Yukiru: Thanks And of course, hehe. Not that there's anything new to see, there are already some photos of him in two types of resin in this thread. Kafae: Hehe, aww, people have bad taste. ;D I've wanted to try Premier, actually. That, and LaDoll. We'll see what happens. ^^ My casting company is small and called S3ex. ^^
Hmmm I tried to look up that company and... did not get very good results... heh... ANd also, I suggest Premier over Ladoll because it is much much lighter. I'm not sure which one is better though.
Haha, I'm not surprised, since they've only recently started their business and lack a website (very frustrating, I know!). :P I forgot to mention that, sorry. ^^; Yeah? Allright, thanks for the heads up! ^^ Some people have been mixing Premier and LaDoll together, though, perhaps that's an option?
Yeah, I would think they would blend okay together since they're the same brand. I guess the best way to decide is to buy some clay, work with it, and decide what combo/kind is best for you! I was going to buy Ladoll, and did... then it dried out because the package had a cut in it (damn you michaels only having one left that was damaged!)/ After that i did a lot of research. When i went to the store i help Ladoll in one hand and Premier in the other and decided I definitally wanted the Premier, it was much lighter.
Haha, sorry to hear they sold you a broken package and all. Yeah, I suppose having a lighter clay might be of good use. I don't really know, I've been pretty satisfied with my DAS, hehe.
Dremel 300 So, a few days ago I ordered a Dremel 300 and I got the package from the store this Friday, and finally got the time to try it out on Ask. It works really well and I like it, eventhough I'm a bit nervous about getting hurt or hurting my doll, haha. The only thing bugging me about it is that I had to do a last minute change to my order, because the package I wanted wasn't available, and the package I got didn't include most of those really neat extra tools I wanted. but that can easily be fixed, so no worries! Some iPhone photos, hehe; View attachment 82 View attachment 83 Another thing; I really don't like having these wooden balls in my work. Not sure what I should do about them. Any ideas on that one would be welcome.
you can try using super sculpey to make the ball joints, what i do is i roll up a ball of clay and then i carefully use my tools to make a hole in the center all the way through, once the hole is made i take the end of a paint brush(the side without the brush of course) and i shove it through and it makes a nice round hole XD ohhhhhhh my brain is going places ._. you can also super glue the ball to the leg and then add paperclay around where the ball meets the leg so it looks natural, then sand away but from what i see you covered the ball with paperclay that is how i make my ball joints if you want i can make a video on how i do it maybe it will help?
Aaah, well, that is always an interesting idea. o: I do have some Sculpey at home, perhaps I'll try that next time! Thanks for the advice!
Real quick update, which can be read on the blog if anyone is interested; http://geminick.wordpress.com/2012/02/26/update-ahoooooy/ . For a short recap; I've been busy planning BJD workshops etc. the last few weeks, but I've started sculpting again, which feels great. Have a photo of the two painted Asks, just for fun; View attachment 127 I'll be posting new pics of Ask in a few days time, when his new clay parts have been worked on some more. See ya then!
Pictures! Just two pics of Ask sitting, now that I've fiddled with his thigh joints (and finished his upper torso joint - his hips aren't done yet)! I like the way he slouchs (I think that's the word for it?) in the upper torso, I don't think it needs that much more work. Happy! Also, those legs.. horrible, haha. I'll be working on this next though, so no worries!
Wow! I just read thru your thread all the way. It is great to follow your progress on your guy! I am just getting started with dolls but have many years in other figure-making--fairly realistic puppets about the same sizes as some of the dolls. I have taken a week off sculpting to wait for new materials after being frustrated with how thick the Super Sculpey had to be. Watching you work has given me hope that I can do this--casting and all. BTW, I would never have known you weren't a native-English speaker if you had not said! You are amazing!
Haha, wow, thanks a lot! I'm flattered, heehee. Yeah, I went looking for some of your works on here and found Hamlet - he's looking great! I'm glad you found my thread worth reading, it's been a long (and really, really slow and sometimes lazy...) journey, but it's been fun, most of the time. Everything goes up and down in periods, but I always end up coming back, so I believe this is "my thing", hehe. And yeah,c asting isn't as hard as I had imagined it was, but it still needs a lot of extra things, like a good and well-ventilated area to cast in and such things, verrrry important to remember. But it's all fun, and pulling your very first junk cast out of that silicone mold feels AWESOME. I really wish I could cast my own dolls, but right now I only have my parents garage, and it isn't good enough, I'm afraid. Anyway, thanks for reading! ^_^ Good luck with your own sculpting!
