Nylh's dolls : Mew & Tew

Mlittarin, wouldn't you be curious with a armless and legless thig laying next to you ?

PakouChan, I'm planning to cast her, but selling is another problem. My plan for 2008 would be to start a small bjd buisness but once again nothing is sure, I haven't started casting yet ^^;

kisaki_kun, yeah, it's really weird to have a doll with frog eyes, but it's really useful when you start sculpting the eyes.

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Working on Tew (that will be is name, I know I'm not really original ^^; ) I have his torso almost done. Of course there's his penis and navel missing but I won't forget.



Tomorrow I'll start the legs or ams, dunno yet.

 

BrightSuzaku, Tew won't have a larger torso. I've decided to give him the same specificities than Mew, i.e. Small torso, large hips and long legs. Mew would look silly if she was with a boy looking like an unoa boy or another MSD ... I also like his shape, I don't want to sculpt something realistic, I just want to sculpt something I like. I love androgynous dolls, mixing genders, adding shape to men hips when I sculpt.
Tew will stay that way but I need to work more on the hips. Sanding is not done yet ^^;
But yeah, with the arms his torso looks less slender. Anyway, he would probably look less odd with well shaped legs, arms and .... his face ^^;

I'm not sure about the Mewtwo joke (eventhough it's also a kind of joke in french .... ^^; )

 

... Well.... what can I say ? It's a bit difficult to have a good reaction with such comments.

I know, nobody wanted to be insulting or hurt feelings, but comparing a doll in process to this thing is a bit awkward. Seriously, I never watched this anime, I heard about it of course but that's it. The name I choose for my dolls have nothing to to with this monster. Mew was the first name that came to my mind when I sculpted her, Tew was because I wanted a name that sounded like Mew and because if I had to make another doll I would name her Elle.
Mew-Tew-Elle, in french: Mutuel (you can translate it by Health insurance) because since I had my accident in june I receive almost every weeks a letter from my mutuel telling me there's a problem with this or that and that, that I own them money etc ... A kind of nonsense private joke

To make it short, even if my dolls are far to be perfect, comparing them to this odd monster would have probably made me stop sculpting if I wasn't happy having managed to finish at least one doll so far ... I'm not angry or anything but a bit puzzled by the comparaison you choose ....


Anyway, today I sculpted a bit more. I modded the neck, the torso too, adding nipples, worked on the hips and the penis. I also started working on the limbs.

A comparaison photo between Mew and Tew. Large hips but Tew has a flatter bottom than Mew



I need to work more on Tew's bottom ...

 

Thanks everybody, just forget about it, it was just really odd to read about pokemons in this topic ^^;

Anyway ! I've hard time working on Tew. I don't know how I managed to do Mew so well. Tew's face was a real pain in the *** >.< But it's probably because I haven't put the eyes right when I started to sculpt (that's why he looks a bit silly)

The eye shape seems right when toy forget about the eyes position. His mouth was also difficult. Sculpting soft but manlike lips was a hard task.









I have finished all the joints but there's still a lot to do. First of all I need to create a good neck hole and sand his head better to fit his wig ( for now he is between Unoa and MSD size wigs .... so I don't have wigs that might fit him.)

I know I need to work more on his lips and nose .. and eyes and eyebows and... everything T.T but at least he looks more human than when he had just eyeballs ^^;

 

BrightSuzaku, so my attempt making a more masculine looking face has worked I like his nose even if it's a bit different from what I wanted first (he just doesn't look like the face sketch I drew before starting but that's fine ^^; )

ieatedyourcooki, captainkyo, thanks, for now I'm happy with him and with his curves, he is also a bit better done than Mew but that's probably because I learnt with Mew the "not to do" things.

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I worked more on him this morning, always far to be perfect but it's working good.





The hands and feet are juste roughly done that's the part I hate doing but I have to -.-

And thow bonus photo :


With Mew


and just Mew ^^

 

BrightSuzaku, he is taller, yep, Mew is around 34cm and Tew will be like 36/37 cm

sa-rah, thanks

Alchemical, Tew is progressing faster than Mew, you're right, it took me a whole month to finish Mew and Tew is less than two weeks old and almost finished. Of course there's still lot of mistakes. I think there's a good reason about his fast progression ... I sanded Mew's joints to put the stringin with a nail file and I used a dremel to do the same with Tew. No wonder it took me less time with Tew ^^;

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Tew is fully stringed now.







I know his head looks a bit big (not so eady to take good photos of him -.- ) it was the same for Mew so I guess that with his wig and clothes it will be less obvious ( And when he will be gessoed it will be better too )
I don't know what kind of clothes I can sew for him.

 

BrightSuzaku, a friend of mine suggested me that he could look nice with a sarouel trousers and a kimonolike top, I think I'll try something like that as I want to sew a yukato for Mew ^^

ieatedyourcooki, next update will be soon, I have old photos with Tew and his mohair wig but the major update will be when he will be gessoed. I'll do that this evening and tomorrow evening too. I'll try to take photos of the process to show how it works (but it's really messy)

Treelore, I tried Fimo and Cernit, they are not for me, I'm not good with polymere clays. Plastiroc is the best airdrying clay I tried (the easiest and cheapest to find here). I remember having bought natural airdrying clay for the very first doll I made three years ago it was a real disaster.

