Well, apart from the coloring (no fair that you got skin tone! My dealer only had red and yellow I have to mix) you might want to think of the fact that SmoothCast 300 has a very low viscosity, so it hardly bubbles at all and you don't need to degass it first. SmoothCast 320 has a much higher viscosity and should be degassed first. I went to the local Smooth-On dealer last week. For silicone I wanted to get SmoothSil 910 (white, low viscosity, for models etc.) or MoldMax 10, which is basically the same. Turned out MoldMax is €20 per kilo cheaper than SmoothSil (€25/kg against €45/kg), so I took that one. I haven't worked with it yet, still need to finish the sculpey model. Anybody know how long you can store resin and silicone before it turns useless?
So I like the paperclay I've been using for the most part, but I think I want to go polymer for the hands (the fingers keep breaking and getting lines) so I did a quick ebay sweep and I was wondering if anybody had worked with the 'Premo' brand? How does it match up to super-sculpey?
I've just redone Robin's hands in super sculpy. They kind of look awefully big now, but i keep measuring them and the tape thinks they're the same size... I don't know... But they are no longer cracked, they are more detailed and I'm making them to be jointed like an SD16's hands. I was watching one of my friends putting on and taking off her doll's hand the other day and was very interested in the ease of it. So now I have two hands sitting up on top of my desk looking down at me... it's kind of creepy... I'm in the dorm so I don't' have the rest of Robin here with me to put them all together and compare, but I had free time tonight and decided that I wanted to try out the new hand tutorial I found. It's awesome, but I don't think I can put up copyrighted materials here...
Waaaaaahhh!!!!! I so badly want to start spamming the internet with photos of my girl, but i just can't seem to find enough silicone! No matter how much I buy it never seems enough!!!! I almost feel picked on! I'm draining out the last couple of drops from my bucket o' goop I hope I'll only need one more baby tub of the stuff after that, but i know it's going to be at least 2. I never thought leg pieces would take up so much silicone!
I was actually thinking the same thing about the hands i sculpted for dude (i destroyed them), but for making life easier, one could sculpt the hands a little bigger than they should be, and cast them in neoprene. The glorious thing is neoprene shrinks when it dries, so it'll shrink a bit into the proper size, holding all the details ^^ i'm not sure how much it shrinks by, it seriously depends on the object being cast. But yeah...and to make a resin cast from the neoprene. I know it sounds like a really long way around of doing something, but its just an idea i thought i'd throw out there.
i know that some of the hobby resins have a shelf life of no more than 6months before the chemicals go dolally, i'm not sure about silicon, i think it depends on how you store it. when you have a load that's set and left over you can chop it up and use it as a filler for another mould. take a look at these websites, they might have the answers you seek: http://www.polytek.com/ http://www.smooth-on.com/ i'm also looking at an inbetween acrylic polymer substance to cast in called Jesmonite that sounds great as it's non-yellowing etc etc etc
That actually sounds really cool... I may try it in the future, but for now I just ended up sculpting new hands. They seem to be better each time I do them anyway, so that suits me.
I'm afraid that once I start I won't finish! I've been planning and planning, I gotta work on saving and finishing his plans XD
Maggot: thanks Now I'm not so worried anymore. I for some reason thought that resin would already go bad when left alone for more than a month or so
I've just started a design for my girl Karawyn. she popped up and practically begged to be made. I'm nervous about the joints and etc. I've never seen a BJD body up close or anything and it's hard to make something you've never seen...
I've never seen one is person either, and my girl is coming out pretty good! I need to fiddle with the knee joints a bit, but everything else is working really well, they don't seem to be as precise as you might think, at least not basic joints. All you need to do is look online at some photos where you can see the joints, and you should have a good idea, one thing i found very helpful was this post from Luts
Finished my molds a bit back, and started casting! Ran out of resin of course, so she's missing a leg. I remember thinking at first that I'd have a doll faster if I made one than taking on the HUGE DOD wait time. Boy was I wrong!
I still wonder why everyone uses sculpey >.< I guess it depends on your preference. I am using just general purpose Air dry clay from Amaco. It hardens well enough without being fired, I think. It is also much easier to sand and get smooth. When I made my first girl, I gessoed her and ALL the details were lost This one if she is cast, I think she will need to be coated with SOMETHING to stand up to the silicone, however I am definetly not casting her myself! Resin is a pain and just from working with it one weekend I have acquired a nasty cough.
