Ragnamuffin’s Fantastic Life in Plastic

I’ve been meaning to show off my girls for a while now, but kept putting it off for various reasons.

My latest excuse was no stands, and that was rectified last week when the Asachanchi stands I ordered arrived. D’oh. Guess I gotta take photos now.

I’m not great at posing and don’t have any fancy equipment, so forgive the campy results. Azone Alice and the little ones have their own threads so they sat this one out.

First up is Anastasia. I was lovestruck after seeing @SFSakana’s Anya and picked her up from Dollyteria last year during a flash sale. I don’t really know the source material, but in our family she’s the outgoing oneesan.

Normally she has the M bust, but for whatever reason it wouldn’t fit into this outfit, so she swapped bodies with Alice Kuonji for these pictures.

Next is Alice Kuonji, whom I fell in love with when looking her up after someone here mentioned her. I haven’t played Witch on the Holy Night yet, but in my headcanon, she’s a reserved and kinda cynical yet pragmatic character.

Apparently as a doll she was not that popular because she doesn’t photograph well, which unfortunately seems to be true as she really does look much better in real life.

Lastly (for now) is Ion, short for Ionasal.kkll.Preciel from the game Ciel Nosurge. She’s the pre-painted option head from 2011 in SWS and she’s appropriated Mash’s body (Mash is currently a floating head).

Unlike the other two, I actually have played the source material for this one, but it’s a really long and complicated game with a sequel that kinda retcons some stuff, so it’s hard to pin down her character. She’s a sweet girl who seems a bit air-headed, but is actually an engineering genius with a surprisingly sadistic side. Eventually I plan on commissioning her actual outfit from the game, but for now this dress is a nice substitute:

So without further ado:

There’s something going on between these two…

I wanted them to look intimate, but really Anastasia just looks like a creeper. I can just imagine her whispering into Alice’s ear…

“Give me my body back.”

Anyway, here we have a delicate balancing act even with the stand. I don’t know how Ion managed to hold the other two up, but by some miracle I was able to snap some photos before they collectively faceplanted.

At this point I was getting tired and wanted to get them out of their clothes because Alice was already staining, so to wrap things up the whole gang came out for one last family selfie.

Mash was not amused.

I never knew Anastasia was this gorgeous ?!? Somehow I never saw her face up close..

All your girls are so pretty and well dressed! I hope we get to see more of them from now on. 

5 hours ago, RetroKanojo said:

I never knew Anastasia was this gorgeous ?!?

I was surprised at just how beautiful she was too when I actually had her in hand, and I’ve seen some amazing custom faceups that really enhance her beauty. She’s a beautiful sculpt for sure.

5 hours ago, RetroKanojo said:

All your girls are so pretty and well dressed! I hope we get to see more of them from now on.

Thank you, I hope to show more of them from now on too! 🥰

Congrats on getting Anastasia! She's a beautiful sculpt for sure! 🥰

Great to see your other girls here on the forum, too. Lovely photos and gorgeous costumes.

 

9 hours ago, ragnamuffin said:

Apparently as a doll she was not that popular because she doesn’t photograph well, which unfortunately seems to be true as she really does look much better in real life.

It's probably because of the dark hair & eyes in contrast to her light skin. The dynamic range necessary for photographing this kills the contrast. If your phone is fairly modern and has an HDR mode for the camera, that might be worth a try.  - Nonetheless, I think Alice looks super cute in the photos.

11 hours ago, ragnamuffin said:

I’m not great at posing

Your posing seems fine. A few things you can do to improve it are:

Browse Japanese dolltwitter and copy the poses you see in the photos there for practice. 

Browse for anime images on the internet and copy the character poses you see there. 

There are artist pose catalogs you can buy, but be aware that some of the poses aren't going to be an option for dolls due to mobility limitations, and differences between doll proportions and human proportions.

You can search google for fashion images, pin-ups, and practically any type of image you want to try and get a pose from.

I generally try new poses with their clothes off, and if I find one I like I'll take photos from various angles so I can recreate it later when I want to do a photo shoot with them all dressed up. 

30 minutes ago, BeyondTime said:

You can search google for fashion images, pin-ups, and practically any type of image you want to try and get a pose from.

