Modification Project Ocean Man - Impldoll Triton Restoration (Updated 4/22/24)

I saw him in that same BJD group and was fascinated but not prepared for the work he clearly needed done. I'm glad he's landed with you and I'll be really interested to see how you fix him up and what he looks like when he's back to his former glory. I'd also be so interested to see if you can uncover any more of his backstory.

 

If you'll be working with epoxy anyway, maybe get a Styrofoam ball that fits in his head (reshape as needed), cover that with cling wrap & then try building a head cap over that. With the cling wrap draped over the head you could even work over the top of the head to get a good thickness & shape. Hmm...I know it sounds wacky but after working with epoxy I have way more faith in the possibilities & I had no experience with the medium or sculpting when I dove in so I'm betting you'll do fine. (⁠◠⁠‿⁠◕⁠)

 

He's such a cool doll. I hope his previous owner is ok. As a person who lost their first doll in a messy move once my tender heart is glad this guy was retrieved from the house instead of trashed and gets to get fixed up now. Hope you will post a photo set in the gallery when he's ready too!

 

Wow, what a fascinating fellow! I definitely want to see the work you do with him.

 

What a great find! I wish you luck fixing him up! For the headcap, you can cover the head in cling film and use a clay of your choice to build it on top - it won't be under tension like the rest of resin parts so the strength of the material doesn't matter that much

 

A doll rescue! He definitely is a very cool sculpt! Please post more pictures of him so we can see your progress with him. I once saw a doll I liked with a missing head cap, but I was too afraid I wouldn't be able to make a decent replacement. ( I was going to try using Sculpy.

 

I believe I have seen that sculpt before ! He’s so handsome! I can’t wait to see more of him.

 

He's so interesting looking! I'll be interested in seeing what you do with him and how you fix him up!

 

Oh man, I remember when that guy was released. He was really pushing boundaries for fantasy dolls back then!

My favorite fast headcap solution for bigger dolls is those plastic DIY Christmas ornaments—there’s a specific type that’s two half spheres you’re supposed to decorate and snap together. You can just hot glue magnets to the inside and bam, instant headcap.

I don’t know why, but seeing the broken fingers was the most heartbreaking for me! This poor fella. He’s been through a lot. Can’t wait to see him come back together!

 

He's amazing! You've probably already seen these, but just in case anyone is interested in seeing his original release:

/threads/impldoll-the-son-of-sea-triton-released-0.378864/
Welcome to impldoll

 

It's hard to choose a color scheme for him I bet. You could do deep dark colors for a stormy sea, or more neon/florescent colors to be like a deep sea fish scheme, or maybe even golden colors like the sun reflecting off the water or something!

 

He's beautiful!

 

Oh wow, his sculpt looks amazing blank. I love his nose, which is a potentially weird thing to say but I feel like you don't see a lot of noses like that on BJD's. It'll be really interesting to see what direction you take him in.

 

Love restoration projects with older more nostalgic like dolls! You've done so well so far, excited to see where you go. I quite like the old owner's green colour with the grey resin better than the company face up grey. The grey is a bit too harsh of a contrast, but perhaps with some love and care it could work?

Always sad when dolls lose their head caps! As it's hidden by a wig most of the time, it's an easier one to get away with being a bit less than perfect and I've seen owners make a quick one out of whatever material they have to hand, like polymer clay. I've also seen people use polystyrene balls to insert into the head, and then the wig just kinda sits on top. It looks ok at some angles.

If you want something a bit more complete, I felt inspired to write up an adaptable 3D printable headcap in a free CAD programme called 'OpenSCAD'. Essentially, you define the shape in code, given below, and then can save as an stl and send to print. Using code means you can modify it a bit easily. Maybe it will work for you? In this first attempt I've neglected to put in the side 'teeth', but they could be easily added to the code if it's any use.

As heads are quite organic, it might not be perfect, but it might be useful if you never see it under a wig?

On the web archive Impldoll website, I couldn't find a wig circumference, so just guessed 8 inches (I had 22 originally, what was I thinking haha!?). Then converted to millimeter, divided by pi to get diameter, then by two to use radius.

At the minute the code is also just a sphere hollow cut in along the middle. I rotated the cut a little bit, to be more like a BJD head but it's likely this is quite off.

As it's quite general, I decided to put it on thingiverse for easy access.

