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kidshowvent
Veteran user
362 Posts
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Posted: Apr 28, 2012 4:17pm
Jim, you are one terrific talent!! What a great looking figure and I loved the different stages of development. Keep up the great work! You are one of our rising, figure-making stars!!
Mark
Markwade@kidshowvent.com
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manal
Inner circle
York ,PA.
1333 Posts
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Posted: Apr 30, 2012 5:14pm
Thank you Mark!
Jim
Life is too important to take seriously.
james@jamesmanalli.com
www.jamesmanalli.com
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creativemac
Special user
Tampa, FL
761 Posts
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Posted: May 4, 2012 11:01pm
Here is the latest from Jim.
Donald Woodford
"Invite a Dummy, to your next function."
http://www.woodynfriends.com
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manal
Inner circle
York ,PA.
1333 Posts
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Posted: May 5, 2012 9:51pm
Thanks for posting the pictures Donald.
This guy will have side to side eyes ( not self centering, they stay where you put them) and slot jaw.
He looks like he has been eating from the jam jar at present but should clean up nicely I hope:)
Life is too important to take seriously.
james@jamesmanalli.com
www.jamesmanalli.com
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Dickens & Dave
Inner circle
North Central Florida
1693 Posts
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Posted: May 7, 2012 7:22pm
He's looking great Jim! Nice Work!
http://dickensndave.bravehost.com/index.html
"Oh that I had wings like a dove! for then would I fly away, and be at rest."
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Bob Baker
Inner circle
1027 Posts
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Posted: May 7, 2012 9:19pm
Quote:
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On 2012-05-05 21:51, manal wrote:
This guy will have side to side eyes ( not self centering, they stay where you put them) and slot jaw.
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Jim:
May I suggest that if the eyes are not going to be self-centering, you might want a little notch or rest position in the center so that the vent can center the eyes by feel rather than having to look at the figure to see if the eyes are in the right place. The one figure I have without self-centering eyes is a pain to manipulate. Perhaps you might re-consider making the eyes self-centering.
Respectfully,
Bob
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manal
Inner circle
York ,PA.
1333 Posts
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Posted: May 8, 2012 8:48am
Thanks Dave!
Bob, thanks for the info. I may make them self centering after all. Winchell suggests in his book to make the eyes look at the vent when the control is released. Any opinions on that type of setup?
Jim
Life is too important to take seriously.
james@jamesmanalli.com
www.jamesmanalli.com
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Steve at The Dummy Shoppe
Elite user
461 Posts
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Posted: May 8, 2012 9:13am
Jim,
As a career audience member, I suggest that true self centering to the audience is the way to go. After all, it is not the vent who is paying the dummy to be there. With true self centering eyes, you are then left with the ability to make small movements with the neck to be able to stare down an individual "heckler" or someone you have a side dialogue with. Then with additional neck movement, you can still look at the vent. Eyes are the window to the soul. You want to maintain eye contact with the most important people in the room and in this case that is decidedly NOT the vent.
Steve
http://www.thedummyshoppe.com/blog
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Servante
Inner circle
1262 Posts
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Posted: May 8, 2012 10:17am
My very very first vent figure was a toy Jerry (Was for a great many of us, eh?), and the eyes were painted on to "look at the ventriloquist." Problem is, for a left-handed ventriloquist,like me, they were always looking away!
-Philip
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marshalldoll
Special user
536 Posts
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Posted: May 8, 2012 12:06pm
Winchell himself did not use self centering eyes. He did however place a pin above the eye lever to identify where the center was located. I did a blog a while back showing the actual control stick of Winchell's Jerry Mahoney figure.
Dan
www.ventriloquistcentral.com
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manal
Inner circle
York ,PA.
1333 Posts
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Posted: May 8, 2012 12:42pm
Bob, Steve , Phillip and Dan,
After pondering your comments I have decided to make them self centering and have done so. Thank you for sharing your knowledge and experences as I find it very helpfull.
Dan,
The blog post you mention is very informative and I had originaly intended to install similair mechanics. I hope to do so on a future figure.
I have also made adjustments so the figure now is able to look further to both left and right.
Phillip, That was funny about your first figure. Did you repaint the eyes or did you find another way to deal with it?
Jim
Life is too important to take seriously.
james@jamesmanalli.com
www.jamesmanalli.com
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Servante
Inner circle
1262 Posts
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Posted: May 9, 2012 9:53am
Jim,
I tried to work with the eyes looking away, but finally repainted them at center. While I was at it, I completely reworked his face and added a wig!
-Philip
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creativemac
Special user
Tampa, FL
761 Posts
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Posted: May 24, 2012 4:31pm
Here's the latest from Jim.
What a creative guy!!
Donald Woodford
"Invite a Dummy, to your next function."
http://www.woodynfriends.com
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Aussie
Elite user
Australia
477 Posts
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Posted: May 24, 2012 5:39pm
He's coming along nicely. I see he'll have wooden feet instead of fabric ones?
"... and then there's Ben & MJ"
visit our website
http://www.ventriloquist-benandmj.com
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manal
Inner circle
York ,PA.
