PulkiDoll

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Okay, so I decided to redo the body with 3D modeling like I did the head, since I feel I am a lot better at this than sculpting out of clay. Maybe I'll finish the clay body later, but for now I think I am going to focus on this. She will be jointed like my clay model for the most part. My aim is still to get as much poseability as possible without sacrificing aesthetic too much.

I also plan on lots of option parts since I think customization is the most enjoyable aspect of BJD's.

I know a lot of people, especially sculptors, think 3D modeling is cheating and I completely understand that point of view. I know how hard it is to make a doll in clay and I probably would feel the same way if I saw someone else doing this method after spending months sculpting. I just wanted to say that I do make it from scratch, and that it still takes a lot of work. Though some aspects are indeed easier (like symmetry) others make up for that (like creating a good topology and trying to get a good feel for movement, etc, on the computer). I just hope you won't hold it against me .

Oh yeah, for those wondering, I got the "word" pulki from pulchritudinous, which means beautiful.

Update

So my doll is all done and all is left if to clean up my prototype and cast. I am super excited and nervous about it all. This was a dream of mine for a while and I never thought I would get this far! I wish I could have got everything together sooner, since I am not going to have much time to do everything before I go back to school in the spring, but hopefully I will be able to make time while in school (since I am not the party type anyway). If anyone has any questions around the process, feel free to ask. I might create a little FAQ/guide thing since I have been getting a few questions.

NSFW - anatomically correct images of a 3D model

 

(click for larger picture)​

She is still very rough! I just added the arms, so they are no where near done. Her neck/shoulder area still needs a lot of work too, along with her back, since I just edited the topology there (which is why it looks all weird and has ugly dents). So yeah, still very in progress. Hopefully I can get the body done this weekend and start adding the joints this week. That is going to be the hard part, blah, not looking forward to that.

 

Thank you!

Christopher - Yeah, she has no shoulders atm since I put the arms on like 10 minutes before taking the pics so I didn't make them yet. 3D figured normally start out strange and ugly and then are tweaked to death into something acceptable. I use 3D Studio Max since I have friends that do a lot of this stuff. I learned from a face modeling video by Eric Masiowski; I actually applied his method to make the body since I did a year or so before I did the head. I really don't know much about all the 3D stuff since I just learned on my own for fun (I first played around with Maya years ago when I was really young.. that didn't go so well though, i was so confusing!), I just know how to model (I can make and more points, yay!). There is a slew of stuff I can't do, like rig it (give it "bones" to pose it properly), animate, and anything but simple texturing. If you want to play around with 3D you can download Wings 3D. It is free (I think, if not it is cheap) - that is what I stated using when playing around with making objects for The Sims 2. There is also Milkshape, I forget why I used wings instead though. Just keep in mine doing organic figures is a lot harder in these, not impossible, it just isn't as smooth as 3DS.

nune2007 - Thank you very much! I know it sounds silly, but since I first learned about BJD I wanted to make my own, and before I went to sleep (which is when I do my best thinking) I would think about ways to joint it and thinks to make and so on. I am actually surprised I still want to do this since it has been in my mind for years, and I normally get tired of something within that time. Hopefully I will have my doll done this month, since now I really know what I am doing, and I can spend most of the day working on my computer.
And yes, a machine will make a model off of my figure, but it is hard to explain. In the past we just had CNC machines that basically took a block of something and carved into that based on your model, but with that your detail was limited by the size of the drill bit, and complex shapes with undercuts and everything was out of the question. 3D printing does the opposite, adding instead of subtracting. And now with lasers, you can get insane detail and precision. It is hard for me to explain, since I do not know too much about the process (and there are a few different types/materials, but the concept is the same), but with what I used, I think they pretty much have like a resin powder, then the machine goes in layer by layer and lasers in where there is supposed to be material, and that cures it. I used InterPro to get my head made, and I most likely will use them for the body. You can see some printed models on their site.

