Pocket Venus (tiny) --- Lola - some final pics (07/21/08)

She is DELICIOUS. I can't think of a better word to describe her. Just... delicious.

 

Gah, your sculpting skillz are just... amazingly fantastic. It boggles the mind, it does. Randomly-- is there an advantage to having the hip ball joints unattached to the hips/thighs, or is it a stylistic choice? 'Cause it looks really spiffy too.

 

Love, love, LOVE her!!

 

ohh, what a great idea,
and yes, she is a venus

 

Hehe, now I've been staring at my keyboard for a few minutes trying to find something intelligent to say about your sculpt, but at the end I'll just have to say I really like her. She's turning out great - the face is cute and the bodysculpt is amazing.

Just got a silly idea... - being a venus she could have optional stumps for arms, you know like the Venus of Milo statue http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venus_de_Milo

 

Ahhh omg, why didn't I see this thread before? XD She's lovely! I love her hips and legs and shape! Stop inspiring me to work on BJD stuff right now when I have no time! XD *pout* Her high heel feet are a lot of fun, and her face is too darling! The jointing seems to work very well.

And I feel your pain on sanding, it FAILS. XD I HATE sanding. Wet sanding helps tho with non-water-based clays, it loads up the sandpaper less quickly and gets rid of dust (especially with what I use, Super Sculpey). Still doesn't make it go any faster. XD

I wish you luck in getting those molds to work. I don't have money for vacuum chambers either, so here is some advice that worked for me from what I saw you saying you were having trouble with:

To avoid bubbles on your MODEL when making the silicone molds, do a detail coat before doing that side's pour, a thin layer of silicone brushed (more like lightly dabbed) on with a soft bristle/stiff feel brush. Then pour in the silicone in a THIN stream, from a height of at least a foot away. Pour in ONE spot NOT ON your model (off to the side) and let it level out itself, this avoids air entrapment and keeps bubbles off your model.

Your silicone may be too thick as well, either it's the wrong type of silicone (some are thicker and meant to be brushed on not poured, this is a different type of mold) or has gone bad and is setting up too quickly. What type are you using?

As for bubbles in casts that are not cased by the mold having bubbles in it physically from mold making, this may be caused by it being HUMID out when you are casting. Don't cast in high humidity. Also, there may be air bubble voids in the mold, IE a place where an air bubble is trapped as you pour. Anywhere that is tilted down at an angle greater than 45 degrees from your pour spout. Anywhere that seems like it could catch air, it WILL. You can compensate small air bubble void problems in some cases, if you can idenitfy exactly where the problem is, by tilting your mold to let the air escape while the resin is liquidly.

 

Oh, she is looking wonderful, Pat! Very soft and strong...

 

Oooh i didnt realise how adorable her face was before! I love her little nose! Shes really going to be something special

 

That is so COOL. *inspired* And lost strangeness or not, she is a fantastic idea very well executed.

 

Wow! what a face!

 

Her face is so cute! I think she'd look good with really dark skin, too. Can't wait to see how you costume her.

 

It's so cool to see her all strung this way! That's phenomenal luck, having the sunglasses work so perfectly. They look great on her!

 

amazing how cool they look all dressed up
barb

 

Oh wow! Pat she looks fantastic with that faceup (cudos to darkmothflame!!) I hope you will finish her.. or have you, since you've got molds and casts happening already?

 

Pat, I've got silicone on the way now, but the girl is not ready! I sand with 120 grit sandpaper and then Ronnie has to prime her with the grey spray stuff, which should fill all the cracks and scratches etc. Not using anything finer than 120 before primering so the paint will have something to grab onto. Then afterwards might go over with some very fine grit. Anyway hoping to start on the molds next week.

When sanding to get things even I use 60-80 grit, and then go over that with 120 to make it smooth. If I'm sanding resin I then go over with 240, but leave it at that.

 

Pat, you're an inspiration!!

 

Wow, she is adorable in blue. Did you clean her face up more too? She's looking smoother than the white cast.

 

oh wow! as usual, i totally missed this till now. XD;; I love how she's turning out! Her posability is really awesome~~

I've not had any problems with Nan Sook's joints, they seem pretty strong.

