Jointing First ball joint doll sculpt Need help! :)

Very nice... cant wait to see you smooth everything out! The face looks great!

 

hmmm...well i think on the head, instead of adding eyebrows to the actual sculpt, just leave it blank. that way the shape fo the eyebrow doesnt have to be limited to one shape. you can draw them anyway you like ^_^
the neck looks a bit thick, and i think the arms and calves could be a bit more shapely, honestly it looks like shes wearing a big sweatshirt with big ol' sleeves.
you should still be in the process of shaping things out i believe, so it looks like everything will fall into place eventually ^_^

 

I'd take the neck out from the head--bjd's heads are only a head and then it attaches to the neck, it cuts off at the jaw. It'll give more mobility to the head. (like up and down movement)

 

Jointing is here http://www.denofangels.com/forums/showthread.php?t=121301
and for stringing, most of the 60cm resin dolls use 5mm elastic cord, the minies use 3-4mm and the the tinies have a pretty wide range in the smaller cords. This is with a resin doll though, it looks like you're using air-dry clay, and if you don't intend to cast the doll in resing (which for a doll that size is probably going to be slightly more expensive than buying a regular one) then the joints are going to be a bit more fragile, and you may want either a thinner cord or just to let it be a bit looser.

 

oh, careful, sculpy is usually considered too weak to hold to gether w/ elastic or molding most use super sculpey.

 

I think she looks great so far, but maybe she needs smaller shoulders. Dunno, just a guess. =^w^=

 

I think Sculpey would be okay for experimentation/first try. It's cheaper by weight than Super Sculpey and it looks like chimera's mainly experimenting and just playing with forms at this point, which is great for getting the feel of what you're going for.

You mainly just REALLY wanna make sure it's conditioned properly (i.e. been kneaded a whole bunch), especially with that age - either run it through a pasta machine several times or roll it out with a roller, fold it over, and then roll from fold to open edge several times. That will help a LOT with strength. Just make sure you don't get any air pockets as that will reduce strength.

Also, don't go too thin on the edges of the joints. They're going to be moving against each other and you don't want things to chip. Might be worth it to either run a wire around the edge, or a wire plus a snake of sculpey and then blend it in around the joints, just for a little added strength. It'd be an awful shame if you lost the edge of one of your joints once she was all put together.

I'm working on my first dollie using Sculpey as well, mainly because it's less expensive than Super Sculpey and also because I find Sculpey tends toward that ugly "flaking" (looks like blisters, eww) once baked. It may not be strong enough once assembled for everyday play but as long as it's properly conditioned (and as long as that's not solid sculpey but has something in the center like tinfoil/wiring to add strength) it should hold together well enough for a display doll. Wouldn't play with it too much and be careful about it falling over but if you're smart about it, you can probably do it with sculpey okay for your first project.

If you find you're getting crumbling with the sculpey, try keeping a bag of it in your pocket for several hours - it'll soften it up enough that it can be kneaded well. If it's still crumbly, you can add a drop or two of mineral oil and then knead a lot. If it's too soft to get fine detail at that point because it's warmed up, pop it in the fridge for an hour or so and it'll firm up.

If you're finding making symmetry is hard, try either grabbing a small hand mirror and looking at the doll in the mirror, and/or flipping the piece upside down and sculpting upside down. Especially for face pieces and stuff, that works really well to get your eye to forget it's a face for a minute and just look at the shapes and forms.

I agree that her shoulders seem a little bit big - she looks like she's shrugging. Pushing them down a bit would give her a bit more of a graceful look. I love the shape of her torso and hips though - very elegant.

Good luck! Looks like she's coming along nicely.

 

Nng, that could be a problem. I used some old sculpy a few years back in a high school art project and the older stuff (it was probably only about 5 years old...) had a great love of burning and blistering on one side while still being mushy on the other.

 

I'd say shorten the torso if she's too tall. The arms and calves look too thick too..
Good luck, can't wait to see her finished!

 

Honestly- I say leave the abdomen alone- looks great as far as proportion wise goes-- what's throwing me off is her squarish shoulders-- they have no slope and look more manly or defiant than anything.

^____^ Constructive critisism! ROCK ON!

 

Yah, it makes it look like her shoulders are hunched up with tension. There is a large muscle, the trapezius, which runs between from the neck/spine out to the end of the shoulder. That's what makes the slope.

Otherwise, your proportions are looking good.

It would be neat though to see a side pic next time you take photos.

 

I think, for a female with a rather cute face (I like it!), it has a really manly figure XD

 

The face is really cute! The only thing I would say is that she looks like she's shrugging her shoulders.