Discussion The Joint: BJD-making discussion

Sharing my current sculpting projects.
WIP from 2015 by Jolita, on Flickr

This one is one of my long runners. I have started him in 2015 spring. He is SD size, made using Darwi Roc, eye size 12mm. I wanted him to have a faceplate mechanizme, but after considering for some time, decided to change it to a regular tipe.

WIP 2017 by Jolita, on Flickr
This one smiley fella is a Slim MSD size. He has an unfinished faceplate mechanizme. I am sculpting a male body for him too. I want to sculpt him naga or a merman tail. I still have a lot of work to do with him.

 

I like your Smiley MSD. Can't wait tos see more progress on him.

 

Wow loving all of the wips on here, and the sharing of tips and tricks. I can already see that this place is going to be a great addition to the site (to my shame I think the Joint was a site that I dismissed years ago, because it just never loaded properly on my ancient laptop)

 

So I always use polymer clay well I m trying to start using paper clay too. But I'm having a difficult time of it . I just don't like working with paper clay. But the advantages of paper clay are too great to resist. Any advice for switching over? I always only use fimo products. I find them to be superior. I ve tried other brands and found myself going back to fimo.

 

A tip for finding Mr. Surfacer; look for a local hobby shop that specializes in models like Gunpla and car models. I found some this weekend at a shop that carried that stuff; $8 for Surfacer 500, $10 for 1000 and $12 for 1500.

 

@neyamiko I think that probably one of the biggest differences from working with polymer clay and something like paper clay, is the fact that paper clay dries by itself. (I've used both) So I think what I would suggest is to try working in smaller segments. A blob here, a blob there.
You can still dry paper clay faster with either a hair drier, heat gun, the sun, or a couple minutes in the oven (be careful there). Then you can continue working on the next part once you're happy with what you've done. It's a lot easier to carve and sand, so no big deal if something isn't quite right.
You can also use water in a spray bottle to wet your work, and that can help extend the working time a bit. Though I primarily use it for smoothing.
Also! If you carve away some dried paper clay, or have some paper clay dry out on you- don't despair! You can break/cut it into small pieces, stick it in a ziplock baggie, and slowly add water. Mix it by squishing the bag, and keep adding a little water until it feels about right. While this reconstituted paper clay won't be as nice and smooth as the original, it's good for using as filler under a layer of fresh clay. I use my water spray bottle for this as well.

As for storage, I keep my air dry clays in several layers of protection. The original bag, folded and held closed with an elastic band. Then a layer of plastic wrap. Then a ziplock bag that I've pushed most of the air out of. It seems to work pretty well for keeping things fresh. I have opened packages of paper clay and premier that's a couple years old. Still good. And if it does start to feel kinda dry, just add a couple spritzes of water, work it in your hands, and voila.

If you find that working the clay is drying your hands out, it's perfectly fine to use a pair of disposable gloves (I prefer nitrile, and find I can reuse them many times). This also helps keep your hands clean, and can help keep things smooth. All up to personal preference.

Hope this helps answer some questions

 

Thanks for all that info

I can't explain why I don't like working with paper clay I just don't. But many of those things you mention are the reason why I'm trying to work with it so Maybe in conjunction with polymer clay. I would like to become more flexible in my sculpting abilities and be able to work with different types of materials.

Thank you for those tips they will be useful

 

What might help you is looking at a few tutorials and WIPs done in ladoll. When I first started with it I felt like it was super unmanageable!! X'D But now that I've had the opportunity to work with it more there are certain things I really like about it, like the fact that it is so easy to carve and sand. I still like polymer clay for some things though. Anyway when I was learning I found this process of a head helpful: Sculpted Air Dry or Polymer Clay Fairy Tutorial

There are times during that process where you can tell the clay had dried before she added more to it. I believe for example she added the top lip and let it dry before adding the bottom lip, and another great thing about the ladoll is you can wet it and make it re-workable on the surface without losing your base form. There's also a lot of good tutorials on pinterest!

 

hey guys o: do you need to prime the inside of a bjd when you get them casted? Or is it ok to just leave it as is

 

The casting company may prime it. Depends on who you use.

 

@Alewife
I'm thinking of getting Haru to cast it! I dont know the first thing about casting and I definitely do not have the space for anything like it.

Do you (or anyone) know if it needs to be primed first before sending it off to Haru? o: Or is this something I should be asking well in advance?

 

You could email them and ask. I've heard they're super helpful. I used Weiju (Island Doll). I did prime it first, but they completely redid the primer and fixed it up all nice.