I think that's why sculpy is the preference. it stands up to the silicone better than the air dry. Note that this is mostly just a thought. -doesn't want to be eaten alive- Gah I totally didn't notice the nasty cough part. Are you using a respirator and everything? like a resin standard one? Resin is really poisonous. If I decide to cast my girl, I'm shipping hr somewhere else. ><
The kind of resin you should be using for this (urathane) is not poisonous. It should only bother people with alergies if you're only using it for the first time. You can develope a sensitivity to it over time, but that's from skin contact. If you're working with urathane resin and getting sick, then you have an alergy and should stay away from it. If you're not working with urathane or acrylic resin, get rid of it. Apoxy resin is strong, but heinously toxic and totally unnessesary for this task. Most resins you'd get at a hobby shop in large quantities, unless otherwise labled, are going to be urathane. There is a thread wandering around here about getting resin at hardware stores, but an issue there is that you may get apoxy. As for air-dry clay vs sculpey, I use both for different parts. I use paper clays for the larger parts, and then sculpey for the hands. But you're right, air-dry clays are much nicer for sanding and carving, which I do much more of when I'm working on faces and stuff, so I like it particularly for the head, but it does take more work to seal properly. I use latex varnish, which works pretty well, but sometimes when they're coming out of the molds, they peal a bit. The molds come out fine, but the sculpts look like they got a bad sunburn. It's usally fine, but I have to re-mold Robins head due to air-bubbles so that means I have to fix up the sculpt again. I'll probably play around with some other varnishes soon too.
I'm always so over nervous about anything that might possibly end in bodily harm or infections. I'm a huge klutz. I burned myself on literally nothing yesterday. >< and I trip over air. So me making resin will most likely equal a small explosion. >< I've not had alot of trouble with the sculpy now that I'm freezing it before I work on anything. It holds it's shape really really well, and if I have a desperate mistake, it's really easy to fix just by squishing it a bit. ^_^
It's polyester resin. It REALLY sucks. Smells horrid, and the catalyst is NOTHING but warnings. It literally says if you get it on you it will eat your skin, so yeah. I am using polyester resin just for eyes though, since it's small. It's hard to buy other resins for use in small batches without paying shipping for the huge weight of the gallon jugs or whatever.
Oh, okay, that' makes sense. At first I'm thinking 'No! Why would you use that crap?! It's horrible!' but if you're doing eyes with it, that does make sense because I think it pushes out the bubbles a lot better. I think that's what they use for water and stuff in doll-houses and diaramas. It's been a while since I was into the miniatures scene though... I'm kinda foggy.
GAH. I'm really horrible at this. I get so excited I mess everything up! I think I'm going to start over on her head. it's like too big and her body is too small. I think it maight be alright, because I left some margin for error, tho. she's not really cute at the moment though. -facedesk-
gagh, i'm on head no.3 or 4 (i've lost count) ah well my mum bought me the BJD book from HobbyLinkJapan for xmas but it won't arrive for ages yet..... I need guideance, i'm going wrong somewhere ! If only my talented brother wasn't in korea! has is so good at sculpting.
I finished my doll!! I feel so proud... ...Well, I'm almost finished. I have to make new hands and wait for the eyes and wig I ordered to show up I'm not going to post pictures 'til he's actually done. Oh, but he's already got a little chip on one arm at the joint. I'm worried he won't be very durable...which makes me wish I could cast him in resin, but I'm afraid to get into all that. I wish someone else could do that for me Is that even possible?
Congratulations! it's been such a long project, I can't wait to see the finished photos! There are a few services where people will cast the dolls for you, but they tend to cost a lot. Casting isn't as hard or bad as you might think, it can be expensive to make the molds, but it's worth it. There are some good mold making tutorials. the molds are the most important part, but the actual casting itself isn't too bad.
eee this is a cool thread idea i just started my first head this week, her name will be alya~ it's hard because i've never sculpted anything before! But she's coming along I want to make a body as well, but thats after i finish this head of hers haha~ i'm going to cast her too.. something else i've never done
I've started my fisrt head this week, too. (Today, actually) His name is Sammy ^^ I need to start sketching his body soon >_<
TiltedLove, do you have any pictures of sammy? i love seeing the progression of dolls hehe~ I haven't begun the body of mine! so far just the head! i want to finish it completely before i start a body!
I just started a new head for a Little Fair 10-year-old girl body that i bought last week... She's MSD sized, so when I thought about a hollow core for the head, 'ping pong ball' instantly popped into my head... Currently I have a head-shaped ball of paperclay drying around a practice golf-ball (those cheap, hollow plastic ones for putting in the office). It's amusing me greatly... Robin on the other hand, is mostly done, his head at least. The body I'm calling a learning experience, I really don't think it's salvagable as anything of quality, but the head is close to being something I could sell...
I committed my poor Jinxi to the last part of the mold goo today!!!!! I should be able to cast her tomorrow *crosses fingers* It's even more exciting than Xmas. I've been getting her body ready the last couple of days, so I should have photos by the weekend if all goes well!!!!!!!!
