What is Your Grail Prop?

I don't know if I have any grail props. But I do love doll furniture. I have plenty of places for them to sit. What I could really use is a nice shelving unit. It would have to be tall enough to go with my SD furniture, but small enough to hold the books and other decorations. I think a book shelf would complete the looks of some of my room scenes.

I might have just figured out how to make one while writing this. So, yay! New project!

 

Japanese-style teacups for 1/3.
I lucked out on my recent holiday and found a perfect Japanese teapot (made of metal too!) in 1/3 scale, but I only ever see Western-style teacups for BJDs in 1/3 scale...

 

Anything Oriental!

 

I love this fellows handiwork... check it out, he may be able to make it for you! oleg-shoda on instagram or olegdollchair.com

 

Unfortunately I have rather fallen in love with the Mid-century Modern chairs of Hans Wegner (Hans Wegner — danish chairs — danish architecture and design review), which are not the sort of thing you can really DIY

(Also: 1/4 scale polymer clay reproductions of certain classic French dishes. Also also: 1/4 scale genuine leather handbags. Also... but no, I'll stop there )

 

He is that talented, show him the style you would want... anyway, good luck in your search!

 

I don't doubt it! I just don't have the money to commission someone, haha

 

I’ve not really got to the stage where I take anything other than rather rushed photos but I think I would like some sort of dark almost black tortured looking throne that appears to be made of skulls and other bones.

 

Actually, I can think of several. Ranging from pretty practical to incredibly impractical.
I'd love a lot of swords, I have four (eventually 5) different sword users. Specifically a greatsword, either a longsword or a fencing sword, an o-katana for a 75, and a nodachi for a 63cm. Also I believe a katana for another 75. So plenty of swords.
I'd also like some custom guns for one of my 75s since he has very particular ones, which is about the end of my practical list of props. Unless we count a professional tattoo gun...
My impractical list of props includes a custom plague doctor mask that doesn't scratch my Korone's beautifully done faceup, a 75 sized bed, and a couple scale accurate horses for 71cm guy that can pose and hold a whole ass doll. We aren't doing the rolling hearse horse drawn carriage that would be actual madness for an SD
But yeah, things that would be cool, right?

 

My grail prop was a Winzerdoll sofa and I was lucky enough to aquire one before they sell out.

I like roomboxes, but I have no space for it and I also would need different settings to avoid getting bored of the same look.

 

So I know it's not nearly as detailed as the pic you have @animemom but a cheaper alternative to furniture for 1/3 and up dolls is pet furniture! I got this fainting couch/lounge at Ross for around $40 if I remember right. My characters are just modern humans, they didn't need anything fancy, but some pet furniture does get pretty extravagant and still seems to be cheaper than BJD furniture. You just need to check measurements because some of it is way too wide and looks very out of proportion.

Gianna is a 58cm Supia Naomi for reference.



And to answer the actual question about grail props....I have a few. Mostly, I just want a place to set up Bren's castle, but that would require some pretty specific stuff! A conversation pit, a billiards table, bean bags, a piano, a round couch, a fireplace...a skate loop! A huge round aquarium full of clown fish, a pirate bar, a stage complete with instruments....this boy doesn't know the meaning of "too much stuff."

I'd also like some 80s Barbie themed props for Bambi, tiny vintage My Little Pony, some 1/3 scale pets that look fairly realistic and...something that doesn't even exist and I have no idea how to make it happen is a hellstone for Twyla, which in her story is a "stone" with lava from the pits of hell inside. It basically looks like a glass oval/egg shaped thing with red hot lava splashing around constantly inside, and should be largish, but fit in her hand. Maybe around 2cm tall.

 

A dark wood, Victorian style, dining table (preferqably drop-leaf for space/storage reasons) and chairs in the right scale for my SD dolls (who are CHILDREN, not adults, so standard 1/3 scale is too small).

It's pretty hopeless. I have a couple fo chairs that work:

... but not the table.

I occasionally see a full-size side table or end table that might work if the legs were shortened, but my woodworking skills (and available tools) are not up to the task and I know it would sit neglected in the "never got around to" category of tasks if I were to go that route.

Teddy

 

I would love clawfoot (with actual claws at the feet) bathtubs, one that worked for my largest dolls and one for my tiniest. I own a few plastic ones, but most are too tiny for any of my dolls to look well-proportioned while laying inside or don't have the right feet. I would also love bigger than life throne chairs. I know I can get 1:6 action figures ones that would work for my OT 1:6 action figures as well as for my tiniest humanoid BJD. I really have too many props I want, for them all to be grails, but it's hard to find realistic 1:6 tea sets (or mugs/cups) that aren't plastic or chunky looking. I love realism in props, even if my dolls look like cartoon characters -- more so tea sets. (:

 

I'm not sure if this counts as a prop, but a proper ball jointed horse for my 1/4 dolls with tack and barding.

It's on my list of projects and will probably be easier now I have discovered the wonders of thermoplastic, but if I could just buy one it would be a damn sight easier.

