Dollieh Sanctuary

More costume/character development for an upcoming photo-story (See previous images.)

This is Etienne de Vaillant. (Hot Toys 'generic' male figure) He's our protagonist. I still need to tint his hair a bit more reddish-brown, and ideally he should look about ten years older (but I'm not going to TOUCH that face-up, it's too exquisite).


He's a little finicky about his costume fittings.


He has a keen, analytical mind -- and good instincts for politics.


And yes, he's got opinions about his second-best doublet, too...

"Hey! Where's my belt? And tights? And shoes, and I'll need a hat and overgown, you know...."

And just for fun:

Jovan Ruthven (played by Hajime Morimoto - Obitsu slim male) trains with his owl familiar, Maka.

BTW, the doublet Etienne is wearing is a slight variation on the 2002 McCalls 3628 Barbie/Ken Renaissance Pattern. (the Contessa's gown in the previous photos comes from the same pattern, I just shot it down until it fit my 25cm Obitsu girl.)

The lace cuffs are made from the smallest, finest eyelet lace trim I could find. This means I don't have to finish the edges, which would add bulk you really don't want in something of this scale. But it looks really good, so I think I will be using more of it.

More to come....

Woo, historical dress! My favorite!

Good job. I love to see more.

Wow! Oh WOW!
Everything is spectacular--dolls, costumes, and that owl! This is delicious eye candy. More, please.

wonderful! Is there atrick to sewing necklines? THat is tiny!

Exquisite is right--your work that is. O.o amazing.

Grazie, everyone...

landwhale -- the trick to that collar -- it's cut on the bias (you can see the stripes are diagonal) for maximum stretch so it will fit to the round neckhole, and also it's doubled over (like a turtleneck) and hand-stitched down. This particular figure presented two complications -- he has sloping shoulders (unusual for an action figure), and he's got molded hair that is actually long and hangs down at the back and sides, so the collar had to fit close to his neck to fit in under that. (and also that was the style in the period examples I was looking at).

I'm having fun with these (and I've been watching The Borgias for costume inspiration -- though their costumes are MUCH more elaborate than I can do at this scale). I love the Italian Renaissance....!!

More costumes to come.... !

Wow!! Really amazing sewing! That is so tiny. And you're right, his face is wonderful!

I am amazed at the INCREDIBLE detail and realistic quality of some of the new action figures coming out now-a-days. The Hot Toys lines are incredible (especially their movie-character limited editions, though they're also a bit pricey). The newer Dragons and Soldier Story and DiD (Dragon-in-Dream) figures can be quite incredible too -- subtle details like scars, five-o-clock shadows, skin textures, lines and shading around the eyes, and the quality of the sculpting are really amazing. And if you get them nude (no uniforms, accessories, etc.), they can also be fairly reasonable in price.

I do wish more of them had something other than a WWII military haircut... but that must be where the bulk of the market is, WWII military enthusiasts. So when I saw this guy with his longer hair, I had to have him. (Casting him as Etienne de Vaillant came later.)

This story has a large cast -- I'm slowly accumulating the characters and working on costumes. I have most of the dolls/figures I need (except for the ones I will have to build from almost-scratch), so it's just lots of costume design and sewing in my future (and writing the script). Trying to focus on getting the first-appearing ones done first, like Etienne.

More coming soon!

lol, Yes I have three HotToys figures and I looooove the facial detail. I don't own any of the limted editions of course since it's a bit pricey but man! Looking forward to seeing more.