40–49cm Dolls Making Shepard (My first head!)

(Note: these progress pictures have already been posted in this thread while this forum was being put back together.)

After attending BJDC Texas in 2017 and going to a panel on making BJDs, I decided to try it for myself. After fiddling around with clay (unsuccessfully) for a little while, I downloaded Sculptris and tried sculpting digitally.

A project was born!

This is my first mostly-complete head, and I created her to resemble my custom Shepard from Mass Effect. It's a character-creator face, not a default character, so I'm hoping there are no copyright issues when it comes time to get the head cast.

Spoiler: Game screenshots/inspiration pictures

On the left:
Mass Effect 3 05.22.2017 - 22.13.17.286 by AndreaJEP, on Flickr

Mass Effect 3 05.23.2017 - 21.04.42.405 by AndreaJEP, on Flickr

Mass Effect 3 04.16.2017 - 21.53.43.193 by AndreaJEP, on Flickr

I went through several iterations of digital sculpt => order print from Shapeways => cringe => sand => cringe more => edit digital sculpt => order new print from Shapeways. She looked masculine, at first. Lots of people called her "he," even after I said "she," so something was clearly wrong.


An early print, using one of Shapeways' cheapest materials. Note the obvious print lines and masculine appearance :P

Spoiler

3D printed head sprayed with Tamiya primer and wet sanded by AndreaJEP, on Flickr

...and the digital sculpt it came from.
shephead_front by AndreaJEP, on Flickr

shephead_profile by AndreaJEP, on Flickr

 

The next print and edit wasn't much better.

Spoiler

IMG_20170816_185811 by AndreaJEP, on Flickr

IMG_20170816_185738 by AndreaJEP, on Flickr

Here is a somewhat feminized edit, printed in Shapeways' cheapest material, I think. Note how fuzzy it is, and how it lacks detail compared to the digital sculpt. I think that once you get a digital sculpt pretty close to how you want it to look, it's worth the money to print it in a better material.

Spoiler

shephead_sculptris_927 by AndreaJEP, on Flickr

IMG_20170927_190745 by AndreaJEP, on Flickr

shephead_sculptris_side_927 by AndreaJEP, on Flickr

IMG_20170927_190822 by AndreaJEP, on Flickr

shephead_sculptris_3-4_927 by AndreaJEP, on Flickr

IMG_20170927_190810 by AndreaJEP, on Flickr

 

After spending a lot of time sanding and revising the last print by hand, I finally "dollified" the digital sculpt. She got bigger eyes, plumper lips, and a smaller chin. But I think she still looks like the inspiration.

And unlike many of my other creative projects, it's been 10 months since I received the print, and I don't hate it yet! YAY!

The final print is in Shapeways' "frosted ultra detail", which is pricey but really nice. There is some stepping from the printing process, but it is easily sanded away. It is capable of showing a lot of detail, as well. Here is what the print looks like before priming.
Frosted Ultra_Views by AndreaJEP, on Flickr

Shapeways actually messed up the final print. Part of the face and ear had been completely flattened somehow, and they didn't notice before they shipped it out. I almost don't blame them...the translucence of the material makes it difficult to see things like that if you're just doing a quick once-over before you ship the product.

They were nice about replacing it for free once I sent pictures. The headcap was fine, so they just re-printed the face.


After I did an initial priming, but before I did much sanding, I put together a comparison of the print and the digital sculpt.

Spoiler

sculptris_vs_shapeways front by AndreaJEP, on Flickr

sculptris_vs_shapeways 3quarter by AndreaJEP, on Flickr

sculptris_vs_shapeways lowprofile by AndreaJEP, on Flickr

I have carved three s-hook notches inside the head, which gives it a pretty nice range of motion. I've got to dig those pictures up so I can post them.

Here she is on the body I modded for her. The body has since been dyed and blushed, but I still haven't taken pictures of that completed.

Spoiler: Beware! Doll boobs within

RongMod-6 by AndreaJEP, on Flickr

RongMod-12 by AndreaJEP, on Flickr

 

Yes, that's the translucent one. Thank you

 

Thanks It's going to be a while. I still have to find a casting company...I had one picked, but they aren't responding to my requests for a quote.

 

Any chance you're using Windows 10 or 8? If so, you can get a free program from the Microsoft store called 3D Builder. I tried Mesh Mixer, Blender, and a few others to hollow out the mesh, and 3D Builder was by far the easiest to use. I used the "hollow" command first (it leaves obvious stepping on the inside of the head, but I'm smoothing that out manually on the print), then used spheres to carve eyewells, squished cylinders to actually poke the eye holes and neck s-hook hole, and a squished sphere to make the neck hole. It's also got a splitting feature to separate the head and headcap, but it needs to be a straight cut made on a plane. There might be a way to make a more complicated cut, such as you would need for a faceplate system. I've got a theory as to how to do it, and will try it out on my next head (I'm working on Garrus as well).

I made the little post and hole thingies to hold the cap on the head in 3D Builder, too. I carved the s-hook grooves inside the head by hand on the print because I wasn't sure where I wanted them, but you could probably do it digitally with the torus primitive. Create a few inside the head and use the subtract command on them.

 

Awesome Is your sculpt posted here anywhere?

 

Aw, that's ok! Lots of people like looking at progress pictures. But if you just aren't comfortable posting it yet, that's cool too

 

Thank you! I actually did end up over-working the print and screwed it up. Luckily, I'd kept the one Shapeways messed up on, and just fixed the mis-printed part with apoxie sculpt. And then I left it the heck alone except for what I needed to carve on the inside. I made the molds earlier this summer and am currently fighting with resin to get a decent cast I can actually use.

 

Thank you! I tried to cast her myself this summer and, while I'm not completely happy with any of the casts, I settled on one to use and did a faceup. I need to remember to post updated pictures