 

@Alewife
oh!!!! I didnt even know they did casting! How did it come out? o:
Do they do one offs or did you order a batch? o:

 

@BoneLace they had a minimum order of 10 heads at the time (several years ago). They did a beautiful job on mine, but I've heard they try to "improve" joints, which some sculptors don't like if they're aiming for a specific look.

 

So glad to hear the The Joint will be coming back to DoA. While I enjoyed the site, it was getting really quite over there. Now, I should probably, finally get back to my head.

 

@Alewife
Oh boy. Like try to make the joints move/hold better and sacrifice aesthetics for it?
But danggo I would have loved to get a professionally casted one off doll of my OC haha. He has unique anatomy so I would have liked to keep that to myself haha

@Cloudedmind
Same!! Let me know if you ever post your sculpt when the joint is merged back! That'll be exciting to see *v*

Though did anyone happen to see when the new forum will be up? O: or is it just undetermined for now?

 

Ahh! this is so exciting! my first round of college was in sculpting and illustration design. When it was announced The Joint was being merged with DOA it was super exciting because my craft room will be finished by next year and i can get back to that stuff

are there any good BJD sculpting how-to's or tutorials out there? I've read a few, but they aren't very detailed. granted I haven't buckled down and done an intensive search either. [edit] I did catch the link on pg6 'how we make dolls' beautiful read

 

i am really looking foreword to doll making being back on DoA i used to live in that sub forum

 

I've been itching to share the face ive been making! i share her but i REALLY wanna show her off :p

 

Reading through this thread inspired me to try sculpting my own head I got some paper clay this morning and then started experimenting. It's either awful stuff, or I'm doing it completely wrong, because it falls apart and can't hold details. Still, I managed to make something that at least looks like a human head, even though it's incredibly ugly I'm going to keep trying, though.

Anyway, I was just looking at dremels online, and they seem to be really expensive. Can anyone recommend a lower cost one just to start with? As I understand it, I will need an attachment to cut the headcap from the rest of the head, an attachment for carving out eyewells (and a neck hole, I suppose), and an attachment for sanding/buffing.

 

@Zardi,

On the head I'm working on, I actually used an exacto blade (box cutter) to cut off the headcap part. It would have gone way faster if I had a dremel kit, but I was able to get him to this point without one. I had some jewelry files that I used for some of it as well, so it was all by hand.
Instagram post by Lydia • Apr 27, 2017 at 9:48pm UTC

But in any event, this kit here seems to be a well-reviewed, best-seller on Amazon, with a pretty large selection of bits:
WEN 2305 Rotary Tool Kit with Flex Shaft - Power Rotary Tools - Amazon.com

 

Thank you for the recommendations! I'll give that kit a try. I don't trust myself to make clean cuts with a box cutter

 

Actually if you are using air dry clay you can get by with hand tools. I make cuts using a simple craft saw that's intended for miniature wood crafting. This is basically what I have: https://www.amazon.com/Xacto-X75300-Precision-Razor-Saw/dp/B00004Z2U4

I even have a hand drill tool I found in the clay tool section of my local art supply. If you are working in super sculpey though a Dremel saves time since it's more difficult to cut and sand and such.

 

chiming in a little late to say that I either use a burnisher to burnish the crevices instead of sanding, or I take a pinch of steel wool, roll it into a ball, grab the back of the ball with a pair of forceps, and mash the front, springy side of the steel wool into the crevice. The forceps make the steel wool easier to control and hold onto. Be sure and keep an eye on it tho, the steel wool will disintegrate quickly and you run the risk of scratching your sculpt. It works really well for getting into the inner dip of the eye near the nose on small faces.

Third option is this thing: Amazon.com: KTI (KTI-70550) Sanding Pen: Automotive

But be SUPER CAREFUL with it. I stopped using it after I got fiberglass under my skin. It was more annoying than anything, but I decided I wasn't careful enough to be trusted with it. Wear gloves, a respirator and eye protection if you use it. And wash up and change clothes afterwards. It does, however, work really well.

 

@batchix thanks so much for those tips! Crevice sanding is the bane of my existence.

@Zardi what kind of clay are you using? Some of the hobby store clays are so hard to use.

 

It's called Creative Paperclay. My other options at the store were Das (which I think some people said turned out too rough), porcelain clay, and Sculpey. I know a lot of people said they like LaDoll, which the store unfortunately didn't have, and I was too impatient to order online

 

Maybe you'd have a happier sculpting experience with LaDoll or Premiere. I've heard porcelain clay is also good, but I haven't tried it yet.
Something that might help, let the base head (blank egg shape or whatever) dry completely before putting features on. That way you don't squish what you did already.

