Soom Faery Legend discussion part 4

I think Iwa-Xine is wearing a 3/4 but I'm not 100% sure sure it's been 4? 5? years since I bought his wig. Sleet's is whatever size it needed to be when I was making it so that it would fit him so that's no help, sorry.

The only reason I think Iwa-Xine's wig might be a 3/4 is because it needs help staying on his head because of the tightness of the fit. He has a tiny line of hot glue at his forehead and at the back of his head to "catch" the edges of the wig and keep it from popping off. A 4/5 might be too big.

I've found with the smaller wigs that sizing can be a bit... loosey-goosey. Aside from my Soom Fairies, I have several other small headed dolls (Lume Lights, Batchix Clever Little, FL Chicline) and wigging them is a PITA. The Batchix boys are my biggest pains as they wear straight up size 3 wigs and the Monique 3/4's I bought them are far too large and bulky. They still don't have proper wigs and I've owned them for 5 years now.

 

My mature tinies mostly wear size 4, as 3/4 are too small and 4/5 too big. With such small dolls, wigs have to be nearly perfect in size to fit properly. Facets By Marcia has a good variety from Monique in the right size. Currently only my Granado guy has a 3/4 and my Xagadoll has a Denver Doll Shaggies in 4/5.

 

I made this wig for Linzi because he is a dandelion of sorts.
I altered a wig pattern I already had to make this one to fit him.
Edit: It was somewhere around 3.5 -3.75"
Linzi by SteamWitch, on Flickr

 

Soom's measurement chart says 4 but at some point I think I measured and it was like 3.5?? Or maybe I am confusing that with my other small doll who definitely has a bigger head than they do. Hmmm.

I would stick with a 3/4 wig. You might have to buy a silicone cap, or do the hot glue trick to get the wig to stay on.

I even had to buy wig stoppers for my larger dolls. I guess wigs + resin = slippage/popping off. I guess since we have actual hair and skin, we have more grip on our own head for wigs than our dolls haha!

 

Little wigs are a pain! The wig companies like neat categories of 8-9, 7-8, etc, So when they make a little wig they stuff it in a size range. However there is no way to make a wig that fits both a 3 inch head and a 4 inch head. It's like offering a 9-12 size wig! I saw the problem a lot many years ago when I was making porcelain dolls. The wig companies would make a wig for a specific mold that had a circumference of 3.25 inches and then list it as a 3-4 wig but it would not go on a 4 inch head!

 

Yes! There is so much less "play" in a small wig. I've found that it'll either fit or it won't. There doesn't seem to be a lot of wiggle room. I need to try modding some wigs I got made from my Batchix boys that are much too big (their heads are 3.25") or get brave enough to try making them some hard cap wigs (I've never done that so I'm a bit leery to try).

Iwa-Xine's wig bugs me sometimes because it likes to pop off but the style and colour are utterly perfect for him so I'm loathe to try getting him something that is less likely to fly off randomly. Because of his small head, it would probably be a futile search unless I were to commission something for him. Then I'd need to find someone who could specifically make a wig to his head size and those seem to be as rare as hen's teeth.

 

Here's my four fairies. Noellia has her limited wig, and the others have (left to right) Monique James, Parabox, and Monique Pretty Girl, all size 4. The Parabox one is a little tight and doesn't stay on at all without a wig cap.

Four Fairies by Zoe Gold, on Flickr

 

This is very helpful; thank you!
I just found Parabox last night, and saw a few wigs I might be interested in on there. If the size 4 you have is a little tight, do you think a 4.5 might work?

I foresee me buying a bunch of wigs just to find one that I like and actually fits.

 

@Leo Pheonix I like the style of the Parabox one. Does your Noellia wear a wig cap too? My default Soom wigs love to pop off on Nenad and Rick. Idrial's actually stuck with the pittatto velcro but will take her headcap with it if it decides to come off.

@sailorstarsun If only we had wig trading! Or do we? I think we do through the marketplace. You could always trade the wigs you don't like away for other things you might need!

 

@sailorstarsun 4-5 from Parabox might work, as one of the size 4 ones I have seems more like a 3-4.
@jessholy All my dolls who have wigs, including all my fairies, have wig caps. Noellia's wig is loose enough to fall off without a wig cap.

 

Azur has shipped!!! I hope he comes soon and safely! I have no idea how EMS from Korea is working.

 

Hopefully EMS is better out of Korea than Shanghai, China and Russia. My package from China finally arrived today 50 days after leaving Shanghai. My package from Russia is still "in transit" after 49 days after leaving Russia but it hit North America yesterday (although not Canada yet) and my package from China is still in the wind 25 days after leaving China. The one from Russia is a doll but that doesn't seem to make any difference with the speed of movement.

 

EMS out of Korea is not too bad. My last arrival was shipped June 23rd, arrived in the US June 24th and then sat in customs until July 11th and was delivered the 13th.

