Aesthetics Dotting the i (refresing an Everpurple Iris)

It's very difficult to keep me away from dolls that need a bit of love and a fix up - I think the listing had been up for a while but I tend to sort eBay by new so it never popped up for me until earlier this week, just as I had been looking in the direction of acquiring a 1/3 doll. I made an offer and after a few days I got a big box with a lot of bubble wrap and 1.4 kg of slightly sticky and smudgy resin.

I only started taking photos after undressing and unstringing her but there we go - the smeared faceup was also sticky, as were her wig and resin eyes (the latter I assume made by Everpurple as well), the sclerae yellowed into a sickly bright yellow. Things age! It's interesting to see what 15-ish years can do to things like that, but I'm also sad that there's nothing to do with them like this.







The remnants of a faceup past got wiped and everything got rinsed in the shower after a soak in a tub of dish soap (incl the outfit and the wig that came with her). Don't let the colour on the photo fool you - she's a yellow gal.


All dry and strung up - she's a really sturdy stander (she's also very heavy - I was *not* ready for this). Unfortunately one of the hands hook loops popped out - judging by some stains, it had already been glued at some point? I was a bit impatient with gluing it back so it popped out once again, but I left it to dry overnight after that in the hopes it'll be at least a bit sturdier.


To keep myself from fiddling around with the broken hand, I went ahead and gave her a faceup. I did mess up some bits so it's not the cleanest work but it'll do until I feel like wiping and redoing it again. Her default faceup seemed quite reduced so I wanted something a bit more dramatic. Not sure why I wanted blonde brows as I'd just painted Asa's faceplates like that, too, but I don't mind them being a bit similar - Iris' sculpt does have some similarities with Unoas imo.









I let everything dry overnight, sueded some annoying joints and strung her arms with different elastic at less tension and voila. Thankfully the super glue worked for the hand so now I can bring the unused epoxy glue back to the hardware store as I was not looking forward to dealing with the fumes. The hand better stay put!


I'm so glad the wig cleaned up well from the sticky residue because it's quite a nice one. It's annoyingly long, though, so I'll try to get her some shorter options as well. She has forehead for days so I think a fringe is a must She's wearing placeholder 16mm acrylics for now, can't wait to have her in a nice pair of glass!




That's Dott! I think I still want to blush her hands and she'll need some more clothing, too, but the main cleanup is done for now Not quite sure what her style would be but I'm excited to sew something that'd normally be too fiddly for my minis I guess.

 

Thank you! Joining the sewing prompts again is a great idea, I'll try to get back to it!

Thank you for following along! The company is not around any more but there's a bit of a spin to it: Everpurple became Ariadoll at some point and some of their bodies were modified a bit and are now still sold at Switch (the Humming body) and Sadol - the body is sturdy and beautifully sculpted so I'm glad it's still being sold in some form! Looking at the face sculpting, I think there might have also been some sort of overlap with Serendipity (an older Korean company). If I got it right, Everpurple started as an eye maker originally and then moved on to dolls. It seems like there is a lot of sculptor/maker overlap in the Korean dollmaker community, it's always interesting how the dots connect between the dolls coming from there.

 

Thank you! It's a very nice and shiny wig, I think it's Leeke? I have a similar one is white in a smaller size and they both tangle like nothing else I'm glad the goo came out easily!

Ahhh lovely that there are still Irises and Narvys around! They've got such interesting faces, I'm sure they also look great together

Wow I'm glad Iris is not alone with her large forehead and can join Narvy in big brain activities I really like your Marina and her style, seeing an Ariadoll sculpt in heavier makeup definitely inspired my direction with Dott's

The magic a little cleanup can do never stops surprising me! Incredible how little is actually needed sometimes. And she is big alright, almost a workout lifting her around the house haha I knew how tall 57cm is and I knew how much 1.4kg feels like and yet I was so surprised.

Thank you! In all honesty, I just really lack the patience to wait for new dolls and am not very impressed with current doll trends I was too young to afford the hobby back when I found out about bjd so I'm continuously digging up some nostalgia for myself as well. I'm glad some dolls get a new life in the process

 

Ahh thank you all! I'm glad you all like Dott!

@aihre - the first time I picked her up, my brain automatically went "uh oh" and "we are getting no more of those" I was not expecting such weight - she was also a bit floppy so falling back from the sitting position always felt like a hammer swinging down with a thud haha. After a bit of handling I'm getting used to it, but it's definitely not as effortless as setting up my minis who feel feather light in comparison now. Her torso is solid with narrow channels indeed - I feel like her weight is quite well balanced though. I've sueded a couple of joints but not the ankles, maybe it was the weight distribution that made the Ariadoll body so unsteady there? A shame that this is what didn't work out for Halcyon in the end but I do see now how much more make or break properly engineered jointing is at 1/3 scale (a falling doll at this size *will* dent your furniture).


