Ruse -- 27cm mature tiny

Thank you Blueberry! I love poseable dolls and also slim tiny dolls. That's why I find yours so appealing I hope I can get mine smooth like yours too!

Thanks Glyndon I'm trying to make the jointing subtle but effective...

I decided to redo the arms, as I wasn't happy with their shape. Still some work to do! I've also changed the neck area, but i need to smooth it out more and work on the shoulders and collar bone.

New arms... spaghetti arms! Work in progress! by aneemal, on Flickr
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Thanks for looking )

 

The arms are jointed now, but missing elbows. I've also done some work on the hands and feet, but it's going to be a real challenge getting them smooth (along with the rest of her!) ^^"

Still a lot left to do, but I finally feel like the list is getting smaller!

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Arms jointed.... Coming together!

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Hands...
and feet!
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As always, thanks for looking and please feel free to give your opinion and critique

 

Thank you 7777777luck!

I have some more photos of her fully strung, with all her parts. I gave most pieces a quick once over with 120 grit sandpaper. We're going to have to many more rounds, I'm sure. I'm going to use gesso as I did with my first doll and then the final layers with acrylic primer. I'm pretty happy with her joints and it's fun playing with her. I've only refined one leg so far... I'll tell you more about that later! Onto some photos (a couple more on Flickr)...

sitting...



more sitting...


...lying


and sitting again! by aneemal, on Flickr​

She's a lazy little thing ) Hope you like! Feel free to comment and critique!

 

Thanks cheshirepanda and BBG - your comments are much appreciated! ^_^

I got myself a great new dust mask and a can of auto primer, so now it's down to the nitty gritty. One piece at a time...

Priming, sanding, priming... armed with my new dust mask. We will prevail! by aneemal, on Flickr

 

Working on surfacing, a couple layers of gesso first and then the acrylic spray. I'm going to need another can!

Gesso... and primer...
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The muscles in her stomach are too defined, I think. Going to soften that area...

 

Spent the day fiddling with the headcap mechanism and ears...

Ears are such troublesome things! >_<


Plenty of room for brains... or perhaps your last Rolo.
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I decided to go with one magnet, otherwise it might get a little crowded in there. The mechanism also works without a magnet, but I'm going to try adding a little 'lip' under the chin for added measure.

Your thoughts are welcome! )

 

Thanks, Glyndon! I wrapped clay around two different sizes of drinking straws to make two tubes, then baked the pieces and then cut and sanded them down, the smaller one then slotting into the bigger one.

I made another pair of hands yesterday because I wasn't satisfied with the pair before that. I like slender, elegant doll hands, but the character of my doll as I imagine her is more adolescent and therefore I'm trying for hands that look a bit young and 'cute'. I took photos of my process, in case anyone finds it interesting, or useful. Click the link for explanations of each stage...

howimakehands by aneemal, on Flickr​

I feel I must stress that this is just a method that suits me, but obviously wouldn't suit everyone! I admire those that can sculpt more organically with beautiful results. Unfortunately, I'm not one of those people! :XD I found that by following these steps and with practice I am getting better results and that reassures me that if I want to make more variety of hands in the future, I have system in place that means some kind of continuity in scale and appearance.

There is still some work left to do on this set - but that's as far as I got yesterday!

Thanks for looking! )

 

Thanks, Rosslyn! Sometimes I do worry though that sometimes my obsessiveness overshadows the patience! :dead:XD

Thank you so much, I'm really glad you think so, irandom I hope to be able to present her finished self soon!

InNoTeb Hehe, I love tiny things! It's definitely not easy, but I hope it'll be worth it in the end!

Here is another quick photo I wanted to share, because I experimented a little with 3d printing...


As if by magic!... by aneemal, on Flickr

I've been so curious about 3d printing for a while now, so I decided to experiment a little. After surfacing the right leg and getting it 'right', I sent the pieces to a small company here in London. They were able to scan the pieces and mirror one set so that I now have two legs the same! Yay!

As you may be able to see though, there's still some work involved, in getting the parts to fit together again and also re-surfacing. But I'm glad I tried it out and definitely would love to use 3d printing again in the future - if I can learn the software one day.

 

Lol, no problem nia! I worked with a company called Mouldmesh: http://mouldmesh.co.uk/ They are a small company, so they're able to really assess each project on an individual basis. There is a minimum charge of £12 per printed piece, but you'll get a better price if you're printing multiple pieces! If you're working from a digital file, the estimate is based on £0.90 per cm3.

Her eyes are 8mm, so luckily eyes are still readily available in her size. I think it would be more difficult to get eyes smaller than 6mm, but also not impossible. I've seen really tiny eyes being sold specifically for polymer clay figurine artists that go down to 3mm!

