Midori the Satyr (doll nudity) Casting successful! New pics!

UPDATE: Finished pictures on page 4!


UPDATE: More and clearer images on page 2
UPDATE: Casting has begun! See page 2 for pictures
UPDATE: Buying silicon (major investment!)


Update: First test cast part is a success! Pics on page 4, should be well on the way by Monday!

First things first: sculpey is awesome. All I've used before is fimo. Thankyou internets!

Secondly: I think I'm crazy. My first attempt at a BJD was a cute but hideously jointed little catboy called Brandycat (take a look here) and so I decided I'd try and make some proper joints and a proper face sculpt. So I go and choose the most complicated satyr legs ever, in the vein of those belonging to this object of lust here. Well, I've got to use my engineering degree somewhere, right?

That decided, I took measurements from a luts-kid doll, approximately halved them to make a doll of about 20.5cm, and made a couple of drawings:



So far so good! I wasn't clear about his face, but at this stage I was going for cute and smooth. So, on day one, i started at about 8pm and finally staggered to bed at around 3am. I'd made a torso and thighs.



So, erm, what happened to the cute? I guess i just kept adding detail, it was way too much fun! His hip joints arent perfect, but they're usable. Maybe i can attack them later with some sandpaper.

I used the method of foil wrapped in tape for a core, and cocktail sticks to base the limbs on. I wrapped those in foil for good measure, but later on I didn't to no ill effect. For the smaller joint sockets I killed some wooden beads with smiley faces on. They left some paint residue inside, but nothing too serious.

By 11pm the next night (last night) I'd finished the head and tail.



This was as fiddly as hell, and i broke an eyelid and an ear tip off in the process. I agonized over his face for ever, starting with a cuter boyish face, but the cheeks looked all wrong. So i kept adding clay and this face (which matches the body a little better) emerged. Very different from my drawing! I really like him though, he seems very elfin to me. I used the "ball of foil with baked clay face profile slotted over it" method for his head. (the foil took a good 15 minutes to pry out!)

I burnt his tail. I'm sorry satyr man! >_<

So, when i was at my most tired and most full of coffee I tacked the lower legs and hooves. By 4am I had this:




The main problem, aside form symmetry, was working out what joint-obstructing clay needed to be where in order to give him a good chance of standing. I realized also that the elastic would need to run from the base of his hoof to hive him enough tension in his lower joint, so I made a sort of plug for the base of each hoof with a metal bar in it to attach the elastic.

So that's him so far! He needs arms, hands, eyeballs, a name, and horns!
I can't decide what sort of horns to give him. I'd like to be able to get/ make him a wig and i get the feeling most horns would obstruct it and maybe throw him off balance.. Maybe little forehead stubs...

Anyway, thanks for looking! and many thanks DOA for all the awesome tutorials!


PROGRESS: 30/09/08

I finished his arms and hands, and added a pair of horns. There was much re-gluing and re-baking involved:



The curl of the horns aren't exactly symmetrical but i'm pretty happy with them. I also sanded his face (hence the white patches) and made him a little less chiselled, and evened out his lips and eye creases. I finished the head with wet and dry paper so he's all smooth. His arms went pretty well, i'm pleased with the way he poses, although he does have large holes in the top of his shoulders which i might add more clay to shrink a little. I'll see, they like to pop out of his shoulders a little too easily. Could have been my test elastic not being very strong...

So here are a few shots of him standing before i'd started sanding....






And here he is in bits:


By this photo i'd evened out and re-tested the legs and sanded them smooth. My next job is to finish sanding and to find some decent elastic (Sewing elastic doesn't seem to cut it, even doubled up... any hints would be much appreciated!) I'd like to find some eyes for him too, or maybe make some out of fimo. They need to be tiny, maybe 4.5mm across. I'm also thinking about casting him, although I'm really feeling my way about in the dark with him and am really not confident I could do it well. Also his lower body is now a sealed hollow shell, i'd have to cut it in half to cast him. What do people think? Worth a try? Thanks for all the helpful comments so far!

Oops, i forgot to mention, I decided on a name on my friend Ruth's suggestion: Midori! (I'm keeping an alcohol based theme here, after Brandycat)

 

Thankyou so much for all your supportive comments!

I've made a lot of progress, I'll update with some new pictures.

re the proportion issue, a lot of the width of his shoulders is in the shoulder joints, so he looks a little strange in the current photos. His head may well be too big though, i's a mistake i often make while drawing.

I made his horns come out of his forehead in the end, although magnets are a great idea and i may well use them in my next doll.

 

Thankyou everyone! I'm pretty pleased with his horns now, they curve backwards quite a lot so they done seem to mess with his balance too much. I'm glad I unwittingly made him accurate! XD Now...cast or paint? or can i paint then cast?

 

Ok, a quick update post, I've finished sanding this guy down and I sprayed him with a white base coat. It came out pretty uneven in places but good enough to take a few pictures (with the help of a black satin pillowcase and some moon cake boxes...):














I'm starting to love this guy a lot, he's got loads of personality!

