MeMyself&Projects (to be updated continuously)

Late to this party, but I thought I would start a home thread for the random photoshoots and projects that I have going on, have recently finished, and otherwise just don't have a home in other threads. I will post photos and comment on them, either with "story" or just commentary on what I thought went well.

Fair warning, will be photo heavy.



Christmas 2023 has already been documented a bit in the Action Figure Pub Crawl thread but I have extra photos that I feel are more home here.


Kas admiring the decorations
Admiring the decorations by T E, on Flickr

The headsculpt is a mix between sculpted and synthetic. I think the paint match worked out wonderfully to blend the two together.
Admiring the decorations by T E, on Flickr

The lighting worked great here
Admiring the decorations by T E, on Flickr

Someone wanted some additional photos as she rarely dresses up
Additional photos by T E, on Flickr

A warm glow by T E, on Flickr

The unedited photo
Waiting by T E, on Flickr

Lightroom edit
Waiting B&W HDR by T E, on Flickr

Another unedited photo, shot using nothing but the light of my Christmas tree and my camera on a tripod while using Bulb mode (and the control app on my phone so I didn't move the tripod).
Bulb Mode by T E, on Flickr

B&W edit in HDR of the above. Maybe my favorite B&W photo I've edited. Looks sooooo good to me.
HDR B&W by T E, on Flickr


More stuff to come in the future!

That was a great start of the thread!
I like the name too.

Loving the cozy diorama and moody lighting -- perfect job.

What a beautiful start!

I have to admit I don't care much for the B/W photos regardless of how good they look, because I LOVE her hair colour!
Overall I really appreciate the cozy lighting in your scene. Nicely done!

I'm looking forward to future additions to this thread!

Oh my goodness, this cozy parlor setting is... it is simply ideal! That is, it is the type of setting I have long wanted to create, since I first began photographing smaller scale toy figures. You have done a remarkable job with this setting, the figures, and the photos!

Visisonor wrote:That was a great start of the thread!
I like the name too.

Thanks! I wanted a clever name, cause so many like yourself have come up with perfect names for your threads. I'm glad it fits

GubernatorFan wrote:Loving the cozy diorama and moody lighting -- perfect job.

Thanks Gub, that means a lot coming from you!

Diana wrote:What a beautiful start!

I have to admit I don't care much for the B/W photos regardless of how good they look, because I LOVE her hair colour!
Overall I really appreciate the cozy lighting in your scene. Nicely done!

I'm looking forward to future additions to this thread!

Thanks DIana, but I'm heartbroken about your thoughts on B/W photos! J/K :p

I'm super happy with her hair color/colour too! When I took the picture I thought "huh, maybe I should check this out in B/W" and I loved it. I'm a sucker for sharp details and shiny points of light, which B/W lends itself well to.

davidd wrote:Oh my goodness, this cozy parlor setting is... it is simply ideal! That is, it is the type of setting I have long wanted to create, since I first began photographing smaller scale toy figures. You have done a remarkable job with this setting, the figures, and the photos!

Thanks David! While I don't have any pics of the process, I will happily share what I used to create it.

- 1in foam insulation board (cut to whatever size). I suggest some plywood on the back because I don't have that and I should have used it.
- A knife to score the lines of the bricks, and the back of a paintbrush to finish the lines.
- Balsa wood of varying types (flat pieces, rectangles, etc).
- Modpodge and black paint to prime it (cause, ya know, foam).
- Thin acrylic for the "glass" of the picture frame.
- Magnets for said picture frame. Some imbedded in the foam so the frame attaches.
- The fire kit from Evans Designs for the fireplace lighting. Otherwise it's some craft aluminum, a cotton ball, and a stick from my yard cut to size.

For the painting all I did after priming was use washes and a sponge, with a dry brush afterwards to bring out details. Really no wrong way to do it.

All told, maybe $15 and a few hours?