Thanks for the suggestions. I tried to recreate this picture, but they still look a bit stiff. Couldn’t get Alice to lean forward enough or Anastasia’s head/neck to tilt so that they’re gazing at each other.

10 minutes ago, ragnamuffin said:

Thanks for the suggestions. I tried to recreate this picture, but they still look a bit stiff. Couldn’t get Alice to lean forward enough or Anastasia’s head/neck to tilt so that they’re gazing at each other.

Yeah, that's a definite limitation with dolls. The vinyl is too hard and resilient compared to flesh, and the arm lengths aren't quite right. One advantage though is that you can take them apart, then pose the pieces with appropriate coverage, to create an illusion. Like with resins you can unsocket the calf and pose it alongside the thigh as long as you cover it with clothing or an accessory of some kind. 

17 hours ago, ragnamuffin said:

Normally she has the M bust, but for whatever reason it wouldn’t fit into this outfit, so she swapped bodies with Alice Kuonji for these pictures.

If you don't mind loosening the corset laces at the back, you can even fit an L bust into this one! I didn't realise that it was possible at first either though, but I've gotten it nicely on both SS and L thanks to the lacing. (L did make it look slightly strained at the back, but M hopefully doesn't have that problem).

Anyway, great outfit choices, it's cool to see them all together too. The black one really does look amazing so it's a shame it cant stay on for long.

17 minutes ago, Monty said:

If you don't mind loosening the corset laces at the back, you can even fit an L bust into this one! I didn't realise that it was possible at first either though, but I've gotten it nicely on both SS and L thanks to the lacing. (L did make it look slightly strained at the back, but M hopefully doesn't have that problem).

Anyway, great outfit choices, it's cool to see them all together too. The black one really does look amazing so it's a shame it cant stay on for long.

Thanks! I figured I’d have to do something like that, but the black one looks better on the M/L bust anyway and I wanted Alice to wear it, so swapping bodies was the easiest solution. She only had it on for about two days and it stained all over 😩

19 hours ago, ragnamuffin said:

I wanted them to look intimate, but really Anastasia just looks like a creeper.

Fixed expressions and stiff posture make dolls a challenge. Imo to some extent you have to base the interactions on what the doll has to offer.

I did a paired shoot with Ami and Rei at one point: 

I think overall the interactions were good.

This one in particular had a good interaction between them.

Spoiler just so I'm not cluttering your thread with my images. 

Spoiler

I think the interactions work well here for a few reasons. 

1) Eye contact between the dolls. That gives a sense of intimacy and connection. 

2) Ami's touch on Rei's chin is a single fingertip, which makes the contact seem gentle, and Rei's chin is tilted in response to the touch. The contact is loving and not possessive or forceful. Rei is also leaning towards Ami, choosing closeness, and showing a desire for contact. Overall these elements communicate a sense that Rei is consenting to and desires Ami's touch.

3) Ami is gazing directly at Rei's face with her finger tilting Rei's chin up towards her gaze, and she's posed in a way that indicates a reaction. Her hand on her chest indicates breathlessness. If you combine those elements I think it communicates a sense that Ami finds Rei breathtaking. 

4) It helps that both dolls are smiley face sculpts for this type of scene, but for a boy girl scene you might want the boy to be more serious in expression. 
 

What I am getting at is given the challenges dolls represent as hard plastic representations of human beings, it's really important that the doll be communicating with the other doll, or in the case of solo photos, the doll should communicate with the viewer. In the image above Ami & Rei aren't posing beside each other, they're interacting, and to do that each doll has to respond to the actions of the other doll through her pose and expression.

In the photo with the cushions there is a similar effect with Ami's fingers in Rei's hair, and Rei posed in a way the makes her seem to be moving towards Ami. Her legs are posed in way that conveys forward energy starting at the feet and moving through the body. Is she just really intently into what Ami is saying, or is she about to jump Ami's bones?

 

21 hours ago, ragnamuffin said:

Anastasia    I don’t really know the source material, but in our family she’s the outgoing oneesan.

