OT/General List of casting companies?

While people are at it, I'd love to hear peoples reviews of the company if they've used them. Of course I understand some things people would want to keep private, but it would be helpful to someone like me who would love to cast someday to know. Such as why JPop hasn't been ideal for you Jynxia? Just hoping for at least the general good and bad feed back if people are willing to share "They weren't quick to communicate but they came home safe in the end." "The resin wasn't the qaulity I hoped for" "The seme lines were tight" etc if people have that to share. Granted this may already be somewhere and if so I apologize for not hunting before I responded to this.

 

You can deal with Weiju directly, you don't have to go through Jpop. I think this is the correct email: [email protected]

I had some heads cast with Weiju, and it was a good experience. The prices are reasonable, but be aware they do have a minimum order quantity that seems to vary depending on what you're having cast. You should ask them about that. I thought they were very professional, but not warm-fuzzy. I mean they were helpful and responded quickly, but they don't seem like the kind of place to hold your hand through the entire casting process. But if you've done your homework and know what you want, it's a good experience. There were no surprises or extra fees that were not in the quote. Casting quality was excellent, there were no flaws or color variations that I could see. Turnaround was about 3 months from start to finish.

 

What exactly did they change - just the joints or other things as well? The torso and hips in particular look very different. Did they mention why it was necessary?

If it's common for casting companies to do this, maybe sending a plaster copy instead of the original would be safer?

 

Huh. It just seems like an odd thing to do, considering your original sculpt looked perfectly fine. I doubt the joints were so bad that all of them needed replacing.

Good to hear that not all of them do this, though. Thanks!

 

Jphobia, were you working through Jpop, or with Weiju directly? I'm so sorry this happened to your darling little kitty.

I see I didn't make clear above, I worked with Weiju directly, no middleman. I had originally contacted Jpop for a quote, but she didn't want to give even an estimate without having my finished prototype in hand. I did get the impression that most of her time and attention goes to her big artists (which is logical, I guess).

Weiju did ask if they could refine the headcap attachment, which they did at no cost, and actually their version was much better than mine.

 

That's who I dealt with too. I'll be interested to hear your final review, since I hope to do a body sometime as well. I suppose it'll be a different experience doing a body than just a head.

 

Thanks a lot Jphobia to share your experience with us!

I tried to contact Jpop Dolls; I send them 2 email (the first 2 weeks ago, the second last sunday), but I still have no answer It was only to get some informations because my doll is not finished yet, maybe they didn't answer when it's not enough serious for them?

I didn't know that they was able to make "refinements" on a doll... Did they asked you before? I'm worried, because I don't want any modifications on my doll (especially if they make changes on her face...)

Did you send your "original doll" to them? Or did you make a resin copy before? A friend told me "don't send your prototype", I now understand why :/

By the way, your doll is really nice!! You made a great job

 

@Jphobia: Like I said on Deviantart: I'm so sorry this happened to your doll. The results you show here are much different then the work they did on my Puck! When they send me the prototype, the only thing that was different was the slots: they made them smaller, so they would look good. He was also as smooth as baby's skin, but he looked EXACTLY like the sculpt I send away.

What they did to your Kitty is unexceptable; they completely changed the mold!

My experienced were much different and I'll include them here to get a complete picture:

From my experience, they won't, especially if you specifically ask them to. Ivy (the contact persoon and face-up artist) is nice to deal with, but her english isn't very good. If you want to make something clear, make sure you use small, simple phrases, start a new phrase on a new line and use pictures to show what you mean.

But it could very well be that they are good at creating human-like dolls, but don't know how to deal with anthros like Jphobias Flat-Face.

When you know what you want, they are a pleasure to deal with. They are a bit formal, but I have to say, when customs lost the 50 pair of doll eyes I ordered from them, Ivy was very kind and ensured me that they would make sure the eye factory would make new ones as soon as possible.

Their castings are also very nice. I've just received all 50 of my Pucks, checked them all, and there isn't a single flaw in these copies. Colour is consistent throughout, all seams are well sanded, and they were wrapped up carefully.

They were also very clear from the start how much the entire process would cost me, but maybe that is because I was very persistent in my questions. Ivy seems to sometimes read over questions you ask, especially when you have several in an email. Again, I think this is because of the language barrier. If she forgets to answer a question, just repeat it and you'll get a reply.