Notes for improvements:

1. His head is pretty uneaven from the bottom! I think it's because the headcap isn't cut quite straight. It shows that his ears are slightly different sizes. I might try and fix that before casting.

2. I made his eyeballs out of fimo and gloss varnish, but they have to be pretty wonky shapes to fit him. I think i need a dremel(sp?) to round out his eye sockets, tiny tiny! (sorry for unclear photos, my camera struggles with small things)

gryphonblade77: The sculpey was great to sculpt with! The baking aspect was an advantage, i could bake, add bits and re-bake to no ill effect. It's not as plasticy as fimo, just all round great stuff. It sands down super smooth with wet and dry paper too! I'm hoping to cast him when i get a free weekend, maybe two weeks time or so?

 

Thankyou so much everyone! ^^

 

Hooo-kayyy. Finally, i've managed to start the casting process!

I've found a very helpful chap called Gordon at my university who spent his career casting aerospace components. He says he'll talk me through the casting process, beginning with mouldmaking!

So, i've currently got one leg and one arm suspended in 5 cups much like this:



The insides look like this:



The theory is this -

• The part is suspended on a straw which is glued to the supporting cardboard. This keeps it central in the cup with about 20mm around the edges.
• An inlet is created with that fat white hot glue stick. Bearing in mind that i've built up the negative space inside the mould, you could imagine the resin being poured in here. It's a 10mm diamater stick, wide enough to build up enough pressure when filled with resin to force the stuff through. It's glued onto the back of midori's foot here.
• All those cocktail sticks are outlets for air bubbles. I've attached them to the extremities of the part to insure that the whole thing fills up. They're glued on and have a very small contact point.

I have 17 pieces to do, wish me luck! I hope I can get the first casts out by christmas. I also made sure that the 6mm eyes (here) fit him so that he'll be all ready for a faceup when he comes out. This is really exciting!

 

Thankyou so much It's really exciting, hopefully Gordon will hold a resin casting class using my doll as an example. I'll post more as i do it.

 

Hoooo-kay. I've got to the point where i need to buy me some silicon (transil 40) to cast Midori. I really need to know if anyone at all might be interested in buying him when he's done? I know this is early days, but if i get a few interested people i can justify spending the money to myself. If not, i'll have to put him on hold. I'd also love to know what a doll like this might reasonably be worth - i'm very new at all this so if anyone has any guidance at all on selling a limited edition handmade doll i'd be very grateful!

Many thanks!

 

Thankyou! I'm pretty pleased with him ^^ i've got him all sanded down so hopefully he should come out well.

 

woohoo! i manged to source some transil 40 silicon for a lower price so i think i can go ahead and mould him now ^^ hee! so exiting! thankyou everyone for your encouraging messages!

 

Thankyou! ^^

 

Thankyou! I'm really pleased that you like him - yeah, a lot of him happened at night! I hit 3 or 4 am far too often >_<
i was going for a sort of etherial look - hopefully i've sanded him enough now that he'll be smooth when he comes out of the mould.

I can't wait to get him cast- i wanna do a faceup and make him some wigs!

Gordon is excellent! He's really helpful.

 

Thankyou! i'm really pleased with his legs, i'm so desperate to start casting! my uni work keeps nudging it out of the way. ah well, i can hopefully start later this week or next week!

 

Thankyou for your comments! I'm itching to get started on him, life keeps getting in the way >_< maybe i can get cracking on monday and try and get the rest of the molds made up.

I've had some interesting ideas about flocking his legs - has anyone tried this or seen this done before? it would give him a fine downy fur effect.

 

mm, removable fur would be a good idea. I'm going to have to do a little experimentation! i think i'll have to make him some clothes if i try and sell him - what do people think would suit him? I think maybe a little waistcoat and some knee britches with ties, all in shades of green or gold. I just love that sort of outfit though. I want an excuse to put him in a top hat - not sure how that would work with his horns but hey, life is full of challenges!

 

Thankyou! i'm glad you think so

 

haha! i really want to do that now! XD

I made a little mini tiny manga page starring him because i needed a sample manga page for a project, along those lines... http://blondeyetti.deviantart.com/art/Midori-chair-manga-105440303

 

Ok, i spent 4 eye-bending hours today trying to finish making the insides for Midori's moulds. I've got his hands, foot plugs, head cap and the two halves of his lower torso to go. Whee! Maybe i can get some silicon in there tomorrow.

 

Thankyou for all the support! I've been looking at flocking...maybe i could do some casts of his hoof part leg and flock the skin part but not others. Blimey, i'd better learn to walk first- i need to learn faceups, body blushing and wigmaking yet!

aaanyway, the first test silicon mould cast has begun! Midori's lower left leg has been immersed in goop resembling alien drool and hopefully will form a fabulous rubber mould for the casting of resin! Wish me luck, i find out in 12 hours :p