 

I know I would use it exactly once but a drum kit! I would love to have a band set up for my minis. I'd also love a mirror vanity for either 1/4 or 1/3. In reality I would have nowhere to store those of course, but I enjoy the visions of those in my imagination at least

 

Oh, I forgot about pets! That would probably be my actual grail, moreso than the things I've already mentioned: 1/4 scale needlefelted versions of all my cats, past and present.

(Again there's various people who will do this on commission, but money... )

 

Ooh, very good question...
I think my grail prop would have to be my artificer boy's companion, a robotic ladybug. It sits on his shirt when at rest, but when it's active it helps him cast his spells and administer potions.

He's got one that I've made already here, but I'd love more detail on it, like an actual metallic body, and some way to allow the gem to split into wing cases, with actual wings beneath that could unfold...and some little faux potion tanks on the belly so he could do his job...ohhhh, if I were rich....

 

Needlefelting is actually a pretty cheap and easy hobby to get into. You can get needle felting animal kits for much less than a commission and then just use the materials to do what you want. If you're going smaller than the kits, then you'll have excess to try multiple times. Hell, even if you go the recommended size, you'll still have stuff left over. Also the stabbing is quite soothing.

I got a Siamese Cat kit on a discount because it was being discontinued from https://www.worldofwool.co.uk/collections/needle-felting-kits and despite never having done needle felting before, got a pretty good needle felted cat (with the caveat that I had to use my own wire because the one that came with it was not great) which is probably more 1/3rd than 1/4 scale, but I don't actually own any 1/3rd scale dolls to check.

 

Yeah, I totally understand why needlefelt and BJD pets are so expensive, especially custom ones, but money is tight... I did manage to get an Elleodolls Russian Toy Terrier on sale who looks so much like my own sweet baby girl did, and that was pure luck! But she's more like 1/6 scale, and all my main dolls are 1/3.

 

I was sitting here thinking my prop desires have all been fulfilled. Until someone mentioned cats... The Emerson's lack Bastet or Anubis when relaxing in the library or the camp. Would they be considered a character or a prop, hmmm.... I go look at the bjd cat options occasionally & try to settle upon the best 1/3 scale size but can't bring myself to proceed once I get to the price. ¯⁠\⁠_⁠(⁠ツ⁠)⁠_⁠/⁠¯

@Teddy , the American girl Tea cart is almost too short for my adult 60cm BJDs but is chunky enough to look proportional with the Dollstown elf & Volks sd 10 body. I've happily used one in many settings for photos. Are there any drop leaf tables offered in that market?

 

For me, it used to be chairs. It still kind of is. But I have no where to put them. Elves like to sit sometimes!

 

A 1/4 scale loom is the dream... I know it *could* be DIY-ed, but I just don't really have the space or equipment right now to do woodworking that intricate.

 

I crave a 1/3 size bicycle, but I just don't have the space really - I have a doll's pram for my child SDs and a rocking horse, but they just aren't used enough to justify the storage space, although the rocking horse is a thing of beauty, so sits on its own shelf on display. The pram is just too big, although it does look really great when the girls play with it.

Oh and I've always wanted my child SDs to have a to-scale dolls house...but again the space issue would make it prohibitive...(I have some modern young adults on one shelf and some victorian children on the other - they are supposed to be representative of generations of one family, and there has been a certain amount time travel at one point...)

And now I think of it, a friend has a perfect scale leather sofa with a button back and tiny wheels... I envy her!

 

I have been looking for a sofa/ couch /chair that's timeless but modern design for SD size (60cm-70cm dolls) and have found Minshdoll. But.. they're quite expensive. Right now im waiting to se if I want it. or find another. The quality looks great and I keep coming back to it. and have done so for over 6 months now... biggest concern is funny enough the size ( and price). where will I store that thing when it is not used and will I really be using it "enough" to justify the price...

 

My "grail" is a home with enough space that I can dedicate an entire room to dolls and crafts. Then I'll have space for things like dolly furniture!

 

Hmm I'd love my girl's sword, without needing to make it myself I know people can make custom ones, or i could buy files for a sword somewhere, but how I imagine it doesn't look like any of them, and a to scale fishing net (again I could probably make this from twine but still xD). It'd be fun to have a whole themed display area for her and her friend, but I'd need a bigger bookshelf for that, and I'm not very good at picturing what the furniture or things like that should look like.

What I'd really love, but it's not really a prop is to scale fabric for clothing, but I am not at all motivated or in possession of enough executive function to learn how to do that and build a proper loom for it lol

 

Hi Kathel - the tables for AG sized dolls are all too low to work for my fgang - they work OK as child-sized/"nursery" furniture but not for adult furniture. They need something between 1/3 scale and 1/2 scale

Even though they're close to actual half scale (a 4ft tall nine year old would be a 2ft tall BJD, roughly speaking) actual half-scale furniture looks TOO big. But 1/3 scale furniture looks too small to be adult-sized for them.

I have a large craft room (sewing mostly) but there's not enough space for dolls in there too

Teddy

 

I would like a laboratory and a huge cage for SD. And a roombox in the shape of an industrial loft apartment with columns and giant metal windows.

 

A 1/3 Kawasaki Ninja. I'd make room, somewhere...

 

A queen-sized bed. I never see those for dolls