Repair Fixing my doll's dented face with hot water and epoxy

Safety information first!
Heating resin can emit fumes and sanding can make dust. Do not breathe resin fumes and don't inhale resin dust! Wear a mask and gloves while sanding resin. If you are doing a faceup yourself please follow proper precautions. If you use nail tools on resin don't use those same tools on humans or pets. Sand outside -or- sand with the piece underwater in a room with good ventilation. When finished sanding wash off the resin with soap and water and then wash your hands before touching your eyes or mouth. Please be safe, you are not replaceable!

Sharing this here in case it helps someone else fix their doll too. Just after I finished applying the second or third layer of sealant to my batch of faceups two heads fell onto the ground. One was fine after a little cleaning. The other fell on concrete, rolled and then came to a stop in loose soil with still-wet sealant. Words were said.

The damage was noticeable with deep dents in the doll's cheek and nose. The nose dent was so bad a piece came off. Unlike the previous head, cleaning wasn't going to be enough to fix this.

Other people on this forum and in some doll videos talked about using heat to fix dented resin, specifically boiling water. And there were also tips about how to fill any remaining damaged areas with two part epoxy.
My first step (after saying a few more choice words) was to remove the faceup and clean out the dirt from inside the dented areas with soapy water and an old -clean- toothbrush.

The damage:

Next was to find a smallish, stable, and heat-resistant bowl that was deep enough to submerge half of the doll's head in. I put the kettle on to boil and made a stand with some foil folded into shape to hold the head at the correct height. Then I -very carefully- poured just-boiled water into the bowl.

Soaking the doll's face:

After a few minutes the dents were visibly smaller. I left the head to soak for somewhere between 15min to an hour, long enough for the water to cool down. After reading more it sounds like much of the resin's recovery to its former shape happens in the first few minutes when the water is the hottest. Also it's possible to soak the resin multiple times if needed.

Post face bath:

The tip of her nose was the most damaged and even after the soak it was still in rough shape. To even out the nose, I used a set of nail-sanding tools with progressively smaller grit ratings to reshape the nose. One side was missing material and needed filling along with what was left of the cheek dent.

After nose sanding:

Patching the dented areas was done with two-part epoxy. The base color of the epoxy varies by brand, and some have a spectrum of colors to choose from or even mix colors with. I mixed the two parts of the epoxy with a plastic spatula and smoothed it into the dents. It was left to cure fully overnight before I sanded the now-dried epoxy even with the face.

Patched areas:

Looking up painting guides on how to pick colors to mix skin tones or how to paint dark skin tones to match the paint color to your doll's face can be a great help.
I used a tiny bit of acrylic paint and a small brush to touch up just the patched bits. I think on larger areas an airbrush or a makeup sponge would work very well. I let that dry and sealed it with the same spray sealant I use for faceups. After that I did another round of the matching color with some light pastel to blend the repaired area more.

A last photo of the repaired area with faceup in progress:

 

Thank you! I'm really glad this worked out well.

 

This particular face is a she, but Thank you! I was glad no one was close enough to hear me! The moment was - not fun at all - and I'm really grateful other people shared their wisdom so this could have a good ending.

Shout out to Lomi's Playground and Asenva's BJD youtube videos on using epoxy on resin and boiling resin to remove dents. They are most likely the videos I was thinking of when I started. @Asenva thank you! and if someone knows Lomi's account name on here feel free to add it.

Yes, safety information is good and important. When resin and sealants are properly cured and solidified they are reasonably safe, don't let pets or children chew on them, but mostly fine. Doing modifications or fixes -including faceups- then you need safety precautions. There is a good thread on what to use and why on the top of the Customization and Maintenance threads list, link here: /threads/what-you-need-to-know-about-respiratory-protection.399096/

Thank you, it really helped even with this level of damage. Having fixes for this kind of thing is so stress-relieving!

Thanks! If you ever do need it, the Workshop threads are there and and the whole thing is a really good resource.

Thank you! now for the other hard part, finishing the last bits of the faceup. I'll most likely post photos when they're done.

 

O my gosh, Thank you!
Your videos of doll modifications and repairs are a big part of how I learned that fixing or changing things about resin dolls was even possible!

It was informative and very comforting, to see someone share a way to use various materials, while talking about what was happening and explaining why a thing was being done. So thank you for sharing your process!

-waves at anyone else reading this thread- This is one of the people who makes helpful videos about doll stuff, check out the links in their signature for how to find their tutorials and other fun stuff!