Illusion‘s creations (Update 25 Apr 2023: *Lady Bird*)

Excellent work! And she does work so well with that throne.

Once again: thanks a lot everyone  

skywalkersaga wrote:Another stunning creation! The crown and staff are incredible. Love that silver colour scheme. I also love the backdrop and your photography in general -- nice use of the Iron Throne. Really beautiful figure and photo shoot.

GubernatorFan wrote:Excellent work! And she does work so well with that throne.

Appreciate it. Btw: the crown was made by a Thai jeweller. I got it from a Thai fashion doll collector who lives in Germany now. Could not help but buy it because it is a close copy of Ravenna's crown in Snow White and the Huntsman. The movie is not really such a gem, but I have always been a fan of the costumes...
The Iron Throne was the piece that got me hooked up on action figures. Saw it with some Fashion Dolls, started looking for it on the web, ended up in an action figure shop. Fate sealed.

Diana wrote:Oh wow! That is just wonderful! I especially love that first close-up.
And YAY for elemental themes!! I am very much looking forward to those, as well as all the creations that have come since this one.

Thanks for still enjoying elemental themes   - some may consider them a bit overused, so what... however, it should be quite a while until one of those will be done.

There are two more ladies in my archive - and a third that I finished yesterday. Still have to take decent figures of her one of these days.

She's magnificent! The top is truly amazing.

Wow! She's beautiful -- that outfit is great. The crown and her staff, not to mention all the bead work, really pulls it all together nicely. The throne suits her. And, yes. It will be great to see the other "Elements" represented. The level of intricacy you put into your clothing is inspirational. (If you haven't checked out her more "barbaric" clothing for her figures, you should check out Ephiane (member here, and also from Germany) -- she makes some really great fantasy figures, all the clothing, and some funny (and sometimes dark) storylines with her creations.

Some more nice dresses, the one laying on the divan could be a photo for an ad, maybe of something expensive.

Thank you!

Stryker2011 wrote:Wow! She's beautiful -- that outfit is great. The crown and her staff, not to mention all the bead work, really pulls it all together nicely. The throne suits her. And, yes. It will be great to see the other "Elements" represented. The level of intricacy you put into your clothing is inspirational. (If you haven't checked out her more "barbaric" clothing for her figures, you should check out Ephiane (member here, and also from Germany) -- she makes some really great fantasy figures, all the clothing, and some funny (and sometimes dark) storylines with her creations.

yes, I have seen some of Ephiane‘s creations and stories. Very impressive, off the beaten track, remarkable and inspirational. Gradually I will try to catch up with as much „old“ posts as possible.

Wow! great set up and figure! that throne is so cool!

Illusion, such stunning work!!!! Ovy has shared some of your projects with me before, and so nice to finally comment directly. Your beadwork really is so gorgeous, and completely unique from what I've seen anyone doing before. It has such a high fashion feel to it, even when incorporated into a fantasy setting. Absolutely mind-blowing. And welcome to OSF!

Thank you very much. I am glad you are enjoying the pics.

ReverendSpooky wrote:Illusion, such stunning work!!!!  Ovy has shared some of your projects with me before, and so nice to finally comment directly.  Your beadwork really is so gorgeous, and completely unique from what I've seen anyone doing before.  It has such a high fashion feel to it, even when incorporated into a fantasy setting.  Absolutely mind-blowing.  And welcome to OSF!

Thank you! so kind of you - I am trying to bring a bit of my fashion dolls' glamour to the action figure side, and somehow I ended up with these beads... I can bring up such a lot more patience for the beads than for fabrics or anything else.
I am looking forward to browsing your creations, esp. Geralt

Here's the next girl, just finished some days ago: YISMANI, an IceFaye of Ysfangor

starting with a Disclaimer: as the idea for the girl is shamelessly stolen from - or rather "inspired by" - Ovy's Fyyit and Hyufiht, the girl ended up very sparsely dressed. If you do not care for colour instead of clothing, I suggest you do not click on the pictures with the Spoiler function. (There are two more of the dimmed lightning pics and 5 pics in full light for anyone interested to have a closer look.)

She is coming with a background story.

Ysfangor is still home to some scattered representatives of an ancient species, rarely seen anymore by any living being, the IceFaye. There have never been many of them and most people have treated them with mistrust as the IceFaye have always been very quiet and secretive. Though all IceFaye lived in their city carved of ice, Iishaala, it used to be an eerily silent place as each Faye just cared about their own interest and their "social contact" was kept to a minimum.