Gave him new knees and elbows. Put together like this, it's obvious his arms and legs need a lot of work, yes? :P
Bleh, I think I might have to redo Ask's thighs completely. I ruined them by adding those wooden balls and then when I tried to remove them... meh. Besides, I think they might be too round/big anyway, so it's probably a good thing! Otherwise, I've been working a lot on his joints, and his upper body is coming along rather nicely. I think the upper torso joint is finished, but I'm playing with the idea of adding a locking mechanism? We'll see about that. Knees are going okay as well, but his legs look like fat tree trunks, so I'm working on slimming them down somewhat. And, of course, fixing those darn thighs! Been working on his arms as well, and I -think- they might come out well, we'll see. Since everything about jointing is new, this rrrrrreeaaally takes a lot of time. And trial and error. But it's fun, so whatever! No pics today though, sorry!
Aww well I hope that you can get him fixed soon. Sometimes these things happen as a way to say oops do it again. At least you can always redo them.
Haha, yes, that's what I was thinking too; it's best that I simply start over with his thighs. I don't think wasting any more time trying to fix them is the right way to do things.
New Legs Sooo, as I mentioned last time, I decided to redo his legs completely. Still just the cores, but I'll let them dry til tomorrow, or later tonight, and then work on them some more. Hopefully, it won't take that long to get them ready for jointing. Again. *cries* I am so sloooooooo! >_<; Oh well. I'd rather be slow and get things right, than rush and create something I'll hate within one week.
Mini update on his legs. I went to the gym right after taking this pic, so I haven't gotten any further, but I'll be going right back to work in ten minutes, so there will hopefully be more pics later today!
Here are some photos, as promised, of my progress today. Sorry for the flipped picture, darn iPhones, haha. Anyway, worked a little on the private parts while waiting for other stuff to dry. Also worked on the inside of his hips with my dremel. The underside of his torso has always undergone some "surgery", haha. Also decided to start putting on some extra clay on the shoulders, so the shoulder joint won't be as obvious once he's put together. Started on a couple of new hands, but I'm still keeping the old (unfinished) ones for now. I really have to figure out how to sculpt beautiful hands, cause I love hands.... But it's so darn difficult to create itty bitty teeny tiny fingers! Hahaha. Worked a lot on the elbow joints, tried a few things out. Yeah. You know, I really am no mechanic, haha. Working with joints have been really... reeeaaally.. difficult for me. Why? Well, to be honest, I think I unconsciously hindered myself by being nervous about making "the wrong" type of joints. I always strive to do everything perfect and that can really be a problem sometimes. However, today I decided to just skip the whole perfectionistic shit and just go with it. I surfed over to twigling's website and drooled over her beautiful girls for a while, then looked through her workshop notes (the PDF) and chose one of the joints she had written about it, and used for her twiglimbs once. I can't wait for the jointing business to be over, cause then I can start on beautifying Ask again, cause there are some really ugly things that bother me right now. they make my eyes bleeeeeeeed. But I'll get there, hopefully soon. Last and not least, I'd like to thank you people for reading my thread and sometimes commenting, because it's what has kept me going lately. I've been stuck on numerous occasions, but then I got another nice and supportive comment, and the words made me stop lingering on things and go on. Thanks guys!
Test strung the arms today! So, been working on Ask for a couple of hours today, and now my back's hurting, so i'm on break, haha. I tried test stringing his arms today, which was fun! I do realize he's in need of some major work, but he's really coming together nicely! Have some photos of the boy. I'm pretty happy about him, but he is far from perfect and I will not rest until he's reach my standard of "okay", but for now, I'm really, really happy with him. I need to figure out his arm joints better, so that's what I'll be focusing on. That, and his legs.
I completely forgot to update with some new photos of Ask's legs and arms! I test strung his arms, and I found he could move them pretty well! ^^ Since these photos were taken, I have worked some more on lengthening the forearms and covering up the elbow joints a little, so they're not quite as obvious once the arm is put together. I have also started working on the kneejoints. ^^ The hip joint is giving me some grief, but I hope my dremel can help me out with that. That's it for now! Stay tuned for more updates.
So, guys, I have a question about hip joints... I've tried looking throughout the forum on how you do your hip joints, but I haven't been able to find any goods pics. Could anyone link me to some photos of how their hip joints are sculpted, how they work and how much they can actually bend? The only doll with a hip joint available here at home is Kostja, who's a Soom Chrom, and.. his hip joint is... there. And that's pretty much it, it doesn't really work that well, so I'm not really too fond of the idea of using it as a reference, haha. I've managed to get Ask's hip joint fairly moveable, but it's not quite where I want it yet... So, any help and especially photos would be of GREAT help!
