40–49cm Dolls My first attempt: VIOLA 1/4 Curvy Gal COMPLETE **Latest Update: Jul. 12**

It has taken me a very very long time to finally attempt making my own BJD! Recently, I fell in love with 1/4 size after having only larger dolls... I found myself crafting more and more things for them and attempting more serious modding, and then, after being unable to find a curvy/chubby body that suited my plans for one of my floating heads, I decided to finally take the plunge and just try making a body myself!

I'm using Paperclay on the inside, covered in a mixture of LaDoll and Premiere. I haven't done any sculpting since middle school, and I never thought I was any good at it, but I find that carving out dry, hard clay works a lot better for me than working the wet clay.

So, the design of the body has changed a bit since I first drew it out, but here is the final scale drawing that I did...


Taking the Plunge... by Jess, on Flickr

And making a foam core (OMG the foam I got was such a mess ;__; But that's another story...)


Taking the Plunge... by Jess, on Flickr

My first attempt at covering the core with paperclay made me realize my first cores were too large, so I whittled them down and tried again.


Taking the Plunge... by Jess, on Flickr

Then I covered the paperclay with the LaDoll/Premiere and started sculpting the shape I wanted... Also started making the hands and feet, and ball joints and peanuts :uhhuh


Taking the Plunge... by Jess, on Flickr

At this point, I couldn't do much else with the cores still inside the clay, so it was time to cut everything open! I tried taking a time-lapse video (I hope it works here )


Removing the Core by Jess, on Flickr

Then, I tried to refine the sculpture a bit more, and fit everything together better... This is really the point where I went off my original drawing. Now I'm going more for an hourglass shape and less of a pear shape, so her upper torso needs some reworking. I'm thinking of making two different bust parts, one with small breasts and one with large.

And here's where my progress stands today, the lower half of the body here is standing next to my Unoa for reference... I'm pretty happy that it can easily stand on its own, but I'm really not sure if that's just normal and not anything I should be proud of XD I realize one leg is shorter than the other, because I had to shorten one of the legs because the knees weren't aligned... That'll get fixed when I work on the joints.


Juxtaposed by Jess, on Flickr

At this point I think I need to fill in the clay shells and get everything whole again so I don't have to rely on rubber bands to keep things together XD And then I can get into the real nitty-gritty of making the joints fit and work properly...

My main problem is that I've never owned a doll with hip balls attached to the torso and not the legs, so I'm still trying to work out the best way to cut the elastic channels for the most stability when standing and sitting. I'm also planning on trying detached shoulder ball joints (another thing I don't have direct experience with) so I'm not sure about how to get the best range of motion there either...

Any suggestions/constructive critiques would be welcomed ) Hope to have more updates soon!

 

@Enthrax Thank you I hope I can keep the knees looking decent once I cut the joint in her legs!

 

Thanks so much everyone for your kind words!!

@binkylain - To take out the core, I basically sawed her in half XD The video didn't work properly in my first post... But if you click on the image (or click here) it will take you to a video showing the process! Her walls were pretty thick, but even on my failed first attempt with thinner walls there wasn't any problem taking out the core. Maybe try wrapping your foil in plastic wrap? Sometimes all the nooks and crannies in the foil get really stuck in the clay.

@oakBottom - Your BeechKiss looks awesome! I'm sorry to hear that she couldn't get cast :< I am starting to worry about that myself, as I was also planning on using Haru for casting, and I'm not sure what they want the insides of pieces to look like. (I'm afraid this giant torso/butt piece is going to be way too much resin...)

@scientizt55 - No worries, I'm a newbie too! XD I've only seen a few videos on YouTube and scoured these forums before this. The only reason why I used paperclay first was to save money, since it's a bit cheaper than LaDoll/Premiere, and I didn't know if it would work out (I had to junk my first attempt). Some people use polymer clay for their doll sculpting, but I'm not a big fan of it. There are a lot of posts in the "Materials" section in the forums here comparing the different types of clay you can use ^^ And yes, I did take some videos If you click the link I just gave binkylain above, theres a little timelapse video of core removal. I have some other videos too, but I'm a novice at video editing, so it's taking me a while to get it together ^^;


So.... Updates!