The few visitors to Iishaala had always admiringly reported of the constant lustre and sparkle in the artfully carved halls of ice. Eventually the rumour of incredible riches had been born and ever more soldiers of fortune of all kinds of species ventured out to claim their share of Iishaalas treasures.

The IceFayes' powerful magic prevented those fools from ever getting to Iishaala. However, when greedy kings started to deploy armys to wage war against the Faye to get hold of the presumed riches, the IceFaye decided about 800 years ago to abandon their city. Their last collective act was to conceal Iishaala for all times thereby rendering any search for the place futile. With Iishaala lost to them, the IceFaye scattered across Ysfangors wide mountains.

The self-centered loners became unaffectionate and free of any emotion. On the rare occasions when an IceFaye comes close to another living beeing, they usually just move on without further ado. However it can happen that the unfortunate soul triggers some wicked instincts and ends up serving the Faye as a diversion such as the mouse would serve the cat.

Yismani was born only a few years before the IceFaye left Iishaala. Her memory is based almost exclusively on legends relating to the halls of ice and its treasures. She condemns the decision to abandon the city and has been searching for her home for about 600 years because even the remaining IceFaye do not know where to look for Iishaala and would not be able to see it when coming across the correct site. Her search for clues about the location in old myths, legends and songs gets her ever more often awkwardly close to the unwelcome contact with other living beings.

These days she is looking for Endrik the dreamcatcher who is said to have been to Iishaala several times...

Spoiler:

pics in full light:

Spoiler:

The TBLeague body (S24A) was coloured "Frozen" style with oil pastels, head, hands and feet with acrylics. I really do love the body (much better in hand than in pics) and - as it is the first time I have ever messed with acrylics on a bigger scale than a lip repaint and after having scaled down my expectations to a very low level - I am ok with the head.


Just for further story information: Endrik is a custom figure (which I bought). He can travel all of my worlds and times and can therefore pop up in any context. Most of the time he is teamed up with Lilion in this same fantasy world. As the stories are mostly in my head (and not translated into pics), this will not matter much to you, but I thought I'd mention it anyway.

She is wonderful! I'm usually not a big fan of the scarcily dressed or painted characters, but this really turned out great! And the photography is very cool! The lighting is really in harmony with her.

I wonder how she'd look in the snow.

Another amazing figure!

I don't think I have enough exclaimations to describe how amazing this is! I can definitely see the Ovy influence on the wings, but the rest is all your style. Your beadwork is especially suited to this kind of aesthetic, I feel. And the oil pastels on the body are done so delicately and give just the right effect. The photography, backdrop, and lighting are gorgeous and evocative of being in an ice cave. I love that snow/ice effect on the ground, so well done! My favourite shot is that last one, the lighting is incredible!

And I really like that s24/s25 body as well, I've bought more of them than any other tbleague so far.

Nice story and beautiful creation. Even if inspired by Ovy's unique work (you get karma points for giving credit), it actually looks very different and novel, and of course the character is completely different too.

What a wonderful creation! Nope, I never get tired of elementally inspired characters.

skywalkersaga already said it all. ^^

And now I am tempted to maybe get this body, too. And what a great head sculpt you picked! The hair color seems unusual and perfect for this theme, and it's nice that it suits the body in terms of proportions.

I love that the wings fold down like that. Very cute!

Diana wrote:What a wonderful creation! Nope, I never get tired of elementally inspired characters.

skywalkersaga already said it all. ^^

And now I am tempted to maybe get this body, too. And what a great head sculpt you picked! The hair color seems unusual and perfect for this theme, and it's nice that it suits the body in terms of proportions.

I love that the wings fold down like that. Very cute!

S24/25 is also my favourite body and also my first tbleague overall. (Only the neck peg is a bit too small for normal heads which can be an annoyance, but nothing you can fix with some hot melt or similar stuff)

As for the figure: Real stunning creation - Iam also aa big fan of Elemental stuff and Elves/faeries etc. So seeing them combined is great.

