Modification Opening Eyes: Widening Sleeping or Dreaming Eyes

I bought a small dremel of the Mini Moto type. I followed I think Ken Stone's instructions that he posted a while ago on the old yahoo group, but I no longer have them. :X

What I did was I drew in pencil how I wanted the eyes to look, then used a small round engraver tool to start making little dish shaped openings in the eye. I cleaned up the edges with a very sharp new exacto and some sand paper. To see how deep my cuts were getting I held it up to strong sunlight.

Ghaleon's eyes are actually sort of jagged, but once you put on the face-up you can't tell at all. :3

Just remember that the resin dust is toxic and a skin irritant. Do the sculpting outside if you can, wear long sleeves and pants, a dust mask, and a pair of goggles. Rinse off the goggles and head when you're done, wash the clothes, and throw out the mask(unless you're using one of those fancy ones with the filters... which are better for you anyway. :3).

here's a fairly good picture of Ghaleon's sleeping head.

You know... we should probably consolodate all the opening a sleepy eyed head info in one place. :S I just always forget. X3;;

 

Lolly can you be more specific on this. Do you mean you had to ... angle the resin somehow on the inside of the head for the eyes to rest properly?
I am also getting an Elf El, and plan to open that vampire's eyes so I'm just getting prepared.

 

Well silly impatient me used an exacto and sanded forever but if you want to be prepared get the sizer...have seen them attached to drills to make the going easier. The eyeballs need to fit in to the sockets so they look real... so a good fit is important

http://www.nationalartcraft.com/subcategory.asp?gid=8&cid=194&scid=568


Have fun, go slowly

Lolly

 

I'm going to post in here, It seems like the appropeate subject thread.

After reading thorugh all the helpfull(and instructive) posts, I feel only slightly more confident in making a destion to buy an F21 head and then alter it to look more like a Shiro...

http://www.denofangels.com/newsdf21.jpg

1) I need to know if this is possiable, and what tools I need to do this. (Besides having the guts to do it.)

2) I noticed that someone posted a doll eye-surgery tutorial, but it's in japanese, I can't read it

3) I was thinking of doing it myself, but I'm also willing to pay someone (More taleted and used to doing this kind of thing) else to alter his eyes.

List of tools and supplies:
Apoxie
Extacto knife
Ceramic knife. / engraver tool /
hand-drill (???)
dust mask

Instuctions and advice from this thread.

http://www.avesstudio.com/Products/Apoxie_Sculpt/apoxie_sculpt.html (Link doesn't wrok for me.)

 

I was just curious as to wether anyone who got a dreaming head or specifically a vampire head, if they had opened up the eyes?

I would be curious to see how well it turned out and wether or not there are people you suggest that could do eye opening for me?

I'm going to be getting a vamire EL head , and I'd like to open up his eyes so wanted to see other dreaming heads that have had their eyes modified.



Thank You!

~Allestra

 

On the elf el head, since it is somewhat open already it should be easier. Also, he has a heavy eyelid. So, it might be easier to go up to the edge of the eyelid, may keep it more natural looking. Elf El's eyes aren't completely open themselves, he has kind of a sleepy look. If it weren't so late, I'd take a pic and draw some dots on the head where I would suggest cutting to... ops:

*zombie* bed...

Tamara

 

ooh thank you for the link ref.

Maybe I could photoshop him and see whre I should getthe eyes cut to. I am not sure I want to cut it myself...to scared i think to screw it up...I dunno.

I'll have to do some researching...invest in a dremmel ..maybe make a clay cast of the head and practice on it first..

 

If you're too scared, you can ask me to do it. :3 I've opened Ghaleon's eyes and I've shaved down Ane(f28)'s head... I'm pretty comfortable with my dremel. If you want to do it yourself be sure and get a mini-moto dremel as it has a slow setting and doesn't shake very much when you use it.

Also if your dreaming head is already painted, remember that the paint will come off as you drill so you'll have touch up or repaint them afterwards.

 

I want to make HD Margo's eyes more open.. any suggestions?
would it make the size eyes she take different?