 

Thanks for the tip! I'll try that for the next head. I may also stick some cheap acrylic eyes in the egg shape so I have something to shape the eyelids on. I'll try to use up the rest of the paperclay and then switch to one of the others

 

Yes, that really helps too!

 

I am so happy I've never been able to log in on The Joint.

I'm in the process of starting to make a doll out of black Apoxie sculpt that should hopefully have interchangeable faceplates and several sculpted hairstyles.

 

Yeah, I am using Das clay, as it was just something I had laying around, but I'm afraid I wouldn't recommend it. It's not that it's bad, per se, but it is a bit coarse and thick. I really want to get LaDoll at some point, but I have a few other priorities that come first so it might be a while.

 

Aaah I'm super excited! My head sculpt finally got 3D printed and it arrived today!
I don't know how many of you guys are going for the 3D sculpting route but it's great to finally have a physical object to show for it lmao
(I hope it's alright to share the photos here)

The model:

And link to photos! (it refuses to show for some reason?)

 

@BoneLace it looks great! I've been toying with the idea of 3D modelling a head as well. I love the feel of working with clay, but it is super messy to clean up and reshape. Computer stuff is more my forte, But I've told myself that I have to finish (or at least mostly finish) the one head I started. :P

 

@AirimirOfGondor
If youre more comfortable with digital then you should definitely try 3D! I tried forcing myself to do a physical model first and it was so frustrating!! especially after i've been so used to digital painting and doing everything digitally. It was really refreshing to make my model in 3D after I gave up on clay haha.
Though I will admit it does feel a little like I had nothing to show for my work up until it got 3D printed.

But also I do feel a bit like an odd one out though since everyone is doing such fantastic work with actual clays and sculpey
like gosh dang these are all so nice to browse!!

 

What program do you use to make 3D modeling? I have been thinking about getting into it but I am very unsure where to start with.

 

@Elysion gear
I've been using a free program called sculptris! It's from the makers of zbrush but it's very lightweight and watered down which makes it really easy to use. It's got a bit of an organic feel to it in terms of use

There are other free programs like blender too but I've never used it.

 

@BoneLace Oh, I had started to look in to Sculptris! I had looked around at what some 3D modellers were using, and saw a lot of them saying they used ZBrush. I went to look it up and was staggered by the price! :O But then luckily they also advertised Sculptris, so I knew there was a free option out there. I can't recall why I didn't just download it immediately -- I think I was trying to figure out how legit it was, since I'm a little paranoid about downloading random things from the internet.

 

@AirimirOfGondor
Yeah! Zbrush is one of the best programs out there from what I've seen! Maya is the next leading competitor but they sculpt geometrically?? So you gotta go in with straight lines and all that and it's very difficult to use from what I hear. Idk though! Never worked with it myself.

I definitely recommend sculptris! It's 100% not a virus if you get it from pixelogic haha and it's super simple to use! Just watch a tutorial on what the tools do or read it first and then off you go nyrooom

I plan on getting zbrush core in the future though! @ $150 it's not too bad a price tag and it has all the basic features to help me sculpt the rest of the bjd boy

 

@BoneLace that sounds awesome, thank you! I think I'll have to get it and test it out! I've had an idea to make a closed-eyes, sad-looking girl for some time now, but I didn't want to start her until my boy head was done, since I didn't want to split my clay work between two things. But If I have on in clay and one in 3D, then I can justify doing both!

 

@AirimirOfGondor
Oh!! Definitely!!
You should definitely post your progress here when you get started!
I'd love to see (*•̀ᴗ•́*)و

 

It might take me a little while to get going, but I definitely will!

 

Another vote for Sculptris/ZBrush. I didn't use Sculptris for long, but it's what convinced me to finally put down money for ZBrush. It was like if the free version is this nice, then how great could the paid version be. I still couldn't afford the full version, but thankfully around the time I was looking they were just rolling out ZBrush Core, and they had a deal with Wacom where you could buy it with a tablet for a nice deal, which I needed a new one of anyway.

 

@Cloudedmind
I've been meaning to ask! How's zbrush core compared to sculptris? O:
I've been thinking of putting down money for it at the end of this month when finances allow ^^;
Sculptris doesn't have slice/subtract/merge features and those seem kind of critical for sculpting a bjd

 

chiming in to say that for artists, Maya is pure undiluted EVIL.
It's mathmatic, so it's an art program, designed for and by mathmaticians.
And it's about as intuitive as you'd expect as a result.
There is no "make a sphere" button for instance, you have to go through a series of cryptic menus with bizarre names to find a simple "make a damn sphere" function.

