40–49cm Dolls Creating a BJD with 3D modeling and 3D printing

Hi! In this thread I will be documenting my progress with creating my own (and first!) ball jointed doll. I work professionally with 3D character art which I hope will be of help with this project. My goal is to be able to print a simple doll design in a smaller 20cm size, and if I and other people like it move up in size and/or complexity.

I would love any type of input! This can be anything from from things with the BJD that would help you pose and customize them as you'd like to the aesthetic of the model I am working with ("the neck is too long, I don't like big ears") and what-have-you.

Everything is still early on I am sure there will be a lot of iteration. I have made many 3D characters but never a "real world" one!

 

Thank you very much!

Here follows a few photos of my first go at 3D printing. I am happy with the first version of the head and will later try and finish the internals for it

 

That is too kind! My plan is to move up in size as I continue to learn more and find out what works for her joints and stuff. 3D printing even these small test parts takes a lot of time for my little printer!

 

Update! I tested some more small parts and did a first test print of the head for the full 40cm version! I also tested the eye-sockets and had both 8mm and 4mm eyes printed. One of the 4mm eyes failed however and didn't print.

The articulation for the head is really good now so she can look basically anywhere. The torso is difficult though. She can lean back fairly well but sideway- and forward articulation is bad.





I really like how the lighting scatters "realistically" on the bigger head. The one on the left is my first test and is a bit too thin. You can even see what areas are thicker on it.





Here is my first go at internals. Will have to rework this a bit since the print didn't go too well. Surprisingly the eye sockets worked very well.

 

Thank you MmeDoc!


Here is another photo of the head in full scale next to the half-size body. I have also remodeled the head with new internals which are a lot simpler and should give better results when printed. I also made the mouth able to be opened if I'd like to try something with that later! Looking forward to printing this new head later.

 

Another head test and an arm test!! A little more work needed on the head with the internals. Arms printed well but I will have to change them a bit to allow for better articulation!





40cm+ hands vs the half size hands.

Thank you! I use an Elegoo Mars Pro and it's my first printer.

Thanks a lot! Knowing the 3D part of it has certainly helped me start, but there is a lot of trial and error involved, and balancing something you think would look good with having the articulation you want is a big challenge.

 

Small 3D update! I tried making the head a bit more stylized by exaggerating the features of the face. I also tested adding teeth and opening the mouth and I like it! I think it's still versatile.

 

More test prints.
The 3 heads are all my test prints of the full-size head in chronological order. The 3rd one is new. The body to the left is also new to test out a full leg structure as well as trying to connect the arm to a body! Some parts move quite well but I think I am going to split up the lower body into 2 parts to allow for her to bend forwards better.



Here's the foot in full and half-size.



Updated hand (right)! It failed to print properly however as I forgot an important support on the ball joint part.

Thank you very much. I really like the resin printer! I can not speak for any other materials as this is my first BJD and also printer. That said the material is indeed soft where heavy scratching and wear by the joints is unavoidable for me. It is not only a minus however since if a joint fits a bit poorly you can just use a lot of friction to eventually make the joint fit a bit better (as long as you remember to update your 3D model for the next print).

 

Thanks! I like the small one also! Hopefully the final sculpt is "scalable" so that the actual BJD can be made in different sizes without any trouble.

What little time I've been able to dedicate to the project has been dividing up the body into more parts! It's gonna take time before I have everything ready for a first test print however. Here's 2 shoulder joints, where I think I prefer the smaller one, while it exposes the internals more.