Hey Aminoff, mind posting some pictures of what you're dealing with concerning hip joints? I last saw Ask so long ago he has been through a lot. I usually find that if you make ball joints (through push-molds) when the main sculpture is drying it then feels like things are easier to put together and jointing isn't a problem. Just make sure things are actually spherical before sticking them on or you're in the constant cycle of slapping more on and squishing it into the socket, then taking some off again @.@ the novelty of that grows old fast. Nice to see you two again^^
Hey Jphobia, nice seeing you too! ^^ I'll post pictures of his hips in a few hours, I've got a lot of work to do first though. So I'll be back later! ^^
Hip joints, hip joints, hiiiiip jooiinnttsss. BLAH! Too much stuff to do - sorry about the delay! Heerrreeee comes the photos! I know the pictures aren't the best, but we'll have to make do with them for now. ^^; So. You can probably see that the hips don't move that much. And I'm not sure how to make them better, or if they even have to get better? Probably, but who knows. Also, in the third picture, he's actually leaning backward, so that is not his normal stance or position or.. what you guys call it in English. Any thoughts on this? If I have to make the hips bend better, what is the best way to go in order to achieve better movement?
Aminoff, my suggestion would be to make the inside of the pelvis rounder, more like a soup bowl. At the moment, the inside is quite angular, which is restricting the range of movement of the other piece. It can't be as spherical as the other ball-joints in the body, but it is the same principal at least... hope that makes sense? )
Blargh, English, why you confuse me so sometimes? XD What part is the pelvis? The upper part of the hip part (aka picture 1) or the lower part of the torso part (aka pic 2)? Other than that, I think I understand what you mean. ^^ Thank you for the advice!
There definitely needs to be more friction in that socket. Ask would look great without it there too though.
Yeah, exactly. I'll be working on it a lot today, hopefully, so we'll see what happens. I have actually been thinking about removind the hip joint altogether, but, I don't know, I'm not a very big fan of torso with only one joint for some unknown reason. Not sure why. We'll see what happens. Maybe it's a bit over the top to try a three part torso for a first try? I don't know. Anyways, I'll be back later with some new photos, hopefully! ^_^
First real test stringing done today! It actually made me want to cry, but whatever, I'm over the inital shock. XD His head is HUGE and it makes me wanna cry. His legs are too short and they make me wanna cry. (They're also too slim, but that's because I haven't done any refining on them yet.) At least most of his joints actually work? And I'll be lengthening his legs ASAP. I'm hoping this will make his large head look a bit smaller. >_< Either that, or I might indirectly shrink it by casting his head in resin and then making another mold from the head in resin... or something.
I think with his shoulders/arms on his head may not look too big. The legs do look a bit small but if you took the pictures looking down at him it may just be the perspective. Put his arms on before you make judgments about his head size. =)
Aminoff, both the head and body are awesome! beautiful job! as is, he is about 5 heads high which is young child proportions. But anime proportions (which bjds tend to do) would want him to be at least 6 heads high..... if it really bothers you, i wonder if making both sections of the legs longer would help that. maybe add more to the lower leg than the upper - It would give him that long legged 'colty' look (which i love). I think you got a good width to the hips and shoulders and they will be fine. will love to see more!
I did a quick mock-up for you, so you can see how the body would look with longer legs and (very slightly) narrower shoulders. All I did was lengthen the legs and block out a little of the shoulders. Personally, I don't think the proportions you have are that bad at all, but it seems like lengthening the legs and sanding a few mm of the shoulders would bring the body more in line with the 'standard' BJD proportions. Hope this helps you visualise what changes you might want to make ) ETA: Just reread your post and saw you're actually pretty clear on the things you want to change - hopefully this post isn't too redundant! Also, getting the joints working is definitely something to be happy about. The structure can be reworked and rethought as many times as you can bear to change it, but working joints are hard to come by :XD
Oooh, thank you so much for the tips you guys, I really appreciate them all! Hugs and lots of hugs to you! I went ahead and lengthened his legs, and test strung him again, with 1,5 arms on (the string is too short for both arms to come on, sadly), and will be posting new photos of this in a few minutes!
So, photos of the second test stringing ahoy! Beware of a LOT of pictures.... Here are my thoughts this time around; I feel his head doesn't look quite as big with his arms attached, however, I think those arms need to be lengthened a bit as well now, haha. Easily fixed, however. I'm also thinking his hips might need to be slightly wider? Not sure on that one yet. And that darn gap in his hip joint - I think I've managed to fix it, after these pics were taken. I will also be making his neck a little longer.... I think. And yeeaaah, he can't sit very well, I noticed. I'll definitely work on that (any tips?). There are probably a lot of other things I had in mind, but I'm senile at the moment, so this is all I can remember. XD
The legs look good with the extra length. I don't think the arms need to be any longer, they look like they're in proportion to the rest of the torso. Making the neck longer or the hips bigger would be up to you. I don't think that the hips need changing, I like them the way they are now. But it's hard to tell from the pictures if the neck needs more length, especially because the head can cover it in some poses, I think it's an aesthetic/personal choice; like making the hips bigger.