 

hmmm... first thing that came to mind when i read this was to sand it open o.o
but i'm not sure if that's "ok" ;__;!!
and yes, it may be possible that the size of her eyeball will need to be a bit bigger, since her eye will be more "open"...

 

Hi

I opened the eyes of my Elf Vamp Lishe, I used a very sharp craft knife and gently cut away inside and out , taking a very small amount at a time, then when finished I sanded with ultra fine sand paper.

hope this helps.

 

Marin's open eye sockets & Margo's half-closed eyes take the same sized eyes.

So long as you only open her eyes vertically, I believe you will be all right.

Ann in CT

 

I'm working on opening the eyes on a sleeping Shiwoo elf right now. His eyelids are actually parted just a tiny bit but there are 'dribbles' of resin in the eyewells which block the tiny opening. I just started carefully carving away with an X-acto blade between the eyelids to get started. Now I'm working on shaping the eye and relocating the eyelid fold. The trickiest part, I think, will be using a Dremel tool with a ball-sander to recreate the eyewells since they have those lumpy 'dribbles' of resin in them.

 

I also opened Ghaleon's eyes. :3 They're a little more closed than the dreaming head. I drew my lines on with pencil first so I could get an idea of how much I wanted the eyes open. Then I used a dremel tool to make the larger openings, then i used an exacto to clean it up.

 

I did it with a sleeping Chiwoo - it's fiddly and hard work, but worth it. The biggest problem (as already said) you might face is with the eyewells - the eyeball is going to sit way back from the front of the face (and it looks odd) unless you bevel the back of the eye.

 

well I did it! last night shiwoo and I sat down, put in spiderman and went to work. it took me about 2 hours maybe a little more, but I got his eyes open and smoothed. his eyes are open about as much as my el's eyes are. I just need to wait for my mom to bring me her eye beveler so I can smooth out the inside! I'll try to post pics soon.SUCCESS!...or however you spell that.... ops:

 

i used a scaple or two, small thin bladed, sand paper hard and soft, and a stone abrasive eye beveler and watercolor pencil

 

I haven't actualy opened eyes before, but I have an idea of some tools that might be of use in doing it that I haven't seen anyone mention before. I took a jewlery making class that left me with many odd tools intended for use with metal, however when I was getting ready to seperate my MSD's fingers and toes, it dawned on me that they might be useful on resin as well. Perhaps in tight places, in place of an xacto, it might be worth trying a jewlers' saw? I used an 000 blade, and it goes through the resin like a hot knife through butter, and as long as you go slow, it's easy to control. If you drill a small hole through the resin, the thin blade can easily be inserted there to start the cut. I also found the smallest half-round metal files to work wonders in sanding the dolls before you start in with sand paper.

 

Well having just opened some eyes for the first time, I used an exacto knife to shave away the resin until I had the shape and size I wanted, then sanded the BEJESUS out of the areas I had just cut to smooth them back out. In all honesty I got lazy and didn't smooth his eyes out as much as I should have...lol

Here's a picture, standard Woosoo head to the left...to more open eyed Woosoo head, center and right.


He is the sexy, no? XD!!

 

Did you just open the top lids, or the bottom lids as well?
He does look very smexy.

 

Misuka, thank you!!

Fitz, I did a little reshaping to the bottom lids, but most of the opening was done to the top lids.

 

Hi!
I'm a master of [ai].
I knew the introduction here, and I'm very surprise.
I introduce the method of the custom of my own way.
I do not think that it reads easily because I'm not good at English, so the machine was translated.
Sorry.

1
The part cut down with the watercolor colored pencil is painted out. It is careful because it is important. You may confirm the balance with a mirror.
2
It cuts down little by little right and left and alternately with the stick file. To extent in which the part painted out with the watercolor colored pencil is lightly left. The purpose is to prevent cutting down too much.
Both sides were mainly used, and "Round" was used .."..flat.. round" ..stick file.. round and flat...
3
When it is possible to cut down to some degree, the watercolor colored pencil is erased in the tissue that contains water. 1 and 2 are repeated confirming the balance again with mirrors.
4
It straightens it by about the 800th water-proof sheet of paper. It is easy to have done when the paper file is wrapped around surroundings of "Flat" of the stick file.
If it straightens after it cuts down, it cuts down and it becomes a natural eyelid ..corner that can have been done.. rounding simultaneous.
5
In addition, the balance is seen and it corrects it. As for the repetition of 4 and 5, not doing as much as possible is safe to prevent cutting down too much.
6 It ends straightening. by the 2000th

If you have a thing that you don't understand, Please ask me.
But, I understand only easy English...

