Modifying Elf Ears into Human Ears?

From memory (as I don't have elf-eared ones anymore) I think it would be pretty easy. Only thing is, when you sand back there might not be much of a fold/ridge at the top of the ears, but then both that and the elf ears can be hidden under the wig. A bit of tinted apoxie and also be used to reconstruct the missing ridge.

 

I realize tons of people can make or substitute regular ears, but is it possible to sand them down and shape them into regular ears?

Really, I'm just quite curious. I would also never ever do this by myself, but ask/commision someone else whose had experience with modding. The particular head I would have in mind would be a CP Juri....I love the doll to death, but I don't need her to be an elf for me.

So, any and all help would be greatly appreciated!

 

It could be done.... and if the customizer is good then they'll draw lines on the ears first to show where they should sand... and measure and what not. And if they do mess up then you could easily have them fix it so the ears are equal in size and shape using the same method they use to put on elf ears. But good luck turning your little girl into a human! >^^<

~suppi

 

*looks at her Juri head*

hmm.. I can see a problem with this particular ear design.. the curve at the top of the ear is going to look a little strange with the way the front overlap sits (does that make any sense?)

Also.. the ears on Juri tend to stick out from the side of the head a bit.. this is ok for an elf.. but do you really want a human ear sticking out from a wig??

I am not against the idea.. just trying to point out some things you might not have noticed.

Be well

Carol

 

For instance.. if there was a sculpt i really like.. but he only comes with elf ears..

would it be possible to change that to normal regular shaped ears?

I searched "modding ears" but didnt find anything, so sorry if i missed a similar thread

 

I have a Serendipity Sharmin- She comes with three sets of interchangeable ears (human, short elf, and long elf). I decided to make her short pair of elf ears into a human ears.
All I did was take a watercolor pencil and outline the shape I wanted. I then took an exacto knife and careful got rid of most of the excess. Then, I just sanded like crazy.
It really wasn't hard at all (trust me, if it had been, I wouldn't have been doing it! I'm a scaredy cat). Her ears look like normal ears- no one would even know any different

 

So, I've read a lot about people putting elf-ears ON their doll, but nothing about getting rid of them. As long as I follow the safety precautions that go with sanding reisin, it should be OK to just sand elf-ears down to normal-shaped ears, right?
My mom is afraid the ears would be hollow or something, which I sort of don't think they would be. But is there anything I should know before trying this? I heard somewhere that it's better to use damp sandpaper so there isn't as much reisin dust floating around. Is that true?
And what type of sand paper would I use?

--The doll I want to try this on is Bobobie Mei. She'll be the very first "tall" dolly I'll be getting! Yay!

(PS this is my first post, so if I've done something wrong or posted it in the wrong place, I'm sorry.)

---Thank You!

 

I've seen someone changed their doll's elf ears to human somewhere. (I'll update it when if I do find it.)

I wouldn't think the the ears would be hollow. o__O
I would go with a wet sand paper 'cause resin can do permenent damaged if inhaled in its dust form.
As for sandpaper... I would take a course one like 200(?) then take it finer to about 1000 to 2000. Though you can cut it off, but I've forgotten what someone has used to do that. orz

 

They should certainly not be hollow This wouldn't be uncommon for a porcelain doll, which is most likely what your mother was thinking of when mentioning it, but resin ears are definately solid, as are resin fingers and toes, unlike most porcelain dolls.

To sand it wet, you need to get water resistant sandpaper, specifically. You can ask for 'wet sanding' sand paper at the craft or hardware store and they should be able to help you.

Just make sure to get the finest 'grain' of paper possible. Sand with gentle, rounded motions and be careful to check constantly as you work so you don't sand too far.

Other than that, just gently round the ear down to a normal length and make sure the edges are flush Good luck!

 

Sure you can change elf ears to human, it's a lot easier than the other way around, in fact. I'd start by cutting anything excessive off with wire-cutters and then use a scalpel to get closer to the human ear shape. Once you get it pretty close you can start sanding. I'd start with "medium" 3m sanding sponges and then progress to fine, then superfine. The ears won't be hollow, but there can be the occasional air bubble.
Good luck

Raven

 

I'd wet the head as well as the sandpaper, just to minimize on resin dust. And I've used X-acto knives to cut resin (cutting through thick eyewells to open eyes), and I'm sure it would be easy to use that first to cut off the majority of the tip, then sand. You could draw in the desired shape on the ear with a watercolor pencil (so it can easily wash off), and then cut. Though, of course, the safest (and slowest) way would be to sand methodically. Good luck!

