WIP updates, felt hats, and things I forgot

Captain (ret) Glynnis Penny Farthing, OBE by Gary  Menten, on Flickr

The last few weeks have been at times rewarding and at others frustrating, but work has been accomplished on some of my WIPS.  So we'll start off right away with the DYI felt slouch hats I made for Glynnis and Heidi.  They are made of ordinary fabric-store felt that's been steamed then stretched over a cork of piece of doweling approximately the same size as the figures head, allowed to dry for a while, the shaped, trimmed and hardened with a fixative so that the brim will keep it's shape.  I can post a thread with illustrations later if there are enough people interested in trying this out themselves.  

Let me state right out however, that I did not invent the technique myself, but saw it on a link of Tony Barton's website at http://www.antheads.co.uk/ Unfortunately, the link is no longer there, I had to go by memory of what I'd seen over a year ago.  I won't lie, it took a bit of experimentation and a few tries before I was happy with the result;  my first hats had crowns that were much too large for female head sculpts and more suited to males, and even now, I'm still sort of refining my technique a bit.  

Captain (ret) Glynnis Penny-Farthing, OBE, explorer and adventuress, with ties to MI6 by Gary  Menten, on Flickr

Captain (ret) Glynnis Penny-Farthing, OBE by Gary  Menten, on Flickr

The Royal Artillery cap badge on Glynnis's hat is also made by Antheads. Tony has a large range of British WWII and Canadian cap badges, plus some modern British and a few others for those who need that sort of thing. The observant will note, that I've taken away Glynnis's sports bra and replaced it with a shirt parted out from a set purchased from Monkey Depot, which owing to the Covid crisis, too around two months to get to me in Montreal.  Interestingly, the sun helmets I ordered from Antheads, and which I forgot to take out to photograph today, took a little over two weeks.  Also, my latest figure from Giantoy took only two weeks to get to Canada, and then sat in a depot in Mississauga for two weeks before being shipped to Montreal where it sat in another depot for five days before I finally received it.  But I digress. Plus I'm still kicking myself for having forgotten to take one of the sun helmets out for the shoot.

Captain (ret) Glynnis Penny-Farthing, OBE by Gary  Menten, on Flickr

Heidi's hat is more western style and has a lower, teardrop shaped crown. Both hats have a grosgrain ribbon at the base of the crown and this was by cutting up a couple of spare 1/6 scale nylon belts and gluing them in place. But as you can see, Heidi was having a bad hair day when I shot the photos.

Heidi the Bounty Hunter by Gary  Menten, on Flickr

It's also worth noting that again, owing to the Covid situation, I had to wait in line over an hour in the hot sun outside a fabric store to get in and was allotted only thirty minutes inside the store.  I was amazed there would be so many people wanting to buy fabric during this crisis, but then again, DYI sewing projects are something you can do at home when you can't go to the movies, right?

Jul052020_0060-2 by Gary  Menten, on Flickr

Sooooo, my next post will feature Glynnis's India pattern sun helmet or Sola Topi, which I painted up yesterday after having traveled way out to the West Island to buy paint at the one hobby shop on the island that seems to be open right now, not that there are many left anyway. Plus I''ll include my tips for replacing the flimsy plastic stock on a SOTW MAT-49 submachinegun, plus more rants about the very slow deliveries of stuff coming from the US.  

As always, your comments are appreciated.

They look great! If I may ask, the boots on Glynnis, where did you get them? Also, are they for ball peg legs or no (I am assuming yes)?

MeMyself&I wrote:They look great! If I may ask, the boots on Glynnis, where did you get them? Also, are they for ball peg legs or no (I am assuming yes)?

Thank-you. Both figures are actually wearing the same style of boots though Heidi's are not showing. I got them a while back on Black Ops Toys, but they seem no longer available.

ThePhotogsBlog wrote:

MeMyself&I wrote:They look great! If I may ask, the boots on Glynnis, where did you get them? Also, are they for ball peg legs or no (I am assuming yes)?