Valiarde wrote:

S24/25 is also my favourite body and also my first tbleague overall. (Only the neck peg is a bit too small for normal heads which can be an annoyance, but nothing you can fix with some hot melt or similar stuff)

I struggled a lot with the neck peg when I first started using these bodies for custom figures, but I finally figured out a way that works for me... I wrap the metal peg with plastic wrap (cling film) until it is thick enough to fill out the inner cavity of the headsculpt (this can be either with or without the plastic neck connectors that come inside heads, it depends on how it sits on the neck). Once I've wrapped the metal peg, I then wrap a small clear rubber band around it to hold it in place, and I take some small scissors and trim any excess plastic wrap that might be sticking out of the neck. Usually, this method helps the headsculpt sits quite snugly with less wobble, and I find it better for posing the head. If it's still too wobbly, just either add more plastic wrap and another rubber band on top, or just another rubber band or two.

Sorry for the tangent on this wonderful thread, but if it comes in handy to anyone who otherwise would avoid one of these bodies, I wanted to share.

That is a wonderful tip and useful for anyone using these bodies. Otherwise you could end up in dissapointment, especially if you are not the modeler type of person.
Need to try that for myself with my second S25.

I need to check how good the hot melt glue bubble on the metal peg still holds - but it is an easy solution too. Just make a drop of hot melt on the table, wait until it gets a bit more sticky, then put the metal joint in it and turn it a bit until it dried. Works for my heads.


But to come back to the topic of this thread:
Personally, I like the third pic the most, the lighting coming from the horizon of the cave and also the lit up face is cool.
The dark one with the "stars" is also special.

Valiarde -- your solution sounds great, as well! I only did my version because it was all I had available in my house. ;p

Valiarde wrote:
Personally, I like the third pic the most, the lighting coming from the horizon of the cave and also the lit up face is cool.
The dark one with the "stars" is also special.

Hard to pick just one image, they are all incredible! But yes, I agree, the 'stars' are so, so beautiful. I felt a sense of real magic from that effect.


ETA: I am also very curious to see Endrik... : )

She’s really cool (no pun intended). And the bead work, wings, and ice effects are pretty neat. Your photography, lighting, and backdrops really display her to her best advantage. A very lovely creation.

For the metal neck joint on these bodies, I've said it before, and I'll say it again: foamies. I've gotten to the point that if I can physically do it, I systematically remove the interior neck connector on heads I get loose and replace them with foamies.

Indeed nice back story, beautiful figure and outfit, great looking photos!

Thanks so much everyone for taking the time to comment - and for liking her and my pictures.

TravelGuide wrote:She is wonderful! I'm usually not a big fan of the scarcily dressed or painted characters, but this really turned out great! And the photography is very cool! The lighting is really in harmony with her.

I wonder how she'd look in the snow.

Thank you. Nice to know Yismani is an exception to your general preferences
I doubt I will take her out into the real snow. She is covered with glitter eye shadow and I would prefer this not to get wet.

skywalkersaga wrote:I don't think I have enough exclaimations to describe how amazing this is! I can definitely see the Ovy influence on the wings, but the rest is all your style. Your beadwork is especially suited to this kind of aesthetic, I feel. And the oil pastels on the body are done so delicately and give just the right effect. The photography, backdrop, and lighting are gorgeous and evocative of being in an ice cave. I love that snow/ice effect on the ground, so well done! My favourite shot is that last one, the lighting is incredible!

And I really like that s24/s25 body as well, I've bought more of them than any other tbleague so far.

Aw - so kind of you. Thank you.
Ovy was the one to introduce me to the option to use oil pastels on TBLeague bodys (or to colour them at all to begin with.) I understand it is quite common in this forum but I had not been familiar with it. Changing the skintone is one aspect of it - but making the body colourful is just the next level...

GubernatorFan wrote:Nice story and beautiful creation. Even if inspired by Ovy's unique work (you get karma points for giving credit), it actually looks very different and novel, and of course the character is completely different too.

Thanks so much! well, the mutual inspiration and sharing of knowledge/ideas is the purpose of places like this forum, isn't it? I am picking up techniques and ideas all over, but major ones should be credited, I'd say.  

(Something I came up with by myself is sewing onto the bodies... I will definitely look into this further. Might proof useful. Also, the wings are pinned into her back.)

Diana wrote:What a wonderful creation! Nope, I never get tired of elementally inspired characters.

skywalkersaga already said it all. ^^

And now I am tempted to maybe get this body, too. And what a great head sculpt you picked! The hair color seems unusual and perfect for this theme, and it's nice that it suits the body in terms of proportions.

