Modification FFXIV Warrior of Light mAu Ra project journal

so a month ago i was finally tempted enough to buy ringdoll's ozhu--i'd been enchanted by his sculpt even before my first bjd.



he's a great option for my wol, and a near perfect resin match, but as my wol is an au ra, he needs a few... modifications...



so here begins a project journal to mod ozhu into my wol! starting with being a little van gogh and snip snipping at his ears

list of modications needed:
-cutting off the ears (CHECK)
-sculpting the horns
-sculpting on the scales
-sculpting the tail (CHECK)
-trimming down the waist
-making the hips slightly wider with apoxie
-sanding, sanding, sanding sanding sanding
-any correction of colors like dying or repainting to match the resin

wish me luck!

 

thank you for your kind words!

before i got into bjds i practiced on a male ever after high and a superwoman head on making scales with apoxie--it's tricky and a bit scary, but outlining the shape of the scales with watercolor pencil first, sealing it, and then going it with apoxie helps. for the thicker body scales i have contemplated using craft foam or EVA foam and texturing/shaping it with a dremel, but we shall see when i get there.

chopped off his ears today. instead of sculpting the horns myself i've ripped them from the game and will print them with my 3d printer (which atm is out of commission due to replacement FEP sheets in the mail...). may take a few times to get the sizing perfect, but they'll be symmetrical and perfect. c:

 

@Vimes thank you so much!! i'll prob be slow updating as i can only reliably work on the weekends, but i'll try to cover every step of my process. i would eventually like to do the armor but for my first outfit i may just be making his casual outfit (which is the snow linen doublet of crafting). honestly the armor intimidates me less than the tunic underneath, which is gathered and pleated in ways my brain has trouble understanding. @_@ if i do get to the armor though, i'll cover it, though i learned basically all my armor making from cosplay tutorials and dollightful's videos when she makes armor for her monster high customizations. it helps that with ffxiv you can extract the models and textures from the game and get references and patterns based off those. like here's the texture for the panthean mail of aiming:



i initially planned on making the tail out of cosclay which is a super flexible clay, but after closely examining the tail model in blender i've been thinking about just sewing a base, then gluing on overlapping scales made of craft foam or EVA foam, and then making the spaded and spiked tail end out of cosclay or instamorph. partially because making an eighteen inch slender tail purely out of cosclay is a bit of an ordeal, and partially i'm not confident enough in being able to sculpt something that would stand up to the pressures of being strung while still being light enough to attach via magnets

when you start on making your wol, please drop me a link as well!

 

@Vimes yeah, i use the long skinny barbed tail. i want to make it even longer than it is ingame, enough to touch the floor when standing! i did consider 3d printing the tail in elastic resin, but unfortunately my printer's build plate just isn't big enough RIP. if my hybrid sculpting and sewing tail method doesn't work out, i'll turn to a strung tail after all--having it be poseable is a MUST for me even if i have to see joints.

thank you! he really was a great match, and in practically the same skin color too. i think my wol is a little bit darker, but i can always cheat with chalk pastels a little bit and say that his face and upper chest is also just a little more tan.

i don't know if i'll be making my own eyes, but i'll prob have to experiment if i do. i didn't think of glow in the dark paint, that's a great idea :O i don't necessarily need a glow effect, but i do want the very reflective green limbal rings and darker blue irises. not as sharp as they are ingame, but still quite noticeable! i may mix some glow in the dark paint with mica powder, when i get to that step

 

quick update, after going back and forth between some friends i've decided to 3d print using this model from cults3d: Snake BJD
because i've been getting more comfortable with 3d modeling and printing

i'll have to stretch the pieces a little to get the look i want, but it's no trouble in blender. and maybe i'll whip up a 3d model of the tail spike as well

body mods... lol i've been putting that off because it's been so warm and rainy outside and sanding in a sweaty respirator is hell. i really need to set aside some time for it even just 30m a day...

 

been printing the tail pieces and everything is going great! i decided i wanted the tail to be longer and more shapely, so the tail pieces on the snake bjd i linked to are doubled on the y axis (which also gives the scales a more pointed look). some of the overall scales are tweaked in size as i fit additional pieces in between.

progress so far!

i'm printing some extra tail pieces now and still have to make the tail end, but i'll go at that later in the week. really happy with the taper and look regardless!

 

@Vimes self-taught via 5 minute youtube tutorials or looking up specific things and honestly, i barely know how to use is at all! especially when it comes to the more mechanical/technical side. i can tweak a face, but i'm nowhere near the point where i could sculpt a whole head or body myself. i really do need to watch a longer class on blender or nomad but it's just...hard to find the time. /playdead

re: the tail, i can muddle enough to sculpt it myself and then go at it with a dremel if i really need to, or just use cosclay. some of the spikes (like the ones near the base of the tail) are so thin that I think it'd be safer to make them out of cosclay which will just flex instead of breaking.

you could always try to take the model from the game and use that to sculpt onto! all you need is a copy of the game on PC and textools. though note that the mesh you get straight out of the box from textools is the lowpoly version, to get to the real high poly version you need to use displacement maps that have more detail built into the model. But every time I've tried to do that myself my model just explodes instead lmao... so i've yet to figure out how to do that properly bc i want to be able to print a hydaelyn doll