Discussion The Joint: BJD-making discussion

What does your head look like now?

 

@Zardi

He needs some touch ups and I need to make his ears but he is mostly finished.

I have no idea why but I can't help but get keep getting the clay dirty, and I always wash my hands before touching him.

 

@thenewmaid I like his eyes, he has a great expression.

 

@Alewife Thank you so much. A lot of ideas got tossed around in my head and he ended up with this.

 

Do you wipe down your table too and cover your sculpt between each session? That might be what's causing the dirt issue

 

I've been working on a new head, trying an anime-ish style.
Anime head! by Lilian Pereira, no Flickr

 

@BoneLace I don't really wipe down the surface. Really only when there is too much build up on it but nothing else ever touches the surface. Also, I never cover him. I guess I can see some room for filth.

@LilaAIP So cute! I like your ears. I'm no good at it.

 

I always end up with some cat hair incorporated into the paperclay. I call it fiber reinforcement.

@LilaAIP very cute! Anime style looks simple, but it's harder than it looks.

 

Do you guys have any favorite sculptors or tutorials on YouTube for clay? I do know my facial anatomy pretty well, but working with actual clay (rather than in Sculptris) presents its own challenges that I need help with.

Also, given that more than one person referred to my 3D printed head as "he," I did some more work on her. I'm not completely happy, but hopefully she looks female now
shepdoll1 by AndreaJEP, on Flickr

shepdoll2 by AndreaJEP, on Flickr


And I've started this head as well. I'm still working on the eyes. Something about them creeps me out
maghead1 by AndreaJEP, on Flickr

maghead2 by AndreaJEP, on Flickr


Finally, here is the 3D printed head after two coats of Tamiya primer and one round of wet sanding. It doesn't look smooth from the picture, but it actually is quite smooth. The primer did a pretty good job of filling in the roughness, I think.
3D printed head sprayed with Tamiya primer and wet sanded by AndreaJEP, on Flickr

3D printed head sprayed with Tamiya primer and wet sanded by AndreaJEP, on Flickr

 

@Zardi
Oooooooh did you sand him and then prime or did you not sand at all before priming? o:

 

@Zardi not a YouTube video, but the portrait sculptor Philippe Faraut has a series of books and DVDs that are really useful. Rather expensive, but I thought they were worth it.

I like your second head so far! The eyes are definitely looking back at you.

 

I sanded a little bit before priming, but the surface definitely was still rough before the primer went on. It still isn't quite resin-smooth, more like conventional plastic or wood, but you can't feel the ridges anymore I think I'm going to do another round of priming and sanding, and see what that does.

The primer itself is REALLY rough, by the way, almost like sandpaper itself when it dried. It didn't take too much wet sanding to get it smooth, though.

Thanks for the suggestion and compliment

 

oh whoa thats totally unexpected! it sounds like something that definitely needs to be played around with before doing a final casting quality copy o:

 

Thanks! They really are a lot of work!

True! Since anime faces look so "empty" before faceups, every tiny mistake becomes visible.

 

@thenewmaid what clay are you using here? Is it polymer clay?

 

@LornaLoo Yep. Super Sculpt polymer clay. Why do you ask?

 

@thenewmaid there is something emotional in that face I like how you aim simmetry. It looks like fantasy creature. I don't knowe what you try to achive for look- is it realism or that is creature fom imagination and that is his look? If you go for realism, take reference photo and calipers and measure, measure and measure

I see bumps on your work. To smooth that on end of sculpting take little vaseline or baby oil and rub with finger gently small amount- that will smooth bumps.
Afeter that you can take alcohol napkin and wipe off lint and hair and dust. It is cleaning. Sometimes I spray just little desinfection spray on something like moisture baby cleansing wipes and clean with that when I don't have alcohol napkin. Baby Cleansing wipes are great helper for keeping hands clean, and some times they are enough also to clean your work. Just make that all just before baking, because it softens clay, so if you plane to sculpt after it could after some time make clay softer.
You don't need to clean vaseline before bake, if you don't need to wipe dust, you can bake it with vaseline, or you can only wipe dust.