Once it is warm again I plan on re-doing it and making it more appropriate for displaying. I originally designed it to be a backdrop for my light-box (which is just a giant cardboard box cut strategically). Once I went to make it Christmas themed, I thought it would be best suited outside the box. I feel like that worked out well

Wow! Some beautiful shots. The diorama work and the figures look awesome.

Stryker2012 wrote:Wow! Some beautiful shots. The diorama work and the figures look awesome.

Thanks Stryker! I'm glad folks are enjoying these! I'm not nearly as steady with a camera as I used to be, but thankfully there is an app for that (and a tripod) lol

So one of the things I like most about the den/lounge dio/backdrop is the big chair.

This thing is a bit disconcerting when viewing it on its own. It seems huge, and way out of scale for any 1/6th figure. Obviously it is fine once someone is sitting in it, but it was interesting to contemplate as I built it.

Speaking of which, I did actually grab some WIP photos on my phone(!), so I will have those below.

It is constructed of balsa wood, medium density packing foam, and for the upholstery I used faux leather ribbon I bought at the craft store.

The most interesting part is that ribbon. It is super soft, shockingly durable, easy to use, and comes in a ton of colors. I used one called "Cognac". Took 4 rolls of the stuff (you only get so much). It isn't stretchy, and it has a soft fabric backing that takes glue really well. I plan on using other variations for some clothing in the future.

It definitely isn't perfect. It wobbles, and the design could be refined drastically. I accidently got black paint on the side no one sees in the pics, and cleaning black paint is not easy and hurt the finish.

That said, on to the phone pics. I think the chair has "personality" (multiple) and is a simply happy chair.

Wrapping the cushion
Wrapping the cushion by T E, on Flickr

Chair WIP by T E, on Flickr

Chair WIP by T E, on Flickr

Not sure he's happy here
Derpy Chair's brother by T E, on Flickr

Or here
Derpy chair by T E, on Flickr

But he sure is happy here! I love this pic lol
Happy chair is happy by T E, on Flickr

Just need the backing
Chair WIP by T E, on Flickr

Thanks for looking!

I hadn't realized you made it yourself. Very nicely done.

Pretty cool. That’s some nice craftsmanship.

A tutorial for the chair! Excellent! I shall be looking this over closely when time permits!

Merry Christmas Folks!

Some Christmas morning shots

Christmas morning Puggy by T E, on Flickr

Enjoying the decorations Christmas morning by T E, on Flickr

nicely done sofa.. i wonder how many more items are customized

Nice. Merry Christmas!

Doggie steals the scene every time. But that's a beautiful shot of your heroine enjoying a quiet moment appreciating her (your) excellent work in the calm of morning.

Your Ladies look amazing MeMyself&I. Indeed Merry Christmas to you too.

davidd wrote:A tutorial for the chair! Excellent! I shall be looking this over closely when time permits!

Tutorial may be a bit of stretch (seeing as I missed half the photos needed for that lol!), but if you have any questions on why I did ___________ just lemme know!

madnug wrote:nicely done sofa.. i wonder how many more items are customized

Thanks! The Puggy, her outfit, the gifts, the base tree (no lights or flowers), the wreaths, her Bible (added the front label myself, the base book I had in my accessories box), her Gingerbread cookie, the mini trees, and the LEDs for the fire were all purchased at some point. The rest was made custom in my spare time over several months. Why buy it when you can customize it?

Stryker2012 wrote:Nice. Merry Christmas!

Thanks!

GubernatorFan wrote:Doggie steals the scene every time. But that's a beautiful shot of your heroine enjoying a quiet moment appreciating her (your) excellent work in the calm of morning.

Thanks! Doggos tend to be scene stealers lol. They deserve it though.

BAD WOLF-787 wrote:Your Ladies look amazing MeMyself&I. Indeed Merry Christmas to you too.

Thank you!

PSA: There is going to be a rash of updates to this thread as I go through a backlog of photos, so there will be a few additions the next couple days. Trying to get things posted before New Years so 2024 can be for 2024 stuff.    