I used it for 3 years as part of my degree. I loathed every... single... moment.
It was so bad it put me off 3d modelling completely.

So yeah.. avoid.

 

Hobby Lobby had a sale on clay, so I went ahead and bought some LaDoll, as well as styrofoam balls to use for filler. I made an egg shape with "eyes" which is now drying, so I can sculpt the features on once the egg is dry

I also got my dremel in from Amazon, and decided to test it out on the paperclay head that is mostly dry by this point. Of course, it produces a lot of dust, especially cutting off the head cap. Is a half-face respirator necessary? (I do already have one for face-ups.) Or would it be sufficient to use a dust mask?

What about my pets? I saw a discussion a few pages back on whether these clays are toxic or not. Would it be sufficient to just keep my cats away from the immediate work area, or do I need to do my sanding/cutting outside like when I spray sealant?


Edit: Here's the paperclay head so far, with the cap already cut off. I'll probably just keep this head around to experiment with rather than finishing it all the way.

My first paper clay head by AndreaJEP, on Flickr

My first paper clay head by AndreaJEP, on Flickr

My first paper clay head by AndreaJEP, on Flickr

 

@Zardi Pets and crafts don't mix!
Even if the clay is not toxic it's never good to breath in too much dust. Keep that sort of thing in a place that free roaming pets and children don't have access to.
A dust mask is fine for paper clay dust, but remember to clean up the dust before removing the mask.

A good trick for keeping the dust from flying around is to use a damp towel under your work and where the bulk of the dust lands. The towel will catch much of the dust and is easy to simply drop into the wash when done.

 

Any tips for sculpting small dolls? I'd like to try working traditionally but the character I want to sculpt would have to be basically a mature 1/8 scale and yeahhh...

 

Right, but I'm asking if I need to do the cutting and sanding all the way outside, rather than just away from the pets (but still in the house).

 

I think things would be fine you can work and clean up without your pets breathing in clay dust. So if you've got that kinda space indoors it should be cool.

 

Sounds good, thanks I just wasn't sure how far the dust would travel and how much ventilation was needed. I have a room I can close off and use to keep them away.

 

Yeah just work on a wet towel like Lilith suggested and keep water and paper towels nearby so you can clean up without letting the pets in.

 

@Zardi I'd say it depends on what pets you have and how much doll crafting you intend to do. Dogs sniff at things and tend to go straight for anything new to them, so a dog is pretty much guarantied to breathe in more dust than you do, if it settles on the floor. Cats sniffs less but they lick when they wash, so anything sticking to their fur will eventually get into the cat.
If you intend to do doll sculpting rgularly or full time and have any of those pets or any other with similar behaviours it's probably good to invest in a work area away from where they hang out. If you have a garage, outhouse or anything like that that's great.

If you only intend do do a bit of work evey now and then, though, the cleaning up shouldn't be to tedious and a regular craft room is probably enough.

Personally, my hobbies are one of the resons I have no pets like that of my own. I don't feel it would be fair to them. But I'm sure there are ways to make it work if you are not willing to choose. Just do what you can to keep the dust from the pets and read up bit on what your materials really contain and what safety precautions they require (check the MSDS, when possible, don't settle for whats written on the package) and read up a bit on what may be extra toxic for any relevant animals.
Lots of reesearch and common sense is usually a good way to go.

 

Pro tip: If you intend to generate a lot paperclay and styrofoam dust, have a dedicated shop vac. I killed my vacuum cleaner this way.

 

Oh also newbie to digital sculpting tips if that makes more sense would be appreciated. I've got a scale drawing rn and it's smaller than anything I've sculpted before...

 

@Sinezona
For digital sculpting, scale doesn't matter while you're sculpting actually! So you can do what you want and worry about the final size when you finally print the figure!

 

Yeah I'd like try sculpting traditionally if I can because I'm a very hands on person but digital seems like a good second choice.

 

For those of you who use Sculptris, how do you hollow out the eyewells? I can't get it to make an actual hole, and using the boolean modifier in Blender isn't working.

 

I modeled the eyes with a separate object and then exported it to 3D builder and just subtracted the eyes

The program is kinda glitchy though so I suggest doing them one at a time and if it says it broke then open it again and try it again if you need to reimport it back to sculptris. If not then I'd say keep on going

 

Lol, this sounds like a very good idea, but I also use a box to help keep the dusts in when I use my dremel.
I made it using helene's DIY spray Booth tutorial but with a minor modifications.

After I finish my work, I take a damp cloth and wipe out the dust carefully.

 

Thanks That sounds like what I was trying to do with Blender. I'll try with 3D Builder instead and see if that's any easier.