Why
did we create MiniEwan©? Well, for some years now we've
been collecting and making miniatures as a hobby (visit
More Mini Creations
to see some pre-MiniEwan© stuff). It was just by lucky
chance that our favorite actor could be merged with our
favorite hobby. We have always been driven by creativity
and humor. Ewan, being the kind of man and actor he is has
given us some great inspiration to work with. He is definitely
unique, as is our hobby.
MiniEwan©
is comprised of the head from the 12" Obi-Wan Kenobi
action figure from EP1 and the body of a jointed Ken doll.
The process of getting Obi-Wan's head to go onto the Ken
body is quite complicated. For the Mark Renton/Duncan doll
I had to have $300+ worth of stitches at the emergency room
from slicing my finger open with an exacto knife. YUCK!
In order to customize each doll, including MiniEwan's©
costars, sometimes we have to carve with an exacto knife,
sand, buff and paint until they "become" the character.
We re-root the hair when necessary (that can take up to
5 hours) and make costumes, props and sets until it all
comes together. It's like a treasure hunt. We search
flea markets, swap meets, thrift stores, toy shops and online
merchants for faces and bodies that match as closely as
possible the characters we need, as well as props, pieces
and parts. We hope to sculpt our own heads someday (and
possibly bodies too). The materials needed to do so can
be expensive and the process very difficult. There are certain
characters we just can't get without custom sculpted heads.
But for now, we don't have the time or money to start that
process, and we always seem to find the dolls we need for
even some to of the most unusual characters.
The perfect example of a character we never thought we'd
find the perfect doll for, was Toulouse Lautrec.
MiniToulouse started out as one of
the InSync marionette dolls. We're not familiar with their
names, so we're not sure which one he is. |
Being
a marionette he was very loose so we had to wrap elastic
around all of his joints in order to pose him. We carved
his hair down and re-painted him, enhanced his eyes and
made his outfit and accessories. It was amazing to see him
transform into Toulouse before our eyes!
Above
is a photo of our Zidler doll in the process of being created.
He is now complete, and we just need to finish our cancan
girls to get some shots done and posted. He was given a
stuffed tummy, his red coat and outfit and his facial hair.
We used a GI, Joe "safari" doll with similar features
to Jim Broadbent. The lady doll in the back (from the Drew
Carey show) is in the process of becoming the can can girl
in pink pocadots.
We've
had numerous requests to sell our MiniEwan© dolls,
and though we would love to, there are several factors that
prevent us from doing so. The Obi-Wan dolls we use are hard
to come by now, not to mention the image rights both with
using a Star Wars figure as well as Ewan's image. Also,
we just don't have time to keep up with all of the requests.
For these reasons we will make no exceptions. We
would be glad to assist anyone who wants to make their own.
We will offer advice in whatever way we can. Please don't
hesitate to email
us with any questions. Others have already been hard
at work making their very own custom MiniEwans©. Go
check out our new section Created
By You and get inspired!
We
would like to give special thanks to those who have led
us to sources for Friendly Plastic which we use to prepare
the heads for attaching to the bodies. Also, for those who
have created their own MiniEwan© dolls, both featured
here on the site and otherwise, we've totally enjoyed helping
you out. Keep up the great work! ~Nada & Nettie
|