One of the things I want to do with this thread is to show the inner workings of my processes, thoughts, and style. What I do, why I do it, and the challenges that come up.

I've mentioned it before in random posts, but I'm a perfectionist, a good bit OCD, and my own worst critic. I am certain that we all share varying levels of these things, especially those of us who make custom figures and characters. I can only speak for myself though.

Which brings us to the topic of this post.

It is no surprise at this point who my favorite character is to make and otherwise post about. You've seen the project thread and the diorama thread for her (and for the sake of clarity, this version of Kasumi we will refer to as "Best Girl" moving forward). What you may not know though is that I have purposefully created 3 separate head sculpts for this character (none of which I consider as good as Best Girl's), and purchased 6 separate (and same) bodies for this character so I can do different looks, photo shoots, and poses, all while leaving Best Girl alone in her dio and only touch her while cleaning. I realize this isn't (likely) unique, but it is amusing that she's why I have 6 total S07Cs as it is LOL.

Anyway, I bring this up because my perfectionism and OCD tendencies have kept me from posting this. The project itself has been completed since June. Photos weren't taken until October. They were not uploaded to Flickr until earlier this month.

While I am happy with the results, and I feel it came out very well, I have some issues with it (read: me). Sure there are fit/finish issues with the head sculpt (which I resolve by just making another head sculpt), but the real issue is my unwillingness to do action-y poses. You know, the whole "give the character life instead of them looking like a statue 24/7/365" thing. She's action-y in the photos because she wasn't fully assembled yet and I worked it into the photoshoot. Since then, she is on her stand and untouched (save the head sculpt).

I find myself being extremely protective of my now numerous Kasumi figures compared to the others I've made. I think it is why I have focused recently on the "everyday" look as I have found myself more willing to pose her and do more interesting photoshoots with. I get she's kinda more on the cute, kind, reserved, soft, calm side of appearances, which doesn't always lend to exciting photos. The "attitude" and "striking personality" features of others tend to just avoid her in general. She's a character with a not exactly happy story (per game lore). I just want her to be seen in a way that shows her, well, happy and healing and moving on from it all. By comparison, I tend to treat Ayane (purple hair), at least in terms of posing and just displaying "attitude" in photos, completely different. As characters their personalities are as night and day as it comes, so I guess I feel I have the freedom to do more with Ayane, which makes for more interesting photos and displays.

Thank's for coming to my TEDTalk    

If you made it this far, I am curious as to what folks think about how I did the hair. I tried a number of ways to do the side ponytail with all actual hair, but nothing looked right. So I opted for combining sculpted and actual hair. I think it worked out wonderfully for what it is.

Anyway, here is the link to the Flickr album if you want to take a look (some of your already have, and I thank you for that!). It can be potentially NSFW, hence the link. There is a bit of a story in the photo descriptions as well. Here a few samples from it though.

Once more by T E, on Flickr

Finishing touches by T E, on Flickr

Melancholy comfort by T E, on Flickr

Looks great kitted up. And again, beautiful lighting.

GubernatorFan wrote:Looks great kitted up. And again, beautiful lighting.

Thank ya Gubernator!



I feel like these memes fit this post well (though it doesn't explain the time of day I am posting it).







For ease of use, here is the Flickr album.

Not much to say here other than I managed to make all three of her main outfits. I also got a new lightbox for Christmas, so I had some fun there (and forced myself to pose her). There are a number of "process" notes in the photo descriptions in the album if anyone wants to read on them.


Entering by T E, on Flickr


Yes, this is on a S07C
Standing, taking it in by T E, on Flickr


From this point I only have a few more odds and ends to post before heading into 2024, then it is onward to those projects, which hopefully will include some Legend of Zelda stuff (I need to get my AT203 in the mail first)! And Fire Emblem!

Loving that lightbox experimental picture, came out very well.

I love the photo in the doorframe.

Very nice photos indeed, great job on the lighting and the scenes.

Thank you everyone. I'm trying to find interesting ways of composing shots, so I appreciate the compliments!