Dr. Zaius Portraits

The Venerable Dr. Zaius

Some portraits of the good Dr. Zaius. The setting sun sets off the glow of his dupioni silk suit.

Soldier Boot Update

My fingertips are black with dried glue and leather dye, but I think I did it. Not the best, but better than the sculpted boots I had baked.


If I can manage to carve a piece of wood into a boot shape complete with a toe dent, and then drape wet leather to that and pin it to death until it dries into the shape of the wood, I would be satisfied. Perhaps that is a future project. These boots, however, will do the trick for now as it is more proportional to the body of the soldier ape.
At least now I can proceed and complete the saddle with some more D rings and then rigging a leather cinch to keep the saddle on the horse.


I will add a bottom layer of leather on the boots and will include a short heel. The boots at this point at least are the appropriate size to fit into a stirrup.


Need coffee... I should have gotten up earlier this morning and been more productive. Instead, I lingered in bed and thought about items of action I needed to do. I thought about Dr. Zaius' portraits since the sun was shining. Now the sun is gone and it looks like it won't be peeking out any time soon.

Major Snag

I have hit a major setback. I cannot proceed any further until I rig a better set of gorilla boots. The ones I sculpted a few weeks ago do not look great on the ape soldier when he is astride the horse. I am unable to create the stirrups because the sculpted boots are too large and unwieldy, and will not give the proper measurement for a good pair of stirrups.

I am currently trying to shape an appropriate boot with a bit of thin black leather, but the going is rough. I do not have a shape with which to stretch the wet leather on, so creating some toe dents on the boots are proving to be difficult. The size of the boots are so very tiny that I am not sure if I can sew the leather and then turn it inside out without breaking it. It looks like I will have to glue the pieces together.

The Saddle Saga Continues--Saddle #3

Unbeknownst to me,
I have been pursuing the wrong type of saddle, so the western saddle project has been shelved and placed on temporary hiatus.

Saddle, Try #3, is now an English saddle. The first photo shows the saddle for fitting before the second baking.









The second photo displays the underneath part of the saddle after the second baking.













The third is the current state of the saddle, after being covered in leather. That's the smoothest seam I have done. The leather is actually cut in 3 pieces, and has already been glued down. This is unbelievably super easy now. This first layer of leather actually strengthens the saddle tree so I plan to cover even the bottom-most portion, the white clay that you see here.

This thin layer of leather will not be seen as it will be covered by a thicker darker brown leather. I don't know why I was so careful about not getting glue on the top side of the leather--I forgot that another piece of leather was going to be glued on top of it. It's good practice though to work neatly.





The last photo shows the paper towel pattern of the saddle flap that I will cut out today. The soldier ape fits on it perfectly. I can hardly contain my excitement.

Fender

I think that the fender will need to be redone in a darker leather. I originally chose this specific leatherbecause it's so very soft, but I want to make sure that the fender is true to the movies. Another excuse to watch the movie again! Woo hoo!

Fender pattern and fitting

Fender pattern cut out of paper towel to minimize leather waste from errors. At this point, 99% of the saddle tree has been covered in very thin leather and that's a good thing, too, because it definitely feels very solid.

Cantle has been covered in a butter-soft leather that is so utterly luxurious to the touch. My ape soldier will definitely be comfortable riding around on this saddle as he patrols the grounds around Ape City.

Back jockey also cut and attached. The D rings look great, too. Can't believe I tweaked those out of wire with two pairs of pliers.

Holy Smokes Batman! It's almost a saddle!

This saddle is looking like what it is supposed to!

The cantle still needs some leather, and I have to make a saddle skirt and many other parts...I can't even remember what they are called.

There is not enough time in the day! I just want time to stop so I can finish my project. It is maddening to have to stop to eat and sleep.

I now need to braid a cinch...so it may take a day or so before I am able to put up some photos. Another excuse for an excursion to the fabric store!!! I don't think I have any embroidery floss in the house. I have been studying some photos and I think I know how to proceed.

My soldier ape is going to look totally hot on this horse!

Screw sewing the leather. I'm Gluing!

Don't I look like I know what I'm doing? I certainly don't! The glue adds the necessary strength to the saddle fork, especially since several cracks had to be gorilla glued earlier. Also, using glue actually wets the leather. This is easier than I thought.

I have to be super careful about not getting any glue on the right side of the leather. Already I see some glue spots on the right side of the leather. But no biggie since those will be covered.

Laying down the leather on the saddle and then tracing with a knife and cutting out with scissors seems to do the trick. If you notice the dang horn of saddle tree popped off when I tried to sew the leather down.









Presto...the saddle tree is almost done. I just need to cover the seat part of it with leather. I will probably use a different leather if it looks better.

Help!!!! Gorilla Glue to the Rescue!!!!