I've done quite a bit since my first post, but don't really have many pictures to show for it XD First, I glued all her pieces back together. I had several attempts at the bust piece (I ended cutting it up a few times). Here's a little height comparison that I did:


Sculpting Progress! by Jess, on Flickr

The angle of her feet was kind of weird, so I chopped off her toes and reattached them at a better angle XD I also made her legs bigger (chubbier), and added a little on the hips to compensate. I completely re-did her ankle joints (using the circle template method to create the balls, very useful trick!) as well as refining her shoulder balls. Worked a little on her arms (added cups at the shoulder joint, generally made them more even). Started the 2nd bust piece, I still need to refine the shape of the torso joint so she moves a bit smoother. I toyed with the idea of making some sort of cap piece on her thigh joints, thinking it might improve mobility. I don't think it will work with the shape of her hips, so I probably won't be using them...


Sculpting Progress! by Jess, on Flickr

... And then I made some boobs, LOL


Sculpting Progress! by Jess, on Flickr

Please ignore the weird ridges at the tops of her breasts. I wanted to use the clay from the breasts I had to chop off when I was making her bust piece fit on the torso, and the tops of the hard clay ended up sticking out a little (I've already shaved it down smooth now, since the clay has dried).

Today (and in the near future) I need to:
1. Adjust the backs of her thighs so they don't gap weirdly around the ball
2. Refine the breasts on the large bust piece, sculpt in collarbones, shoulder blades, etc.
3. Work on small bust piece
4. Refine arm shape a bit more

Then I think I'll be ready to cut the joints in her arms & legs and work on her jointing! I'm planning on an exposed double joint at the elbow, and either a smooth single knee joint (like unoa or dollmore kids) or a modified version with a hidden double joint in the calf piece (if I can manage it XD). I'm really eager to do a test stringing on her, but I have a lot to do before then!

 

@TheStripyCat - Hehe :3 Thank you!!

I have finished all the things on my "To Do" list in the last post, except for sculpting more detail on the bust pieces (I still might need to adjust some arm holes as I think the placement might be uneven). But I also cut all of her joints! I had a bit of trouble with the knee design I had planned, but now that I can see the leg actually bent, I'm thinking a simple, single spherical joint is what I'll go with.

The shape of her legs isn't really conducive to a double jointed knee (at least one that doesn't look ridiculously huge/long), or even the Unoa-style single joint (her legs are just so oddly shaped at the knee, I wouldn't be able to get things to line up the way I want without some serious resculpting T^T).

Anyway, I'm hoping with some careful shaping I can get a bit more than a 90 degree bend out of the single joint, and pleasing aesthetics.

Hopefully I'll be back soon with happier updates! XD

 

Thanks so much! I was thinking of doing it this way, I am glad to know I was on the right track! I think I'll have to cut her open again to hollow it out that deep, but it shouldn't be too much of an issue.


Okay, so updates... I finished all of the jointing in her legs, and cut holes for elastic so I could do a test stringing! I am really liking the way she looks so far, I just need to make some adjustments to her hips so that she can actually sit on her own ^^;;;


More Sculpting WIP by Jess, on Flickr


More Sculpting WIP by Jess, on Flickr

Joints in her arms aren't as refined yet, but I hope to finish those quickly as they aren't as complicated as the knee and thigh joints... And aren't load-bearing XD

More updates soon, I hope!

 

Wow, it's been a while since I posted an update! Thanks @cloudedmind and @TheStripyCat

A lot has happened since December! Here are some photos of my progress:


All Together Now! by Jess, on Flickr

Here's her first full test stringing (with a Unoa head). I hollowed out her torso like @TheStripyCat suggested, and did a bunch of work on her arms. Her large bust piece also needed a lot of work. When I strung her I found out that the boobs looked WAY too high up on her chest (what I get for sculpting them without a head attached to the neck... made it seem a lot longer than it actually is).