Allright, thanks for the tips! I have tried making the hips sliiightly wider, but now they look kinda wonky, so I don't know if I'll keep them that way or not. I did actually go ahead and lengthen the arms, but that is easily fixed in case it doesn't work out. ^_^
Wider hips and slightly longer arms. I think I like it. However, with the wider hips, the thigh joints are starting to look rather small. >_< Darn it! I really need to figure these things out, before I got NUTS. XD Any opinions?
I would say to do a google image search of male bodies to get a better idea on male shoulder to hip ratio/proportion. There's certainly some variation, but hopefully it'll help you get a good idea in your head as to what look you'd prefer.
Of course it'll also give you an excuse to look at naked and half naked dudes, if you're into that. xD *Not like I ever need an excuse...cough >_>*
HAHA oh dear goddess, you're right! Again! I must hurry off to Google now~ XD (And, no, I really don't need an excuse to look at beautiful naked men... 8D)
Making some good progress Aminoff! I think the torso shape is just right now. Unless he has issues functioning with the hip joints then I'd say they're fine as they are.(dont overthink it D: ) Though, I think his peenie is too high up XD x
HAHA, yes, you're absolutely right, his peenie was indeed too high up XD XD XD I've corrected that, somewhat, since the last pics were taken, but since I'm focusing more on his joints than his looks at the moment, this'll be a later issue. 8D
Whole again! So, time for some new photos of the boy! Strung him together today to see how everything fit together, proportionwise, and I think I like what I see. His joints are coming along nicely too, I think I've managed to fix his hip joint, all I need to do is add a small locking mechanism to it, and to his chest joint as well. His knee joints have been modified since last time, so I've had to back track a bit on them, but that's easily fixed, I like them better now anyways. However, his thigh joints are being a little problematic, again. He can't sit without leaning backwards too much. Any thoughts on hos I can improve this? Doing a locking mechanism like the ones Unoas use is an option, but I'm not too fond of the idea actually, I've never been fond of those locks. If I make his thigh joint balls wider/bigger/rounder on the "outside" of the joint (the part of the thigh which goes inside his hip once he bends to sit), will that be ebough, you think? Give me your thoughts on this, cause it's driving me nuts, haha. Oh, and here, have som piccies! (If you'd like to see the pics in bigger format, check out my blog!) I think he's staring to look pretty. TwT I'm a real slowpoke, but I do think the end result will look really good - at least for a first try!
It's possible you may just need to make his thigh slits longer so the elastic has more room to move forward. You may also need to shave off a hair on his thigh socket in front. When I get home I'll try to draw up some pics to show you what I mean. EDIT: Here's the photo to show what I mean. The slots don't need to be that long, but hopefully you get the idea. AskAminoff by Cloudedmind, on Flickr
Oooooooooooooooooooh, I see, I see, thanks a lot for the advice! I really appreciate it! I'll make those thigh slots longer first, don't know why I didn't think of that. >_<; Now I feel all sorts of stoopid. 8D But whatever, I'll make sure to try out one of these advices, so thanks!
Footsies + Torso joints! New photos of Ask's torso joints, and feet! I need to improve his ability to bend forward, but otherwise I'm pretty happy with his torso joints by now, I think. It's all going so well! He can even sit now! Yay! I'm preparing his footsies for jointing business, which is why I included a silly picture of them, hehe. Not much more to say really, so cheers for now!
He's looking quite sophisticated now ^^ I like the movement range; its really smooth and not too extreme either way. x
I agree, his front and back movement looks really nice and smooth. How did you sculpt his inner torso joint?
Jphobia: Oh, thank you! I was a bit worried that he might not be able to bend enough to everyone's liking, so to speak, but that's really good to hear! ^^ Then perhaps I can leave the torso joints the way they are now.... cloudedmind: Thank you! Hmm, perhaps I can take a photo of that, since I'm not very sure how to explain it in good English. X'D But he does have a locking mechanism, both for bending forwards and backwards. I'll post a pic once I get back from downtown!
Okay, back home now! And here are the photos. The locks aren't very pretty at the moment, but they're functional and that's what I've been aiming for, aestethics(sp?) comes later. Anyway, onto the pics! Not sure if you can see very well, but these are the locks. Not very complicated at all. I like it simple, haha!
definitely impressive, my favorite of all joint types is the 3 part torso, i love the stomach piece ^_^
Thank you so much, I'm glad you like it! ^_^ I definitely prefer the three part torso, not only because of the flexibility, but also because of the lines it creates. Leaving only one joint under, let's say, the ribs somehow makes me feel like there should be another "focus" on the lower part of the torso... aka, I miss the second joint! XD That probably made no sense... Oh well! Thanks for commenting!