 

Of course you can mod the ears to be more human in shape. In the mini discussion sub forum, in the bobobie discussion thread there's even a Mei who has had it done, and she's simply lovely with human ears! Just as lovely as she is with elf ears. Sanding down ANYTHING on a doll, though, takes time, and patients, and a close, careful eye kept on what you are doing to be sure you don't take off too much resin while you work. Someone last month also posted in this section about an elf ear removal mod they did that turned out amazing. If you can find it, you might be able to ask them specifically what they did to get the results they did.

 

I've done this, it's not all that hard.. here's the link to my thread

http://www.denofangels.com/forums/showthread.php?t=289882

I agree, cut off the excess, shave the shape you want (I used an Xacto knife), and then sand til it's smooth. I didn't have to sculpt a top fold, it just kinda appeared there (still not sure how) but depending on the original sculpt, you might have to.

EDIT: being the dork that I am, I didn't realize you are also doing this to a bobobie, in which case I can definitely tell you that the ears are not hollow, and though I don't know this sculpt off the top of my head, the folds will also probably "appear" there if you do it the way I did... bobobie's ears are bigger than other ears (much, MUCH bigger than my migidoll ears) and not as detailed in sculpt, so yeah.. modding them is pretty easy. If I as a total modding newb could do it, anyone can.

In case you are wondering, the first ear took me 2 hours (just cause the ear tip took forever for me to cut off), the second took me an hour (since I had the hang of it), I'm sure if I did it with a sharper utensil, it would be even quicker.

 

A friend and I did it on my CP Juri B a while back. It was fairly simple and straightforward - all we used was some wet low-grit sandpaper, and sanded very slowly to keep the shape of the ear. We moved on to finer-grit paper to smooth out the resin later on. Super-easy.

 

Oh wow, this thread makes me happy. I have a light tanned Boboie Mei that I have been wanting to sand the ears down since I got him. I'm so glad I came across this. Even though the resign is tanned through the resin, would there be any issues with sanding and cutting the ears? Just curious.

 

There could be a 'marbeling' effect, where the resin underneath is lighter, or the color isn't even all the way through the doll. It's not AS likely in the light tan BBB/RS dolls as it is in their colored resins, or especially the dark tan/chocolate (the reason it has to be special ordered, or one of them) but there is still a chance of it happening. I would think that on the ears, though, it's not going to be a problem, or not a noticeable one, given how relatively thin the resin there is compared to other parts of the doll...there's not much 'room' for drastic color differences, if that makes sense.

 

So the only fine sandpaper I could find was a pack of 200-600 grade at the hobby store. It came with five sheets- 200,300,400,500,600, and I was wondering because I don't want to mess this us, are those grades ok? When should I use which? I imagine to use 200 to sand down, and then 600 for the finishing touches? I'm thinking of using the 600 for the parting lines on my other dolls, but i wasn't sure. Thanks. ^_^;

 

ah, no be careful with that 200, that's some gritty stuff. I recommend cutting off the real excess of the ear, then using 400 to get the right shape, but it would be best if you could finish with something finer. If your head is white skin, you can get away with finishing with 600 cause the whiteskin hides the fine scratches, but if you're working on anything else, you really want that finegrade stuff. Ace Hardware by my house only sells the 1000+ (I can't remember the exact grade) in single sheets. They have packs of the rest, but no packs of anything that fine... they have a few shelves of single pieces though, and 1000 was one of them.

 

My doll's head is a light tanned bobobie/resinsoul mei. I've looked almost everwhere and no one sells anything finer than 600. T_T

 

I went to Walmart, and got a pack that had grits between 600 and 2000! It's definitely possible to find very very fine grits, just ask for craft sandpaper, or sandpaper for furniture refinishing. Those go really fine, because any scratches on wood will catch every point of stain.

 

I've thought about that a lot, I know some dolls come with other ears and stuff though, I saw how they went in and there seemed to be small slots, I don't know how else to shave them down or get other ears.