I was so happy about her hand staying intact until it didn't - Dott is back to being captain hookhand for a bit (thank you Everpurple for adding hook stoppers in your ankles and wrists). The super glue was too weak indeed.



The loop part was hard to get back into where it came out from so I took a 1mm drill to the holes to really get it in there. The yellow wad you see here is layers and layers of masking tape as the drill bit was simply too small to fit into my drill snug enough.



Thankfully I had not yet returned the epoxy glue. The packaging mentioned fumes so I thought I was dealing with a super smelly product but after PPEing myself all up with a mask it turned out to be quite easy and odourless... better safe than sorry I guess I got the stuff that will take some 24h to fully dry but it should hold tension the best from what was available to me. Now let's hope PU resin is one of the "some plastics" it bonds with Now I just have to keep myself from fiddling with the hand for a whole day.

 

Thank you @kaschan502 ! I hope it's a success as well

@lutke she surely has got a different presence to my minis... the size makes her almost enter the uncanny valley which I'm yet to get used to I guess although it might also be the weird acrylic eyes she has in for the moment. I don't think anything bigger or more realistic-looking in this size is for me to be honest, I'm still glad most of my collection is more "doll sized".


Since the epoxy was runnier than expected, it had slowly dripped in the wrong place and I had to do some carving yesterday + add another coat on top. It's now been 24h since the last coat and the hand seems sturdy for now - I guess only time will tell if it will hold. I have an alternative idea if it doesn't, and if that also doesn't work I'll look for an equally yellowed part second-hand (pun intended).

I got an alternative wig second hand for her that came in today as well - I gave the curtain bangs the previous owner had cut some tlc and used a curling iron to add some shape to the pin-straight hair. It's very dense with hair, though, I think I still need to take my thinning shears to it and lose some volume.

I finally ordered Dott some shoes, too - I'm really surprised how little choice there is for girls this size? At least compared to minis (or uncles) who seem to have tons of interesting options (that aren't high heels or lolita shoes). Maybe it's good I don't get to go crazy with those actually

 

Thanks @lutke ! I sanded and scored all involved surfaces before glueing, if it still doesn't hold, I'll assume she just really wants a different pair of hands

 

@castironteapot doll shoemakers know that girls just wanna have fun

I normally don't blush my dolls' hands because it doesn't feel all that important, and I don't want to touch the texture of sealant that much, but Dott has a bit more real estate in that regard than my minis do, so I felt some colour would be appropriate. It's a bit of a challenge to do this with liquitex and a makeup sponge - I ended up brushing the sealant on and then dabbing away on top not to leave any gaps. I also dropped one of the hands on my dusty floor so there are lots of little bits stuck everywhere Regardless, I think it turned out cute! The finger positions have also been modified with hot water as I wasn't super fond of the original shape.

 

Thank you for the kind words, @Follow-the-Wind ! When I stumbled upon her listing, I went straight to search her sculpt up on flickr and doa and found so many cute versions people had made of Iris that I went straight back to make an offer I still can't figure out what smeared her faceup like that but perhaps it's better not to know.

The eyes I got Dott have been making the rounds between my local-ish post facilities for over a week now which is incredibly annoying as the acrylics are a bit soulless and I'd like to take proper photos of her already But as someone who is often in the no-buy buddies thread, I've been *patient* and not buying her the way more expensive eyes that would ship from a much nearer location because I *know* that's exactly when the other ones show up. Maybe now that I've mentioned them, they'll show up soon? Anyway, I've been keeping busy making her some clothes instead!

First off, I made her some semi-transparent lingerie from a little piece of soft gradient tulle I had in my scraps bin:


I then made her some comfy slouchwear because perhaps the lingerie is a bit saucy for everyday wear ?


Babydoll dress is my main sewing nemesis as I've tried and failed at it so many times. There are some mistakes here and there, but I'm pretty happy with the one I made for Dott:


I really wanted her to have a midi-length plaid skirt - I spent ages looking for a good fabric and cut up a second-hand shirt in the end. I now wish I had had the patience to make the knife pleats smaller but it'll do until I have another go at it.


I also started knitting a sweater for her but that's a bit of an on-and-off project for now. Still not quite sure of her style but maybe I'll figure it out better one her shoes get in.

 

FINALLY after rounds in 3-4 post facilities the glass eyes came! Apparently the label had gotten damaged and didn't scan right but the wait got so annoying I ended up ordering another pair after all we'll see if those will fit her as well.

I love glass eyes so much, they really blow life into the doll - I'm always in so much awe when I replace acrylics or the odd resin pair out with them. They're a great finishing touch for the project journal, too, I guess, as I don't have much else to really add to Dott's touch-up.

Thank you for following along!

 

@Leenah thank you for confirming that it's Leeke! I have the same wig in white in MSD size but both were second hand purchases and didn't come with any tags or indicators, it's good to know for sure what I'm untangling here