I am taking a casting and moldmaking class right now here at college, and our teacher is all about Smooth-on. They have great customer support, easy to follow product safety sheets, and most of their stuff is mixed by volume ( 50/50 part A/B) which is wayyy easier than by weight. The 320 series takes pigment better they SAY, so if you are tinting, use that. The 300 series is a lovely bright white, I’ve cast some stuff using it myself so far, and I like the look of it. That takes pigment too but they claim the 320 series takes it better…or something. It’s also fairly reasonably priced, a 2-gallon kit (1-gallon each part A/B, so 2 gallons total)t on smooth-on’s site is only 73 dollars. ALWAYS read the info sheet (looks like THIS ) before buying / using the product to check shore hardness and work time. You don’t want something that has a pot life (workable time before pouring) of like 2 minutes for pouring doll parts.
weeeeeeee! thx lithe-fider! i've been quiet on DoA lately as i've been sculpting away like crazy in preperation for mould and casting! this thread is invaluable!
I WILL finish this head in May if it kills me! FIGHT! I've been working on it a bit and then tossing it back into the bin since last August. I need to post pics this weekend so I can ask for critique. I really could use having the stupid thing ripped apart before I get to finishing it off and making a headcap.
^Lithe-Fider: thank you for that Now I'm even more sure that I need to get new resin. When I was at the Smooth-On dealer the SmoothCast 320 with a pot life of 20 minutes was sold out. I took the 3 minute version, thinking I could manage, but now I'm not sure anymore... Gah, I need to win the lottery or something...
hey armeleia, you'll get there! i'm on my 8th head at the moment, i'm nearer to finishing the body first....
I've finally had some more time to work on my doll lately. I started her back in February, but she's still just a head and torso. I'm hoping to be able to start on some limbs after finals next week.
Almost done!!! the head mold came out great, and I have her first head cast and a nice colorful face up on her, I'm so happy with how she turned out!!! Now I need to finish up the torso plus a forearm and a calf and she'll be a real girl!!!!! I'll try get some photos today if I can.
*cough* I should finish reading threads before posting. ^^; Well, I'm about halfway through sculpting an adult male doll in super sculpey firm. His head, 3-piece torso and upper thighs are "finished", most of which I have in the garage sitting in a nice soupy vat of silicon. I hate waiting. I've also been having a hell of a time getting the arms and legs worked out. and may I say that I've done all sorts of newbie mistakes trying to hurry the process of sanding/buffing the pieces I have actually 'finished'. Lost a lot of detail, which I'm kicking myself over. I'll have to see how bad it is on my first resin casting. ;_; Eh.. I'll just say these are my preliminary molds, because I have a strong suspicion I'll be sculpting onto resin to finish him up.
Ive still got to actually make the limbs, but the head, torso, hands and feet are at least in chunks that look like what they are supposed to be... I'm having the hardest time with the hands though. x_X kitsuneudon, how did you go about doing your 3 piece torso?
Not sure this counts, but I'm trying to make a ball joint bunny. I've got a head/headcap, two-peice body, and big ol'feets that I'm content with.. but the legs, oh my god the legs. He'll be maybe four inches long if I ever finish him and wear six milimeter eyes.
this is exactly the attitude i have towards everything i set my mind on!!! i just hope i can do as good as some of you guys!
Very very very VERY carefully. with lots of reference pics from www.dollstown.com Basically I sculpted the shoulders/upper torso first, baked it, then hollowed that out with curved wood carving chisels until I got a semi-circular hollow under the upper ribcage. Then I made a lump for the tummy section, wedged that in there while moving it around in all the ways I wanted the doll to move. Things that were un-symmetrical got carved away, and I kept at that for over a week just getting it where I liked it. then, before baking the middle section, I made the butt/hips/groin around the shape of the tummy, baked that and carved the heck out of it until it was nice and hollow. Wriggled it around some more until I was happy with it, then I finally made the middle section. Lots and lots of time spent on the couch in front of the tv, trash bucket in my lap for the debris and just shaving, carving, and swearing. ^^; Speaking of swearing, I just found out that Alumilite's Universal Mold Release 12 oz did NOT in fact work to keep my first part silicon from sticking to my 2nd part pour yesterday. AAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRGH!!!!! (cuts precious sculpts from the greedy clutches of rubbery pink silicon) My poor baby!! His ears snapped off while I was fighting with the mold! ;_;
ooooh... when my chibi Milky is finished, I want to sew a turquoise and white striped hoodie with ears on it... and a little pink skirt, and some thigh-highs. ^.^
Wow. What made you opt to sculpt each piece seperatly, as apposed to making the whole torso, then cutting it appart and adding the acutal jointing once it was baked, kitsuneudon?