 

Ok so Walmart by me had NOTHING finer than what I was able to get. So I used a exacto and popped pieces off. I used a 285 to sand them down and a 600 to smooth it out and they came out perfect!! This is my first time doing this and it only took me like a hr and a half for both ears!
Before:

After:

Excuse the low lighting, I had a lamp I was working under and my camera didn't like it. Yes it is a boy Mei, and btw there was NO marbling! It made me so happy!
Thanks for all your help guys!

 

How about trying to make Resinsoul Ju's ears human? is it possible? i couldnt see any creases inside the ears of Ju so im afraid if someone tried it, the ears may look like a mice's.

what do you think?

 

Maybe! If there's not enough creases, you could sand it down to a point and add on with epoxy sculpt?

 

that is nice.
i really like ju, but i cannot seem to find enough photos of her here.
the search thing doesnt allow it.

thank you!
im thinking of getting a resinsoul for my first doll

 

I've sanded down my BBB sprites ears, and my Felix Brownie's ears from elf to human. I used my dremel (well my dad did). They don't look perfect, but they still look really nice.

 

Car detailing shops carry VERY fine grit sandpaper, the one in my town had up to 2000

 

What about a MNF Karsh?
the face itself perfectly matches a charrie of mine, but he needs human ears :/
but the thing is, i'm afraid these elf ears in particular are not quite the right shape:

not my photo, but owner posted it as reference so I think it's ok
I'm afriad they're a little to elfish. xD

 

^_^ I did that to my Karsh.

http://www.denofangels.com/forums/showthread.php?421410-Karsh-Elf-Human-ear-mods

 

Hello! I'm planning to human-ear my new Pukifee Bonnie. It seems like she's far to small to cut any off... do you think that she could be altered whoely with sanding? To keep control on such a small head I'm thinking it may pay for me to use a fingernail file, and then a 4 step fingernail buffer to smooth it out...

Thoughts?

8^)

 

Mayonnaise: That should work just fine. It would just take more time, as you not only have to go slow anyway, but would really have no choice but to go slow with the materials you want to use. Just make sure you have proper respiratory protection while working!

 

I did it!!!


Before Modding... by MayonnaiseJane, on Flickr


Materials by MayonnaiseJane, on Flickr


Completed Mods by MayonnaiseJane, on Flickr

8^)

 

Aw! They turned out so CUTE! The shapes of their little ears are just DARLING!

 

BUMP! Has anyone else done this on any more dolls ?
Interested to see results !

 

Hi, sorry if this is the wrong place to ask this, but has anyone ever removed a doll's ears completely, so they just have bare sides of their heads? I haven't been able to find anything like this, although I'm sure it has been/could be done, which probably has something to do with "ear" not being accepted as a search term on here.

 

I have removed ears completely, now granted I wanted them intact. I removed them and re attached them up higher (Na'vi mod) but I used a narrow bladed saw to remove them completely. Then I sanded down a bit and everything was flush.

 

Oh perfect! I didn't think it would be so easy. Eventually, I would really like to own MNF Chloe and Karsh. But I wanted him to have human ears to match hers... I assumed it would be really difficult to do. :P

 

I'm really glad I found this thread! I've fallen for the RS Long sculpt, but I'm not sure if I'm going to like the elf ears, so I'm glad I found a thread with info on how to do it.

 

Thanks for posting this. My first doll is a DF-H Ella Elf and I definitely want human ears. It's great to find out that this will be an easy mod and I'm not as scared to do it now. I'll post pictures when I do it!

 

I ordered my first twins and at first i was not aware that they had unhuman ears. It didn't bother me because i knew there would be a way i could fix it but i was worried about how it would turn out. I'm so thankful for this post. Knowing there are others in the same position as me who want human ears and were able to make that happen! I wont be getting them for at least 6 months but i know when i do that will be one of the first things I'll be doing. And when i do i'll be sure to share the outcome!

You can see how in their pictures its quite hard to see the ears Q.Q and there was no head picture without wig to see, but i don't mind they are just so freaking cute!

 

So glad this post exists, I just ordered an elf-eared minifee but his ears are way too big for me, I'll be coming back to this post in a few months