 

Yutsuka...your explanation was perfect, thank you so much for sharing it with us

 

Yutsuka, for not being very good at english that was still very easy to understand.

I find it funny that I didn't ever try to find out how people go about opening eyes, and just did it. But what I did was nearly the same as what Yutsuka mentioned, the pencil, the files, and the sandpaper wrapped around a file. lol I must be a good guesser. XD!!

 

do you use the knife and scrape at the resin from an obtuse angle or is it a matter of sawing through the resin at the deepest part and shallowing it out later?

...and does it make funny noises? like...scpraing..chalk blackboard noise?

Oh!!

and um...

I dont understand the part with the wet pencil....where you erase it and draw again... ... anyone...help?

 

Well how I opened the eyes of my sleeping vamp Woosoo was I drew in the basic eye shape I wanted with a basic #2 pencil (comes off grandly with a Mr. Clean Magic Eraser), if you fill in the area with color it's easier to check for eveness, but I prefer being slight asymetry like a natural face. Once I had a basic shape picked out I started in the middle of the eyes. I started dragging my knife in the crease until it was nearly through, then poked it in the rest of the way. Once I could see the blade was through the other side I started wiggling the knife back and forth to slowly open that space up more. After many painstaking shavings of resin, you've got opened eyes. I didn't really try to get the bevelling on the eye with the knife though, it'd be too easy to take too much off. That was a job for sandpaper.

Also yes, you'll hear some funny noises when the resin is right up against the knife, squeeks, nails on a chalkboard sounds, etc...

I hope I helped at least a little.

 

Dragging your knife in the crease... makes sense

but...poking it in the rest of the way?..O.o does that work or is it more of a grinding than poking?... i dont imagine poking would work...O.o ... it sounds too jumpy.
And wiggling the knfe back and forth? so.. jiggling it around side to side as you go from a sawing action? T.T i'm so confused with these terms you've used.. (not that i've done any better) but since you mention shavings... how does that work since what you're doing is only collecting and dropping dust? shavings would be sort of ..scraping the entire eye's surface bit but bit.. like ... pencil shavings... o.o or when you scoop ice cream...the shape it makes... shavings!


or have i gotten it wrong?

T.T

 

Well when I dragged the knife over the crease that was just to thin it out, so I could get the blade through. Why get the blade through? Well to even put a scratch in the resin you've got to use a bit of pressure, enough that if you swipe over too far you'll have a lot more cleanup sanding to go around the eyes themselves. So by focusing on the middle of the eye, where the most resin is being removed, even if I went a bit too far, there's an excellent chance that piece will be shaved off anyway. And by poking I mean stabbing. Since the edges of the eyes won't be opened as far, and will be more pointed, it's easier to keep them that way right from the start.

Ok...let's see here. Eyes are horizontal, blade is put through horizonally, then moved back and forth, also horizontally until a decent sized opening is made. Enough room to move the blade around a little. Then more sawing, but angling the knife up a bit to start opening.

As for the resin removal itself, you can cut it away in small strips, if you have a really sharp blade. You could liken it to scooping ice cream sort of. The shavings curl a bit once they're off. lol When I first started I cut away small pieces, then started cutting strips (shavings) once the eye was nearly to the size and shape I wanted to smooth out the rough edges and same myself some time with sanding. lol

How's that?

