Jointing Are there any extra jointing concerns for chubbier dolls?

I've made a chubby doll. He is not quite as broad as your blueprint, but the is absolutely bigger than the standards of his size. You can see him here. Images in post #21 and #26

The main thing to consider is that when humans get bigger they also get softer, while the plastic will stay rigid, no matter what size.
Simply making the ball of a joint bigger does work to an extent, but for things like thighs there is a limit to what can be done with a single joint. I have seen other people experiment with a segmented cup joint in the thighs and some have attached the ball to the pelvis instead of the thigh. Both those methods help smoothing out the line and avoid the very big opening requiered for the joint to be able to fully move into a sitting position. I solved it by placing the high joint a bit further forward then I'd normally would, so that there isn't too much of an empty space in front of the ball. It works ok as far as standing an sitting goes, but the lines of the doll when seen in profile are a bit bumpy.
Another thing that happens when the thighs are thicker is that the doll will sit taller. If you take two dolls of equal height and the same proportions in height but not in girth, when you sit them down next to each other the one with thicker thighs will be taller. Again, because the material doesn't squish or flow out as it does for a human.

For the same reason, simply making the ball for the shoulder bigger to fit a thicker arm, will also resault in broader shoulders. That is true for humans as well, but to a lesser extent, since gravity will tend to pull the tissue flat. Making sure there is enough room for the joint to move can be tricky too, since the joint itself takes up so much space.

The overall weight of the doll can make balancning a bit more tricky, for sure, but that in itself is no more a problem than it is a for a taller doll. As long as the joints themselves are well costructed and well balanced. My guy is a little bit wobbly, because of the ankle joints that in hindsight could have used som more work. But other than that he is pretty sturdy. Non of his joints have locks.

There has been others that have made chubby dolls over the years. I can't recall any names right now, but take a look through the older posts here. A lot was lost in the merge, sadly, but there may be some good stuff left. Seeing what other have struggled with and how they solved it may give you a few ideas, if nothing else.

Best of luck with your project!

 

I am not even ready to consider making my own doll any time soon, but I am going to watch this anyway because I'm very interested in this. I love the idea of chubby dolls and also have a particular character I want a doll of who is very, very chubby!
(Also your design is cute.)

 

I am loving the idea of seeing a chubbier male doll. I can't wait to see more of your design/thought process!

 

Oh they are SUPER cute, I love to see more diverse dolls and I am so glad you're making one! The main thing you should keep in mind is that your doll might not have as much poseability as other dolls and their range of movement might be hindered, there isn't one real way to fix this as dolls aren't made of squishable materials. The areas you should pay extra attention to are the calves and arms to make sure that they can bend properly, try referencing a bunch of different chubbier body types to find arms that are both what you're looking for as a reference but also ones that wouldn't get in the way of the joints. Larger joints can help, but won't be a once over fix.

I'm super excited to see how they come out!

 

I would love to see more plus sized 1/3rd sized doll boys, so I wish you all the luck in this project.

 

With a cubby sized doll i maybe would try and 3d print the doll (atleast partly) with semi flexible filament. Cool experiment! That or really use the roundness of balljoints in the design of the doll itself, if you can't hide it, use it