Sculpting 3D modeling?

Hey @sketchmo !
Sorry to hear about your knee! I hope it's not too painful and that it will heal soon!!

I'm currently in the process of making a 3d printed BJD, and have tried it before but never finished them (because too many things I disliked about the sculpts xD)

How do the dolls turn out when they print:
That depends on your sculpting skills as well as your printing skills (getting a print to print properly is a ton of trial and error and lots of settings testing; which is why I ask someone else to do the printong for me xD). But they come out quite close to the original sculpt. Just keep in mind to "force" important details because tiny details WILL get lost in printing. Also, the fake perspective in 3d programs isn't the most acurate, I find that the prints look a little thinner than the rendered version on the computer. So my advice would be to print out youur sculpt to see how perspective affects it IRL and then make adjustments on your 3d model (unless you like the printed result of course!)

Did they articulate well:
Again that depends... on how you modeled your joints xD My first abandonned project (a single jointed msd) actually moved quite nicely, and stood up easily. It could have done with some tweaking to have a bit more range of motion but it was still clearly acceptable. But my second attempt (a double-jointed sd) was less convicing because I thought I'd make the knees and elbow joints as double spheres and just add air-drying clay on them to sculpt the knee and elbow shapes on them (and add locks of some sorts) but that didn't work because the air-drying clay would not stick the the printed plastic -___-

So now I'm trying a 3rd doll (msd again) with double joints but hidden ones (yeah I like making it complicated for myself apparently!) and am currently pulling my hair out to figure out esthetically pleasing yet highly functional joints...
The only thing is, you never truly know if it's gonna work or not until you have the prototype in your hands... But it's definitely doable

How long did the sculpt take:
That is SOLELY dependant on your abilities. For me, and I couldn't give you an estimate of the time spent because I didn't check at all, but the actual sculpt is quite quick, it's the joint-making and cutting that is suuuuper long because you have to think a lot xD

Don't know if any of this helps...
But if you have access to a 3d printer, you should definitely try it out!

 

I've only done a head so far, but you can see digital vs. print comparison pictures on my project journal: /threads/making-shepard-my-first-head.790741/

Some of the pictures show as broken links. I have no idea why, but if you click them they should show up. As you can see, the smoothness of the print really depends on which material you choose and which materials your printer is capable of using. High-detail, smooth materials can be quite expensive, so it's best to do test prints using cheaper materials (again, within your printer's restrictions). How long the sculpt takes depends entirely on your skill and how quickly you work.

I am working on a second head that will have jointed parts on it, so we'll see how that goes once I get to that stage of creation

Download some free programs and start playing around. I'm using Sculptris for the actual sculpting, plus Windows 3D Builder for the hollowing, cutting the headcap, and other such blah blah blah. Blender is another popular alternative, though I can't seem to get the hang of it.