 

well as above, i did get the part about dragging the knife and i can see why you'd get the blade through... more or less...
once you get through through, do you go to the middle and plummet a hole and dig it out that way or... O.o was the crease used to open the eyes up for a reason (as on the site)

... O.o so stabbing the eye... not ..sawing or anything... just..stabbing?.. like trying to hit it out? ..interesting.. .. i have no idea why you used the word since... since the stabbing takes place to open the eye.. unless you are talking about stabbing the middle rather than the sides? T.T as you can tell i'm trying to understand this.

wait wait wait... eye are horizontal..or the cut in the eyes go horizontal?... and by back and forth to you mean closer than away from you or side to side of each edge of the eye?... if so.. how ... oh.. i see.. ... so you saw until you can move the blade slightly up and start "opening" aka sawing through to open? or what?

so you dont actuall start shaving the eye until its closer to the shape you want?

 

For the stabbing, the closed eyed dolls have that line where their upper and lower lids meet, that's the line I work from. That's the one I'm always referring to. That's the one that gets the blade stabbity stab in the middle.

Yeah when I rock the blade (after stabbity stab lol) I go from tearduct to the far edge (horizonally!). Working that way helps keep the eyes a bit more pointed where the lids come together.

Maybe I should see if I have a few pictures of Varekai before I opened his eyes and I can draw on it and post that for you. Visual aids make things so much easier. Especially when I'm on crazy amounts of decongestants and can't think straight. lol

 

Ok, here's a quickly photoshopped mini-tutorial. Hopefully the lines and arrows make what I'm saying easier to understand!



Also I should mention, this one was my first eye opening. It's really not as hard as you'd think, you just have to tell yourself you're going to do it, and dive in. I'd never worked with resin before this, much less expensive, and in the case of this head, limited resin. But once you start it sort of just comes to you I suppose. When you first start cutting away and making those stab openings you get a feel for what resin is like to cut away at very quickly.

If you're still not sure about doing it yourself you could always have someone else do it (shameless plug! lol), or get a friend that you trust to help you out.

Also for the very first bout of sanding, just to clean everything up before you go back in with superfine paper to smooth it all out, I've found I like jewelry files the best. They're small, made of metal, and pretty fine. They work wonderfully for the base sanding. And since they're made of metal, they can certainly stand up to the resin.

 

yay~! visual aids helped so much T.T

I hope one day to test this out... mmm

 

i've been looking around and have seen some beautiful sleeping/dreaming head mod so that they have open eyes,

quite tempted to try,
only don't know how

can anyone help?

 

you may also want to check out my own thread ops:

http://denofangels.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=37103

 

I'm interested in getting an fcs sleeping four sister and opening her eyes a bit (somewhat in between sweat dream, which is not the same as sleeping nana which some people keep telling me is untrue, and a regular four sister) but I think it would be a shame not to take advantage of having volks paint her. So if it was possible to have them do her face up except for the eye area blushing and painting would it be possible to open her eyes? Could anyone do this?

 

If you yourself are going to open the eyes I don't see why there should be a problem whether or not the eyes are blushed, since you are going to sand them, just be careful with the coat of MSC since if you sand at the wrong angle it will peel off the face-up, either way if you have trouble with it I can fix the face-up myself, ^_^

 

I just did it on Kagari's Yder. :3 It does take some repair to the lashes of the lower lids, since they were mostly taken off, but yeah, it's possible.

 

There are only two heads here. There is a sleeping 4-sister head, which is available through FCS. And then there is Sweet Dreams Nana. There is also Sweet Dreams Nono, who you might get confused about. But there is no sleeping Nana, just sleeping 4-sister and again she is FCS exclusive. The difference, as far as I can tell, is that Sweet Dreams Nana has slightly opened eyes and was released as a full doll a couple of times.

Hope I helped clear some things up!

I am not brave enough to do such a thing but it sounds like it won't be too hard

 

How would you go about modding a doll? Maybe I'm groping about for an answer that's completely obvious, but I'm curious anyways. It seems to me that when people mod their dolls, they do things like scrape away at it with a sharp knife, or sand things down. Is this the general proceedure for opening eyes/etc?

Also, for those who have modified their dolls before, how did you go about doing it? If you were opening eyes, did you draw out the new shape of the eyes onto the doll first, and then scrape away until you reached the marks? Did you draw on paper? If anyone would like to share their steps for this process, I would appreciate it so very much.

