40–49cm Dolls First BJD Project: 1/4 All Might

Hello all! As the title suggests, this thread will be documenting the progress of my very first doll sculpt! Being the shameless fanboy that I am, I decided to make myself a doll of All Might from My Hero Academia. I decided to start with his skinny form, but if it turns out well I do plan to do his buff, college-age, and middle-school-age forms in the future, so look forward to those! For now, let's get started on this one!

I started out sketching up a blueprint, intending him to be around 48 cm tall. Even so, some of his features may be smaller than the average 1/4 doll, since this man is originally a whopping 220 cm tall.



Don't mind my Censorship Penny. He's anatomically correct and I didn't want the image flagged lol

As you can see, I'm being a little ambitious with this first doll, what with the double joints and jointed fingers, but poseability is extremely important to me, especially the hands. I absolutely love the dynamics of hands, so it was particularly important that they have that quality in this doll.

Eager to get started, I bought some Sculpey paper clay from Walmart to use as a base/rough sculpt while I waited for my La Doll clay to come in the mail. All Might is a very emaciated man in his true form, having lost his stomach to old injuries, so you can see that I've actually used old repurposed chopsticks from my Chinese takeout as the core for his very thin limbs lol



I've used Sculpey polymer clay before, but I'd never tried my hand with paper clay before. I instantly fell in love with the material, as you can draw on it with a pencil to mark out guiding lines and even carve it with a good sharp scalpel when it's dry.



I then went to work on his head. My first attempt was, well... Absolutely hideous and is the stuff of nightmares lol



But then I finally got my La Doll Premium in the mail and started the head completely over from scratch. After a bit of fiddling, grinding, sanding, adding more in places, he started to come together!




Satisfied with how his head was looking, I moved on to refining his torso. One of my first tasks was the massive scar All Might has covering much of his left side.



I've been gradually adding more details and refining him, and I think he's really starting to look good! I hope to update this project regularly, but please let me know what you think of him so far!

 

Thank you! I'm really happy with how it's coming so far. I've been an illustration artist for 15 years now, and I've always been particular about little details.

 

I do intend to cast him, yes! I've already gotten a lot of interest in the fandom he's from, so I'm really hoping this is just the start of something I could perhaps do for a living.

 

Thanks for the tip! I do try to do that, so hopefully it'll come out right when I cast him. Fingers crossed!

At this time, I plan on splitting his torso into three sections. The splits will be along the bottom of his ribcage and just above his pelvis.This should make him able to pose more dynamically and also make it a little easier to cast his torso. It will, however, absolutely kill me to take my dremel saw blade to that scar. I'll just have to be veeeery careful lol

 

Sorry for the long delay with no updates, but I'm sure I don't have to tell anyone how chaotic things are at the moment. The main reason for my delay is that I rapidly became dissatisfied with the relatively low level of detail and control I was getting with clay and tools. I've since decided to switch to the 3D modeling method of design, since I've dabbled in that hobby before. I don't have too much progress to show just yet, as my computer suffered a catastrophic power surge some months back and I can only borrow my brother's computer while he's at work. Nonetheless, I do have a few screenshots I'd like to share.

Now, I prefer to work on modeling poly by poly rather than sculpting - an old habit from when I once hoped to animate my work - so these progress pictures may strike you as odd-looking at first. I've only got the face done at the moment, but hope to finish the head and get started on the body soon.







I realize he looks a bit angry, but the character does have quite the resting B face so it's not inaccurate lol. I may play around with softening his expression a bit, perhaps get multiple head prototypes printed until I'm satisfied.

 

Small update: got a good bit of the torso done today. His scar will have to wait until the end, as I can't really add it with the mirror modifier on.

 

Sure, I'll do my best, as I'm certainly no expert lol

I built the frame using a vague memory of a Blender tutorial I followed many years ago (from CG Cookie, though they've long since retired it out of their tutorial library).The basic idea was to set up loops around the major forms of the face in such a way that the strips of polygons followed pretty close to the underlying musculature of the face. This is mainly for animation, though I opted to use the technique in case I needed to tweak his expression later so that all the surrounding areas would deform in a natural way and not need so much fussing.

Admittedly -- and after I dug up my downloaded version of that old tutorial I realized this -- I didn't quite remember all the loops properly. Instead I merely opted to adhere to the underlying principal, opening up my handy dandy copy of Classic Human Anatomy in Motion (a must for artists, I highly recommend it) and built loops based on the muscles displayed there. Luckily it seems to have worked out nicely. The only loop I really should have included from that old tutorial was one encircling the outer socket of the eye, as I had a bit of trouble there connecting it all up later.

I didn't build over a head sculpt, though I can understand why one would think that. My only references (which were loaded into Blender and displayed as background images) were the initial rough sketch that you can see in my first post in this thread, and a similar side-view sketch that I had prepared alongside it. Using those and my own understanding of human anatomy and proportion in 3D space, I built up the polygons vaguely where they would ultimately end up as I worked, which is why the starting frame already has a very distinct shape from all angles. This technique uses a lot of minute fiddling all throughout, which is a workflow I happen to enjoy in some weird way lol

As for the specific proportions of this character in particular, I opted for a sort of middle ground between the way he's displayed in the anime vs this more realistic look that I'd painted a year ago, as seen below.



I hope I answered your questions satisfactorily! If you have any more, feel free to ask them! I love answering questions lol

 

Oh! Sorry to post again so soon, but I forgot I didn't post yesterday's progress here. He now has legs! As well as more, er... sensitive bits lol

I've set up double joints on both the hips and knees. I'll be working on the arms today. Unfortunately I might not be able to work on it again until Thursday after that, as my brother will be home from work and I won't be able to use his computer.

 

To lend some visuals to what I was explaining earlier, here's a screenshot of the model's mesh, which is what I work with directly. You can see how the strips of polygons generally follow the direction of the underlying muscle/bone structure. Some areas are admittedly a bit messier than I'd like, but you get the idea.

 

lol I honestly wish I could use Zbrush. I tried some years ago but couldn't get much to happen. I think I didn't understand the controls. Maybe I'll take another stab at it soon.

 

I does, I'm just nowhere near as good at it as the modeling method. I always end up screwing something up and it's a pain in the but to try to fix it. I decided to stick with the method I know better.

 

Managed to sneak in and get some progress done today. Got the basic form of the hand down, but obviously it needs a lot of tweaking still. I do still intend to make these jointed hands, but I am a tad worried his skinny fingers will be a little too small at 1/4 scale, so I'll be preparing some standard hands in various poses as well, just in case. I've also been mulling over the idea of upping him to 1/3 scale, but we'll cross that bridge when we come to it.

 

No pictures for this update, so my apologies. Due to several minor catastrophes (computer power supply failing, a burst pipe in my wall, forgetting a huuuge piece of fanart I need to finish for a friend's birthday a week from now, ect.) I have been unable to work on the model much lately. I did finish up the hands, including adding the finger joints, but that didn't seem like a good enough update all by itself.

Anyway, I do have some good news! My 3D printer has arrived! (Ender 5 Pro for those curious) I'll be setting up my "studio" in my grandmother's garage (yeah, lame, I know, but it's what I have to work with) and start to print out parts and test them in the coming weeks. I hope to be at the stage to be able to cast the final parts by the new year.

 

Thank you so much for your advice! I really appreciate it!

On the advice about avoiding problems due to IP protections and all that: worry, not, I've considered that! As you mentioned, I plan to sell this doll in a limited quantity, just as unlicensed figure/statue studios tend to do. After a certain number of dolls sold (a number I've yet to determine, as I still need to do a bit of an interest check once I have the final prototype to show off) I will be retiring him. The doll's official name will also be "Old Hero" to avoid the name issue. I'll also be making a scarless version of the body as you suggested so this doll can represent other licensed and original characters, which I'll also be showcasing when the time comes.

I do have plans to make other characters from this series and will take the same measures with them to avoid problems. For those, and the scarless version of this doll, I may keep them in production because they are generic enough not to cause problems (the "full sets" with wigs, faceup, and clothes that clearly identify the character will be sold in extremely limited supply, beyond that it's up to the customer if they want to emulate the full package themselves) as well as the fact that many of the body types I plan to do are those I don't see represented much in the BJD community and I'd like to help fill that gap. (My next doll, for example, is a female hero with a somewhat muscular build)

Finally I'd like to thank you profusely for complimenting my head sculpt/model on its uniqueness! I'm really proud of how it came out, and I do like tweaking things to fit my own style, so I'm not worried about having problems there. Also thanks for sharing about existing 1/4 scale jointed hands. The page you linked to also has some drop dead gorgeous dolls and I will definitely be going through them for inspiration and just some eye candy lol

Again, thank you and I hope you enjoy the rest of my project moving forward!

