Blog Posts

the Immersion Room

11/23/2023

I can create lots of settings for my doll photos, but there are some settings that are just beyond me. I've had two scenes in mind for two upcoming stories for some time now, which needed something way more elaborate than anything I could ever do at home. Both needed elaborate castle and cathedral interiors. So, yesterday we were lucky enough to experience another fantastic photo shoot at our son's movie studio, the Immersion Room.

Setting up the first scene....

Lawrence posing for an anniversary portrait....

I was impressed that they even made the effort to reproduce the same lighting on him as there was in the painting.

Then, after the first short story, we moved into the cathedral interior for the second one.

I'm always blown away by the photos that are possible in such a professional environment.

I realize that I'm very lucky to be able to take advantage of such a rare opportunity, and would like to thank our son and his wonderful production team at Immersion Room, for another amazing photo shoot.

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Finishing the Armour

11/22/2023

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All the armour pieces were finished, and ready to put together...

I had struggled with trying to figure out the best way to put the armour together, and took inspiration from my DreamHigh Studio Otto, whose armour made up of lots of separate pieces all attached to each other with thin elastic....

I wasn't going to use elastic, but it was a good idea to attach the armour pieces to each other. I decided to attach the front and back plates to each other permanently, which meant I'd have to take Matias' head off in order to put the armour on, or take it off. But that was easy enough.

I measured where one armour plate would go over another, and holes were drilled in the brown 'channel's along the edges of each piece. Then I used strong brown thread to stitch everything together....

When I turned it over to take a photo of the underside, I realized that I'd sewn the shoulder armour on the wrong sides of the neck pieces. So I had to cut the threads and switch the two sides. I also left long threads when I made the knots, as the threads from the first few knots were cut too short and undid themselves. So, I left longer threads, and then glued them down.

*Notice the sets of two drill holes on both end plates of armour. Those are for sewing leather straps, that will go under Matias' arms and hold the armour securely in place.

Finishing

After all the armour was done, and Matias was wearing it, the final job still left to do was to reattach the leather straps to the bracers. I had removed them before spraying the bracers, so they wouldn't get any spray paint on them. But they did have to go back on.

The shorter of the leather straps originally held a buckle, and the longer strap would be threaded through it. But I found that it was a bit of a challenge to thread the leather through the buckles, and they weren't very secure, because there was nothing holding them in place and the two parts would just slide apart. So I decided to rework the straps so they'd have tiny black snaps instead.

I moved the buckles to the longer straps, and stitched the snap directly underneath. Then I stitched the other part of the snap onto the shorter strap where the buckle originally was.

When I put the bracers on Matias' arm, they looked pretty much like they originally had (except for some stitches showing) but they were infinitely easier to do up.

The last thing the armour still needed was the buckles at the neck. The front and back chest pieces were permanently attached to each other, but I still wanted to give the suggestion that they were separate and buckled together.

First Photos

It was freezing cold the day I finally finished the straps on the armour, but I wanted to take some photos, so out we went....

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Apoxie Armour

11/21/2023

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All the pieces of Matias' armour were cured and the plastic wrap removed. Unfortunately the plastic wrap that was used to hold the pieces down and mold them to shape, left a texture on everything.

I did my best to sand it down, but most of the texture still remained. The sanding did smooth out the edges and make them more even. Then after sanding everything I used 5 minute Epoxy to glue tiny silver beads into all the dents around the edges...

The front and back pieces, showing the difference after sanding and gluing in the beads...

The arm pieces...

Leg Armour

I wasn't sure if armour over his boots and lower legs would look good, or end up being too bulky, but since I was sculpting armour already, I figured that I might as well give it a try. After all, I definitely wouldn't want to make them later. So I started by wrapping Matias' body and legs with plastic wrap to protect everything. Then I designed patterns out of paper towels, which I then used to make the pieces out of card-stock....

I made sure to label every piece....on the outside and the inside....

I sculpted the leg armour in sections, over two days. First the foot, then the upper legs, and finally the knees. At each step I wrapped everything tightly with plastic wrap to mold the pieces to shape around his legs...

And since it's impossible to mix up just the exact amount of Apoxie I need, I decided not to waste it, but to make the leftovers into 'food' each time - chicken drumsticks and roast potatoes...
.to be painted later

Painting the Armour

I had used the last of my Chrome spray paint on the SartoriaJ gloves and bracers, so went looking for a new can. But no one carried it anymore. So I ended up buying a can of silver spray paint. But the silver didn't match the colour of the chrome gloves. So we went looking again, and found some Chrome Bumper Spray Paint for cars, at Canadian Tire.

The spray paint is toxic, so thankfully it was a relatively 'warm' week, so the parts could be sprayed outside. Then I brought them inside and put them in the powder room with the fan on and door closed, since it's the only room in the house with a fan exhaust to outside.

Once the paint was completely dry, I 'aged' the parts with dark brown paint. I brushed dark brown folk art paint over the entire surface, then wiped it off immediately with a paper towel. The paint gives the armour an 'aged' tarnished look, and remains in all the cracks and crevices, highlighting all the details.
Before and after....

All the armour sprayed, and some stained. The colour of the stained, new, chrome, spray paint matched the gloves perfectly.

Leg armour before and after...

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Lunch at the Waterfalls

11/20/2023

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Next morning it was gloomy and overcast as Avery, Emily and the dragons headed north again.
Around midday they came across a huge waterfall...

They circled around a few times in order to get a really good look....

Winston suggested that it was a great place to stop for lunch, so they needed to land the balloon...

It was such a beautiful, scenic spot to have a meal....

...and Winston did his best to make everyone's favourites.

"You make the very best coffee, dear."

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Sunset on the Beach

11/19/2023

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The dragons rescued Emily and Avery out of the tree, but the sun was already starting to go down by the time they managed to untangle the basket out of the branches and bring it out on the beach...

"So what are we going to do now that the balloon is broken?"

Saphira pulled out another red balloon. "Well, it's a good thing I brought extras."

And she proceeded to blow it up....

"Now can continue with our trip tomorrow."

"I think we need to celebrate that no one got hurt, and that we have a new balloon, and we can continue with our adventure tomorrow," and Winston started handing out ice cream.

Then they all sat down to watch the sun set.

"Yes, tomorrow will be another day...."

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Disaster!

11/18/2023

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Avery, Emily and the dragons were enjoying their flight up along the shore of Lake Superior, when Winston suggested it was getting to be time to stop for dinner.

So they directed their balloon to head to shore...

...and look for a good place to land.

But a sudden gust of wind sent them into the trees.

Their balloon burst...

...leaving the basket hanging precariously in the branches.

"Don't worry. Saphira and I will get you down."

"Just try not to move around too much for now."

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Preorder - CLOSED

11/17/2023

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Just one week left to order your Doll Calendars!
The preorder will end on November 24th.

Choose from Fairies...

Favourite Doll Costumes...

Photos that tell a Story...

The calendars will cost $22.00 each, plus shipping.

*The Preorder will end on November 24th.
So, if you would be interested in purchasing one (or more) please let me know.
*Send me an email at - martha@marthaboers.com

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