1333 Posts
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Posted: May 24, 2012 7:09pm
Thank you Donald!
Thank you Aussie.
He has wooden feet and hands, self-centering wooden eyes with inset glass irises/pupils. The eye control is on the back of the Oak headstick and is operated by the thumb side to side. The handcarved Maple mouth lever is on the front and is operated by the finger of choice.
Next , paint, wig and body.
Jim
Life is too important to take seriously.
james@jamesmanalli.com
www.jamesmanalli.com
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Aussie
Elite user
Australia
477 Posts
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Posted: May 24, 2012 7:18pm
Quote:
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... Next , paint, wig and body.
Jim
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Looking forward to seeing that
"... and then there's Ben & MJ"
visit our website
http://www.ventriloquist-benandmj.com
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creativemac
Special user
Tampa, FL
761 Posts
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Posted: May 25, 2012 12:33am
Aside from the controls, everything else basswood?
Donald Woodford
"Invite a Dummy, to your next function."
http://www.woodynfriends.com
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manal
Inner circle
York ,PA.
1333 Posts
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Posted: May 25, 2012 10:39am
The head, hands and feet are all basswood.
The eyes with inset glass irises are of a much harder wood.
Jim
Life is too important to take seriously.
james@jamesmanalli.com
www.jamesmanalli.com
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aguiloj
New user
Orlando, FL
97 Posts
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Posted: May 25, 2012 10:46pm
What a beauty!! Great job. Keep us posted.
Jorge
Learning the Art of Ventriloquism
One Step at a Time
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kidshowvent
Veteran user
362 Posts
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Posted: May 26, 2012 12:34am
Once again, Jim...what a beautiful job! You are on your way to being one of our new shining stars in figure making!!
Mark
markwade@kidshowvent.com
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creativemac
Special user
Tampa, FL
761 Posts
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Posted: May 26, 2012 4:45pm
Jim,
what do you use to cut the mouth and eyes?
Donald Woodford
"Invite a Dummy, to your next function."
http://www.woodynfriends.com
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manal
Inner circle
York ,PA.
1333 Posts
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Posted: May 26, 2012 5:49pm
Thank you Jorge and Mark!
Donald ,
I cut the mouth out on the bandsaw pictured in the background of the photos above. Conrad Hartz generously shared during his interview on Ventriloquist Central that he does it this way and it was how Frank Marshall did it. I hope to someday own a Hartz figure!
I actually lived in S.C. years ago when I was in the Navy and my father lives there now. It would have been great if I had known then what I know now and had been able to learn from Mr. Hartz!
I carve out the eye openings with carving gouges and knives. The eyes themselves are hardwood balls with glass inset irises.
Hope to have it painted in the next few days.
Hopefully more pics soon.
Jim
Life is too important to take seriously.
james@jamesmanalli.com
www.jamesmanalli.com
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Aussie
Elite user
Australia
477 Posts
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Posted: May 27, 2012 4:35pm
When it comes to adding hair remember this little ditty my Mum use to say...
"Blondes are faithful, brunettes are true, but never trust a redhead whatever you do"
(of course she was saying this to my father as he was heading out the door to meet up with his redheaded girlfriend  )
"... and then there's Ben & MJ"
visit our website
http://www.ventriloquist-benandmj.com
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creativemac
Special user
Tampa, FL
761 Posts
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Posted: May 30, 2012 9:57pm
It's either Clark Kent looking for a phone book, or Jim's figure in the making.
You got me, it's Jim's figure.
Donald Woodford
"Invite a Dummy, to your next function."
http://www.woodynfriends.com
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manal
Inner circle
York ,PA.
1333 Posts
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Posted: May 31, 2012 5:28pm
Just wanted to see how well the ears held glasses
Life is too important to take seriously.
james@jamesmanalli.com
www.jamesmanalli.com
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Dickens & Dave
Inner circle
North Central Florida
1693 Posts
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Posted: Jun 1, 2012 12:25pm
He's really looking great Jim! (but I'm not at all surprised)
http://dickensndave.bravehost.com/index.html
"Oh that I had wings like a dove! for then would I fly away, and be at rest."
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manal
Inner circle
York ,PA.
1333 Posts
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Posted: Jun 1, 2012 12:40pm
Dave!
Where ya been buddy!
Thanks and glad to hear from you!
Jim
Life is too important to take seriously.
james@jamesmanalli.com
www.jamesmanalli.com
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creativemac
Special user
Tampa, FL
761 Posts
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Posted: Jun 11, 2012 10:33pm
Here's another peek at Jim's masterpiece in the making.
Donald Woodford
"Invite a Dummy, to your next function."
http://www.woodynfriends.com
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manal
Inner circle
York ,PA.
1333 Posts
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Posted: Jun 11, 2012 11:00pm
Painting is still in progress.
Thanks for posting the pics Donald!
Jim
Life is too important to take seriously.
james@jamesmanalli.com
www.jamesmanalli.com
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creativemac
Special user
Tampa, FL
761 Posts
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Posted: Jun 11, 2012 11:07pm
Here you can see them all at once.
Donald Woodford
"Invite a Dummy, to your next function."
http://www.woodynfriends.com
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