After that - baking

 

@LornaLoo I wasn't really going for realism but not quite fantasy creature. I was aiming for just a more stylized face. I admire droopy eyes. I grew to really like how my ideas for him turned out on his face. Not to sound bragy or anything.

And darn, I wish I would have gotten that suggestion before I started baking. I started baking him on and off a couple days ago and he should be done now (I had a lot of troubles with the oven itself not the clay). That probably would have saved me a love of sanding trouble.
But thank you for the advice! Maybe I don't have to go through so much trouble next time.

 

@thenewmaid I like also how he became. Some kind of woodling. So you can make wood bark texture on his skin maby.

 

@LornaLoo That sounds really cool but it's not really my vision for him. Thst would be a really cool mod to see someone do once I start producing him.
Plus, I never had the talent to do wood bark texture. It is a long time enemy.

 

Working on the body right now! I need some thinner straws for the rest of the limbs haha. The thighs still need some fintuning for symmetry, and I still need to make the middle part for the body to optimize the articulation. Any thoughts? The back shows the disease-created anomalies, this one would allow for a broken wing mod, as I had intented to fit the plague doctor/raven theme.

 

Cute!!! I love the cyclops

 

I think it looks awesome so far!

 

@LeMiss You are doing so well on that body! I really like how she is turning out.

 

Thanks everyone

 

People I suck at making balls from polymer clay. I am puzzling with that for year now, and only good solution I have find is to transfer to La doll :P

Last doll I am working on is with wooden balls but it is hard to cut that beads to chek out moves. I am not very happy how it goes niether. How do you string dolls with wood balls?
I love polymer clay and I have try lot of stuf to solve that out. Worst try was with terpentine and solvents, round bead maker, half molds.Polymer clay sucks for balls. This balls here I made with hand with cotton ball inside. It would be perfect to be able to sand them to perfect roundnes with something- some sanding ring. What are inventors doing? Where are they when man needs them? Why nobody sells polymer clay balls on etsy?Hahaha, maby because it is hard to make them.

La Doll is little diferent and I must calm down myself all the time- take it easy girl, easy, sanding- than again sculpting. It is new rhytm of work. I can not feel detail like in polymer. I lot think of someone on internet saying- I went to La doll and newer looked back. Hope I will soon be able to say that.

 

@LornaLoo you're so good with the polymer clay, I understand why you're reluctant to switch to LaDoll. I have no ideas for making balls of polymer, but with La Doll you can cover those styrofoam balls from the hobby store.

 

What is LaDoll?

 

@LeMiss it's a Japanese brand of paperclay that was formulated specially for making dolls. You might be able to find it at hobby stores, or online at Dick Blick or Amazon.

 

@Alewife thak you for reply, and nice word. It was like confession I feel better now. hahaha
@LeMiss I was suprised how firm and strong this clay becomes when it is dry, it is realy something you will like to try. I find for La dol pros- strong, easy carving, easy sanding, easy adding new clay, easy drying, recyclable (when you add water to old clay you can again work with it. Only weak thing is shorter working time- but you can always ad water. And you need to use sealant ( I did not reach that point).

 

I'll have to check if it's available in europe

 

It is. Even my country has a shop with it. Though, they have it repacaged. Zvajomi clay is the dealer in Europe it seems.

Speaking of Ladoll, does it shrink? Does artista formo shrink?

 

I got the new prints for Sovereign! It lines up pretty exact with his 3D model tbh.




Now that I own my first bjd, I'm super excited to be able to scale him up to full size for testing!
But I'm also kind of worried that the neck pieces won't fit and I dont want to be doing too many $80 prints ahhh. I'm considering just getting one of his eye sockets and the neck hole printed?? so i can test the neck and eyes without buying a full print. What do you guys think!! $80 a pop is a lot for me

 

He looks great

I've been wondering about this myself. I just ordered a revised head a few days ago that I hope will fit a slim mini body, but I have no idea whether the eyewells and neck hole are appropriately sized. My plan was to try it on a MNF body for now, and make sizing changes with sanding/carving and by adding clay. I have no idea whether that will work, though.

