite a bit to work with. as for the loop holding up the seat, it's actually a headpin wedged between the two support beams.

if you're wondering what angles I used for the support, the 2 base angles are at 70 deg. eh. my fave number is 7, go figure. the hardest part was getting the damned swing level. ON MY UN-LEVEL TABLE. which I'd forgotten was, unlevel, that is. things went much smoother after I set it on the floor :-/ =_=""""

The whole contraption is about 40cm tall x 10inches x 28cm deep. I told you, I make do and make things up as I go along T-T Enforced every single glued section with pins. There's a technical term for this which evades me.....HALP!

All in all, pretty pleased with it. Waiting for the glue to dry for 24 hrs before I give it a coupla coats of wood varnish :)

YOU LIKE?????????????????????????????

(please excuse the manic tone, back from my weekly swim and the MONSTER MUNCHIES IS DRIVING ME NUTS) HORMONES RAWRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR

p.s. OH YA only suffered 1 injury, forgot my thumb isn't impervious to pins.....lanced it and stupid thing took ages to stop bleeding, so I spent a number of minutes with my arm above my head this morning GYAAAA.