Zira's vest

Almost done. Just need to hem the bottom edge, add beads for fake buttons, and sew snaps. I also need to permanently cinch in the waist a bit more to show off her figure. Right now it's just pinned in the back.

Escape Zira Blouse

Still need to add cuffs with snaps, finish the edges and add more snaps. The second photo shows the blouse with the finished edges and the addition of the cuffs. I will add 3 seed beads to each cuff to simulate buttons. It's looking real purty... I should also add that I remembered that womens blouses have buttons on the left side of the blouse as opposed to mens, so I kept that in mind when I sewed the edges with top stitching.

Caesar Che silk screen

Zira Escape 1:6 outfit status

This has got to be the worst/toughest fabric ever. It just loooooves to fray, even though I keep that at bay with fraycheck. The only solution was to put in a lining, which helped to thicken the fabric and keep it from being too slippery. I also love the way the lining helps to bring out the pink of the material and now it's no longer see-through. I was kind of wondering how that would look--to see the black arms of the Sideshow Zira through the fabric. It wasn't looking so hot. Now that it's got the lining, it is going to look amazing and the way I want it to look. Whew!!

Fake Leather Custom Jacket

Success! I have attached the photograph that I based the jacket on. I think it looks very retro, and the sewing is very clean.

I should note that I did not account for the strange proportions of the female Mego figure--the hips were quite wide compared to the upper portion of the body. The shoulders are also deceptively narrow. I trimmed the edge of the jacket to fit the shoulders but then overcompensated the trim around the hips so the jacket was unable to close around the hips. What I did to fix this major gaffe was to cut the jacket short and add an A-line cut bottom portion for the jacket. The belt hides where I have patched up the jacket. It is very form-fitting and looks beautiful.

Colonel Taylor made the Custom of the Week Spotlight!

Wow. This is really exciting. It is wonderful to see your own work grace the coveted spotlight. Amazing!!! I just wish his backpack were more smooth on the side photographed. I just darted to the finish line with the project--the smell of victory was so close that I rushed it a bit and lunged forward to break the winner's ribbon. I will probably fix the backpack, as it's really bugging me. This was one of my favorite photos, as I love to see the dappled sunlight beneath the shade of a tree on my figure.

Cornelius

Hate that wattle--going to have to fix that. Hopefully he will look better after I remove his eyebrows and lipstick.

President of the Assembly

Seeing a closeup of this now, I think I'm going to have to add Apoxie on the side of his muzzle to get rid of that smile. The President of the Assembly had a menacing look...he did not look like he had the capacity to smile.

Colonel George Taylor in full ANSA suit

Colonel Taylor

Missing pants: FOUND!!

Broken shoe: FIXED! (Sculpted white Crayola air dry molding medium, and it's way better than bare feet for his portrait).

This weekend's to-do:

Update his hair and color it the same as his eyebrows to make it more natural.

Take official portraits!!

I keep admiring the entire outfit whenever I pass by. Colonel Taylor is just standing on a cabinet patiently waiting for me to re-color his hair. The boots I sculpted really complete his outfit. I think I am going to paint some light grey lines on them to emphasize the cut of the boots and to make the fake front zipper of the boots pop.

Colonel George Taylor

Just a few minor tweaks left...Have to add more paint to his nose and clean up the forehead above the eyebrows. Now if only I could find his pants so I could take a full body shot. Major accident when trying to put on his left shoe--the plastic tore. Now I really have to make him white leather boots. I was hoping I could get away with painting the plastic shoes white, but now I have no choice. Hopefully by the time I am done with his shoes I will find the pants I sewed.

Escape outfit, 1:6 scale

Another upcoming project that I am doing for a dear friend/artist. We are going to do a "trade," and I have given myself a June 2008 deadline to complete this, just in time for SDCC.

Upcoming sewing project ???

This is a short jacket that would fit a Mego custom Lois Lane. Not Planet of the Apes, I know, but I am looking forward to sewing something a little different. Even if this project does fall through, it's a pretty enough jacket to make anyway. Maybe I should just make it and see if anybody is interested in purchasing...and if not, Zira can have another outfit to wear.