You can find the files I made here: Customizable (Parametric) Ball Jointed Doll Head cap by kerriharrington

Printables

The OpenSCAD code is also below, should the links stop working one day:

If it's confusing, if you let me know the actual sizes you want I can modify my code to make the right stl file for you. You would then need to send that off for printing locally.

 

Such a big project you've undertaken but it looks like he's already in great hands! He looks so much better all cleaned up and I'd have to agree, the gray is a really interesting resin color. If I had to give an opinion on a color scheme that isn't what he had in the Impldoll company photos, I'd have to go with some type of blue theme. I think it would compliment the gray fairly well. Or, maybe, if you want to go in a more dark direction, maybe some reds like a lava theme or something similar could work with the gray just as well. Whatever you end up choosing though, whether it's colors, mods, etc, I'm super interested to watch the progress and eventual completion of your project! Wishing you the best and hope you can have a lot of fun in the process!

 

I saw him in that FB group, too, and was strongly talking myself out of contacting the seller. I have an Impl Miguel The Demon Hunter LE100 (in grey) that I purchased 2nd hand and they came out at about the same time. My guy's original owner had spray painted him black and I needed to remove all of that for my vision of him (it took me 24 hours of scrubbing to get him clean). I then metal leafed him (that took 36 hours) in gold, silver and copper.

Just cleaning him as you have has significantly improved him. Impl is a great company (I have several of their dolls) and for the head cap issue, I'd suggest contacting Impl to see if you could buy a replacement cap. Since you wouldn't see it under a wig, it doesn't matter about colour. They might also be able to sell you a replacement hand although the resin wouldn't match. It doesn't hurt to ask and the worst they'd say is that they can't replace the head cap.

 

@Saphira Yes, Miguel and Triton were really out there by the standards of the day. In his original sale, Triton came with human biceps so you could put him in regular clothes if you so choose. I spent 7 years hunting down my guy; him and the Unidoll Ark were my grails (I got the Ark a few months after I got the Miguel).

My collection (I'm at 81 full dolls currently) leans heavily into the weird/odd/unusual/little seen which is why I immediately needed to start talking myself out of the Triton, lol. I'm def curious to see what direction you go with his colouration. I agree that the Impl grey is very lovely and wouldn't want to cover/hide it.

I completely understand wanting to tackle the repairs yourself. I've found it very satisfying to make things for my guys and while the leafing was a long and intense process, I'm super pleased with how it turned out. When I was playing with the idea of buying Triton, I had thought to leave his fingerless hand more or less as is (smoothing/rounding the edges of the breaks) and making the amputation as part of his character. But I also lack the skills to re-make his fingers to my satisfaction so there is that, lol.

 

He looks great all put together. Glad to hear ideas for how to paint him are percolating through your head. You certainly don't have to but when you're done, you might want to send Impl a picture and a little background. They seem to like seeing what people do with their dolls and this boy certainly has one heck of a story (I sent them pics of my boy and they thought he was cool).

I had a hard time getting all the paint out of M'khai's nooks and crannies, too. I did the best I could even going as far as using a toothpick with some cotton ball fluff wrapped around the end and soaked in W&N. For my purposes it didn't matter too much that I get every speck of paint off as I knew I was going to metal leaf him and it wouldn't show. It still bugs me a tiny bit that I wasn't able to get him 100% cleaned of the paint but I'm a perfectionist and that's a me problem, lol.

 

He's cleaning up so nicely!!

 

Hello, I know I'm a bit late to the party but he is looking SO good so far!

I do hope you continue to update this thread and haven't given up on him. He is so unique and I would positively love to see where you go with him from here.

 

The headcap looks fantastic, especially considering this is your first time sculpting a headcap. I’m sure the tabs will help to stabilize it, and they shouldn’t be too hard to add on on your next pass!

 

Looks like a great start on that head cap!
Milliput will bond to itself so there is no problem using it to fill in the few divots that are left on the outside or to fill in the cling wrap texture on the edges. Tabs also sound like a good idea.
Thank you for sharing this project. It's always great to see a doll get a new life and especcially so with an old nostalgic sculpt like this one!

 

Wow, the idea to make a negative for his headcap was a great idea! I'm not sure I would have thought of that, ahaha! Seriously though, it looks great. IF you have to do a few passes of sculpting and sanding that's fine, and you will get better at sculpting if you ever need to do it in the future!

 

This is such a cool restoration project! Hoping to see more soon :3