If it can help you, I made a list of the positive and negative sides of plastiroc:

+ it's cheap (4.90€/kg)
+ it's easy to use ( if a part is already dry, pour water on it before putting your fresh clay and it will stick and dry without problems)
+ it doesn't crack (it's not natural clay but a synthetic one, so you can let it dry next to something warm to make it dry more quickly )
+ personnaly I like the smell (but some people just hate it)
+ it becomes rather light after it dry
+ it's easy to sand ( not like polymere clay. When I started to sand my naga baby I was sanding and sanding and it was has if I wasn't doing anything )

- you can't sculpt too tiny details or it will break easily
- when you sand you have to be careful, there's tiny "hair" in the clay. That's what prevents it to crack when it dries but you have to sand it carefully if you want a really smooth surface
- it dries a bit too quickly. You can't take too much clay outside the package to work on your doll or it will be useless after more than 10 minutes outside if you work in a warm room.
- it's really messy if you use too much water

I would like to use a mix of Ladoll and Formo clay for one of my next dolls but I can't find that in France (I would need to order it in Belgium or somewhere else in europe and asia which will make it more expensive, I don't really want to pay 10€ a kilo of clay I'm not sure I'll succeed to use )
There's another airdrying clay I'll try next year, it's called Solargil, it's around the same price than the Plastiroc and as easy to find. There's more colors too like yellow and green, that can be funny .


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Bonus phot for today, Tew with hiw wig and eyes.

 

BrightSuzaku, Mew is more like " Ooooh... birds ..." 'cause I need to fix here neck to allow her to look down. She can only lift her head up for now ^^;

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As I said in my previous post, here is the Gesso coating tutorial. It's the first part.

What you need :



-Modeling Paste
-Medium Matte
-Acrylic paints (brown, pink and flesh)
-Gloves (lot of gloves !! )
-A wood spatula to mix your gesso coating paint
-Cans or anything you can use and trash
-Skewers and straws
-Styrofoam blocks
-Newspaper
-And your doll of course

In many asian bjd tutorial you see that the paint they use to put the last coat on the dolls and give them a more flesh skin tone is somthing called "Cloth Clay" or "Gesso"... But it's not easy to find in my town so I used another brand that works pretty well. You can find it quite easily. It's Pebeo Modeling paste, but any modeling paste works.

Step 1: Get ready

Sand your doll, no need to sand it to make the surface really smooth or the gesso will not stick on it, just sand it to remove the bumps.

Now stick the skewers and straws in the styrofoam blocks and be sure you can put the different parts of your dolls without making htem touch each other.




Step 2: Mixing



In the can pour modeling paste and medium matte. Mix it to obtain something that can reminds of cream. It shouldn't be too thick nor too liquid. Add paint, I used three colors to creat a flesh tone coat, brown, pink and a bit of flesh. Remember that the color you have will be darker after it dries. Mew's "freckles" are due to a too old brown paint, make sure your paints are still good ^^;
Be sure you make enough of this mix. You'd better make too much than not enough or you will have trouble to make exactly the same color.

Step 3: Apply the gesso

I choose to apply it with my fingers. It's easier and you're sure not to have brushes marks on your doll. The bad side of it is that it's really messy.

Pour some gesso on your finger and stroke the part you're doing. It doesn't have to be perfectly done, you will have to add several layers of gesso to have a good color and coating.




Some tips that can help:
* Your first layer has to be quick and thin, no matter if it's not perfect, just be sure there's no gesso bumps.
*If you don't have many gloves, wash them with soap and clean water between the coats. Don't let the gesso dry on your gloves or it will be more awkward to apply it.
* You will need like 3/4 coats before sanding it smooth. Ig you can't reach some difficult places like nose or crotch, use a thin paint brush.
* If you still have gesso after finishing you can keep it in an hermetic can to use it later. The Gesso I used was the same one that I used for Mew.


To show you the colors with the finished coating and the non coated parts.

And I forgot to drill the hands and feet joints before starting T.T Silly me !


Second part of the tutorial will be the sanding. Sorry for my bad english I tried to be as clear as I could but I'm a bit tired.... Tomorrow I'll start sanding (I need to drill the joints too if I want to finish him quickly )

 

No sanding tut, juste few photos of Tew nos he is almost finished ^^







I'm getting really addicted to doll making. I'm already planning a new one, just hesitating with the size .... 25cm or 60cm ? Mmmmh.... hard choice.

 

Jenny-Rose, it's a mohair wig I made. A bit too large on the top ^^;

BrightSuzaku, I've already started a new doll. I'm getting addicted to sculting and I want to improve enough to be able to sell my dolls ( long long shot, don't expect any dolls for sale before 2009 at least ). I've totally finished Tew except the clothes but looking at him I'm not pleased with his head. The body is good but the head is too big I don't like the ratio ... I'll have to redo his head one day. But not in the next few months.

Alchemical, reading in my mind ? I've started a new 60cm doll today, I've cut the styrofoam, this one is just so messy Oo; I'm not used to it yet but it will be easier to remove.







It's funny, it can stand XD Okay, skinny but it stands. It will be a genderless doll. I'm not sure about the torso joint, I'll see, but I want the hips joints to be like Mew's, I like it ^^

 

Well, you might see Mew in real tomorrow (dunno if you have received my mail) but be sure I'll not let you kidnap her XD

Arcadie is coming out really well, I've started her arms and she is half stringued now. I'm so happy about how she can pose, really flexible. Sadly no photo until sunday, sorry.

Brightsuzaku, I think he will be more Fruits than romantic, but a name starting by a A is a good idea, I'll stard thinking about his name ^^