First BJD, well sort off anyway... (lots of pics)

Hi all.

Well some backstory first, I started working on my own figure little over a year ago. I had never heared of the term BJD so i kinda evolved towards BJD from where i started and trough trial and error.
Learned so much since then but there is still plenty to figure out for me. Especially since everything BJD is new to me (never seen one in rl yet but hope to change that soon).
So not sure this figure meets all the requirements? But its my starting point so i guessed it makes most sense to start with that here also. While i'm struggling finishing this and waiting for paint i also started work on another figure based on what i've learned sofar. The body is more bjd'ish in the joints i used. But i'll put that in another thread i guess
Anyway after some time experimenting with 3D printing using Shapeways i decided to go and try design and print a complete figure. Not really happy with the cost/quality, handling time, etc i decided to get my own printer and bought a formlabs form1+ My first figure is based on Avatar. She is about 44 cm tall, has three different faces and some accessoires. I designed the joints and sockets myself and based it a little on action figures at first. Changed that a little later on. The rotation is pretty good but there is plenty of room for improvement. For example its pretty hard to keep the joints firm. I use a 2mm elastic string and while it was perfect when i was done two days later things are starting to get loose again. Really have some more learning and experimenting to do here
But its my first attempt and i learned alot. So.. here are a few pictures!

the 3D model:


tiny glass eyes (8mm)


the printer: form 1+


faces fresh out of the printer


accessoires


figure assembly (dyed blue in isopropanol), used 1mm, switched to 2mm later. but after a day or two its getting a little loose again.


posing goes pretty good... until the string stretches a little over a day or two




Getting a haircut, first time so its a bit of an experiment..


Finally got all the hairs in, now to tweak things, maybe add a bit of mohair

 

Thx! no the eyes are 8mm glass eyes i bought online. The neck fits in a ball joint at the torso and one at the head. Think that the main difference is that the ball joints are smaller (was my way of hiding them) and that i used sockets to hold the ball part of the joint in place.
For the arms i wanted to increase the range of motion and to do that i also added a shoulder joint. So the upper arm is connect to a small shoulder piece. And the shoulder piece is connect to the torso. Hope it makes sense

 

Yeah i'm using the Form 1+ Still think its one of the best printers i could get around that price point. But 3D printing (at home) is also still more experimental and difficult then they make it seem
I've read about B9Creator but i have no experience with it myself. Both look good from what i've seen. Form1+ seems more of a "turn-key" machine and they got a few kinks out of it learned from the Form1.
The faces of this figure are printed at 0.05mm layer thickness, the body 0.1mm. At both you can see the lines but you usually cant feel them.