Pure ignorance. I had no idea it could be done as easily as that. ...not that it's easy, but would have certainly been easier. I'm working with super sculpey, so to be quite honest I wasn't sure I could cut it apart without destroying it. My next doll will definitely be less problematic, I hope.
I just did the same thing out of ignorance. It's been a total pain in the butt. Next doll I make I will know better.
^^ Sure, as soon as my camera's running I'll do so (hopefully tomorrow). I'm using paperclay, which I've discovered I like a lot (I have sculpy, but man, that stuff annoyed me fast). My poor bunny has no ears right now, as I figured it'd be a lot easier to make them out of cloth and velcro attach them on (or something) once it's done.. that way I can load the ears with wires and make'em posable too. The design is really really simple right now, no points for realism yet. I'm just trying to make it work. As said, the entire concept of legs has me bewildered, I have good ideas of how to do it in my head and drew out a leg design on paper, but making hollow peices with right turns that fit in sockets.. uh. Yeah I'm actually going to chuck the current shoulder/hip peices and start over, roll balls that seem like they'd socket right, then bore the angles in once they're dry. I'm also puzzled as to how to string the head to the body (maybe put an extra s-hook in somewhere in the torso? I dunno). Rant off, pics soon maybe.
I've been working on a 1/4 scale head, and he's pretty much done... one ear and a headback still to sculpt, and then casting. Today I scoped out some locations for his first photoshoot, assuming casting goes well. *crosses fingers* There are flowering trees all over the college campus I live next door to, and I found an out-of-the-way courtyard with some particularly nice ones. And I just now ordered some wigs from a DoA member who's willing to ship them ASAP (thanks ChibiInuTsuzuki!), so he won't be bald. Assuming casting goes well. *crosses more fingers*
I'm very new to this, I'd appreciate help from all you lovely, talented dollmakers. :3 I'm working on an SD-sized girl... I've been working on the head and torso simultaneously, using an air drying clay I picked up at a local art supply store. Has anyone ever heard of/used "Marblex"? It's working okay for me, but I'm not sure if it's really good for dollmaking... I just got it because it was affordable... My girl's head is nearly finished, and I'm very VERY pleased with the way she's coming along, but I made her head a solid sculpture that will need to be hollowed out later... That'll be pretty hard, I know, but I tried sculpting a hollow head and my clumsy little hands kept squishing her out of shape! ToT Her torso is solid too, but that won't need to be hollowed out quite as much, will it?
I've been thinking about this for the past few days.... how does one go about deciding/knowing what sized eyes to put in your doll's head (or, I guess, in our case, how do you know how large the eyes you have made are)?
Well, go with what looks right, and then if you have some eyes to place to check the size with... All I've done so far is just eyeball it. *laugh* Maybe if you posted a picture, we could help more specifically?
I made mine a solid head, and had to core it out with woodworking chisels to get it hollow. Be careful, especially around the eyes. I ended up punching out the eyelids, and had to resculpt them afterwards, and man am I dissapointed in how they came out when compared to the original. *pout* Since then I've aquired a dremel and some round grinding stones, which are helping tremendously. If I were smarter, I would have used a ball of aluminum foil to fill the hollow void while I sculpted, and when he was good and baked and finished, (and cool, you would be suprised how flimsey sculpey is when hot) I could have sawed the top of his head off and picked out the aluminum. This is such a learning process, isn't it? ;_;
I just meant in terms of what size eyes to get really. Some companies say something like "made for 18mm eyes) or something like that. How, as a doll maker, can I gauge what size of eyes will fit in my eye holes? I've got a link to a thread with images of my doll in my sig, if you are interested in seeing him.
Okay, I think I understand the question a bit better. I've read that a good general guide for sizing doll eyes is to measure the width of your eye opening in millimeters, and add one or two to either side. opening+2+2=___ If it's between sizes, it's usually safer to go larger than smaller, so say if it turns out you need a size 15 and have to choose between 14 and 16, go with the 16.
OH, I see. That helps a lot. Thank you. I figured it was something like that, and I would have just guessed when I ordered eyes, but its nice to have a better idea about how the eye sizing should work.
Some of the eye-selling domestic companies have sizing guidlines on their websites, but most don't. The few I've stumbled across are generally along those lines, so I figure it applies pretty much universally.
Welll..... Imma hang here and vent. I have a new boy being made. Go me. Except it seem's I've lost my doll-making touch. XP I'm having horrible difficulty making his torso... All I have done is his head. XP I think Trey's huge body killed my skills... That thing took forever! And I made Kyubi in 2 days, but he was little... So jah... huuuuu....