 

Well! So far my plan has been to scale up to full size and then cut only the bits that I need to test (The neck fit and the eye holes)
And it looks like its gonna come out relatively inexpensive compared to $80 per full print lmao. the one down side though is not being superrrrrrrrrr sure that it's the right proportion needed for the body im fitting it to (a 5th motif timeless body).

I think making a way too big neck hole and then just adding clay until it fits is probably the best solution but im also gonna be making a body later for Sovereign so I need to make sure all the 3D models line up

 

Ooo, that is a very reasonable cost. I know what you mean about not being completely sure that the head will be the right proportion. Measurements definitely don't tell the whole story, especially with so many dolls being stylized to varying degrees.

The idea of digitally sculpting a body so that all the joints fit is daunting to me. I kind of want to try making a body, but I'll probably be using clay. I look forward to seeing your progress

 

@Zardi
I actually do have like 1/3 of a body sculpted lmao. I dont remember if I've posted it or not but I'm definitely taking this on as a long term project.

The closer I get to having to test it on a real body though, the more nervous I get OTL Because what if it looks terrible

 

Hey, your sculpt looks great and I'm sure it will work out. Even if it doesn't come out perfect, it's still an amazing experience to be able to hold your finished baby on your hands.

 

Keep going, it will look great, looking at your previous work!

 

@BoneLace I really like it!

 

For the clay sculpt folks, how do you keep your clay dust free? I keep washing my hands but dust keeps appearing in the clay

 

Thanks!
The test print parts have started production so it's getting close to the moment of truth
＿( :3」∠)_

 

the new doll sculpting sub forum is coming along longer then i expected so i want to post some pictures of a project i have been working on for over a year now
i wanted a 1/12 scale boy that would appeal to me (and would be on topic on DoA!)
i decided to name the sculpt Orchid, i hope you like him!


(inside a 9-10 inch doll head xD)


despite being singe jointed he seems to pose quite well! and with the new on topic doll changes i am thinking maybe i should also have a sculpted hair head cap available for him for those who are not able to make 2" or so wigs (he also takes 4 mm eyes that i have learned to cast out of resin just so i can have the colours i want lol!)

mainly i still want to fix the outline of his lower legs and redo the feet (the detail of the toes got lost from over work ) the rest is just smoothing out scratches and symmetry, it's quite the challenge in such a small scale but i have learned a lot form this project

 

LeMiss - you don't TT__TT (years of sculpting taught it to be a futile endeavor orz) bu to minimize it make sure the work space is as clean as it can be, maybe lay out a new sheet of wax paper each time, make sure to cover your work when your not working on it and don't wear clothes that could be a source of lint (eg. fluffy sweaters) it helps to finish the work as quickly as possible to give less time for it to get dirty but that's not always an option

 

Fair enough I got a cat so it's very hard to get a clean surface, I wash my hands every time I touch something else which seems to work for a solid ten minutes haha

I like your dollie he's very cute

 

He's so adorable!! What's he made of?

 

LeMiss - thanks yeah also see if you can find a less... linty? work space like a covered (you don't want to ruin any nice varnish with sculpy that stuff eats through it ) dinning table may be preferred over a coffee table next to your couch covered in fuzzy pillows and throws that your cat sleeps on every day

Miss_Pygmalion - thank you ! his first base was made of grey super sculpy (it's the stuff that looks brown since i over baked it for extra toughness) and i go from there modifying it with epoxy (mixed with black paint to make it grey so it's easier to see what i am doing) anything else would have been too fragile in such a scale, or at least in my hands it would have been ;;;;

 

@du-hast Your little guy is so adorable!!
I've been working on a similar project. A slim 1/12 I guess you could call it? But it is mostly just a doll I am making to play around and practice techniques.
I love yours a lot.
Just curious, what kind/brand of epoxy are you using?

