Talky Tina finished 5/1 New pics/video added to first post

[Bizarro Lois]

Re: Starting to work on Talky Tina - Making progress!

Had a good time disassembling the Wanda doll tonight, thanks to some advice from a non-member I met throught the Brikette forums(thanks Pat!). I'll post more about making Talky Tina when I get a chance to finish removing the last bit of plastic around the neck, cleaning the moving parts, and attaching Brikette's head, arms, and legs.

 

[defstartrooper]

Re: Talky Tina - Lots of progress pics!

I think the chicken head knob was a release for the mechanism, key to coil the spring and the chicken head let the mechanism unwind, like a clockwork on/off switch.

 

[Bizarro Lois]

Re: Talky Tina - Lots of progress pics!

I think the chicken head knob was a release for the mechanism, key to coil the spring and the chicken head let the mechanism unwind, like a clockwork on/off switch.

That's a possibility, but the innards I'm using aren't set up that way. The spring winds from the side. I don't know how to make the mechanical parts from scratch, and I have not been able find any dolls that wound up with a key in the back. They all seem to be wound from the hip, possibly because of the way the spring was connected to the limbs. If I ever find a way to make one that seems more correct, I would love to do so. But for the limited amount of information available, I think I've made some pretty good guesses. I slid the new arms on earlier, and it looks great.

 

[Firespray]

Re: Talky Tina - Lots of progress pics!

Thanks for all the progress pics. I loved seeing the internal mechanism of the Walking Wanda doll.

 

[Bizarro Lois]

Re: Talky Tina - Lots of progress pics!

I will soon have some videos on YouTube on the mechanism. Now I wish I had known how to film with my digital camera before I took the doll apart.

 

[NakedMoleRat]

Re: Talky Tina - Lots of progress pics!

That doll always freaked me out. So much that I can't watch the episode to this day! :lol

 

[Treadwell]

Re: Talky Tina - Lots of progress pics!

I'll probably spray some WD40 inside to keep everything working.

WD-40 is more of a cleaner than a lubricant. Use a proper lubricating oil, like the kind that comes in a tiny tin bottle that you might use for your sewing machine.

Great progress pics!

 

[rollerboi]

Re: Starting to work on Talky Tina - Making progress!

Wow. I am following this thread with fascination, so please..! Keep up the excellent work and the updates! :thumbsup

 

[Deric]

Re: Talky Tina - Lots of progress pics!

+1

WD-40 is more of a cleaner than a lubricant. Use a proper lubricating oil, like the kind that comes in a tiny tin bottle that you might use for your sewing machine.

Great progress pics!

 

[Bizarro Lois]

Re: Talky Tina - Lots of progress pics!

I finally got the hang of making videos with my digital camera. I started filming myself doing a "Making of" thing for Talky Tina. I used a photo of the Wanda doll at the beginning, then put most of her back together, other than the pieces I dremeled off. It was kind of funny, hearing my voice explain all these parts. If it turns out, I may post the whole thing on YouTube and not just the clip of the mechanism.

 

[Bizarro Lois]

Re: Talky Tina - Lots of progress pics!

Small update. The way I had originally planned to attach the legs isn't working. In the directions I had posted, disregard where I said to leave one set of metal legs attached. They can both be removed the same way, leaving the bars that they fit over. Brikette's legs will be put on one of the bars instead.

 

[Bizarro Lois]

Re: Talky Tina - Lots of progress pics!

Well, I haven't really been working on Talky Tina much lately, with the lightsaber building contest going on, plus having projects to finish as Christmas gifts. But I have been shopping for some parts that I'll need, namely the wig. Here's my dilemma: Some of the people who I've been comparing notes with on this project, and are more knowledgeable on doll restoration, have theorized that Tina's wig should be made of human hair. These were widely available at one time, and still are to some extent. However, they are not as easy to get as synthetic wigs and are much more expensive. I'm also having trouble finding the right style, because the bangs look thinner than most of the human hair wigs I've found. I have found a synthetic wig that would be just about perfect. So if this was your project, would you keep looking for a human hair wig in the perfect style, because that would have made sense for the time period the doll was used/altered, or would you go with a synthetic one that otherwise looks correct? The only other option that I came up with is making the wig. I've never done this before, but I am experienced with doll hair and have a pretty good idea what to do. I could buy human hair(again, still might be costly) at a beauty supply place and style the wig as I want(as long as I don't mess it up). What would you do?

 

[propologist]

Re: Talky Tina - Lots of progress pics!

glad to see the progress Amy, I finally got on after watching forever

lee

 

[defstartrooper]

Re: Talky Tina - Lots of progress pics!

Tough question, how sure can they be that the wig is human hair ?
Is it a matter of it being what was widely used at the time so it makes sense or is their other tangible reasons they think it's human hair ?
Personally i would use the synthetic hair if it looks good.

 

[Bizarro Lois]

Re: Talky Tina - Lots of progress pics!

glad to see the progress Amy, I finally got on after watching forever

lee

LEE! I was wondering when I'd see you here. Glad to see you joined us! <Gooble Gobble, one of us!>

Tough question, how sure can they be that the wig is human hair ?
Is it a matter of it being what was widely used at the time so it makes sense or is their other tangible reasons they think it's human hair ?
Personally i would use the synthetic hair if it looks good.

It's a combination of both. I was looking for the orignal message to quote, but can't find it. Someone posted that the way the hair lays, and looks a little "flyaway" is a good sign that it's human hair. Also, there's the availability of human hair doll wigs back then.

 

[GeneralFROSTY]

Re: Talky Tina - Lots of progress pics!

I'm down to say that if anyone ever offerd 1:1 replica Talky Tina dolls they would be a hot seller.
But would they be in the B&W color like the bobblehead...hmmm.

 

[Imahomer]

Re: Talky Tina - Lots of progress pics!

If this ever does into being, I'd love to snag one.

Mike

 

[Bizarro Lois]

Re: Talky Tina - Lots of progress pics!

*sigh of relief that the $1 Store Lightsaber entry is done and submitted*
I'm glad that now I'll be able to get some work done on this project.
My Talky Tina will come into being, but I doubt that I'll be doing a run of them.:lol This is mostly because of the price of the Brikette and the walking dolls that were used. Plus, there's the fact that the way I accomplished the movement may not be correct. There's really no way to find out. If anyone wants to make one the same way as mine, I've done my best to document all the steps so far with photos, and I'm working on a short video as well. I would be willing to help make dresses if there's enough interest. Now, if someone here is really good with gears and mechanics, and feels like making a doll body with the same dimensions that winds up in the back, I'd be totally interested if the price wasn't astronomical.

 

[Bizarro Lois]

Re: Talky Tina - Lots of progress pics!

Haven't been able to work on Tina much lately, due to money issues and some other projects, but I went ahead and ordered a synthetic wig that will work really well for her hairstyle. I also used a little RIT dye remover on the fabric that I posted. It looks like a much better color match now, because it's more of a medium blue, and almost the exact color of grey when I take the picture in black and white.

 

[mtpalin]

Re: Talky Tina - Lots of progress pics!

Hi,

I'm curious if you've made any progress on your Talkie Tina build?