Sitting by Jess, on Flickr

The next stringing, after I smoothed down a lot of stuff, reworked the large bust, and mostly finished her arms. She can sit here, but I wanted her to be a bit more stable (she was still leaning back a little too far for my liking) so later I reworked her hip joints a bit, and moved the stop in her stringing channel up more to bring her legs up a bit more when she's sitting.

After I finished I took some basic posing pictures...


More Body Photos by Jess, on Flickr


More Body Photos by Jess, on Flickr


More Body Photos by Jess, on Flickr


More Body Photos by Jess, on Flickr

After all that, I decided I wanted to try sculpting a head for the body, too... Here's the start of it:


Attempting a Face by Jess, on Flickr

And here it is, test stringing the body with the headback + faceplate. The headback will be able to take Unoa 1.5 girl faceplates as well ^^


More test stringing by Jess, on Flickr

This is pretty much where I'm at now, except since it was such a nice day today I sprayed her torso, legs, and feet with Mr. Surfacer (and quickly used up the whole can XD I'll have to order more). I'd previously surfaced her large bust piece as well, but I think I'll need to sand off most of the surfacer around her shoulders because I think the shoulder joints on both bust parts need a little reworking to make the transition smoother from chest to arm...


More test stringing by Jess, on Flickr


More test stringing by Jess, on Flickr

I hope she'll be able to sit just as well as this, now that she's covered in surfacer XD We'll see very soon!

For now I think reworking her shoulders has top priority, then finishing her face and headback, then getting everything sprayed and smoothed...

OH, and I forgot to mention, I've come up with a name! If you couldn't tell from the new thread title, her name (both the body and the head) is Viola! :3 I hope to get her finished soon...

 

Thanks guys!

So, most of this video is probably redundant for this thread since I've posted most of the progress here anyway, but here's a video I put together of Viola's progress so far! If you skip to 8:10, it's the start of what she's currently looking like ^^

[video=youtube;6IU0Yz4c62s]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6IU0Yz4c62s[/video]


I ordered some more surfacer, as well as some Tamiya putty for filling in places, which should hopefully arrive in a few days. The Mr. Surfacer is the Primer/Surfacer 1000 kind though (I just used the regular Surfacer 1000 the last time, but it was sold out when I went to buy more)... Does anyone know the difference, if there is any?

 

Wowww it's been so long since I posted an update! I'm so sorry, I got so busy with things I forgot about posting to this forum orz Thank you all for your kind comments!

Well, Viola is pretty much finished! I'm starting her preorder next week and sending her to Harucasting to be cast in resin... I hope everything goes okay *fingers crossed*

So here's a bunch of photos of her progress! Mostly all I've been doing since the last update has been sanding and priming >___< Because I think I started priming too early, I have learned for next time that it is *much* easier to sand and shape raw clay than it is to work on a thin layer of primer... It's like a never-ending cycle the way I did it LOL

Some things I did change are her elbow joints - she wasn't holding a pose with a fully bent elbow, so I changed the shape a bit... I'm still not sure I can't do better, but for now I'm happy enough with it. I also made a pair of high heel feet for her! Since most of my dolls wear high heels anyway. I think I own maybe 2 pairs of flat shoes between all my dolls.


Doll Progress by Jess, on Flickr


Viola Progress! by Jess, on Flickr


Viola Progress! by Jess, on Flickr


Dress Making by Jess, on Flickr


Testing out the new camera... by Jess, on Flickr


Testing out the new camera... by Jess, on Flickr

Here she is basically finished:


Viola Details by Jess, on Flickr


Viola Details by Jess, on Flickr

I also made some junk casts of the face to try out different faceups!


Viola Faceup! by Jess, on Flickr


Viola Faceups by Jess, on Flickr

And here's some finished pics of her :3


Viola Details by Jess, on Flickr


Viola Details by Jess, on Flickr


Viola Details by Jess, on Flickr

Sorry for the photo spam! But I did have 4 months to make up for ^^;;;; I'm so excited to finally have her completed! I had so much fun sculpting her. Can't wait to start on my next doll!!!