Although my experience with Weiju has been pleasurable, I do think the minimum amount of 50 is too much for a starting company. Next time I'll go to Dollshe, because it's less of a financial risk for me.

 

I think Jpop dolls won't answere until the end of februari.
I recently contacted them. Jpop's factory has Chinese new year until the end of februari.

 

FantasyDoll is in the process of casting one of my heads and they told me they are closed until 20 February. In case anyone wants to contact them this month.

 

This is good advice for any casting company. A clay prototype (especially air-dry clay like LaDoll) most likely won't survive the molding process and they'll have to make a resin prototype anyway. Aside from the fact that you'll be able to keep the original when you make your own resin copy, it's also easier to smooth the doll. LaDoll is a fantastic product, but there are limits to how smooth you can sand it.

 

Yikes! I'm sorry you had such a bad experience, Jphobia! Psyched that you're casting your kitty, though... he's super cute!

I have to say, the fact that they clearly rejointed your entire doll makes me consider sending them an unjointed doll and seeing what they can do with it... I have a fairy doll sculpted without joints, and the idea of not having to do the tedious work of cutting and hollowing and jointing and testing and possibly reprinting, possibly multiple times... it's very tempting.

 

I like your kitty. Hope you have great success with it so that you can laugh about this in the future. 50 minimum order did not sound too bad to me. A design company I was with tried to produce a garage kit-, having casting part done in China. They wanted us to order 10,000 unit minimum at the time so scrapped the plan.

 

Oh man... I'm really sorry things keep going wrong! Especially since I feel like they're kind of the only game in town... not only does Fantasy Doll do a terrible job on tan resin, I just found their white resin sample and it's yellowed a lot. And I know Weiju does UV protection.

And yeah, it was just a wistful passing thought... really I just need to get better at joint design myself. ^_^;

Fingers crossed that this is the last thing that goes wrong for you!

 

I am so sorry to hear that they have been screwing your project up. I know how you feel when you are about to open emails from them. I have experienced the similar situation. It gets depressing to see the sender's name in your inbox...Good luck to you. I wish there is something I could do to help you out.

 

Why?

I am curious about why they are changing your BJD in the first place?

In her book Learning To Be A Doll Artist (1999), Martha Armstrong-Hand writes:

You did make molds of your original BJD and cast it, right?
You sent a cast reproduction to the casting company, not your original?

I do not understand why, if you were able to cast your BJD, why they have to make so many changes?

In his book, Pop Sculpture (2010), Tim Bruckner writes:

In this case, YOU are the Art Director, and the casting company is your employee. Even when speaking the same language, communication can often be difficult. In your case, not only is there a foreign language barrier, but also a basic communication problem. You did take before and after photos, right? If the old parts and the new parts are sitting on their work table in China, can they tell which is which?

We all make mistakes, and it is important for us to learn as much as we can about doing business with a third-party casting company, so that the same mistakes will not be made by others in the future, right? What would you do differently if you had to do it over again, based on what you have learned, so far?

(^_^)

 

kinda wished I read this before sending my doll off to them XD Supposedly I would receive the prototype sometime this week or next...but her emails are scarce XD

 

@cheshirepanda: Did you do any of the things that I asked Jphobia about, above?
What would YOU do differently, if you had to do it over again, based on what you know now?

@Jphobia: Thanks for your replies !!!
I think that all of this input will help others who are considering having a foreign 3rd party casting company do their BJD casting for them.
Not everyone doing business with this company has had problems.
It would also be very nice if someone who has had success doing business with them could offer some input?

We must remember that having 3rd party companies do the casting for individual artists is still a relatively new thing.
Eventually, maybe we can figure out a way to do this, without as many problems as Jphobia is currently experiencing?
Wouldn't that be special?

(^_^)

 

Well I emailed Ivy about if they could give me an estimate when the doll would be shipped.

They've already shipped the sample. Thanks for telling me, right?

Once I get my doll I'll inspect the sample. I probably would've gotten her done sooner. I just didn't know the long wait time (3 weeks for sample, and about 1.5 or longer months for production) I understand they have other dolls to be made but the one I sent them was 13cm tall, not very big... I do believe the more often customers get higher priority over the newer ones.

 

Jphobia, I'm sorry your job is going so badly.