 

Pat, you could always string together some junk pieces and do a stress-test? Doesn't TASK plastic need to be post-cured to obtain optimum properties?

 

I pre-drilled mine with a drill bit before baking. Then when I molded them I plug up the hole. Then I drill the resin after. :3 I use a pin vice I picked up at volks for drilling the tinier holes. Mine don't fling across the room, but they get stuck to the bit and hurt my fingers. XD;;

 

shes blue! oh i think im in love shes so pretty

 

I LOVE the blue color! I am excited to see her complete!

I second on that smooth cast 320 is strong, I'd had no breakage problems. A funny story on it actually, I drilled one of Nesha's wrist parts a really thin by accident (the part the S-hook rides on in the wrist) and I was SURE it'd snap instant I put elastic pressure on it and would have to make another one (It's a little log of resin perhaps 3-4mm thick) but I tried it and here it is a year layer still going strong! XDD! Also the footplate parts pretty small resin parts holding the S-hook for the elastic that goes up an down her body, they are under a LOT of stress, and they are fine as well.

A cast piece could be waker if you got old resin (a bad batch so to speak, this is the distributer's fault and they may refund/send you a new one if you complain to them). or were pouring in high humidity (making the resin foam a bit and putting bubbles throughout, which may not even be at the surface but will be there and make it lose structural stability).

I do this too. I make my sculpey parts hollow to test for stringing, but then plug them when I go to cast. Some parts like legs can have straws incorporated into the molds, but smaller parts like arms or freaky angles like through torsos usually need drilling.

So I don't kill my hands I use a drill with a torque lock on it, it stops spinning when it feels it catch to a certain point of torque (like if the bit catches in the resin). It really helps.

 

She's so much fun.. just adorable!! If you don't feel it's right to call her Venus anymore, how about Willendorf.. or some derivative thereof??

 

Hee hee, shes just lovely, i like her more every time i see her

 

She is beyond fabulous!!! Even no face-up and she is expressive. I love the way she poses! You are awesome!

 

It's so exciting to see her progress ... she is looking fabulous!
Are you taking a wish list for her??

 

What Kaye said!!

 

Wow, she is just amazing... I am loving following Lola's story. And yours, Patl! XD Actually theres nothing quite like reading this part of the forum for learning!!! Lola is absolutely awesome... such a perky little diva. You do totally want to take her out for drinks.... or maybe she's the one who would take YOU out??

 

She has a lot of attitude. I just love her. One of my problems with dolls her size that aren't children is that they all have these awful skinny legs - no problem with this girl though!

 

Oh man, she is absolutely wonderful! I so love her legs and the shape of her knees!

 

She is very, very sweet! I love her her body.
She's got curves that little girl!

 

you're great at this~~
the heels are great~~

 

Wow...this is definitely inspiring to read.

I'm planning on attempting to cast the girl I'm working on now, and reading this thread is already teaching me alot.
I still have so many questions though. :O

Lola and my girl should hang out some time; they're both of atypical body types (for a BDJ, anyway.)
Where Lola definitely represents the curvier end of the spectrum, my girl has the lanky/too-skinny/scrawny/boyish end of the spectrum covered.

If my project can turn out even half as awesome as Lola is coming along, I'll be extremely happy. (And lucky, lol)

 

All of these people sculpting their own dolls...I am so impressed with all of them.

But this "Pocket Venus" girl is one of the most original. I love how rounded out she is...and of course the awesome shoes.

 

Can I third the wish list idea? I love her so much, I've been stalking this thread for a while. 8D

I can safely say I want her!

 

this little lady is so amazing, i love her belly, and OMG, the shoes!!! and her little toes!
you have so much patience, i think i would have given up long before now it's lovely to see her development.

 

woooow your really talented.
shes the best artists bjd iv seen XD
i really like her curvy figure XD

 

Oh wow, that trip sounded really nice. :3

And - I'm glad you appreciate our comments, we love to give them.

 

She is absolutely fantastic! It'll be awesome to see her cast in resin!

 

How was it that you were able to get her to balance so nicely?

 

I like her in that white wig with red tips*_____*
She looks wonderfull