Giant BJD Prototype

I think the larger the doll, the harder it's going to be to have them stand. Larger doll means a heavier doll, and a bigger mass that's going to have to fight gravity in order to stay upright. Even my Doll Chateau 1/3s, who are certainly more delicate than say, my Herculean hybrid, are quite the challenge to stand.

Applying suede to the joints (minimizes joints "slipping") and adding wire inside certainly helps make them more sturdy, but even then I wouldn't leave their side if they're upright. Shoes (flats anyway) tend to help too, and proper elastic tension of course is important. So that's a long winded way of saying I think large dolls are just always gonna suffer from that issue, and 90cm is a LOT of doll.

I really do adore your sculpts, I've seen your posts on r/BJD and it's always nice seeing them more! Sadly I think the 1/2 size will always attract a smaller amount of interest. They dictate a large amount of space for display and storage, and will almost certainly require custom or homemade everything since they're an "odd" size. I imagine they'd be best suited as a seller alongside more commonly offered sized BJDs, rather than like... the main feature of a shop, if that makes sense! Personally I'd love to have a 90cm BJD someday

 

You could possibly lurk the Dollmore Lusion and Dollmore Trinity discussion threads for tips on posing and such.
Lusion are sized to look like children and are around 80cm tall (boys a little more, I think). So, they are a little bigger than 1:2 scale.
Trinity are more mature in their style and are 105cm tall, according to Dollmore. Again, a bit bigger than 1:2.

I have seen Lusion dolls at conventions and they are BIG. They are absloutely lovely in their own right and they have a wonderful precence. But it's hard to deny that they are not for every one. They are heavy and they do take up a lot of space and due to material costs and the fact that it can be tricky to cast large volumes of resin at once, they are expensive to get.
Because of that they will never be as versatile as the smaller dolls and thus probably never sell in as large numbers.

BUT! Most artists don't sell large numbers of their dolls to begin with. So there is that. Many independent BJD artists, especcially the once just starting out, have no choice but to limit their releases as to not be overwhelmed by the amount of work. If there are enough people interested to justify the cost of production, then it might still work well, even if it's a small market.

For friction in the joints, the most common methods are sueding (either with hot glue, or with real suede) or using silicone discs, called kips. You can look it up in the customization and maintenance forum.

 

Ha, he looks cool! Are you printing in resin or PLA for this large doll? If this is PLA, I've had some success with applying a thin layer of hot glue to the joints. I've found that sueding doesn't work as well on PLA since it is too smooth and the glued-on suede just ends up rubbing off. Another option might be silicone wafers or a thin layer of plain silicone(100%, usually used for bathroom sealing, don't use ones with any additives) on the PLA joint though I would definitely try this out on a test piece first as the silicone will definitely not be easily removable from the piece afterwards. For resin the hot glue method should still work as well as the silicone wafers but I would not apply silicone to the parts.

 

For my large, child sized doll I've had the same issue with getting her to stand. Wiring is the option people have suggested. I've also found sticking her in tight leggings I made and flat toddler shoes helps stabilize her legs and support her ankles so I can get her to stand a little better. Really helps when I'm trying to plan how I want her proportions to be. However mine is sculpted in a light air dry clay (And she has a temp pla body) so I dunno if would work on full heavy resin. Worth a try though if you can find/sew some though

I've also seen dolls with little notches sculpted into the joints to help them stay in place. But Idk how well it would work with one so huge.

 

Oh wow, he's really quite cute! I could definitely see myself loving a 1:2 doll someday, there is a wonderful charm to it. Geppetto vibes indeed!

 

This is so cool!! Do you find printing in resin difficult? I only have plastic type filament printers so far. I want a resin printer really bad.

can’t wait to see your progress.

 

Honestly, I'm surprised they aren't more popular despite space? That sounds weird, but, in my head, to own at least one reeeally big one is goals haha. Maybe that is less popular. I suppose I see more people with 1/6s and smaller than I do 70cm...

Anyway, back to the question, the top heaviness is likely in need of more support when it comes to the knees and possibly hips. They need that "extra muscle" haha. I am curious how wire would affect the poseability of the doll and wonder if possibly doing some sort of mechanism that kind of locks the joints at different angles would do better...? (Sorry if posted before)