Originally Ana is a fairly level headed personality. The main charm point is probably Uesaka Sumire's faux russian accent with her, the way she pronounces Rrrranko is sort of adorable. In my opinion probably was not released in the most desired outfit (Project Krahe, instead of Love Laika)

 

21 hours ago, ragnamuffin said:

I’m not great at posing and don’t have any fancy equipment, so forgive the campy results.

These two subjects are like any other equipment sport, you need practice before you get actual results, unless you want to dive into the dark arts of photoshopping.

I've done a few yuri'esque sets before, but because its a big enough bother to pose one doll, I dont really do it, and again as beyondtime mentioned its trying to figure out what you can do with the limitations with the subjects:

Spoiler

casual014

"You're going to be, breakfast, lunch, and dinner....":

casual013

pink013

pink006

 

Eye contact is especially interesting, in terms of how much do you actually want to have direct eye contact with the dolls, versus how much you want to show their faces.

21 hours ago, ragnamuffin said:

Unlike the other two, I actually have played the source material for this one, but it’s a really long and complicated game with a sequel that kinda retcons some stuff, so it’s hard to pin down her character.

There is a fairly simple approach to this, Ar No Surge didnt happen... ahem... anyways, been replaying the game after I had nuked my original safe-reset save, and been thinking about Polar Memories I as an outfit, havent decided if that is actually possible in all detail or not.

But Its sort of cute busting Ion's chops with the over enthusiastic lovey-dovey responses.... which reminds me, need to discharge my Sharls again...

2 hours ago, finnleo said:

Eye contact is especially interesting, in terms of how much do you actually want to have direct eye contact with the dolls, versus how much you want to show their faces.

I especially like the first one. Ranko's pose with her eyes looking down really conveys a sense of joy at being held by her beloved. It's a great example of how the interactions between the dolls is key to pulling off that kind of photo. 

22 hours ago, finnleo said:

There is a fairly simple approach to this, Ar No Surge didnt happen... ahem... anyways, been replaying the game after I had nuked my original safe-reset save, and been thinking about Polar Memories I as an outfit, havent decided if that is actually possible in all detail or not.

Someone had one made for their SD. It’s not terrible, but I’m going to try to get Cherrymilk to make mine.

http://mekurumeiteru.net/shell.html

4 minutes ago, ragnamuffin said:

Someone had one made for their SD. It’s not terrible, but I’m going to try to get Cherrymilk to make mine.

http://mekurumeiteru.net/shell.html

Its a bit bulky if I am honest, but it is a real pain in the butt outfit to make, so... yeah.

There's just so much detail in it once you start looking, and then you will have a problem of deciding "What will do"

The feathers on the cuff's, having the fabric bits of the top be flowing enough, the engraving on the metal bits that come down from the shoulders on the top (I do have one wall tapestry I could try and lift the pattern from), similar engarving detail on the metal bits that come from the sides of the leather corselet with the ying-yang motif,  the "scout buckle" belt for the pants, the two floating metal bits at the sides that link the sides of the top from front to back, the choker-collar with the half loop at the front and metal studs at the sides.

then the in game outfit has that funky silver utility belt like thing thats probably going to be amusing to make too.

I have no idea how cherry milk (If we are talking about the same thing that makes anime outfits like kancolle, madoka magica, etc) would do a commission thing, since in general they do get a licence for their stuff.

1 hour ago, finnleo said:

I have no idea how cherry milk (If we are talking about the same thing that makes anime outfits like kancolle, madoka magica, etc) would do a commission thing, since in general they do get a licence for their stuff.

They need a license to mass produce outfits for commercial sale, but you can commission outfits from existing IPs for private use. Cherrymilk specifically asks for pictures along with the name of the series/character when getting an estimate, so it’s definitely possible.

29 minutes ago, ragnamuffin said:

They need a license to mass produce outfits for commercial sale, but you can commission outfits from existing IPs for private use.

mmm, or at least if I recall correct (I guess I shall be schooled about this if I am wrong), at the very least the event sales IP based items need to have approoval or they get tossed out of the venue.

which makes me wonder a bit that does the personal use stuff come with some disclaimer in the realm of, "We can make it, but if someone asks, you didnt get it from us."

But best of luck anyways in the endeavour.