Another modding topic - do you often cut wigs you buy to customize them? Does it scare you? xD

Thanks. ^^

 

That's about the right procedure. I used both sandpaper and knife (a Cera-Canna ceramic knife from Volks) to do my Heath's modifications. The biggest thing I did was reducing his upper lip. That was mostly sandpaper. For small parts of that area (like re-sculpting the middle), I folded a small piece of sandpaper around the tip of a toothpick. Then I went over the area with some fine-grade sanding sponges to polish it.

I opened his eyes a little with a knife, but only a tiny bit. Since it was such a small thing (maybe 1 mm at most?), I didn't bother to draw the new shape beforehand.

Cutting wigs isn't scary for me. ^^ I cut a Volks W-55 to be shorter and more angular, since I haven't seen any wig anywhere in the style I wanted. If you're worried about making a mistake, take it in small steps.

Here's a few past threads about this:
http://www.denofangels.com/forums/showthread.php?t=18247
http://www.denofangels.com/forums/showthread.php?t=23068

 

I love the Luts vampire heads, but I would like them to have open eyes instead of slits. Does anyone know if Luts will open them for me (as they do with ear piercing) and if there is a charge for doing it?

Also, on the dreaming heads, does opening their eyes make them look like the regular open eye head or do they have a different facial appearance? I like dreaming Lishe, but I want her eyes open. Should I just buy an open eye Lishe?

 

Luts will not open dreaming eyes for you; at least I've never heard of them doing it. All the open eyed dreaming dolls here have been modified by their owners or by customizers, some of which would be able to help you, I'm sure. Look in the customizers section of the marketplace.
As for the facial appearance, the eye shape basically ends up whatever you make it. Yes, it does end up looking different from regular open eyed heads, but mostly just because of the eye shape (I notice that almost all modified eyes end up rounder than default open eyes, for instance). Some dreaming heads have different mouth positions but I don't remember if that's the case with Lishe.

 

Opening up eyes is fairly simple, from what I've seen, unless the eyes are closed and not beveled.
I think all Luts heads are beveled already, though.
If the eyes are shut, you just use like a exacto to cut into it at first, then use a Cera-kanna or a nail file, or whatever you choose to shape the eyes into whatever you wish.

 

I have been wanting to modify some dreaming dolls eyes for ages.. and keep putting it off.. thinking maybe it needs to go in the "too hard basket".. I finally did it last week and it was sooooooooooooo simple. Why didnt I try earlier...LOL
I got myself a little set of miniature files from the hardware store.. made the job so simple and so easy to control the exact shape.

 

I only have some finished shots. Never thought of taking "in process" shots.
Both these I only opened the eyes up a bit more.. I still wanted them as a "dreamers"






Ohh the files were only cheap.. so they didnt have a brand name (I am in Australia anyway) they were from my local hardware store (about the ONLY store in town) so If Ic an get them here.. ANYone can get them - like we cant even buy basic food items a lot of the time. So shopping is pretty non-existant.

The files are about the length of a finger nail file. They were just called "mini files" and they have plastic coated handles... I will go take a picture of them now..

 

here you go...

I got the full set as that is all they had. But I have found the two I place at an angle to the others were the only ones I really used (actually the flat one would have been fine.. but the round one was handy)
It was VERY easy - kicking myself for not trying sooner. With dreamers.. there is already an opening of the eye.. so no need for craft knifes to get the hole started.. just file away with these things..



I paid about $8 AUD.. which is probably about $5 USD..(changes all the time so I am only being approximate)... its possible you can buy them separately anyway and get them heaps cheaper. So looks like they are about $1 each..
And becasue you are "filing" or sanding.. the likelihood of chipping and cracking/splitting would be small. Using a knife of some sort - would be a higher risk of spliting

 

Those look like jewelry files, I don't know if american hardware stores carry them. I've never seen them at Ace or True Value anyway, we had to order ours when i was in metalsmithing. If you can't find them locally try http://www.micro-tools.com/ or http://www.micromark.com/ Micromark I used to get a catalog from, they're really nice. :3 I've opened several sleeping heads and opened eyes on dreaming heads. Usually I draw on the shape I want in pencil, and then cut with an exacto blade that's brand new till I get the shape I want. If it's a sleeping head, like Yder or Chiwoo, then I drill a small hole in the center of the eye and open it from there. I seldom sand them, as I like a crisp edge to the eye... but it's really up to you. :3


Ghaleon was a sleeping elf shiwoo :3

 

My edges are just as crisp as the factory cut ones - they dont look any different... unless you mean crisper than the original? I used a flat file for teh majority of the time.. I did try a few other shapes - but found the small flat one the most suitable for me.