I consider my experience with them to be a success. But I was just getting a head cast, not a whole doll. I went to Ivy directly, not through Jpop. To get a quote, I sent Ivy pictures of my resin cast. It took several emails to clarify everything. I mailed out the resin cast (not the paperclay original) and a piece for color matching. Ivy sent me an email with the photo of the head, packaging and test piece to show that it had all arrived safely. It took about 6 weeks for the molds to be made-- somewhere in there Ivy emailed me to ask if they could change the headcap attachment. I agreed (she did not charge me for the change). When the molds were done she sent a photo of the sample cast, then mailed it with a tracking number. The sample arrived in about a week. It was gorgeous, no flaws at all, so I approved it and paid the balance. I did not ask her for a time estimate for casting, since I wasn't in a hurry, but as I recall that process took about a month and a half. Ivy notified me when she shipped them all out.

Two caveats: I did not get my prototype cast back (but I didn't ask for it either). Also, if you're paying by Paypal she asks that you either do a gift payment, or add fees to your total. Paypal is not fooled by a $500 "gift", so you might as well add fees.

Weiju isn't a brand-new company, they do casting for several Chinese BJD companies, as well the people who sell through Jpop Dolls. I have to say, I never got the impression that I was being shunted aside for a bigger customer. Cheshirepanda, doesn't 2-1/2 months seem pretty quick to get a custom cast? Dollshe seems to take 4 months, and Nobility even longer.

 

I AM LIVID.
THEY CHANGED MY DOLL. They didn't tell me, send me pictures, ASK or ANYTHING.
The eye shape, the torso joint, they softened the back details, thinned out the arms, changed the ball joint to the wrists, AND COMPLETELY CHANGED HOW SHE'S STRUNG. I had it from neck to torso, and ankle to ankle, they removed the center and just strung her neck to ankles. I did that originally to HIDE the slits for the hip joint. They also made the slits bigger. Last but not Least the tiny detail of using Dots for L and R They removed and put the L and R. Which I hate the look of :\ The ONLY thing I'm happy about is how perfect they got the headcap to sit. and the resin feels nice to the touch.
I'm going to calm down before emailing them...I need to clear my head...

Alewife- you do have a good point. I think I expect less time since I was able to mold/cast her in one day XD

 

Oh man, that SUCKS! I'm so sorry that happened to you and your doll. I hope they can do something to make it right.

 

Aw, cheshirepanda, I'm so sorry to hear this! I wonder what's going on with them. Hope you can get things worked out.

P.S. And you are way faster than I am at molding and casting!

 

@Jphobia: Thats the thing though, Ivy told me the fee was for molding/a sample. No where in her emails did it say anything about refining I emailed her yesterday and she said she didn't know the doll was modified and would like to see photos. Now to charge my batteries so I can do so x_x

Thanks everyone everyone who's seen her says she's gorgeous, and she's slowly growing on me. I feel though that if I just let it slide they might do it more often to other people :\

 

@cheshirepanda: That is probably the best advice for anyone dealing with a 3rd-party casting company.

If something happens, give yourself some time to calm down before dashing off an email.

Well done !!!

(^_^)

 

I am so sorry to hear that, cheshirepanda. I can relate to it. There were a few time that final product had changed without any notice, but I was just a hired model maker, it was not my design to start with. So I can't even imagine how you are enraged after you put so much thoughts into your doll, which was basically your original art work and the manufacturer you hired chopping it to their liking, possibly for easier casting, assembly job for them.

Hope your problem gets solved quick in your satisfaction.

 

Ack! So sorry, Cheshirepanda! That's definitely not okay. :/

 

oh my glob, what a nightmare! God knows it's scary enough sending off a prototype to another country, but not being able to control whether it's modified or not, that is completely unacceptable.

 

We appreciate that thought.

When you get your pictures taken, do you mind showing us?

 

Today I received the heads cast by Fantasydoll. More about this head can be found here.
I had contact with Michael and he usually replied within a day when I emailed with questions. The price I was quoted was reasonable, but I was told I had to order at least 30 heads. I could fill up that order of 30 with any combination of their standard resin colours (I'm not sure if tan is included as I didn't ask). I ordered 15 white resin heads and 15 natural yellow resin heads.
After I paid I wasn't always kept up to date and I had to ask for updates on several occasions. I received a reply usually within a day or two. I also didn't receive progress pictures, although I was promissed them. Maybe they forgot, so keep on top of it if you really want to approve their master before they start casting your order.