 

Ahh, more eye candy to drool over, thank you!

Honestly, extra shoulder joints are something I've been heavily considering on this doll. I'd have to rework a lot of his chest area for that (which I don't mind at all, as there's a lot I'm not yet satisfied with in that area) but if I do I definitely want to design them in such a way that they add posability vertically as well as horizontally. Not only would that help the awkward high shoulders, but would help them to be able to slope downward to match this particular character's horrible posture. The neck joint is something I normally might not include in a typical doll, as I agree it can be awkward at times, but this particular character's unusually long neck (and aforementioned habit of slouching) ultimately led me to include it here. My future dolls likely won't have such a joint, especially the more muscular ones.

(speaking of future/muscular dolls, this is the inspiration behind the next one I'd like to create that I mentioned before)

 

Hello all, quick little update here, though more in the theoretical realm rather than actual progress. I've been giving more and more thought to that second shoulder joint over the past few days and would like to share my ideas on the matter. Anyone is free to experiment with what I present here, by the by. If it helps solve a posing problem for other doll creators, all the better.

So! The basic idea here is to replicate the movement of the somewhat free-floating ball and socket joint naturally present in the human shoulder. Since the closest think to soft tissue/muscle we have in the BJD is the elastic holding it together -- only one strand of which is in charge of each respective arm -- that obviously creates a challenge to accurately replicate the natural movement of this area. To address this problem, I have sketched up this preliminary design.



Now I sincerely apologize for the poor lighting and simplicity of this sketch, but hopefully it gets the idea across. What I'm thinking is to make the first (i.e. closest to the body) joint in a sort of magatama/kidney bean shape, with a recess built into the upper torso to fit it. This not only acts as a limiter for how deep into the body the shoulder can recess when taking the downward sloping position, it also acts in conjunction with the larger hole in the joint part itself to move the horizontal pivot (for back and forth movement) lower into the torso, resulting in what I believe to be more natural movement/positioning.

Furthermore, due to the placement of the hole in the torso leading to the shoulder, as well as a design featuring a more universal round opening rather than a slit in the shoulder piece itself, the tension on the elastic, while remaining taught enough to keep the arm's functionality, will find its path of least tension/resistance (thus the default position) in the "shoulders slumped downward" position, which I believe to be closer to the natural anatomical default in human posture. The "shoulders up/at attention" pose is still possible with proper elastic tension/joint friction and perhaps some wiring, but just as standing with square shoulders at attention in real life takes some effort, it will hopefully take proportionate deliberateness here to achieve, rather than it being the default position and adding undue stiffness to the doll's silhouette.

Obviously this design is still in an early preliminary stage, and it will likely take some iteration and experimenting to perfect, but I think it's a solid foundation. I'd be very interested in what you all think of such a design and my theory behind it. I don't know if anyone else does shoulder joints like this, and if they do, hey cool great minds think alike -- it's just the design that makes the most logical sense to me right now.

 

Thank you so much for your detailed feedback as always! Please don't feel bad about the links, they are an immeasurable help to me and I enjoy seeing different solutions to the problems I encounter! I'm of the belief that only through the solutions thought up by many minds, rather than just one, will the most efficient solution be found. As you said, pure original invention is not my intention. I prefer innovation based on existing solutions anyway lol

I completely understand the concern that the kidney-shaped joint may come out of its recess if overextended, and that is one of the problems I will be looking to solve before I settle on the final design. Lengthening the "tail" of the kidney shape is most assuredly on the table. There is considerable testing to be done before the final design is settled on, and I am confident that, given time and experimentation, I will be able to come upon a satisfactory solution.

 

I completely agree on the 3D printing method. It's what I'm doing and for the exact reasons you state. I actually just set up my Ender 5 the other day and did a test print, and I was pleasantly surprised by the level of detail. I was so afraid the layer lines would be too prominent, but they're barely noticeable and easily covered/filled with the primer you need to coat it with anyway. Of course, my modeling process has been put on hold due to me having to rush a birthday commission illustration (with ten characters! ) over the next week, but after that I'm eager to finish him up and start my actual test prints of him. Look forward to those soon!