Holiday project (1:3 male head) - Final update and test cast!

This year I was able to take some time off over the holidays, and I wanted to use the time wisely (for a change). I thought it woud be fun and educational to try sculpting a realistic BJD head from life. I found a good-looking Japanese actor to use as my model. My materials are LaDoll regular paperclay, and styrofoam for the core. I started on Monday right after Christmas, and finished the following Sunday. No speed records here.

The base head: Styrofoam core wrapped in 1/4" layer of paperclay, with eye holes marked and cut out.


The same with sacrificial acrylic eyes installed.


Built out the shape of the face a bit, put on eyelids and starter nose.


Building up the cheekbones and jaw some more.


Building out the center of the face.


(continued below)

 

Starter nose. I put the head in the oven on low heat to speed up the drying time between additions.


Nostrils!


More or less finished nose. I'm happy with it-- looks like the photos.


I put on an upper lip and took it off again. I don't like the shape of the jaw and chin.


Working on the lower face some more.

 

Here we go again with the mouth.


Added lips, and refined the shape of his lower face some more.


More or less final version of the mouth.


At this point I sanded everything, then took some black & whites to compare to the real guy.






You can see why I picked this handsome guy to model.

 

I wasn't happy with the eyes. They looked flat and lifeless, as well as being too big. I made them smaller, built out the brow bone, rounded out the upper eyelids, and sanded down the lower lids. I also made some adjustments on the chin, jaw, and corners of the mouth (again).






Still not satisfied with the angles of his face. I thought his forehead sloped back too much, so I made that more vertical. And worked some more on the chin, jaw, and corners of the mouth, again!




(continued)

 

Okay, time to step away from the sandpaper and try a test fit! The head is supposed to fit on an existing 65cm resin body I have. I think it's a bit oversized. Also, I don't like the headback/faceplate, and the whole thing sits too far forward on the neck.


I glued the headback to the faceplate. I'll cut a standard headcap instead. I also moved the neck hole farther forward, and cut down the back of his head a little. Better... still not great.


I moved the neck hole even farther forward, and reshaped the back of his head. I was surprised at what a difference such a small change made. His head even looks more proportionate on the body.


Nuts and bolts. Cutting the headcap:


Installing the hook, magnet holder, and neck socket, and generally tidying up in there:

 

I almost forgot to give the poor guy ears.

Base ear.


Carving out the ear canal.


The "Y" shaped ridge, and earlobes.


Finished ear.

 

Finally on the body! He is wearing his correct size eyes.









When the weather is warmer, I want to try casting him in resin. I've never tried casting before, so that will be another adventure. I'll update this thread at that time.

Thanks for sticking with me so far!

 

Thanks, Elf Piper and Mothi! It was a fun project and I learned a lot about sculpting techniques while doing it.

 

Thanks for the comments, all! Joankagami, I haven't primed him yet. I thought I'd put him away for a little while so I could look at him with fresh eyes, and make any changes then.

 

Just a quick update on this guy. I've decided to have him professionally cast. Now that the weather is warmer, I can finish and prime him. However, I'm scared of sending out the fragile paperclay original to be cast, so I'm going to try to make a test cast in resin that I can hopefully use as my master. This will be my very first resin casting experience!

A funny story, sort of. I had been working away on the headcap and interior of the head, making everything fit right, tidying up and all. But when I started looking at molding tutorials, I realized the head doesn't have to be hollow at all! Doh!!! I feel like a dummy. So I stuck the headcap back on his head, and now I'm sanding and priming.

A few progress pictures:







Oooh, shiny!! Many scratches and divots to go, though... and I can sand the resin cast if necessary.

 

Thanks, ghostdollie! I had to go look up that actor. You're right, there is a resemblance!

I'm totally confused about interior finishing too. I've seen tutorials that show both methods-- hollow finished head, and solid head where you line the mold with plasticine. For my own test cast, I'm going to try the second method. I'll post the results here, bad or good.

 

Update-- making molds

Warning and Disclaimer! This will be the kind of "tutorial" that shows you what NOT to do. This is my first time molding and casting. I'll post exactly what I did, mistakes and all. I hope other people can learn from my mistakes!

First of all, I should have filled in the eyeballs BEFORE closing up the head. Because I changed from a hollow-head to a solid-head approach, and didn't plan ahead properly, I had to do this the hard way.


I measured the head and went out 1/2" to figure the dimensions of the mold box, then started making the clay bed. I thought it would work best to make the headcap line level, but I don't know if this is necessary.






The clay bed follows the line of the headcap. I will clean it up a little more.


Starting to build the box around the clay bed. I added "keys" for positioning the second half of the mold.


First half all tidied up!

 

Mold making continued

I put on the second half of the box and cleaned it up. (I built the box in sections because I didn't have anything the right size.)


Sealed the bottom of the box with more clay, also the seams inside the box.


Here we go! I am using Alumilite High-Strength 3 silicone, because that's what was available in my local Hobby Lobby. As it turns out, Alumilte is supposed to be better than Smooth-On at high altitude anyway. I used a little over a pound for this pour. I'm working outside. It's not very stinky, but messy as you can see.