 

Thanks ^_^.
nune2007 - I am sorry for your difficulties! Yeah, autocad would be very hard to use for this. Anything cad type program is hard to work with for more organic shapes, in my opinion. And I am sure it would be hard to find someone to make a doll for you since it does take a lot of time! I hope you are successful with your dolly making! Clay and I don't get along too well.. I need to do everything in a very structured way, I can't just sit and sculpt and create something great.. well besides little tiny things out of polymer clay, but nothing like a full doll. My brain is way too mechanical. Looking back on it, I approached sculpting much like I approach 3D modeling - after building up my figure around a solid core I just kept adding a tiny bit or subtracting a tiny bit until it was smooth and what I wanted, just with the computer I don't have to wait for clay to dry! I really learned 3D modeling (basic stuff, just the modeling part) in a day - the tutorials (by Eric Maslowski) I used made it very easy. That torso was the first thing I did.. it didn't look as good when I first did it but when I started messing with it again a couple days ago I was able to make it a lot better in no time. If you ever want to look into 3D modeling I suggest his face tutorial - you can apply that to the torso too. Blah, sorry, I am a blabber mouth - since school let out I have been at home working on my dolls and I am lacking social interaction at the moment (because I got no hours this month at my tutoring job :mad!

aneemal - Thank you ^_^. Yeah.. I was afraid my logo was a little too proactive, most people I have talked to think it is fine... I got the logo company to make one up for me but it was the only one out of 6 or so designs that I liked. My mother thinks it is too "...sexual..." too, I don't know, I am pretty naive and not really phased by those sort of things so I am probably not the best judge. I didn't really think of strip club logos before... but now that I look at it you are right. I was thinking of taking off the heels.. but I love them!! At least I figure most people in this hobby wouldn't be offended.. but I do worry about the few that might be. But I do plan on my dolls being atomically correct.. so if they are offended by my logo they probably will be offended by the dolls! I appreciate you saying something, if you think that more people probably will! Can you think of anything I can do to tone it down?

Hmm, I'll post my new pics in another post because I write too much!

 

Some small updates. Hopefully I will have her arms done tomorrow. Then I can start jointing.. that will be fun... :dead



Oh, and I have a question for everyone. Hmm.. lets see if I can explain this.. I don't know weather to give the joints a "lip" or make the ball like parts smooth and the part that goes over it end in a sharp angle. The benefit of the lip is that it will be sturdy and smooth in a standing up position. The benefit of it not having a lip is that it will look better in every position. Any opinions?

 

Okay, like this, if you look at the chest part on Iplehouses's JID dolls, it has like a lip or a ledge where it meets the waist part that lets it really lock into place and be stable in one position, and be really smooth when standing, but in another other position the ledge is noticeable and not smooth. As opposed to the MiniFee which isn't as smooth in the default position, but smoother in any other position. The depth of the chest goes to a sharp angle and the waist is smooth up the whole thing.

 

Thank you! When I joint it on the computer I can mess with it and use some math to make sure the parts fit and move well, but as for the actual physics of it I will just have to think really hard and hope it works in real life. Since I made a clay version and the jointing will be very similar, I shouldn't have a problem; I just have to be very careful and think through it a lot and triple check everything. I am sure I could check the physics with the actual model on the computer.. but I definitely do not have the skill/knowledge to do that. I could probably do some physics by hand to to figure out how it will work, but I'd rather not think about that if I don't have to - I was never a fan of tension problems and all that stuff. Since I know how it all works and the problems I can encounter by now, I think I am going to rely on just good visualization and hope that it works in the end.

All that is left is to fix up her hands and some little tweaking, then on to jointing! I probably won't be able to print her all at once because it is expensive. I'll do like her torso one week, then her legs, and so on. I changed the face a bit too to make her more feminine and a tiny bit more BJDy. The top of her head looks a bit weird, I'll have to fix that.

Click for a larger picture, and as always, if you see anything that looks weird or could be better say something! She is pretty much done so any large mistakes at this point I am blind too because of staring at it so much.




More on Flickr! (I changed my flickr address to keep things consistent)

 

Thanks, Christopher, your right, I carried to crease too far up, I'll fix that in the morning! I really appreciate critiques like that since I really am blind to most mistakes at this point. I should just not look at it for a good month but I just don't want to wait that long. And she won't look too typical BJDy, I just worry about her not being accepting on DoA. I'll do what it takes to have her accepted though because DoA is so huge it think it is really important to be accepted there.

Thanks ailieru, GoGa was fun, I wish I had more to show though. It sucks because I signed up months ago and I really thought I would have time to get a lot done, but my workload at school ended up being a lot larger than I expected, then I had so many set backs, and eventually I hired someone to cast some for me, and last minute I found out he couldn't get a good cast, so I had to do it myself a day before I left. I just hope I didn't look too silly sitting there with not much on my table and faceups that I did at 2 in the morning a few hours before my flight . Hopefully now that there isn't such a time crunch I will do a lot better with all the casting. And I hope to go next year and actually have dolls to sell and donate (and oh how I miss the hotel and weather, that bed was so comfy and it has been rainy for weeks here).

