66cm+ Dolls First try sculpting! | Aspen

I've been working on this boy for a little over a year now (I think? It might be longer. XD)
I was originally shooting for a 60-65cm multi head, but he's turning out to be more 70cm range, which is fine!
I was also originally shooting for a super manly tough guy, but he started out with an austere aristocratic feel, and now he's back to manly. :P

I started with DAS paperclay, as I just had some sitting around, but I swapped over to LaDoll Premier once I got stuck with not being able to do too many fine details.

Getting started was kind of the funniest steps; he was an angry little skull for a while....







Then he looked like Odo from Deep Space Nine for a while....









Then he got a terrible mouth.....









Which eventually shaped up better. :3

 

Then I had to cut his head open.....













And build up the base of the head, with a slot for an s-hook (which has since been redone like 4 times lol)





Then eyelids!

 

This was the first time I tested him on bodies; most of them were not too great, since his head socket was awful by this point.


(April Story 65cm boy)


(Elfdoll Homme)


(DOT Boy's New Body 2)


(Fdoll 60cm boy)


(AoD 63cm boy)




(Soom Super Gem)



And that was all before ears!



These were never good, and are still not good. :P I have some ear sculpting tutorials saved, so I plan to re-do them at some point.


He looked kind of OK for a first wig test. ^_^

 

This was around the time I just kept on adding and adding and adding, and trying to refine a few areas. :3



Except I took his ears off to reposition them.







And notes for more refining. :3 Some spots needed more on, some needed more off...

 

Then I took off the back of his neck some, to try to get his neck socket to work better.




And dremeled out his eyewells a bit.


And then I used my dremel over his WHOLE FACE!! XD









I also poked a hold in his mouth accidentally...

 

Fiddled with his headcap and ears as well.



Then I finally put the ears back on!


And then!! I got some primer, because I wanted to see what he looked like all in one color. (I probably should have waited to use it until the very end, but ah well.


And also-also, I decided to completely re-do his lips!

 

I also kept adding to him, and sanding a bit here and there.


And primed again! This was when I fell in love for reals. :P

 

By this point I felt like his face was still a little funky -- uneven eyes, uneven lips, still too hollow under his eyes, too shallow on his forehead.









So I built up his browbone, and basically all over his face some more.

 

Then I sanded him down nice and smooth~~


I also sanded the inside of his head, and he got all orange. :3 But eyes fit pretty good! ^_^



And I still kept adding more clay. XD


And primed again! (I may have a problem!)

 

And then.... I kept adding more clay!

 

And I still felt like something was funky. :/ This was the eyes; I was trying to make them look further apart by adding a little more clay to the inside of his eye corners.


And I did, but with Premier clay that I got wet, with water which had a bunch of sanded DAS powder in it so he got orange again.



Here's testing him on a Soom Super Gem body again. I think he's a bit too bobble-headed, though it might work.

 

I also tested him on a Dollshe Pure body again - I think this is the best fit so far.







His head did fit kind of strangely at this point - the face was too far forward, with the neck socket a bit too far to the back. Also it was way too shallow.


Whereas my Hound head is more centered over the socket overall.

 

So cut off the back of his head, and remade the neck socket, planning to basically make him a good fit on this body. :3







So this is where he's currently at. Or, more specifically, mostly at. I made the inside of his neck socket all nice and round, but I still need to carve a hole again. He also needs to be sanded a looooot, and I haven't gotten around to making new ears yet, so that's what's on my to-do list for now!

But overall I'm really happy with how he's turning out! I haven't had any real training in sculpture, or drawing or anything, so I'm mostly just happy that he looks like a person for the most part! I do still see a lot of imperfections that are bothering me, but hopefully I can fix them all!

Thank you for checking out my thread!

 

Heee~~ Thank you!! I really need to get my butt in gear and get him sorted soon!

I've done the thing again, where I hit a little bit of a standstill, and I'm feeling daunted by what I have to do yet. I mean, when I list it out it doesn't seem like as much I supose...
Make his neck socket inside
Re-do his ears
Make the headcap fit properly (and add slots/locks/magnet holes)
All over sanding and priming (1k times seems like the norm? )

So yeah, I should just focus on one thing at a time and I'm sure I'll have him done in no time!

 

@StellaMarigold

Thank you! In the past, I've noted that a lot of sculpts have really narrow, pointy, almost triangle-shaped noses, so I really wanted to go for a really...strong nose. I may have overcompensated in the septum a bit, but so far a lot of people have commented on liking it, and I may have thought about slimming it down somewhat, but I've kept it like that for so long, that I wouldn't change a thing now!

And I think the Odo similarity is largely due to the color, lol, and lack of definition, but sometimes I really miss when he looked like that!

 

Wow, it has been a while since I last updated here!

Over the last year, Aspen has gotten a few changes and updates, including new ears, some touchups inside his head (including better eyewells; his name etched inside his headcap; spaces in the head and headcap for magnets, and a spot for me to inset a little logo coin inside as a maker's mark), and he has been primed multiple times.

https://www.flickr.com/gp/64301220@N04/SAo4SZ
https://www.flickr.com/gp/64301220@N04/j1TG46
https://www.flickr.com/gp/64301220@N04/610727
https://www.flickr.com/gp/64301220@N04/73Zrt4

I still need to sand and prime him (and sand again, and prime again) some more, and I need to get ahold of magnets to make sure the magnet holes are sized and positioned correctly, but this time, I think I am really really really close to having him finished, for real this time!

 

I finally got my boy's head finished! Took a while, but I finally can't really nitpick much anymore.

 

@celga Thank you! I always wanted him to have a....traditionally not attractive nose. My grandfather's genes in the family have noses a little like this so I had a lot of examples to look at with my family! (my family member's noses are, of course, very attractive! )

@evie the kid Thanks so much! It has been a real roller coaster, but I'm so happy I eventually got there! And I like the primer texture, though I'm not 100% sure how it will translate to resin casts. I'm hoping if the casting company has an issue with it, they can prime it some more if it's necessary.

 

Thanks so much! I think I didn't either! I just figured I'd work on him on a whim, and just have an unfinished project around for the rest of my life, but I did eventually get there!

That's exactly right! I messed up a lot of stuff; his mouth, his ears, his neck, and the primer (multiple times ), and ultimately, I was able to bring it all around again! I'm sure that if you decide to start sculpting you will get there too! :d (I can't promise it will be easy, or always fun, but it's definitely an amazing journey! )

 

Aspen is finally (almost) all done!

aspencast01 by AirimirOfGondor, on Flickr
aspencast03 by AirimirOfGondor, on Flickr
aspencast04 by AirimirOfGondor, on Flickr
aspencast05 by AirimirOfGondor, on Flickr
aspencast06 by AirimirOfGondor, on Flickr
aspencast07 by AirimirOfGondor, on Flickr

I just have to do the final flashing removals, and add my logo coin in his head, but I have a silicone and resin test kit on the way, so I can make the coins soon,hopefully!

 

Thank you everyone! There are still a few things that I wish I had done differently (like a finer finish on the primer, a cleaner look for the name in the headcap, and I think Islanddoll went a little more translucent on the resin than I had wanted ) but now that I have them all, I could always touch up the prototype more, or use one of the casts, to get a better prototype for next time (should there be one)!

I am working on a faceup on one at the moment, and I have some other projects I am wrapping up before I really get into it, but I have a silicone/resin kit now - so I am excited to start testing stuff out for my coin reproduction next!
I also need to do the finishing work on the casts, like flashing removal, getting the magnet holes and coin slot all good, but that will be up later when I have the impetus to work on them all!