I love that the wings fold down like that. Very cute!

Thank you!! I was really happy to manage the wings to spread out eventually. I had been about to give up getting them spread out. But I wanted them flexible to be both spread and folded.
Well, the other elements will take their time ... we will see... still very determined to work on them.  
The head sculpt is of a Jiaou Angel figure. Lovely promos, less convincing in hand - but just the right one for Yismani.

I like the S24/25 - but prefer the S16/17 due to the latter's smaller bust. As for the neck connection, I will try the foamie idea. Sounds promising.
Generally it is easier than one may think at first to find a solution to fix heads onto these bodies.

skywalkersaga wrote:...

Valiarde wrote:
Personally, I like the third pic the most, the lighting coming from the horizon of the cave and also the lit up face is cool.
The dark one with the "stars" is also special.

Hard to pick just one image, they are all incredible! But yes, I agree, the 'stars' are so, so beautiful. I felt a sense of real magic from that effect.

ETA: I am also very curious to see Endrik... : )

Yes, the stars... maybe I should not admit it, but: they were a total surprise for me. I had not planned them and only saw them on the PC screen and went:    WHAT! How cool is that...

As you are asking for him: here's a short introduction to Endrik.
He was my first custom figure. I bought him from a German collector who is assembling a lot of customs. It was love at first sight.
(I made up his background story. The customiser probably had something entirely different in mind for him. I do not know.)

Myths, legends, fairytales about eerie characters that are being told to children so they shall behave themselves and respect their elders...
Such as the legend of Endrik the dreamcatcher who traps all dreams of all living beings in his rod and can manipulate them to be both prize and pain.
Many have sneered at children hiding under their blankets during the night not daring to sleep because of their fear of Endrik's punishment for their mischief during the day.
However, those that crossed Endrik and consequently lost their mind after only a few nights, those do not sneer any longer...



Creatures of night brought to light:

How awesome that the stars were a happy surprise! I think they are just stunning (I'm also partial because of my space aesthetic obsession but also because of the association between Tolkien's Elves and the stars).

Ooh, thanks for sharing Endrik, I can see why you bought him for sure.

And omg, you just quoted The Last Unicorn!! My all-time favourite!! :')

Endrik looks fantastic! Depending on price I definitely would have caved. He fits my desired aesthetic nicely.

The Last Unicorn!!! (Insert squee here)!!

As for the neck discussion I always do wonder why people don't just use BluTack. Works perfectly for me: Holds the position as it hardens, comes off clean, is scalable AND reusable. More more could a girl want?

Diana wrote:

The Last Unicorn!!! (Insert squee here)!!

As for the neck discussion I always do wonder why people don't just use BluTack. Works perfectly for me: Holds the position as it hardens, comes off clean, is scalable AND reusable. More more could a girl want?

Glad there's yet another Last Unicorn fan here!

And re: blutack -- I'm glad it works for some, but I did try it before for one of my Padme's and did not have a good experience. It didn't hold the head pose at all, and I found it a bit messy (I was afraid it would leave a residue on the custom clothing, so I removed it completely). The issue I run into is that the s25b metal neck post is too small and slippery. Foamies don't work for me either with that one, unfortunately. They just slip and slide across the metal peg too much, and don't hold the pose. That's why I prefer to modify the actual neck post by making it thicker and less slippery. There are tons of methods that can and do work, and everyone's got their preferred one. But for the small s25b bodies, I have come to prefer the plastic wrap/rubber band method.

skywalkersaga wrote:...

And omg, you just quoted The Last Unicorn!! My all-time favourite!! :')

 so nice you have picked that up  

Diana wrote:Endrik looks fantastic! Depending on price I definitely would have caved. He fits my desired aesthetic nicely.

The Last Unicorn!!! (Insert squee here)!!

As for the neck discussion I always do wonder why people don't just use BluTack. Works perfectly for me: Holds the position as it hardens, comes off clean, is scalable AND reusable. More more could a girl want?

another last unicorn fan...

I think, I feel some connection here...

Endrik was rather inexpensive imo, about 130 USD.

Actually, I have been using Patafix (or the Pattex equivalent) which should be quite the same as BluTack.

Endrik looks cool, and your backstory for him is really cool & creepy at the same time.

Endrik looks great, I think an improvement on the original piece. (Sorry Jake!)