50–65cm Dolls Project Ran - My first sculpt

I should have made a journal ages ago but today I'm finally hyped up to do it so here we go!

So I'm shelling all the characters from my book, but there was one I couldn't find the perfect sculpt for - Ran. I wanted a slightly, but not much, chubby girl with a round face, round nose and smile. Nothing was quite right. So I downloaded Nomad sculpt and got to work.

... Ok I tried sculpting her physically first and failed miserably, but let's start with the nomad version haha.

Thus started Project Ran.
Sculpting Ran by Yuns ☆, on Flickr
I started out by sculpting her body and because I was insecure, I imported a head from a file I found online to modify. I later decided to scrap that head and just look up some tutorials on how to sculpt one from scratch.

Sculpting Ran by Yuns ☆, on Flickr
So I started her new head, very insecure but still at it!

Sculpting Ran by Yuns ☆, on Flickr
I started seeing progress on the head. I used the background feature to have a drawing reference behind her so I could use it as a guide.

At this point I need to make a note. After I sculpted all of her, I felt very insecure again. I found someone taking doll sculpting commissions and asked if they'd do just joints, to which they agreed. I won't share their name here though because here's the thing: they sent back a non-functional doll. I had to redo her arms, legs and headback completely. The things that work are her torso and the hands/feet. I didn't realize this at first and was getting ready to print her when a sculptor I admire offered to look her over and told me about her issues. They gave me some very valuable tips and I was able to redo those pieces. I don't know if they want me telling others who they are though!

Regardless, this was Ran before these changes were made:
Sculpting Ran by Yuns ☆, on Flickr

And as I was excited, I made a couple mockups of her:
Sculpting Ran by Yuns ☆, on Flickr

Sculpting Ran by Yuns ☆, on Flickr

 

And so the changes began!

Sculpting Ran by Yuns ☆, on Flickr
I resculpted her arms from scratch and tried to salvage the thighs and shins by just modifying them. The knees had to go though and be sculpted anew.

NOW I was ready to print! I found a really nice guy who did printing for a reasonable price and asked if he was up to the challenge. He was happy to try. Ran is supposed to be 58cm tall, but for this test I decided 30cm was enough. It would be a lot of material for just a test otherwise, and where would I put her prototype later?

Sculpting Ran by Yuns ☆, on Flickr
Because I was most concerned with the legs, he printed one of them first. As I feared, my abilities were not quite there yet and this was the most the leg would bend.

Sculpting Ran by Yuns ☆, on Flickr
Back to the drawing board, I made some changes and sure enough this time they bend much better!

I gave him the go ahead to print the whole doll and after an excruciating wait, she arrived.

Sculpting Ran by Yuns ☆, on Flickr
A whole doll in a tiny plastic bag! Maybe I should have printed her MSD sized, haha.

Sculpting Ran by Yuns ☆, on Flickr
My child!

Sculpting Ran by Yuns ☆, on Flickr
Putting her together was A Challenge. I've never strung a 30cm doll before (funny enough I strung a 10cm doll once, but it was just a little penguin so it was simpler. It was challenging too though) so that was... very not fun.

 

Sculpting Ran by Yuns ☆, on Flickr
Testing, she stands!

Sculpting Ran by Yuns ☆, on Flickr
Sits unaided

Sculpting Ran by Yuns ☆, on Flickr
Sits on her ankles! I'm so proud of her

Sculpting Ran by Yuns ☆, on Flickr
Look how cute she looks sitting on an edge!

 

So, what now? Is she ready to print at full size? Nope!

I had to mod a few of her pieces before putting her together, so the first thing I did was translate those mods to the digital file. I had to fix the headback, the mobility joint and the shins. No biggie! But then I tested her mobility joint (which was made by that other person) and... it doesn't engage at all, because the joint is too short so it sits too close to the body. Welp! I thought hard about it and decided to try a round mobility joint instead.

I present to you, Ran V2!
Sculpting Ran by Yuns ☆, on Flickr

I'm going to print new copies of the pieces I changed to see how she behaves and if she passes the test, THEN she can be printed in resin at full size. Wish me luck!

 

Thank you!

 

Thank you!

It was frustrating, but I'm seeing it as an opportunity to learn. Analysing what about the joints she had doesn't work is really helpful so there's that, haha.

Yeah the original style of joint looks very nice and I like how it looks, but I've seen many dolls use the round mobility joint and thought it would be interesting to try. Hopefully I'll like it when it's printed!

 

Ahh thank you!

 

Thank you so much! It makes me really happy that people appreciate her ^^

 

Thank you so much!

 

Finally an update!

This project sat on the back burner for a good while as I worked on the second book of my duology. Then, early this year, I bought a 3D printer. Now I can update her prototype on my own instead of waiting for someone else to do it for me! But first things first.

Here's Ran v2 printed!

Unfortunately, this new mobility joint messed everything up. She wasn't as stable and her sitting really took a toll. Her knees were also no good. I was so frustrated that I left her be for months until I bought my printer.

The moment I ordered it, I got back to working on her. I decided to revisit her swivel mobility joints and redo her knees. Then I decided to rework her thighs and shins as well to better fit around the knees. Once the printer arrived, it was time to test her! Time for Ran v3!

She stands!


In fact, she stands on one leg if you want her to!


Back to sitting well too


Mobility joint is still a bit short, but it engages.

 

I'm very happy with v3, so right now I'm only doing minor adjustments to her legs.


The swivel joint needs a few adjustments to be perfect, but I think it's going in the right direction. Huge thank you to the folks at the bjd sculpting discord for the help with that joint! I am, as I type this, printing another mobility joint to test. If all goes well, she might be ready for a test in a bigger size, or maybe even print in resin!

 

Thank you! I need to update this thread sometime with the latest developments, next time I get on the computer I'll do it.