50–65cm Dolls Agnes, the first draft- handmade polymer clay doll

Hello everyone, I’m starting this journal to track the progress on my first BJD sculpting project. Her name is Agnes, and she’s made of super sculpey. Here’s her schematics made last November. A few minor decisions regarding her schematics have been changed however, but I’ll get into that soon. Next to that is an OC ref of the same character, a sort of proof-of-concept.




Agnes is an OC I made to be in the universe of Bloodborne, my favorite video game. Her skin is actually translucent, however I’m unsure how to produce that effect for now, so her skin will probably just be blue perhaps painted over with a glossy top-coat. she also has wooden legs, which is why her feet will be sculpted into a shoe shape rather than a foot.

However, progress on Agnes began months ago, before I even signed up for this website. but I believe I chose the right time to start this journal.

She is, without a doubt, a first draft. Quite rough around the edges, and more of a test to see where my skills are at in terms of doll making as a whole. Before now, I had only ever made small wire dolls like the ones below. She isn’t exactly to-scale with any common BJD measurements, and I didn’t plan for her to be able to wear premade wigs or clothes. I’m not entirely sure what her measurements are at all actually XD. This proved to be an early mistake, as I did run into some proportion issues that are yet to be solved.



So, what has happened so far? Where am I now? What do I plan to do next? I’ll answer all in order.

What has happened so far?

also, Im unsure if I am allowed to promote my social media, especially since it is not doll-related, however on my instagram page there is a story highlight which documents my progress pretty diligently, although very… casually. I’m only a hobbyist after all. I will only share my username if people wish to see it!

• 16 pieces in total have been sculpted: upper body, lower body, 2 hip joints, 2 thighs, 2 knees, 2 calves, 2 feet, 1 shoulder, 1 upper arm, 2 elbows.

• MANY parts have been resculpted. This is because Agnes was built on top of a full bodied wire and foil armature that was poorly constructed and far too thin. The main problems caused were:
  
  
  • Sockets with no sculpting whatsoever. After being baked and cut into pieces, the foil and wire around the shoulders were so tangled that a proper socket was unable to be carved out, causing the “ball” joints to have poor shape and rocky movement.
    
    
  • The armature was lumpy, and when hollowing out the pieces multiple spots in the torso were thin where other spots were thick. Therefore I was hesitant to properly sand and carve as I was afraid of scraping holes into her.
    

Quick safety break: as you might be able to see in my insta stories, I carved and sanded these polymer clay pieces without any mask or ventilation. DO NOT DO THIS!! Breathing in this dust can be harmful to your lungs. Always wear a mask and eye protection when sanding any material which produces dust or powder. If you can, it is best to do these things outside or near an open window.

• The limbs were impossible to properly empty of wire and foil without sawing them open or hollowing them out with a tool. Continuing to do so wouldve been a mistake as well, because the hollows were far too thin to let elastic through comfortably. It was then that the legs and arms were remade using thin soda straws and thick boba straws as bones instead of wire and foil. twas a good decision!
  
  
• She has been assembled for a test stringing, to middling success. Of course, since she is not complete she won't be able to be properly strung, but because of her homemade nature, I have little expectations for her posability. I can't exactly do much to remedy that beyond resculpting her entirely, so I’ve come to terms with it. I may even have a wire skeleton along with her elastic just to keep her all together. Like I said, she’s a first draft. There’s no way that she's being sent to a caster or sold or anything.

Where am I now?


Currently at the time of writing this, I have just now resculpted her upper torso using a new armature method. I am so happy I did so. Not only has my anatomy improved (in my opinion), but she has proper shoulder sockets now! Originally I planned to have the neck as a separate piece for some reason… and I’m glad I reconsidered.



the new one (on the left) is yet to be hollowed and sanded which is why she's still so lumpy.

The success of this resculpt is what made me decide to start a journal. To me, it now feels like so much more than an ultimate beginner testing the waters. I really struggle getting out of the honeymoon phase of projects, and so I honestly feel so accomplished that I made it through what I felt was the most frustrating part of making a doll completely by hand.

What do I plan to do next?

By my next Journal update, I hope to have:

• Completed her arms entirely, shoulder, arm, elbow, forearm, and hand. The arm pieces I have right now are not my favorite and I’m constantly forgetting which piece fits where (beginner tip: LABEL your parts.) and so I may resculpt them all.
  
  
• Provide a picture of her full body, if people are interested

• Strung her body properly or found out an alternative skeleton solution

I am over the moon excited about being able to sculpt her head soon. I decided to do her body first because it's the *less* exciting part, and I know that I’d lose steam if i did the head first. I’m glad I kept with that, because I’ve become more comfortable sculpting as I work down her body, and so I think her head will look a lot nicer than it would’ve if I’d have started with it.

Future journal entries wont be quite as beefy, i promise. there was a lot to cover!!!!

Thank you for reading! Any and all feedback or questions are appreciated!

 

Thank you!! also in between updates, here is a full body photo as I tried another string test with plastic straws. excuse the messy desk U_U