My Leon's New Wig In Sixteen Years (DIM MNM Heavy Mod)

I feel like this wig still needs a lot of work to be accurate, but I was planning on making a new one anyway. I just have to finish other projects first. Regardless, I am happier with this one, than the first few ones he had. And the terrible one I made for him before this one. (:








Thanks for looking,
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- Enzyme

 

Thank you so much for your comments, Valdemagra! I'm always beyond grateful, that I even get a single like, let alone people leaving their comments on my posts at all! (:

He is indeed a Doll In Mind Minimee, he is a head sculpt that was made during their group orders for character based sculpts. They were sculpted in a maximum of ten sculpts per group order, and the characters could only be requested once -- then later, you could privately order, an already requested sculpts for a lot more than joining a group of ten people. He was supposed to be based on the Resident Evil 4 (OG version from 2005) video game character Leon Scott Kennedy. I usually type all that info, but I was running late already (had to pick up people at the airport), so I was lazy to type in all that. I also feel like video games are not that popular or well-known around these parts, so I thought it wasn't necessary for me to add all that.

He is a large head for 60cm-plus-bodies (back then I feel 70cm-plus bodies weren't that popular or widely available, so most people in the GO wanted a head that was a bit on the smaller side for taller dolls). He was sculpted a bit smaller than the usual DIM MNM from those days, but as can be seen is still too large for the 12.5cm neck that's supporting him (I prefer my more realistic-ish head sculpts to have a wider neck, that frames their jaws). He is borrowing my Limhwa Limho Mano's body in those photos, which is 67cm tall, and he looks disproportionate on it, so I only take extreme close ups (but I also suck at taking photos! So, yay me! Lol!). (:

Hope that helps, and thanks again for leaving a comment! Sincerely appreciated!

 

Thank you so much for your comments tinyflame!

It has always been a dream of mine to own an accurate (OG-RE4) Leon figure or doll. I got into the group order of this particular head sculpt for that reason alone. I wanted an accurate doll, since the HT 1:6 action figure version was so lacking in many ways. I did regret not purchasing that for a long time, but then I kind of thought it was for the best. It hasn't aged well, from what I have seen other owners say about the figure (and I'm not even talking about the likeness!). I never thought about how much of a pain in the gut it was going to be, to style the hair! I knew that it was a lot more precise and specific than a "boy-band' haircut, which most people immediately assume. It is a literal pain in the gut, and I am sure Capcom's designers never thought people would ever want to have a haircut like that (nor probably replica it). I didn't really care about the accuracy of the hair back when I got him either, I just wanted his face to not look the way it originally did. That was a whole other struggle. The wig came as a second thought at that point. I did find it a pain in the lower back finding the right color back in the dark-ages, since I always assumed Leon's hair was dirty blond and that's what I will keep my Leon's default to be. I know that there's arguments about his "true" hair color online, but this is my doll and I get to decide if I want it to be dark brown or freaking lighter brown (dirty-blond).

I did change my approach to the haircut, only because the first wig I made for him was a stretchy cap wig, I made with ready sewn wefts and a ready made stretchy cap I didn't make myself. I found it to be extremely wasteful, because I loathe wastefulness, and had to chop the layers of hair as I styled the wig. It was minimal, but I still don't like it. I used to favor stretchy cap wigs, but Leon's didn't age that well (the elastic didn't live up to the trouble it was for me to sew those wefts onto the cap, on my sewing machine, all those years ago!). I made this wig entirely with glue and stained the hair to be an approximate "accurate" color. I ran out of the base hair I was using, which was already two different shades of super light blond. Then I had to wait for the hair I purchased to make a "proper-default" wig, to fill in the gaps. Only, the hair I received doesn't take acrylic paint that well. It's a real struggle, this dude has a been a royal pain in the gut-hole to even get to this point. I wish I would just be happy with this wig, as his final. Which has a cut as asymmetrical and close as possible (for me) to get, to Leon's hair in RE4. However, it is all over the place color-wise, and I don't own a heat tool small enough to get the bangs as accurate as I would like. I am no hairstylist by any means, but I know this is the best I can do, as far as haircut. I probably could to the little swoop at either side of the bangs that frame his face a bit better, if I owned a miniature styling tool, but the smallest I own is 1" and it's way too thick and just plain big, even for this size of a doll head. I f-ed up the bulk, and made quite a few mistakes along the way. I am not a wig-maker by any stretch of the imagination either. I just like customizing my own dolls myself. Even if the struggle is real! Lol! Thank you so much for your comments, and opinions on Leon's hair, I definitely agree Capcom never intended for his hair to be replicated. Even the official figures/statues specifically based on this version of Leon, with sculpted hair that are around, don't get it right. I can't ever hope to get mine as accurate as the actual Capcom's version of Leon, but I can surely dream! Good luck with your distant future cosplay-Leon doll! (:

Few more angled views of the wig, from each side, didn't get any of the back, because the struggle:

These are the images I was using as a guide for the hair cut and styling. I leave the bangs too long, but I feel it's better to a bit too long, than a bit too short. I suck too, so there's that:


Here's a quick dirty Photoshopped wider-neck version, because I feel he looks so not good (not a fan of apples on a stick for necks) on this pencil of a neck, but I don't own a broader body and I never will, sadly:

 

Thank you for your kind comments, luluna! I did purchase wigs back in the day; indeed, it was a pain finding short wigs for male dolls. I haven't shopped for doll wigs in more than a decade, so I don't know the frustration of it currently, but I hope it has gotten easier. (: