Surprise!

[nid_dabeille]

I finished my Surprise Family!  (Jack, Stephen, Sophie, Diana.)

Disclaimer:  I did not make the bodies.  I just dressed and adorned them They're just standard little wooden manikins.  (Where did the spelling "manikin" come from?  What happened to "mannequin"?  Anyway, these are called 4 1/2" wood "manikins.")  (My art supply store was having a huge going-out-of-business sale, and they were only $2.50 each!  How could I resist???)

Surprise!!!

An unfortunately typical scene.  (Jack underestimated his own strength.)


A more pleasant scene.  Diana sans base, because with it she positively towers over Stephen, especially with her outre' hair.

ETA:  As a joke, I made Stephen a temporary wig out of my cat's fur, but when I tried to photograph him wearing it, the cats became very interested.  In fact, Nemo ended up carrying it off in his mouth and destroying it.  I didn't mind.

For more pictures (including closeups of the fabulous wigs, and Stephen wigless and also with his messy!wig, see my photobucket album.  Do it!!!

Comments

[ozfille]

Where did the spelling "manikin" come from? What happened to "mannequin"?

I guess people who can't spell have taken over the world.

Your cat obviously just felt the magnetic attraction of "the Stephen Maturin", beloved of all the animal world or at least a representation of him or maybe he was channelling Killick who never approved of the standard of Stephen's dress or his wig. *g*

[grace-poppy.livejournal.com]

Well I've decided that it's the WIG that attracts animals to Stephen. They didn't bother him at all when he was wigless, and they weren't really interested in the other people. But when he was wearing his horrible cathair wig, they were drawn irresistibly to him!!!

Do you like my manikins? :D

[reconditarmonia.livejournal.com]

Oh, they're so cute! I like how Stephen's wig is lying on the floor next to him in that one shot.

[grace-poppy.livejournal.com]

Hee! Thanks! (It really was an accident that he got knocked over. They're really very unstable and topheavy. I need to find a way to weight down their little bases.)

[zed-pm.livejournal.com]

Fantastic work! I love Jack's shiny, gold hair! hehe

[grace-poppy.livejournal.com]

Hee! Thank you! He and Sophie have hair made from the same fringe trim. The hair was definitely the hardest part.

[scaryfangirl.livejournal.com]

Hee! What fun! :D

[grace-poppy.livejournal.com]

Thanks! :D

[iansmomesq.livejournal.com]

Cute!!!!!!!!!!! <333

[grace-poppy.livejournal.com]

Thanks! Whee!

[rosamundeb.livejournal.com]

*G* Looks like I beat Gilly... Mannekin means "little man" in Germanic languages; I'm guessing that's the Germanic spelling, and Mannequin is the Romantic language spelling. What country were your little guys manufactured?

*L*!!! Love the cat sequence, especially because I could so see Stephen being cheap and buying or making a wig out of cat fur - *L*!!!

Wow... they REALLY look like the characters? How in the world did you make such realistic wigs? The blonde ones are especially gorgeous. I would only make one suggestion, and that is to make or paint Stephen a vest or coat or that cool coat he wore in the Galapagos. They are GREAT!

Oh, sorry, I do have ONE more comment... so where the hell are Bonden and Killick?!?!?!?!!!!!!!!

[grace-poppy.livejournal.com]

Aww, Bonden and Killick! Well, I think I bought all the little manikins they had in the store!

I think I remember they had "made in china" stickers. But Stephen is by a different maker (hence he's shorter and different wood). But anyway, when I look them up online in art supply catalogs etc., they're mostly all called "manikins!"

I did think of painting a vest, but it's hard to paint their round bellies, because they bend and move over them and scrape the paint off. But I bought some wood stain, so maybe I'll use that. Did you see my photobucket pics? Stephen's chest got kind of dirty with the handling, but I kind of like the dirty look for him. :D

(Gilly had a sneak preview, bwaha!)

[grace-poppy.livejournal.com]

Oh, and this is the braid and fringe stuff that I used to make the wigs! Sneaky, eh? :D Still, it took about 4 hours each. But now that I know I can do it, whee!!! I'm a dollhouse gal, so perhaps I'll be making more in the future.
Wiggy stuff. (http://i140.photobucket.com/albums/r18/graceewhite/surprise%20family/braidandfringe.jpg)

[rosamundeb.livejournal.com]

Cool!!!!

[des-pudels-kern.livejournal.com]

"manikin" looks like you spell it like "Männeken", isn't that Belgian for boy or little man?

Hee, love the Surprises. Stephen and the animals...

[tootsiemuppet.livejournal.com]

IT IS! :D Without the umlaut, though. ;) Manneken Pis.

Dialectic Flemish, too... Well, PROPER dialectic Flemish. Real Brussels dialect has it at "Menneke".

[tootsiemuppet.livejournal.com]

XD I just noticed, but... DID YOU GIVE DIANA AND SOPHIE BREASTS?!?!

*so amused*

[tootsiemuppet.livejournal.com]

Oh noez! I am too late!

[ozfille]

Yes they're cute, but isn't Jack a little too trim? Perhaps some padding for his tummy. He is a full 15 stone as estimated by Stephen when he checked out Jack's posterior poking out of his little observatory.*g*

[tootsiemuppet.livejournal.com]

Why did you not post these to P_D?

[grace-poppy.livejournal.com]

They already had breasts. And Diana's wearing her dress with the bosom that would inflame Saint Anthony. (And actually, ahem, the men had breasts - they're ALL female-shaped models - but I just turned the men's torsos around. They are not breasts. They're Dalek bumps shoulder blades.)

[grace-poppy.livejournal.com]

I dunno. I was distracted by Lost. Maybe I'll post them tonight.

[tootsiemuppet.livejournal.com]

Oh haha, yeah, now I see. I think you already told me about that actually.

Doesn't stop me still being amused. XD

[tootsiemuppet.livejournal.com]

Maybe?

[rosamundeb.livejournal.com]

Muahahaha!!! *pwnz u with my mad language skillz*