50–65cm Dolls The road to Jericho - from sculpt to finish

I've had plans to cast a head for over a year now (just over a year - I started doll making in february 2021) but the part where I get the doll cast was always a big problem for me. I finally was able to find a caster in the US, and am now well on my way to getting my first head professionally cast!

Meet Jericho, a smaller realistic 1/3 size head. She works well on smaller bodies such as Argonautica Dolls girl, Supia Ballerina Body, and Dollshe 16F. Also the Iplehouse nYID girl body with a very modified (sanded) is good proportionally.
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To begin, I sculpted her in Sculptris. I do all my sculpting in this program because it's easier (by far) to use than Blender (for me) for sculpting organic shapes. Pretty much I just start with a ball and then freehand the whole head. Here are some shots of her initial sculpt before any of the cutting and hollowing happens:

SculptingJericho by Tatterpunk, on Flickr

Next I imported her into Blender (yay free programs!) and proceeded to cut out the head using Booleans. I have various ones I reuse such as the inner head hollowing sphere and the eye spheres. Once she's hollow, I moved her to a different file where I have a body saved as well as certain neck size spheres. I created the inner floor of the head then the keyhole for the elastic and S-hook, as well as adding in spaces for magnets and notches for the headcap so it doesn't just slide around.
HollowingJericho by Tatterpunk, on Flickr

Next printing and the beginnings of sanding. I have a resin 3D printer, so I printed her in UV resin then began the sanding process to remove all the little bloops from the supports and all.

PrintingSanding01 by Tatterpunk, on Flickr
The first layers of primer and more sanding came next.

SandingPriming01 by Tatterpunk, on Flickr

I had an issue where I sprayed the primer too thick in places so I spent a good long time trying to sand that down. Turns out I could have just used Isopropyl alcohol on it lol. So, we're gonna fix that a little and then get back to smoothing everything out.

So that's where I am today! I've also ordered resin swatches from my caster. I do a lot of updating on my instagram, but I'll try and post more as I go on here.

 

Thanks so much!

Now for the updates!

So I worked for about a week priming this girl. . . only to have the very last coat get all weird and cracked. SO . . . I had to soak her in Isopropyl alcohol to get the Mr. Surfacer off and start over T___T.

I was obviously quite upset about that, but it was a blessing in disguise. I started over using a different method. This time I'm spreading Tamiya putty over the surface and sanding it down with 1000 grit sand paper. It's gotten her SUPER smooth so far. I'm hoping I only need to do 2 coats of primer tops once she's smoothed now.

The weather's being a little not nice, so I have to wait till I have a good sunny day to prime, but I'm hoping I can do that Monday maybe. Provided it's not windy.
JeriPrimecollage by Tatterpunk, on Flickr

 

She's been off at the caster for the past few months, and I've just received word that her mold's been done! I'm waiting with bated breath for the first photos of my cast girl.

In the meantime I've been working on her body! I'll add some progress of that into this thread a bit later on. Also I'll be adding the concept art and the faceupped printed girls later. When it's not nearly midnight.

 

This was a concept drawing for Jericho - probably the second or third art of her? The lips and general sort of cat-eye shape stuck around, but her nose got wider and of course I refined things a lot.

Jericho Concept Art by Tatterpunk, on Flickr

Here's my faceup on the white print I did to go with the body prototype (which she is on in this photo).

Jericho as a Redhead by Tatterpunk, on Flickr

 

Thank you!

So, updates on the journey!

The caster I had chosen didn't really work out. I have yet to be sent any finished products and communication pretty much went nonexistent.

Thankfully I found another caster who is far more reliable (as in reliable at all >__>) I've sent Jericho out to be cast along with another body I made and reworked and two other heads. It's a learning process, but I think I'm finally getting stuff done?