Small bubble pack envelopes from Russia are moving better than dolls.

 

Thanks @nancy_schroeder_ca for your input! I'm kind of surprised he shipped so fast - I placed his order only 7 weeks ago. It will be 8 weeks come this Friday. Normally it's 8 - 10 weeks for production. Either way, I am happy!

 

My Rick is in Preparing shipping

 

@SteamWitch Yea! Though preparing shipping can mean "we're working on fulfilling your order!" One of my other orders through them has been that way since I made the first layaway payment. I finished layaway earlier this month for that doll so I imagine it might ship in August at the earliest but more likely September or October.

 

Okay! Still I'm excited! I hope to get him for my late September birthday, that would be wonderful!

 

@Leo Pheonix what size wig caps do your faeries wear? I'm thinking of buying some but I am torn between a 3/4 or a 4...

 

Mine all wear 4. My Granado guy is wearing a 4 too, and his head is smaller.

 

@Leo Pheonix Thanks for the reply! I bought 3/4 caps so here is hoping they may stretch a little...and if not...oops??

 

In my experience, too small wig caps tend to not work or fall off along with the wig. Some of my non-Soom marure tinies wear 4-5"s as the 4"s wouldn't stay on their heads for more than a few minutes, or didn't actually keep the wig on. My Granado guy is currently wearing a 3-4 wig, and his head's not that much smaller. Maybe you'll get them to work. Tiny wigs are one of my biggest headaches in this hobby!

 

My Azur came in today! He indeed had the complete mini gem body! His head was wrapped separately but I can tell it is unpainted. He also came with the torso needed for the siren/merman parts. I'm not sure if I want to unwrap them but I know I should to check for damage.

 

Oh hooray! Congrats @jessholy, good to hear he came with the human body too. Phew!

And I feel this tiny wig pain--that's why I started making my own, but even that isn't foolproof... It's a constant trial, haha.

 

I unwrapped everything today and all the pieces look great! I just need to glue in his head magnets. I am a little sad that the eyes I ordered him don't really attract or reflect a lot of light. They're light colored themselves but unless you get right up in his face, his eyes look like 2 dark orbs. Anyone know where I can get sparkly size 6mm or 8mm eyes?

Also happy to report that my 3/4 wig caps fit all 4 faeries! However, Nenad's wig has been stretched over time so I used some of Volks Pitatto stop tape/velcro tape? on the cap and that has helped keep the wig on!

Now I just need to ask Soom how I string up the merman body.

 

I hate when you have nice eyes but the eye size/well makes it look like the doll has the Black Pits 'O Doom (tm). Swan Doll (Eyes - Eyes) makes 6/8mm eyes that are very much like Oscar Eyes if you're looking for something like that. The Doll Peddlar (Eye Boutique | 6mm Eyes | Doll Peddlar | Dolls, Clothing and Accessories) has 6mm in both Oscar and Dolcebella styles although the Oscar are severely limited as it's just whatever stock they have left.

 

Well the eyes I got might have more dome than his eye wells can handle...I wonder if there is a way to sand them down. Granted I did put them in with normal eye putty and not silicone ear plugs like I normally do. I suppose I COULD try swapping his eyes out with another faery's but I got these eyes for him.

@Iron_Dog Thanks for the links and suggestions. I guess I will have to keep on top of Swan Doll to try to get a pair from them. Doll Peddlar's selection isn't quite the color pallet I am looking for.

 

@jessholy If the dome is too high, there's not a lot you can do about it. If the eyes are resin, you could try sanding them down but you'd need too coat them again with resin to get rid of the sanding marks. This is an okay fix for small irregularities in the resin surface but you might still end up with a slightly cloudy area. I've done this with the eyes I make where the resin behaved weird and produced a small raised bump. I don't think it would be a good solution for an overall reduction of the dome and would probably leave the eyes a bit cloudy.

 

@Iron_Dog That's a good point. I will have to maybe try the silicone instead and see if that helps. I also wonder if I got sent the wrong ones - they don't quite match the image of what I bought but I have a feeling that the picture was of a 12mm or 14mm eye and at the smaller size it doesn't look the same.

I might just buy new eyes for him off etsy if I can't wait for Swan Doll to make new ones. None of my girls are willing to get pink colored eyes.

 

@jessholy I feel you on the pink eyes thing. 6/8mm are a tough size to find. Sleet and Iwa-Xine are both wearing Dreaming Tree Studio eyes and I'm very happy with them. Quite a few of my guys with small eye requirements wear DTS. I can make 7mm but they're a pain and the failure rate tends to be high with them. I'm also happy with the eyes everybody is currently wearing so don't feel the need to change them.

Sleet, Herald of Fei-Lau by ID Locke, on Flickr
Sleet is wearing a custom pair called Zombie Ice and I think they're 8mm (it was a long time ago that I purchased them).