24 hours later. It seems to be cured properly-- bouncy but not tacky. I pulled the clay away from the box.


Flipped the box over to reveal the clay bed. Can you spot my mistake? When I first positioned the head, the back of it was resting on the work surface. So there is no room to pour silicone over the head.


Pulled all the clay out. Pretty in pink! The key holes are now key nubs.


I built a dam of clay to raise the height of the box, so the silicone would cover the top of the head.


And poured the second half.


So, do you see the little bottle of mold release that has been sitting in the top half of these pictures? Right there in front of me, all this time? I FORGOT TO USE IT when I poured the second half of the mold!! So I poured the silicone back out, cleaned it out as best I could, painted on the mold release and poured the silicone back in.

I don't know if that worked, or made a worse mess. We'll have to wait 24 hours to find out. Stay tuned!

 

LOL, I hope I get lucky. It makes me feel better to know that other people have done it too!

 

With some trepidation, I took the mold box apart to see what happened.


Removed the nasty blue clay. The "clay dam" made the upper mold a funny shape. Also, this clay dyes my fingernails blue.


Since I forgot the mold release, the two halves of the mold wouldn't come apart. But at least I can see where to cut, since for some reason the two batches of silicone were slightly different colors.


I had to cut the mold apart. It's no longer nice and tidy but at least the head is unharmed.


He looks so cool.


I started to build the clay "liner". The holes and toothpicks are where the eyes and ears should be.


Clay liner of the head cap, with holders.

 

Continuing to prep for the core molds! I decided I needed to take more care with the clay liner in the face area, especially around the eyes, so I pulled out the clay and started over.


Almost finished. The slits over his ears will hold the air vent tubes.


Both halves boxed up and ready to pour the core molds. I cut key slots in both halves of the mold, since I lost my original keys when I had to cut the molds apart. The air vents are pieces of coffee stir sticks. The pour holes are clay funnels. And yes, I did remember mold release this time.


All poured! In another 24 hours, I hope to be able to cast.


Regarding the "solid head" vs. "hollow head" method: It took me forEVER to build the clay liners. I wonder if the hollow head method would have been faster? Or if it's just my lack of experience?

 

This is an "anti-tutorial". What not to do! I should have made a list of the steps, then checked them off as I finished them. For instance, I forgot to put in a notch where the S-hook will sit. At least I remembered the S-hook slot. :p

I want to try casting in the next day or two. I'll post the results, good or bad.

 

We Haz Resin

I tried a resin cast tonight. The results are mixed, but not too bad for a first try. Photos follow...

Demolished the mold boxes and pulled off the clay. Note that one of the air vents in the head cap came loose. This will cause trouble later.


A little problem inside the face mold. I didn't have the clay stuck down tight enough in the neck, so a mixture of mold release and half-cured silicone leaked through the S-hook slot into the jaw and chin. Ack!! Fortunately it was still slimy, so I was able to wipe it out.


All four molds, and the surprisingly intact clay liners. The top surfaces of the molds look like they've been chewed by rabid beavers, but everything came apart easily this time. Hurray for mold release!


Preparing to warm the molds in a 150F oven for 20 minutes before casting, as per Alumilite's instructions.


Putting a light coat of baby powder inside the warm molds, also per Alumilite's instructions.


Banded up and ready to go!


Mixed and poured the resin. There wasn't enough time to take pictures during this part. 90 seconds goes by really fast! The glass of resin mixture was heating up in my hand as I poured! The resin started to cure shortly afterwards. You can also see where it's come up through the air vents.


Continued next post.

 

We haz resin, part 2

After about five minutes, I cleaned the warm swiss-cheese-like resin spill off the top of the molds. They look very mysterious. What will I find inside?


A head, with a lot of flash!


Headcap. Note that where the other airvent fell out, there's a giant air bubble. Another big bubble and lots of small ones on the edge. Obviously I could have used more air vents, or maybe tilted the head cap in the mold so that it had one high edge.


One massive air bubble on the edge of the face too. Also, the way I did the pour holes will mean a lot of cleanup.


I should not have vented the ears this way. It leaves me with a lot to clean up, and actual dents in the ears which will have to be filled.


No bubbles in the face itself, and the undercut areas all look good. Alumilite's suggestions for a good cast seem to be working.


However... there are a lot of little pindot bubbles in the silicone mold itself, behind the jaw, which I didn't notice until I looked at the cast. It left a dimpled effect in the resin. I think what caused this was dumping silicone too fast into this end of the mold (it got away from me). Of course, de-gassing would have helped if I had that equipment.






I may try another cast, but most of the problems are in the silicone, not the resin, so I won't be able to improve it a lot without making all new molds. So I may just clean, sand and patch this guy. My intention is to end up with a good resin master, which I can send off to be professionally cast. After this experience, I can say wholeheartedly that professional casting is worth EVERY PENNY.

Thanks for sticking with me through this process! I hope it's been helpful!

 

Thanks, everyone! I feel like I gave birth last night... all exhausted and happy today... LOL!