 

Thanks, I fixed her feet, I didn't even notice - it was exactly SD sized but I was changing some proportions at some point and shrunk parts but forgot to enlarge part too. Oh yeah, I fixed her ears and a few other little things on her head too, so thanks for bringing it to my attention, it looks a lot better now! I get new pics of that up, I forgot I changed it when I was uploading new pictures. My account on Flickr was flagged as moderate :rolleyes: so I finally got my own gallery up here, so there are more pictures there.

I have been working on jointing - that ledge issue is still driving me nuts and I am not sure what is better. Her chest and hip joints work very well - I am happy with them. I decided not to have a ledge on her chest because I figure that joint is used a lot, but I did put one on her hips to help keep her stable and to keep it smooth since that joint isn't used as much and is a little more of a bonus joint.




She can bend forward, backwards, and to the side very far with minimal gaps. She can twist a little too, but not very well - there are gaps and she has to move up out of joint a little, and I am sure it will be annoying once strung, but that is the best I can do without compromising aesthetic.

The torso wasn't too bad to do, but her butt is driving me crazy! I couldn't do it like I did it in clay without really compromising aesthetic, so I went back to my original plan before I start sculpting. I originally did it like this:



(I just shelled and smoothed to get an idea - where the hip fits will be a sharp angle like you see in the other pics) but I wasn't in love with the thong like look, and that I lost some of the more natural look of her butt. It isn't refined yet and the smoothing got weird around her butt crack .

I also tested it with a ledge so it would look better in the "default" position and be more stable (since a stable butt is important to keep the whole doll stable!):



That little flare/gap on the side of her thigh will be fixed and perfectly in line with the hip - it is a problem with the smoothing algorithm when having the parts broken up and I can't fix it until I am done everything else. Fixing that will also help it line up when sitting, but it still will not be perfect. I can try to bringing down the side of her hip more like the other version - that should help with the gap on the side while sitting.

So, does anyone have an opinion on which butt is better? No ledge looks better in all positions, but the ledge one looks a lot better when standing and will be more stable. I'd probably have to do some magnet thing I have in mind if I don't to the ledge to really help it stay in place (maybe with both). It will still be strung normally though.

Her shoulder, elbow, and knee are practically done. I'll try to get those pics up soon, as well as more full body pics (my computer with 3ds on it won't connect to the Internet at my house and my flash drive is dying so it is hard).

 

I ended up changing her butt anyway and did it a bit like I did in my clay version. It isn't perfect, but I balanced form and function as best as I could. Thanks for the comments ^_^. The community has helped to so much in learning that I just have to share my process as well - I would stalk the old DoA thread all the time a couple years ago when it as really hard to find any information on doll making. I will try my best to document the molding/casting process as well, which I'll hopefully do soon!

I am planning on a lot of interesting limited dolls to make - I really hope I get a chance to do them. My boyfriend finally got me to play WoW (I was always into RPGs but never really got into MMOs but I finally caved for him ^_^) and it has inspired me quite a bit. I was a fantasy nut when I was younger, but getting back into it makes me really want to do a lot of fantasy sets. I would love to make a Draenei - well I couldn't do that for copyright reasons - but I could do something similar since they aren't super unique. I would also love to make a warrior with cast metal armor and weapons. Heh, I have a habit of getting ahead of myself.

Anyway, here are some recent pics. I put it in the critique sections too - I need people to help nitpick!

Her Face
I think I made her a lot more feminine, but I still worry that she looks a bit manly. I want her to look pretty realistic (think minimee) with a relatively strong face but still feminine.


Her Body
The only big thing I am going to fix her lengthen her thigh/shorten her calf so her foot doesn't stick out beyond her butt when bent. I need to fix up her shoulders, elbows, and wrists a bit since those were the last things I did too. (The head with the body isn't the final one). I know the she doesn't do the straddle pose too well, but it was the best I could do without compromising anything.

 

Thanks ^_^. I can't wait to see the solid version too! I really hope it all translates well.
I was actually trying to make her pretty generic.. I don't know why I said strong (I'm a little insane).. I guess just strong compared to the typical BJD aesthetic that don't really have much facial structure. I have a few other faces I am working on that are a lot less generic, one an African girl (which is much better than my attempt I posts months ago) and a girl I modeled after WoW's Draenei which could easily be an elf as well, plus a couple more that I keep redoing. But for her I was going for very averaged features.