 

@Iron_Dog Oh I had forgotten that you mentioned this artist before! It looks like you have to contact them but that means you can get a truly customized set. Did you email them to get the eyes you have or do they have an etsy store?

I love the eyes my other Faeries have in but Azur's need some tweaking or a pair to match. (When everyone but you has Oscar Doll eyes, it shows I guess.)

 

@jessholy At the time, I emailed Amanda to ask about getting what I wanted/needed for Sleet. She's very accommodating and insanely easy to work with to get you the look you're after. She used to be on Etsy but has recently closed that shop and only accepts orders through her website/email. I believe she opens order periods to keep the work load managable and I'm unsure of how often that is.

Keep in mind that if you want the Oscar Eye type for your Azur, the ones by DTS are not going to be the same as she doesn't work with jewels/other sparkles in her eyes. She does have several different types of finishes like semi-metallic, metallic and one that sort of looks like carnival glass that I completely forget the name of.

I use nail gems in my eyes but I haven't been able to find gems that are small enough to work well in the smallest size without taking up what I think is too much landscape in the iris. I use calipers and measure out my smallest eyes as 7mm although the mould is supposed to be for 6mm. All the eyes tend to measure out as 1mm bigger so I'm assuming that there is some expansion as the resin cures that accounts for that extra 1mm. Generally it's not a problem unless the eye well is very small and that 1mm is a game breaker.

 

@Iron_Dog I took his eyes out to check the dome and it is SUPER high. I could try switching them with Rick's eyes because I don't think Rick is doing the smiling eye. Azur's lower lids curve up in the middle - which I like - but I think those are preventing the dome of the eye from coming out which I assume is what's supposed to happen. I haven't had a pair of eyes like this before so I don't understand how it's really supposed to look when in a doll.

 

@jessholy I can't really comment on high domes as I don't think any of my guys wear high domes. I'm not an expert on the subject at all but I'd say your thinking/reasoning on it is sound. The high dome probably helps draw light into the eye, illuminating it more.

 

In my experience, high dome eyes push the eyes farther back in the head.

 

I did some testing of the eyes with my Nenad - same kind of black eye of doom affect, because like Nancy said, the high dome on the eye is pushing the rest of the eye back into the head meaning I can't see it from the front.

I tried it on a different doll that had 10mm eyes in and it works fine on that eye because it can come out through the front and therefore the eye color is seen.

Sadly, the 10mm Oscar Doll eyes I had in that doll do NOT fit in Azur - far too big. At least the eyes I bought can be used by SOMEBODY but Azur is back to eyeless. =(

 

That's too bad @jessholy but at least you figured our why the problem was happening.

All The Glitters (ATG eyes 6mm resin eyes for bjd custom colors and iris/pupil | Etsy) on Etsy has 6mm eyes but not in the Oscar style. They say they can do custom colour/iris/pupil sizes. I can't speak for them directly as I've never personally ordered from them but a friend did and she was happy with the eyes she received (I believe hers were 8mm).

Mehi/Candy World (Candy World by CandyWorld on Etsy) on Etsy makes 8mm and will do custom orders. A few of my guys wear her eyes (none custom though) and I'm very happy with them.

 

I've been meaning to get my Ethan (Boehm) different eyes. He's been wearing a Glib pair that fit fine, but aren't the right color for him. I might try ordering some from Captured in Glass to see if they will work for him.

 

Thanks for all the eye suggestions! Since he is technically a merman, I went with some glittery eyes from Enchanted Doll on etsy - they sent me a side profile of the eye before I bought it so I am pretty sure they will fit just fine. Here is hoping! Now I need to buy him a wig. I really loved his original release wig though.

 

Linzi is gearing up for Halloween as the Ice King.
Linzi by SteamWitch, on Flickr
I know I just ordered Rick but I'm still excited about getting him.

I tried the Granado tiny gesture hands on my Metato and they fit, look good and color match is fine.
Granado tiny Zen gesture hands on Soom minigem by SteamWitch, on Flickr

 

He's here!



He's here and he's beautiful even without a face and he smells good and I love him already.

His name is Yttri.

 

Hurray!!!! I am glad he is home!

My Azur came a while ago but I just sent him off to be painted so when he comes back I shall share pics! I still need to email Soom about how to string his mermaid bits.

 

Did he wind up coming with human legs? I remember that was a bit confusing based off their sales post!

 

@sailorstarsun He looks wonderful. I can't wait for my grey guy to come home.

 

He sure did!

 

Wow thank goodness! That was SO confusing in the sales listing and their Q&A. Phew!

 

Well, now I've gone and glued the magnet into his wing the wrong way. I can't get it out at all to fix it, and I have no idea what to do.