Thank-you. Both figures are actually wearing the same style of boots though Heidi's are not showing. I got them a while back on Black Ops Toys, but they seem no longer available.

Dang. I am working on my first custom, and boots are proving to be a royal pain to find. I liked the look of what you were using, but if they aren't available, they aren't available.

Yeah...you gotta grab these things while you can.  My favorite ones are those worn by Kamiko and one other figure I have and they go up higher and have actual eyelets instead of merely holes for the laces. They were available for a long time, but now the last set is gone.

TB League /  Phicen by Gary  Menten, on Flickr

You might like this set just uploaded on Monkey Depot, but if you want them, don't dilly-dally. Attractive female boots are among the first things to go.

https://www.monkeydepot.com/Boots_Star_Man_Female_Black_Leatherlike_Boots_p/sml0020.htm

The linked boots are stain-bait, judging by the parted-out body from the same set. Just be aware.
Anyway, I think your felt hats turned out great, and add to the complexity of the characters.

Nice job on the hats. Tony Barton is a member here, though not a very frequent poster — and he hasn’t been active in awhile. Too bad, since he’s a fountain of information; his tutorials over at the Old Site were super helpful— but thanks to the Photobucket situation, and the sites search function — they’re not easy to find, or useful without photos.

Stryker2011 wrote:Nice job on the hats. Tony Barton is a member here, though not a very frequent poster — and he hasn’t been active in awhile. Too bad, since he’s a fountain of information; his tutorials over at the Old Site were super helpful— but thanks to the Photobucket situation, and the sites search function — they’re not easy to find, or useful without photos.

Thanks. I'm still in the process of perfecting my technique with the hats but I sense I'm definitely going in the right direction. I can't wait to do some in other colours.

GubernatorFan wrote:The linked boots are stain-bait, judging by the parted-out body from the same set. Just be aware.
Anyway, I think your felt hats turned out great, and add to the complexity of the characters.

Good of you to notice that. If I were buying them, and I'm not, they would be thoroughly soaked and rinsed before putting them on, and there would still be a layer of plastic wrap between them and the skin.

The hats turned out really well, TPB! They definitely enhance the look of your characters, and make a lot of sense in terms of realism (keeping the desert sun of their faces, etc). Delightful update, and thanks for sharing your technique!

skywalkersaga wrote:The hats turned out really well, TPB! They definitely enhance the look of your characters, and make a lot of sense in terms of realism (keeping the desert sun of their faces, etc).  Delightful update, and thanks for sharing your technique!

I'll probably have more to say about the technique in the near future. Photos are useful for demonstrating it.

Great job, learned to make leather shoes from Tony, although he probably doesn't know.

I wonder how the hats/felt might look when treated with wax?

Those sun hats will be interesting, especially in these surroundings and at the perfect hour of light.

Ovy wrote:Great job, learned to make leather shoes from Tony, although he probably doesn't know.

I wonder how the hats/felt might look when treated with wax?

Those sun hats will be interesting, especially in these surroundings and at the perfect hour of light.

In my testing, I used three different methods to stiffen the felt.

1. Testor's dulling spray. Works well, but very stinky for two or three days. Probably does not react well with doll hair.

2. Simple Syrup: A dilute boiled water and sugar mix. Works well but takes time to dry

3. Hair spray. Works as well as the dulling spray, but without the stink. Probably does not react well to doll hair

The third is my favorite method and because I strongly suspect the spray could cause long term damage to hair, even if dry, I don't spray inside the crown, and further, glue a lining inside the crown of the hat to serve as a an extra barrier against the dried spray coming into contact with the hair.

Back when I did my spanish troops of colonial PR I was looking for that but couldn't find it, I went with what I remembered and that's how I made one of the guy's hat. I like how yours have turned out, I might have to go back and try again to make some felt hats.

Theboo-bomb wrote:Back when I did my spanish troops of colonial PR I was looking for that but couldn't find it, I went with what I remembered and that's how I made one of the guy's hat. I like how yours have turned out, I might have to go back and try again to make some felt hats.

It isn't especially hard, but you should expect to have to make a few before you get your technique just right.