Modification Different ways of shortening a BJD?

It's best to do mods in places that aren't a) extremely visible or b) very complicated.

Shortening the calves is moderately easy, but building extra joints where you'll always see it is not. Not to mention that it's a high tension area and you would, after shortening the pieces, have to add something like apoxy again to smoothen/build a joint ball end. Not sure it wouldn't crack after some time.
Torso might be more possible, but even then it won't be easy and require lots of work.

 

In the past, I've used a Dremel to shorten necks up to 1cm, but it was for dolls with really long necks, so my proportions weren't too messed up for an overall look. I know it's not the huge shrink you're looking for, but maybe it'll help a bit.

 

i've done exactly this! both shortening the torso and legs. i took about 4cm off and it's honestly not all that hard, the most challenging part of the whole modding pieces was sawing the pieces shorter. seriously, you want a dremel for that.
the main things you want to keep in mind when doing a mod like this are having straight cuts, making sure the cut parts of the leg line up properly, and you especially want to use more expoy than needed to join the pieces together. you don't want any gaps if you want a strong join, and making the join sturdy and secure is more important than the initial aesthetics - you can always sand down the excess.

i've no posing issues aside from one of her ankles rolling inwards, which is only due to me not bothering to drill out the excess milliput from reinforcing the mod from the inside.

there's pictures and a little more on my project thread, if you're interested.

 

Potentially reviving this thread to ask, is there a reason why legs are shortened in the calf as opposed to the ankle joint? I have a doll who is simply too tall as part of a pair and would love to take a few centimeters off of her. Her calves are quite long, proportionally. I had considered sawing off about 1.5cm on each and then rounding the channel to fit the ball of the foot back into, since the ankle itself has a fairly ungainly, wide look to it as-is, cutting that back may help fit boots on her later.

Is this going to be more work than it's worth, to get the ball to fit back in properly after?

 

Here is my project journal on shortening a doll's joints! I chose to shorten along the calf and the thigh so I didn't have to redo any joints, because yes, that certainly can be difficult, also because if you want multiple centimeters off, you'll have to divide the height you want off, and take it from multiple places to keep the limbs in proportion with each other and the torso. I had to shorten this girl's torso and arms after I took around 5cm off her legs, because they looked super disproportionate (you can see in later posts in the project journal!)

I should have taken 2 slices from the calf like I did, and 2-3 slices from the thigh as well--one slice from the thigh meant I had to do a lot of work to get the thighs to fit back together (which you can see!)

 

Your work on this doll is truly impressive! I was looking through the project journal earlier. In vision and talent, you are far more daring than I, but inspiring nonetheless and I will reconsider my approach.

That said, I would still like to slim down the ankle. My concern there is thinning the resin so much that it could cause a break once strung. How thin is too thin, on a 1/4 scale?

I have seen pictures and videos where light glows through thin pieces. It seems that would be asking for disaster on something like an ankle, where the ball joint could be putting considerable pressure.

 

Ahhhh thank youuuuuu that means a lot!! Honestly I’ve always said what I lack in knowing what I’m doing I make up for in sheer audacity!

I have no idea what’s too thin on a 1/4 doll! I exclusively do 1/3, unfortunately I think that’s just something you’d have to find out by seeing how the resin responds to the amount of tension in the string, because how tight you string, and the thickness of the string are both gonna have an impact there.