I used the files - becasue they were what I could find and after trying them - decided I didnt need to look further for something to do the job as I was quite happy as to how easy it was and the end result. I am just amazed that I could find anything suitable to buy locally. I think it all depends on what you get comfortable in using as long as it gives the results you want. I was just a little reluctant to try the exacto knife method first up (I was reluctant to try anything to be honest).. and its not like I am not used of using a scaple to cut out eye holes.. cant even start to count how many thousands of those I have done over the years...LOL ... nah... dont want to think about those

 

I just spent the last 3 hours modding and face up-ing my Sleeping Breakaway head. Meet Renji~ XD


one eye done


exacto knife in his eye.. he was cursing at me a lot. ^^;


Done~




Face up!


The tattoos were very speedily done coz my friend wants me to bring him out.. Now. O_O

 

I also opened my Sleepy Lishe's eyes with an Exacto. I f I did it again, I would probably exacto pretty close to where I want the eye and then sand the rest. The exacto can go a little deeper then you want if you're not careful.

 

For eyes that are all the way closed, I'm not sure, but I recently opened my Revised Igon's eyes, since they're not quite as open as the original Igon I fell in love with.

I just went in with my trusty dremmel and sanded the top until the shape and size was like the original Igon I wanted him to match. Then some fine sanding to smooth it out. For the crease above the eyes, I just folded a piece of fine sandpaper and worked it back and forth until there was a crease.

I'm not so helpful, I know, but that's how I did it

 

I have before pictures, but I didn't get a chance to get any pictures of the blank head after the customizing. He's off at Niku's for a faceup right now, but I can get you pictures when he gets back ^_^ Here is the BJD section of my photobucket for the pictures of him.

Eee thank you~

 

anyone have any recommendations for a dremmel? im going to open up an unoa wink plate like the bluebird auction i lost .

i know my old friend amber had one with different buff and ssanding bits for our jewelery making class, but i always borrowed hers instead of getting my own.

anyone can recommend a complete kit (w/ diff heads?)??

 

Most any hardware store will have several name brands that come with the tool and anywhere betwee 30 and 300 attachments. As long as you don't go for the cheapy offbrand set, you should be fine.

 

Ok. I couldn't find anything about this on search.

I really want to know how one opens closed eyes, and separates fingers. And also, the best tools to use to do it.

Can anyone help me out on this? ^^;

 

For seperating fingers a toes, get an exacto knife, or something like that. The resin between the fingers should be somewhat thin, just poke the end of the blade where you want to cut and kind of rock forwards and backwards until it starts poking through. You can switch sides until it breaks through, it might take quite a bit of force depending on how thick it is (either way it isn't hard).

Once you have a hole big enough, cut a long piece of sandpaper (really fine grain) small enough to fit into that opening, and slip it in between the fingers. Then you steady the hand somewhere (cause you need both hands) and slide the sand paper back and forth inside the hole. Move it around, up and down the finger, till it's open a bit more and then get a new strip and turn it around, to do the other side. The more you do it, obviously the more it opens, using a finer grain helps to control the width easily.

That should give you a nice, smooth opening between the fingers, and it also works for toes.

Woo I hope I helped ^_^

 

Oh, me as well! I was wondering if a craft blade [a pen-tool with a 45 degrees angle tilt blade at the end] would be alright to use to open eyes.

 

Craft blade that size should be fine to open eyes. I've never opened fully closed eyes, but I can't see there being a problem with that. I suggest that you draw the new eye shape on the eye before you start, rather than just winging it. Most people don't think to do that and end up with eyes bigger than they wanted. It's really easy to get carried away ^_^;;

 

Yes, definately be careful using a blade. It carves away resin faster than you think, and you can end up with a gouge if you aren't steady.