 

@sailorstarsun Try putting the wing in the freezer for a bit. That sometimes helps to break the superglue bond/make it brittle enough to pop out (or so I've heard).

While it doesn't help now, I've found that when installing magnets, it helps to make sure they go in the right way if you put the magnets together and then mark the exposed ends that will go into the holes with a dot from a marker.

 

What @Iron_Dog said is exactly what I was thinking! You could also try super glue remover but the freezer option is a good place to start.

 

Thanks for the tip. Unfortunately, I don't have a freezer, but I think the fridge at work does, so I'll have to take the wing with me next time I go to the office.
The only other thing I can think of is actually cutting the wing open to get the magnet out, then gluing it back together.

I'm really depressed about this whole thing. He's been my most troublesome boy yet.

 

Oooh do not cut the wing! It is possible the get the magnet out! Try the work freezer first, then super glue remover!

 

You can try the hot/cold method too. Get it as cold (or frozen) as you can for a few hours then dip just the wing magnet in hot, not boiling water. Using another bigger magnet to pull it out. May have to do it a few times but it is better than cutting the magnet out.

EDIT: My Rick arrived today. His name is Cirrus Greenlea but he will go back into his box until the threat of hurricane Beta has passed.
Soom Rick box opening by SteamWitch, on Flickr

 

Still no face, but Yttri The Unluckiest Pixie has eyes, hair, legs, and wings.

I love him so much.



The wig is a size 4.5 from Parabox, and it fits really well! He's coming together nicely.

 

Two lovely grey fairies! Your fellow is looking great so far, @sailorstarsun ! Looking forward to seeing how you style him, @SteamWitch !

 

Hi everyone! I just bought an Azur from someone selling theirs from the special event, and they live in the same state so he’ll be arriving next week! He’ll be my first tiny and my first blank doll. Excited to try my hand at doing his face-up and making a wig!

 

Congrats! They are wonderful!!! I look forward to what you do with him.

 

Linzi was in front of the camera today.
Linzi day 9 by SteamWitch, on Flickr

 

I got a new boy! Storm Sprite Auber from 2011. He is so cool. I love his wings but he doesn't have his magnets so I'm going to have to scrounge around to see if I can find some the right size.
He came with his Sprite wing and legs, human legs and feet and boot feet. His eyes are very pale but pretty. I tried some of my homemade eyes and the ones that looked the best were 6mm and too small. These are 8mm but not as pretty as the other ones. I may put his original eyes back, maybe.
Kolby new guy old Auber by SteamWitch, on Flickr

 

Oooh he is cute! I need to get a proper wig for Azur. Sadly the one I did get him is just not working out. I need to get him a new one - debating if I want to try Monique Trading again or just commission someone else off etsy.

 

If you want a Monique, sooner is better as they are closing and what's left is what's left and they're not making more.

I've found that the size 4 wigs are a bit on the sketchy side with regards to how they fit in general. I have 2 Monique wigs in size 4 and one fits without trouble and the other is... difficult. They are different styles but it's the fit which is sometimes problematic and that's a wig cap thing.

I was doing some switching around recently and oddly, Sleet's (Soom Auber) fullset default wig that wouldn't stay on his head for love or money has absolutely no problem staying on Iwa-Xine's (Soom Boehm) head. The Monique wig that Iwa-Xine was wearing was in constant danger of popping off if I so much as looked at it sideways, sits just fine on Zenzi's (Lume Zero) head (he's not keen on it though). Dolf (Lume Blaze) wears the other Monique 4 wig and his fits fine on everyone but he's the only one who seems to like it (I haven't tried the other Monique on him yet). Gunari (Lume Koit) wear a faux fur wig I made him as does Sleet.

I've measured all their heads and they're all 4" so I'm not sure why some wigs refuse to stay on one doll but work just fine for another. I mean, aside from the obvious answer that the doll in question doesn't like the wig and refuses to wear it.

Right now Zenzi is wearing a faux fur wig with synthetic hair that I made him. It fits nice and snug and if I had a way to scan the pattern I'd do it and share in case anyone is interested/wanted it. He's also got one I made out of white fox and rabbit that fits well. I intend to make him one out of mohair on-pelt, too, since he's been ambivalent about what I've tried out on him. My province is currently in (another) lockdown to at least the beginning of May (it might go longer *sigh*) so I can't go anywhere to do that as scanning stuff isn't considered "essential".

 

@Iron_Dog I got him the 4" Princess wig but it wasn't what I expected and it actually won't stay on his head, even with a silicone head cap. Either it is too big or I stretched it by accident. So I have a wig I can't use. =/

They still have some wigs I could settle for but I'm worried I will get more wigs that I cannot use. Is the resale market for 4 inch wigs pretty good if my dolls end up hating everything I get them?

I also find that the giant monique tag on the inside might be to blame but I don't want to cut it out if I don't plan on keeping the wig. =/