 

thenewmaid - thank you
i just used this stuff:

it has a bit of a learning curve, at first it will feel like your trying to sculpt with chewing gum, and it's definitely easier to build up on to a base of something else (like sculpy or paper clay through i have not tried the latter my self i have seen people have excellent results) it's super tough and will hold up to the rigors of casting

 

Because I haven't seen it been answered - yes, LaDoll shrinks when drying, more so if you do bigger parts. The shrinkage is a problem with any joint bigger than 3cm in diameter. Its unbelievable annoying to make a joint, letting it dry just to notice that the whole ball has shrunken a Millimeter and is too small now x.x

Tip - make the part on purpose to small, let it dry (and shrink) then work over it. the new layer won't shrink too much, since it's thin.

 

@meanae
Thank You.
So, I guess, It is not worth for me to even buy it.

 

In all honesty though, even if it shrinks, its still one of the best sculpting clays. Its easy to sculpt with, its water based, you can easily add things or sand it down (or dremel it).

 

Thanks. If it shrinks, it means what Ladoll is, simply, no different to the ones I already use.

 

Oh my goodness, he's so lovely! I adore the face sculpt you've done, no small feat on a "canvas" so tiny! The little hands and feet must have been so difficult to sculpt. Have you ever considered casting him to sell? I for one would be super interested!

Also, as a general question for everyone... I really wanna get in on this sculpting business. I've mostly heard people suggest sculpting in polymer clay (paper clay seems rather daunting to be considering the shrinkage and other difficulties I've heard about), but before I go out and buy a couple hunks I'd love to hear anymore medium/material suggestions that might be good for a beginner! (*•̀ᴗ•́*)و ̑̑ Or for anyone, honestly.

(And if I do use polymer clay, does it matter what color?)

 

If you plan on making a mold for resin casting, color won't make any difference. Just choose one that enables you to see your work properly.

 

I would recommend not using white or black. Those two will fuck with your perception a bit in terms of shadow and depth.

 

OH WOW~! This is so tiny and fine! very beautiful!

 

Hello~ I'm very new to DOA. I started sculpting my first bjd last month. I work VERY slowly, and this is what I've done so far. He was inspired by wolves. I'm trying to capture an image of anthropomorphic wolf in my mind. He has wheat skin, and will be 65cm tall with brown hair and brown eyes.



I update my working process of the work on my social media art pages. Welcome to like and follow my page.
Facebook: Ting Pan's Doll Art
Instagram: @tingpan.dollart • Instagram photos and videos

 

KiyoshiSenshi- (hello again xD!) thank you! i am actually kind of used to working in really small scale so it wasn't too bad for the hands and feet but facial symmetry was hell i re-sculpted his face so many times x___x i am hoping to have him cast! so far his finish has proven to be a challenge since he is so small, but i hope if i can get him done my other projects will seem like a breeze lol!

also for your sculpting question, polymer clay is good for smaller (1/4 or smaller) dolls or more detail heavy parts, like hands, it's a heavy clay and requires some know how to work in a larger scale, paper clay is more forgiving (ladoll all the way! honestly i didn't notice any shrinkage my self? maybe it's the premix i am using, the package is blue) if your using polymer clay get wooden sculpting tools, metal ones work better for ladoll but also handy with polymer (but depending on the quality can get really pricey eep) also get a roll of wax paper to cover your work space you won't regret it LOL (DO not use plastic for polymer there is a good chance it will eat through them and you will be left with gross sticky goo, it doesn't eat through all plastics but i wouldn't be able to tall you which will and will not melt)

redandgreenlover - thanks i am impressed with how well you are bale to follow your drawing when you sculpt, i use drawings as inspiration but maybe aside form technical details it's usually quite different ^^;;

 

@KiyoshiSenshi Polymer clay is really great to work with for me and I am Sculpting a 1/3 boy, currently. I think Du-hast covered just about everything that I was planning to say about it. I suggest Sculpey or Super Sculpey. Most will suggest Super and I can see why after dealing with both. But for the body, I accidentally obtained a bunch of regular Original Sculpey. It's different but so far still completely manageable. Wooden tools would probably be a better idea than the plastic tools I use. I have no idea why it isn't eating them. No one ever told me and I never realized what the warning on the box meant when I first obtained it but that stuff will destroy plastic. I left my guy's head on the little plastic case I keep my eye putty in and it destroyed it.

@du-hast I really do hope you cast him, too. I would also be super interested!