The Nevermore
Room Box
As you know (Bob), I have a running gag that
my Muse spends most of her time in Bali, and only swans into
town when she's tanked on mojitos. As it turns out,
her latest drunken visitation came while I was reading an
article in Miniature Collector about recreating existing
scenes from books/movies/etc. as room boxes.
All of a sudden, this giggling voice slurred
into my ear, "Ya know...you could do a scene from NEVERMORE as
a room box."
"Mm, yeah, I could. Be a lot of
work, though."
"You've been whining about not getting
to build anything all year. Just do it. And get
me another mojito."
She had a point, dammit, so I tossed her
a bottle of Parrot Bay and hit Through
The Keyhole for the necessary implements, then got to
work.
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Yes, this
is really how I work -- I don't do neat. Good closeups
of Jeffrey Combs in and out of costume as references
for the Poe doll are taped up (and oh, my God, but I
need bifocals because I was studying a picture/taking
my glasses off/working on the doll/putting my glasses
on/studying a picture/taking my glasses off *arrrgh*
until I just wanted to kill myself), various tools and
accoutrements are on either side of the table, paints/stains/varnishes
on the box at the back, a roll of paper toweling to hand
because I ALWAYS spill something, and my three stand-ins
for Poe at the ready. |
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The stand-ins:
the Doctor, so that I could see what a male figure
would look like in the room, my EA Poe action figure
so I could see how the dark coloration would work with
the lighting, and Sailor Moon so that I could see how
a doll in proper scale (5.75", which in full size
would be 5'8", the correct height for both Jeffrey
and Poe) would work against the stage set and furniture.
"But Melanie," I hear you ask, "why
didn't you just make the Poe doll first, then base
the set and furniture against him?" Because, gentle
reader, I've never made a doll before from scratch,
much less a character doll that actually had to look like
someone, so I chickened out and decided to do the easy
stuff first. |
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The box base
is a Real
Good Toys room box kit made from MDF; after I ran
through a couple of external decoration possibilities,
the Bodacious Brit suggested I make it look like an antique
Victorian display case to match the period of the play. I
wound up sheathing the box in cherry veneer, then added
a Bombay mahogany stain and brass corner fittings, and
BB pronounced it appropriately Victorian. |
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Next step
-- constructing the stage in miniature. It's designed
to copy the NEVERMORE set, with black walls, ceiling
and proscenium, a black curtain on stage right and two
red velvet curtains framing the stage. While building
the framing supports, I realized that a stage set really
should have working lights (this may have been another
rum-scented suggestion, I dunno). So I ran Cir-Kit lighting
tape along the walls and connected it to a battery pack
beneath the stage (the stage front is designed so that
it slides up, allowing the battery pack to be replaced
as necessary), popped a rocker switch into the side wall,
then attached two adjustable spotlights to the back wall.
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An additional
strip of lighting tape under the flooring of the stage
would power an electrified candlestick, because miniaturists
develop situational OCD after a while and if Poe had
a lighted candle during the play, by God he would have
a lighted candle in the room box. |
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Once the
interior was finished, it was time to build the furniture
and Poe figure. I attended two more performances
so that I could sketch furniture details and study
Jeffrey's costume (it did occur to me that he might
wonder, "Who is that strange redhead in the front
row and why is she staring at my clothing?"),
then started construction. |
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The lectern
is made of brass strips and rods twisted with jewelry
pliers, a vise and brute strength, then fastened together
with JB-weld metal epoxy and coated with silver enamel
and a light coat of matte black for a pewter effect. |
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The chair
is a combination of wood and brass with a faux grain
finish (I tried to turn chair arms and legs to look like
the original -- the less said about that, the better),
and the table was purchased and stained to look like
the full-sized version. |
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After the
furniture was completed, I built the Poe doll. This
is my first doll, and considering how I was almost
paralyzed with panic when I started working on him,
I'm extremely pleased at how he turned out.
The head base and copper wire armature for the body. |
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The head,
hands and feet are sculpted from Fimo; the face is based
on promo pictures for NEVERMORE and Jeffrey's blessedly
detailed head shots from FedCon. |
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Poe's head
after baking. And with ears. |
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The scale
layout for Poe's body -- 5.75" tall (5'8" in
full scale terms), with the appropriate points for shoulder
height/breadth, waist, groin, and knees. His arm span
is also 5.75" wide, equalling his height (if you
think of The Vitruvian Man by da Vinci, it'll
make sense). |
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Poe's hair
and mustache are black viscose, and Poe's clothing is
made from white and black cotton batiste, black 1/16
inch ribbon (for the neckcloth), ¼ inch black
velvet ribbon (for the coat lapels), and brown 1/16 inch
ribbon (for the suspenders). |
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And yes, there's
a flask of rye in his jacket pocket. |
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In fact, there
are a couple of Easter eggs scattered throughout the
room box, including a tribute to messers Gordon
and Paoli. What can I say -- I like my miniatures
with a bit of whimsy. |
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The
final touch was to add a decorative brass plate to
the bottom of the plexiglass window, reading:
Commemorating the
premiere of NEVERMORE,
starring Jeffrey Combs, written by Dennis Paoli, and
directed by Stuart Gordon,
at the Steve Allen Theater, Hollywood, CA, 2009 |
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I gotta say,
I'm pleased with the results. Best of all, the
recipient was pleased, too. |
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