I really should set it all aside for a month, or at least a couple weeks, so I can see the flaws.. but I really don't want to wait that long!

 

This isn't much of an update - I try to get some screen caps of some final pieces and update but....

I just ordered her from the rapid prototyping company! It took longer than I would have liked since I had to sit on spending that much money for a while, plus my dad originally said he would help me out but then decided he didn't want to, so goodbye savings :dead. I am so nervous! I just have to hope that she works well in real life and that I can get good casts and sell enough to at least get close to breaking even. That alone would make everything worth it. I think I edited her down to as perfect as my abilities will allow. She should take about a week to make, since there are 27 parts (this is probably going to be the hardest week of my life! I am going to be tracking that package every minute). I can't wait to string her up and show everyone. I really hope molding and casting goes well. I need to work pretty quickly since I would like to make enough to sell before I go back to school in the spring. Off to work on my website!

 

(NSFW pic)

Squee, they are going to send her tomorrow! Interpro sent me a couple preview pics which I'll post when I get on a computer.

Okay, here are the two preview pics InterPro sent me:



Hehe it looks a little weird.. but I think it will be better at the proper angle and everything. They should send her out tomorrow, so maybe if I am lucky I'll get it Friday!!

 

Thanks ^_^. I think it is the angle.. the parts were not thin there.. or at least any thinner than any other part, and that is just a straight cut (like the knees and stuff). It is something I fear though! I should be okay because the resin I am using is super strong. With the old head I cast, the ears are super super thin (like card-stock thin) in a spot and I could squeeze them as hard as I could at the weak spot and they wouldn't break (I am sure someone stronger than me could.. but still not bad).

 

:-D She is shipping today !!! They sent a few more pictures:




Weee. I see things that bother me... like her calves seem a little weird, and her chest seems kind of wide... and some other little things... but overall I am so happy, I can't wait for it to get here.

And did I mention that I love the InterPro guys?? They are super awesome; I wish they were local so I could go over and hug them all. They said some parts were very thin so they filled it in and they did a bit of sanding to help with some build layer shifts. I trust them to do a great job. I am just so impressed on their customer service - you just don't get good service like this much anymore.

You can see larger pics at my Flickr here. I deleted my pulkidoll account since I got flagged as moderate and they took forever to respond. I am going to try to get my actual gallery on my site working.

I will probably string it up first.. I am scared since this material isn't as strong as resin.. but it should hold. I won't risk it though if I think there is a chance it will crack. And yes, I can fix up any little things (or big things... but lets hope that doesn't happen) with epoxy(apoxy..??). The material is like resin but it isn't as strong - like if you squeeze it hard it will bend a little and if parts are really thin it could break - for those curious.

:dead My head is going to explode!

Oh yeah - I've been working on my website www.pulkidoll.com. I kind of have a gallery up, but it is just the pictures I have just posted. I want to get better images of the 3D models and create an album for that too. Coding is fun ^_^. That little block under the girl in my logo will have all the log in/my account/shopping cart stuff, so it has a purpose, hehe. The banner will have a pic or maybe a vectored version of my doll (or dolls). I can't wait until I can get everything on there running!!

Edit - Yay, I just got my shipping notification and she should get here tomorrow! I am glad InterPro is so close (they are in CT and I am in eastern PA). I get it next day without the $45 next day shipping! Wee. I am also an hour away from Smooth-On so I am really lucky about that. I hate waiting a while for things to ship, I go a little crazy (or crazier...).

 

She is here! And I have no clue where my camera is.... There aren't many places for it to hide :-\. Hopefully I'll find it soon so I can take a bunch of pictures. I have her next to my iplehouse YID and she is almost exactly the same height. Her body is a little taller but her neck is shorter (because YID have looong necks!) so it ends up being the same height. She is a bit thicker though. Not so much thicker that it would be impossible to find clothes for, but enough that tight fitting clothes with not much stretch wouldn't fit.

Overall the parts printed out really nice. Some of the edges - mainly where the legs go at the hips, are too thin and it got a little rough, but I can fix that up easily. Some parts fit together great and other are a tiny bit off (like the knee goes into the thigh perfectly but for some reason it wont fit into the calf as well), but I can fix that easily too with a little sanding. I really want to string her up to get a better idea how she poses... but I probably shouldn't. The material is quite a bit heavier than resin and not as strong so I don't think it would work well - I really don't want to break anything. The parts stay together really well on their own (but not enough to get a really good idea of how she will pose).

