#Tag · 𑐴𑐶𑐟𑐶

Steph (they/them) @astronomerritt@hachyderm.io · 11 hours ago

Content Warning

Photo of a small tabby cat, loaf-shaped, on a pale laminate wood floor under a dark blue plastic chair.

J. Steven York @JStevenYork@catodon.social · 7 days ago

Content Warning

I turned in the latest installment of my “Minions at Work” photo comics to Pulphouse Fiction Magazine today, allowing me some time to work on building some Minions props, a process that’s a lot more relaxing that doing comic layout and dialog writing.

One ongoing element of my comics is that most of them incorporate one or more "Minion Cats," even if they aren't integral to the plots or jokes of that comic. The premise is that, due to a lab accident, Minion cat (there was originally only one) has become in space, time, and now, the multiverse, and they pop in and out of existence at will, sometimes "many" of them at once.

The cats are “played” by hand painted and sometimes customized plastic cat figures decorated in a “Minion uniform” pattern. The originals originated as a bag of toy cats I ordered from Amazon. Later, I ordered a whole BOX of the same cats from a seller who supplies prizes and favors to carnivals and fairs. With extras, I started cutting them up, swapping parts, and adding limited articulation to some like turning heads and movable tails. A few others are actually 3D printed.

 But before I found that carnival supplier, I ordered a lot of other cats on-line hoping for alternate poses to use. Instead, I discovered that most listing for these things are vague or inaccurate in describing the size, and ended up with several assortments of cats that were too small. And thus, came the idea for "minion kittens." I started painting a few, and finished exactly one, before putting it aside as being very difficult. My hands aren't that steady, some some of the "Minion" pattern is pretty fidgety.
But recently I discovered "brush tip" markers for art and calligraphy and wondered if they could be used for painting details on action figures. Tonight I tried it out, and so far, pretty good. I made some slips, but it made it MUCH easier to paint the details on the smaller cats. I don't know of the paint will fade or rub off. Only time and further experiments will tell. But I'm happy with things so far.
In related news, I today and realized that our new shorthair cat, Notty, is a very good physical match for Minion cat. I pulled out a tape measure and sure enough, she's an almost exact scale match for her 1/6th scale counterparts. I can use photo reference of her to design future custom cats, and to figure out better carrying positions and poses for my 12" action figure characters. I asked my wife if that made Notty tax deductible, but she just laughed...

#minionsatwork #pulphousefictionmagazine #Minioncats #notmycat #nottycat #catstodon #catsofmastodon #cats #minatures #comics #photocomicsl