Below is on the left my original paper clay master and on the right the extra copy of the head I received (with missmatched resin, because it doesn't matter what colour a master is). As you can see the original master was damaged, but not completely destroyed. It's missing an ear, but I guess FDoll returned what was left including a replacement master.


arrival of cast Wilhelm head by muizenstaartje, on Flickr


arrival of cast Wilhelm head by muizenstaartje, on Flickr


arrival of cast Wilhelm head by muizenstaartje, on Flickr

We had agreed upon that FDoll would refine the inside of the head, which they did nicely.

arrival of cast Wilhelm head by muizenstaartje, on Flickr

They did place the slot for the S-hook more to the front, which causes the head to snap in weird positions now and then. It's not a terrible change, but in case you don't want any structural changes made, you need to stay on top of it. In my case FDoll did more good than bad. The head looks very professionally finished.
The resin is a bit shiny, but does not look like cheap plastic. A coat of sealer should reduce any shine, I think.

I'm also quite happy to see that the logo that I had carved in the back of the headback was cast as well.

arrival of cast Wilhelm head by muizenstaartje, on Flickr

Just for reference, it's a very small head, so FDoll can handle casting detailed work.

arrival of cast Wilhelm head by muizenstaartje, on Flickr

 

I am interested in trying to find someone to cast my dolls, but have had no luck in getting in touch with anyone. Links and names of companies would certainly be welcome, as well as reviews.

 

the extra master's nose seems thinner than your prototype. Did they refine the outside as well? Cast your prototype, then filled in dents and scratches, sanded, then cast the final product?

 

View attachment 285

The white one is my original design.
1.) There is now a gap when she is bent foreward or backward. The lip that stopped it was removed
2.) Instead of her being strung from ankle to ankle it goes from neck to ankles and the hole going through her hip is gone.
3.) The hook that was ment to be placed in her waist is removed and now two holes go straight through instead
4.) the wrist joint has been flattened.
5.) Her eye shape changed. This is what really upset me. This is mainly what I hope to change back
6.) The elbow joint has flattened.

the headcap was changed but that part is ok, it makes it look better.

Ivy told me she will send me a new doll next week....I asked her if they changed the original but she didn't answer that :\ Hopefully this all turns out for the better

 

The nose is indeed slimmer and has different holes than the original master. This is so far the only big change on the outside that I have noticed. I was told that FDoll made a resin copy of my clay master and then sanded the resin copy smooth as paper clay is difficult to get super smooth. The resin master was then used to make molds to cast 30 heads.
The parting line between the face-plate and the headback is more crisp on the replacement resin master (and the cast heads), so FDoll probably added some material to their first resin copy.
So the fact that the nose is a bit slimmer isn't that weird. I guess it was more sanding than shrinkage that happens when molding, but because it's all on a very small scale, I'm not sure.
Maybe some details were lost on the ears, but there weren't many details on them to begin with, though.

 

Arabidopsis: how is their resin? I agree the nose is probably the only thing I can notice that was changed, but extremely minimal. How long did it take for you to recieve the final result? Did they automatically send back your original or did you ask for it?

 

I went digging through my email for the dates. I shipped the head on 24 November 2012. 21 December I was told the package had arrived (not unusual, because of Chinese customs I'm told). The same day I let Michael know how many heads in which resin colour I wanted to order. 9 January 2013 I received an invoice and I paid the next day. 11 January I was informed that one head was cast from my clay master and that FDoll was going to sand the surface smooth. If it looked well, they would make molds and cast my order. 31 January I asked for an update and I was told FDoll would be closed for Chinese New Year from Feb 1 to Feb 20 + they hoped they could finish my order end of March. 20 March I was told they were now casting the heads. 4 April I received a shipping notice.

I did not ask for my original clay master to be returned as I assumed it would be destroyed during the first molding process and I assumed I would be shipped a replacement master in resin. This was never discussed, though. I do think Fantasy Doll kept the first resin master they made with my clay master (maybe in case my package with the heads and masters got lost in the mail?) The resin master that I received is the same as all other heads, except for the resin miss-match.

The resin is smooth and there are no seams (like with of most Chinese BJDs). It is a bit shiny, but not cheap plastic shiny. I would call it average resin as I've seen better and I've seen worse. Considering the price I was quoted per head, it's a good deal. It became expensive due to the 30 heads I had to order.