 

Thanks Glyndon, Ella and Blueberry! )

Glyndon, I highly recommend this method as a preventative against all the horrible conditions that can be brought on by the pursuit of symmetry! :p

Ella, tinies are my favourite size ...but, she may end up being too small if I cast her in porcelain one day (which I hope is a dream that will come true!). I'm following your progress avidly!

blueberry, me too! I love to see dolls in the making! It's an exciting process to watch and I've learnt a lot from seeing how other people work.

So, here she is again, partially strung. Despite her piebald appearance, I think we're actually, hopefully, very nearly finished! She is smooth to touch, so I'm hoping one or two more layers of primer will be all she needs... Except for her hands, face and feet - I'm still fiddling with those! >_<

A quick intermission between sanding and priming... by aneemal, on Flickr​

Feel free to say what you think - is there anything you would change?... Thanks for looking )

 

Desperately want to finish her this week!...

aneemal, on Flickr
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But I keep finding niggly things to fix in between priming. I switched to Vallejo Acrylic Primer, which feels a little thinner than the auto stuff, but it sprays on easily and layers up nicely. Also got some 1000 and 1500 grit sandpaper for the final layers.

Wish me luck! )

 

I wasn't able to work on my doll for a while, but I'm back at it... And once I finish the hands and feet, she should be complete.


Back to play! by aneemal, on Flickr

Really looking forward hopefully to having her cast )

 

Thank you misterminou! I've admired you dolls on flickr before - I like your style of sculpting
blueberry-doll - it means a great lot to me each time you say it!! ) So I won't complain! Thank u thank u!

Here she is again, but I've decided I'm not happy yet with the shape of the lower arms. I think i might have to go back to them >_<

Tried something different with the ball joints of the hands and feet because I don't want to use s-hooks or pins. This means the wrist and ankles are separate pieces, but I think it's worth it.

Little desk companion... nearing completion. Wonder if she'll tidy up after me... #wip #bjd by aneemal, on Flickr​

Hope you like her or if not, tell me why! ) Thank you!

 

Thank you both sailor and Glyndon )

Here you go! Posing photos, although I quickly ran out of creativity! Need to be more imaginative, I think. I have an idea of how to make this kind of photo less dull, but I'll need much more time to implement it. Might wait till she's in resin for that...

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What I'd really love, is to do some stop-motion! But goodness knows that takes a lot of patience >_<

 

InNoTeb, Morgan, wilga, cureilona, sailor and irandom, thank you so much for your thoughts and feedback!

wilga, I don't think I've seen it, unless it was the one done recently for Japan Vogue, using Marina Bychkova's dolls? I'll have to go and have a little browse. It will be good for inspiration (she says as she whiles away the hours watching random youtube!) )

irandom, oh oh, me too, I'm really fond of the grey! ) glad I'm not the only one! It'll be weird to see her in flesh colour! I will have to wait and see what kind of response she gets and if we do well, I would love to branch out and offer some fantasy colours.

 

Oh, thank you Nia! Wow, I have seen some of hanano's dolls before, but i haven't seen any of these videos! How cool is that - now I want to make some kind of eye mechanism... I wonder if there are any blinking bjds out there...

 

Oooh, the running clip is amazing - so smooth!

Here is one of the Vogue ones: http://youtu.be/Tfcoix1ednc there is another, more recent one too, though i can't seem to find it.

I'm still waiting for my samples from Fantasy Doll and it'll be the new year before they arrive, so with my free time I've been thinking about how I'd like to style Ruse...


Trying some more faces...


Playing with different hairstyles for Ruse

And here is one more cheeky photo, advertising the preorder...


An early bird offer!

...Hope I don't get into trouble for posting that!

 

Final moulds are now being prepared at the factory... Though I don't know if they'll be finished before the Chinese New Year, which starts in a couple of days. I'm dying of anticipation!! I really want to hold the finished doll in my hands and see if she really is what I wanted her to be...

Here are some photos of the cast that has been refined by the factory. I don't want to speak prematurely, but looking at these, I'm really pleased with what they have done and the care they have taken over detail.

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I'm so bad at being patient! >_<

 

Thank you Dry Oak Leaf! What a lovely thing to read - I appreciate it very, very much!

So! Michael at FDoll really pulled out all the stops to get my sample in the post before the Chinese New Year holiday began - and she arrived last week! Overall, I couldn't be happier! They've done a tremendous job, with such care and attention to detail... She is better than when I sent her away! )

Unfortunately, I don't have a sample of the grey resin - which is the other colour that she will be available in - but, I've been practicing faceups on the pale normal skin and this is where I'm at now:

The resin sample arrived! by aneemal, on Flickr
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I've blushed her hands too and there are a few more details to work out before I can hopefully share photos of her complete - fully clothed, wigged, eyed, shoed...