Needed to add gorilla glue to some weak spots on the saddle fork. I don't think it baked well enough or something. Now I can't cover it with leather for another FOUR hours!

Saddles are available for purchase but there's no fun in getting something ready-made. What's the fun of instant purchase?

Looks like I have to patiently wait it out until tomorrow. In the meantime, I am surfing the internet for saddle parts and kicking ideas around. Found perfectly thin leather that should sew nicely on top of the saddle tree. (Still unsure if I should wet the leather or not when I sew it.)

Trying to be productive and so went ahead and created some rings (tried to create some D rings but will have to be satisfied with what I created) for the saddle skirt, and tried my hand at a VERY ROUGH buckle that should look OK when it's sewed in the leather.

My hands are not accustomed to working the metal, and they're tired out from gripping the pliers.

Saddle Update--second try

I was not happy with the first saddle tree and dumped it. I think the saddle bars were too far apart, and the fork looked strange. The first photo is before the saddle tree's first firing in the toaster oven.

The second photo was taken after the horn was added but before the second firing. This saddle tree is much prettier than the first one. Baked twice, it miraculously fits the horse. Now to sew some leather on top of it.

Still can't decide which leather to use, so I will have to see which hangs better over the saddle tree and which leather wil fit later.

The last photo shows the saddle tree as it now fits the horse. Much prettier than the first saddle tree made I think.

Note to self

Learn how to braid "round" for the ropes associated with the saddle. Who knew? There's lots more stuff to learn regarding these saddles than I ever anticipated.

Saddle Tree Update

The tin foil was trimmed so that the saddle tree could fit in my toaster oven.

Fresh out of the oven, the darn saddle tree fell apart exactly where I was afraid they would. There it lay in four pieces after I removed it from the tin foil. While still hot, I managed to piece it back together again with more clay and fired up the toaster oven again.

This morning, I placed it on top of the horse, and it fits perfectly. It's very very solid. I am thinking I want to re-do a portion of the saddle tree fork. I should also check and make sure that the ape soldier still sits comfortably in the saddle tree.

Still unsure about the spacing of the saddle bars, but the saddle tree does not budge at all when placed on the horse.

Beginnings of a Saddle Tree

Don't know what the heck I am doing. I am a city gal. Perhaps I should turn off the junk tv and look for some country music to get into the mood.

I have to dive into this project and stop overthinking the process.

Fitting the horse

Making sure the size of the bars of the saddle tree are the appropriate size.

Setting down the bars on tin foil and preparing for the baking.

Wondering now if the bars are too far apart from each other. Once it's covered with leather, perhaps it wouldn't matter. I will cross that bridge when I get there...or start over.

Fitting the soldier before baking

Hopefully I won't mess up the soldier's uniform. Don't know how this saddle tree will hold after being baked. Wonder if the stress points will be strong enough since it's composed of four different pieces. There is gorilla glue, after all...

Dr. Zaius Portraits postponed

No sun in sight today and since I can't be out in the garden when it's too cold, the portraits will have to wait until next weekend. Unfortunately, no chance taking them during the week since by the time I get home from work it's too dark.

I think the Mego portraits look so much better in natural light than indoors with flash. I hope it's sunny next weekend...

My very own chimp fleece sweater!

I finally did it! I finally really did it!




I had originally wanted to knit a green chimp sweater for myself but who knows how long that would have taken? Months and months, I bet. So I took a sweater whose boxy shaped I already liked, laid that down on top of the fleece, and cut out the parts for the sweater and sewed it together. I found some brown fleather that I had bought for my Mego costumes and decided to add those on the sleeves.

I was just going to wear this sweater for just lounging inside the house, but since I particularly love the way it looks, I am going to be wearing this sweater in public! Yes, I am going to be brave and wear it proudly. I am so happy with it that I am going to make myself some more. Am I crazy? Yes!!!

A future project!

Another project to obsess over.

I will be making the saddle (is that the right word?) for this horse and all the yummies that go with it.

I will be busy studying now on how to make the perfect saddle so that my gorilla soldier can safely ride the horse.

On another thought, maybe my gorilla soldier can be the model for General Ursus' outfit! That's another outfit to obsess over, and it looks difficult, too. I love a great challenge.

Stay tuned for Dr. Zaius' official portraits if I can manage this weekend.

Suave!!

The glyphs have been glued down.

The right front snaps were removed and that side of the jacket was sewn down the front of the false shirt.

You da man, Dr. Zaius!!

What's the hold up?

Need to finally glue the glyphs but I am afraid to. If I complete this then what? What project am I going to be obssessed with? *sigh*

I am thinking a Mego General Ursus next...but I don't have a figure to devote to that project. Yet. Hmm...Looks like I need to go shopping.

Cheesy fake top with snap in the back.


Yumm....


coffee.....










Additional snaps on top and bottom front.
















Glyphs added, but not glued yet.

Avoiding the paparazzi....