 

Okay, PICTURES!!
More on Flickr (with my comments).











I'll have to prime and sand everything. The width of her waist is worrying me because it is pretty heavy. And the strong resin I want to use can't be more than 1/4" thick and this is like 1/2" if not more in parts. I assume it would get way too hot. I'll have to see what I can do. Sorry I don't have better pics together.. I am scared of chipping some of the thinner pieces.

 

Thanks for the comments, as always!

The circles are for magnets so people can make (or in the future I can make) horns or ears for fantasy creatures and such and easily place them. I did a bunch so people could put them wherever they wanted. I probably should have made them a little deeper. I did intend for them to stick out pass the hole, and I didn't want them too deep because it would be more annoying to demold it, but I wish some were a little deeper. I have them in her back too - those are a lot deeper. Oh, and the square is for a decal.

The ringlets are textured. It is made by building up material (tiny tiny) layer by layer, so it makes sense that they are there. For the most part they are a pain. I am going to sand everything down and prime it for a nice texture. I think I am going to leave them on the palm, fingers, and bottom of the foot since it works well as finger prints.
Slush casting might work! I didn't think of that. I was hoping to put a lot of time into the molds to make casting as quick and easy as possible, but if it is only one part I have to really worry about, I can handle that. I would hate to use a different material just because of one part, since a lot of parts on my doll are really thin, I want the strongest stuff possible. *Edit* - I was thinking, and I think I am going to do two core molds, one to first cast and outside shell - and the next to cast the inside with a super lightweight resin. The only reason I really need the inside this is so where the hips go in it has more material against it to hold better and have my little locks (and where the chest goes on so it has more movement without seeing a hole).

I am going to try to be creative with my molds so I'll be sure the post as much info on that as possible when I do it. I still have quite a bit of work to do before I get to that stage, but hopefully it won't be long. I am happy I ended up going this route. She is actually very similar to my clay model.. actually some parts of my clay model worked better, but I really like having a plastic prototype, and the modeling suites my method of work much better. I can't wait to get her in a nice resin! The weird texture of the prototype can be a bit deceiving.

 

Thank you very much :XD. I do worry about what the sculptors (and community) will think because it does make it seem like you just push a few points around and bam, there's your doll. And I don't know.. it might be like that to someone who is very familiar to 3D modeling, but from what I gathered, good 3D models go through months of tweaking just like clay sculptures. I just remember dollstown posting a very negative notice about dolls made with the computer saying that it can't be considered hand crafted and have the same value. I am sure they have no experience with 3D modeling because they make it sound like the computer does it all for you.. but I worry that people who read that will think negatively of this method. *Sigh* I guess there isn't much I can do about that though.

On a more positive note, yes, I could scale it however much I'd like. The material is really good with detail.. but some detail would probably be lost if we were talking about tiny size. Especially since I have to sand away that grain. And, some parts would be really really thin. I'd love to make a tiny, but if I did it would probably be more child-like. I would like to do a mini eventually too - I think I prefer mini size, but it seems like the bigger dolls are getting more popular (I don't think I'd want to deal with the 70cm range though). And something I'd really like to do is pets - like realistic pets that are jointed and have hair implanted nicely (and that could sell to people outside the hobby so that is a plus). I should probably make a boy first though... hehe I am getting ahead of myself :p. I am going to try to sand my doll the best I can today before priming to fill in any gaps left over.

 

Thanks a lot everyone ^_^ - I am a bit paranoid by nature. It is good to know that a lot of people don't share dollstown's opinion.

I started sanding - it makes me nervous! There are little scratchs/dents in parts that showed up when I wet it that I don't remember being there before! I can fill that in pretty easily, but the perfectionist in me is worried. I also imprinted "average" into the waist, since I am planning on doing more waist types, but I didn't do it deep enough and it is barely visible and I feel like it got worse after I wet it (but that is probably me being paranoid). It isn't a big deal, but I liked the words imprinted in there nicely.

For people curious about the 3D printing and what you can do with it, I found good resource that is pretty interesting here. If only I had a couple hundred thousand dollars to throw away to buy one of these printers :p. Ha, yeah.... but it would be very fun to have!

Sorry I keep bumping my thread - I have no life and like responding to posts .