Colonel George Taylor-paint job #3

colonel George Taylor--paint job #3. It looks like it's getting better but I still have to apply a few more thin coats and hopefully I can smooth out the forehead. I was not happy with a few minor lumps I saw yesterday and I went at his forehead with nailpolish remover...I think his eyes are a bit better now although I still have to fix the underneath part with more paint to clean it up. That isn't the biggest problem--the toughest part of painting these tiny things is getting the eye to be the same size and make sure that they are pointing in the same direction.

Colonel Taylor, paint job #2

This is the second paint job. Tomorrow I will post the third paint job, because I have already peeled this one off. I thought his eyeballs were pointing in the same direction but they're not. Also, one of them is bigger than the other. The best part about this painting is the hint of blush on his cheeks, but the left side of the face turned out smoother than the right side. Oh well. Live and learn. I also needed a screenshot as a reference and his hair needs more blond highlights, too.

On another ape front, I finished burning the image of Caesar Che onto my silkscreen. I don't have the right paint to do a good job, so I will order those tomorrow. Two of my sons have promised to wear theirs if I silkscreen their shirt with the image. I think it would look very cool on them. Ethan, however, refuses to have any part of the movie.

Taylor's paint status

As you can see, it was difficult to place a Mandarin collar on this outfit. There was hardly any space between Taylor's chin and his neck, but that helps to hold the Mandarin collar in place. I also faked a button on his jacket's belt by sewing a French knot. It's great to see that what I learned in fifth grade as an elective can come into play. Also I need to replace the logo, nametag and US flag as they are threatening to peel off. I need to find somebody who can print it on iron-on transfer for me. Maybe I will just have to get it done at Kinko's...

I think the paint is a bit too thick and I have been told to sand down the lumps. What caused the lumpiness was not using a slowing agent to keep the paint fresh--it started drying on me in the middle of the paint job. Tomorrow I will purchase something that will help extend the life of wet paint. I tried to but couldn't find the sandpaper, so I went instead for the nail polish remover.

Once I started with a spot and moved onto the next one, I kept going until most of the paint was removed. Whatever the nailpolish remover did not remove I peeled off myself.

Tomorrow I will work on Taylor again. I have such a tough time with this scale because it's so tiny...my contacts make it difficult for me to see objects so close. I need to find a comfortable jeweler's loupe or something so I can work on it without so much eye strain. I will post a photo of him tomorrow to see how I fared tonight as far as painting goes.

Paper Model of Icarus--dead in the water

This is how far I got before I gave up. It looked easy at first but it's quite difficult aligning all the pieces. Hard to believe it's only paper--it is great eye candy.

ANSA Suit Saga

A mini success!! The big lump in the back of the outfit large enough to cover Quasi Modo's hump has been tamed. I took apart the back from the sides all the way up to the top of the shoulder and re-sewed by hand. I was quite worried before this because the pattern that I had cut had an even bottom hem--but the big lump in the back shortened the length of the jacket's back edge by about 1/4 of an inch. I didn't know how I was going to sew on the belt with such a big gap but now the bottom hem is even all the way around. Whew--what a save. I am so glad I didn't have to start all over.

ANSA suit, 2nd try

I re-did the entire top. I extended the jacket portion. The front of the jacket now looks more finished. I also changed the color of the thread for the topstitching--it is now a pale grey, so it would stand out more. The back needs a little tweaking, but it's looking great so far. The front pocket and the front top stitching for the angled part of the jacket I had to sew by hand because it was too small for the sewing machine and I didn't want to risk puckering the fabric.

I bought new needles for the sewing machine (size 16) but I think I a few sizes too big. They are sharp and go in the fabric, but the do not go into the fabric like butter the way they are supposed to when they are new. Today I bought size 9 universal needles, so that should help neaten up the machine sewing. I really love the angle of the third photograph. It's got a great composition.

What makes this second outfit a bit more polished than the first is that it already has snaps on each sleeve and two snaps which close the front part of the outfit. If I could just fix the back of the outfit without having to take it all apart, it would be fantastic. I think I will have to tweak it quite a bit--it's got a lump of fabric in the back that is sure to fit Quasi Modo. Other than that, it is almost perfect.