Halvey

[Thom Bennett]

We used to use Halveys these at college to learn so I thought I would buy one, with arms to learn and practice my cutting of waistcoats and stuff.  I can add bits to change the shape of the body so I can try to understand the relationships of different body types to the necessary pattern alteration.

Half Scale Dummies

[Henry Hall]

Hmm, 100-odd quid for only a half-size dummy? I have two dummies at size 46 and 48 chest (euro sizes) and they take up a fair bit of space.

[Thom Bennett]

They're great if you are learning as it is quicker, also if one is a designer as they are perfect 50:1 scale dummies so all one need to do is scale up to normal size.  I started learning by wanting to make clothes for myself however when I started on this waistcoat draft I realised that I  might find it easier to work in the way I did as a student, all those years ago.  I am getting a couple of strange results from the SB corpulent waistcoat, so I thought it might be a wiser approach to work as a student again and draft in half scale.  It is quicker to produce a garment, and, it uses less cloth so mess-ups aren't too costly; I also have loads of scrap to use.  I have a full size adjustoform tailors dummy which I am adding some lumps and sags to in order to help me learn to fit.

Apart from all that guff, I was searching for an original antique one and came upon this website, it's a shame that they don't do legs for the trouser form.

[Henry Hall]

Corpulent? You don't look portly in the photos Tom

[posaune]

I knew them only for ladies.
http://www.berliner-buestenfabrik.de/images/preise/bbf_katalog.pdf
page 5  bild 9 in 1/3 or in 1/2
lg
posaune

[Thom Bennett]

We did have a wife for Halvey too, depending on what you wanted to study really.  I would love to have an original, but maybe I might try one of these. I can't tell if berliner-buestenfabrik.de/ still sell them as or any prices, sorry I don't speak German.  I have thought about finding some brave souls to cover me in tape and stop create a custom form.

I used to be 18 stone Henry, now 12, I have a lot of looseness and bumps in the wrong places.     Maybe I could try a standard draft, I do have an over developed left shoulder due to my walking stick.  I keep trying to use my right hand but I am a leftie and it is just natural to pick it up with my left one. 

[posaune]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bLT6vsfkkkI&feature=youtu.be
this is one of best videos I know about doing a dummy.
If you can't stand as long, take two chairs and stand between. Then you can lean on the backs. If there are 2 people to wrap you, you must calculate about 1 hour.
lg
posaune

[Thom Bennett]

Ah great posaune, thanks a lot m'dear.  Sadly I don't think my friends' will be so accommodating, I'll have to find another way to do it.

[lepus]

Ah great posaune, thanks a lot m'dear.  Sadly I don't think my friends' will be so accommodating, I'll have to find another way to do it.

Easiest is to get a 3D scan of yourself and calculate from the point cloud co-ordinates for an XYZ-router or milling machine to mill the shapes out of blocks of foam. Alternatively, calculate the shapes of thin slices of foam that can then be stacked to produce a (scaled or not) dummy. Calculation takes a few seconds on a computer, but I'm sure that the traditionalists who prefer to do everything by hand would happily spend four years pressing buttons on a hand calculator.
There are companies that do it all for you, if your own 3D scanner happens to be unavailable, for instance this one:
dittoform.com

[Thom Bennett]

Thanks Lepus, I'm planning on visiting the US this year so I may pop in and get a scan, with a quick search I can not seem to find a similar service in the UK.  I wonder if there is a need for this kind of service over here?

[pfaff260]

Maybe they can help you? http://www.kennettlindsell.com/
Or these? http://alvanon.com/contact-us/
Here in the Netherlands it's abit of a niche market, but you can get them.
Friends of mine had them made here. http://www.verswijveren.nl/index.htm They are perfect. Real pro.
He does it with tape aswell.

[Thom Bennett]

If all else fails then a Kennit & Lindsell model might be good place to go, thanks pfaff260, I did say it was a cursory search. I think I will give them a call.  A friend goes to the Netherlands on a frequent basis so I could catch a lift and visit Verswijveren Mode sometime, thanks for all the info.  Still on the look out for a vintage half-scale model.