 

It's fascinating reading about your different experiences - thank you so much to those of you that have shared so far.

cheshirepanda - I hope your concerns will be addressed and the next doll you receive will be what you want. She looks adorable from what I can see, though the eye shape is the most noticeable change - and an important one because it's such a big part of the overall aesthetic.

Arabidopsis, your results look amazing - congratulations. I think it's great that the company were able to make molds from your prototype without it being primed and the result is so close to the original. Do you have photos of the head painted?

 

No, the heads arrived yesterday. I'll be shipping a few heads off to a face-up artist soon as I currently can't do any face-ups.

 

Well, since everyone (exagerration) is posting pictures, I thought I'd put my input here.

Like most of you probably know if you were reading this thread, my Puck was casted by Weiju. Before I send him off to them, I asked batchix and Twigling about their experiences (they also had one of their dolls cast by Weiju if I remember correctly) and how to best deal with them.

I was told that they offered nice work, but their english wasn't very good, so to use simple sentences when dealing with Ivy (Weiju's contact).
That's what I did. I made sure I used small, simple sentences only and also made sure that each new one was placed on a new line.
Together with my email, I also made a document detailing all the work I wanted them to do on my boy and specifically told them what to leave alone. This Word document was filled with pictures of details of my doll's body in where I explained what I wanted them to change to that detail. I also made pictures of those things about my doll they weren't to touch.

Ivy is a nice and polite person, but she doesn't always give status updates. To make sure I was aware of what they were doing, I emailed them frequently. When I did, I was always given a fast response. I also made sure that I was, at all times, absolutely clear of what I expected of them. Maybe it's my experience as a writer, but it's nice to know exactly what I client wants and doesn't want, and I think Weiju isn't any different in that regard.

Anyway, maybe it is because I was this firm in my demands that they contacted me before they changed Puck's head cap and give me detailed pictures of my prototype before they send him back to me.

Here are some pictures of Puck's clay model and the final version:



As you can see, they haven't changed anything about his face (except that they polished it).




And here you can see that the only thing they really changed is the slots of the joints (which they narrowed at my request). They didn't alter the shape of my doll's joints, nor did they change the aesthetic of the sculpt.

And this is the end result:








As a last note:

My advice, when you're dealing with a third party, is to be as clear as you can be of what you want of them. Really, it isn't rude to be firm and to express your wishes; it's part of doing business. And especially in this business, where you'll most likely have to deal with a language barrier and can't talk face-to-face, it isn't smart to leave anything open to interpretation.

Double-check if the person on the other side of the mail box understood what you asked of them, or if the option you ask about is really available. In some of these countries it is impolite to say "no" to a customer and so they won't even if they can't offer what you ask. Also, they're not always keen on admitting that they didn't understand your question. When you didn't get the answer to your email, it's best to rephrase it, or to ask if they would like you to do so.


Working with a third party can be pretty rewarding. There is nothing so fullfilling than to do a box-opening of your own doll. But it isn't without its risks and - because you'll always have to think three steps ahead - it can be trying.

 

That is an extremely educational post, Silk.
Thank you very much for posting it.
There is so much useful how to information in that post,
that I would recommend to anyone who is planning on having their work
cast by a foreign 3rd party company, to print it out and pin it up
on their studio wall.

Read it and re-read it as you are working on your prototype.

Congratulations on your completed resin doll , Silk.

(^_^)

 

What color did you choose for your casting?

 

@Allison Mecleary: To whom did you direct this question? If you'd like to know what colour Puck is, it's normal skin environmental resin. The same colour Islanddoll BJD's are cast in.

 

@Silk: Thank you for your post! Wish I had this information in the beginning XD

I emailed Ivy and received pictures before they mailed her out:

View attachment 287

She's perfect now (They fixed her hip joint as well)

I was mainly upset when I first received her because I was not anticipating -any- changes to her. I admit some of them were amazing, ie the headcap *3*

So yes to confirm Silk- Simple sentences go a long way, and keep asking even if you feel like your bothering them- its how to triple check everything is going correctly.

 

Sorry, I was referring to Puck. He turned out beautiful, and all your information is very helpful. I am not sure what casting company I want to go with and I am getting close to having to make a decision.

 

I don't know what Pipos resin is like, but THAT grey is STUNNING!

 

Congrats, J !!!
Well done.

(^_^)