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50–65cm Dolls This dollmaking thing - I think I'll have a go

Dec 12, 2007

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    1. I've been lurking around for a couple of weeks, and by turns being inspired and daunted by the quality of the art being produced here.
      I stumbled on BJD's while researching porcelain dollmaking - 'cos I though I might want to try my hand at it. I came across some ball jointed porcelain dolls, and decided that they were far cooler than the soft bodied ones, and to cut a long story short, ended up here. There's soooo much great information here!:D
      This is what I've been working on....
      [​IMG]
      Her eyes are a bit close together (was intentional - I swear!), and the surface looks really crappy, but her face is actually quite smooth. She's made from super sculpey and has had multiple bakings... (and the lastest one was at too high a temp :doh )
      [​IMG] [​IMG]

      I've just come across the Twiglimbs jointing notes, so I prolly will be redesigning her joints shortly...

      And ... I don't think I like her tiny ears ... what do you think?
       
      #1 Witchylana, Dec 12, 2007
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    2. Ooh she looks so awesome!
      How tall will she be when she's finished?
       
      #2 SkyexX, Dec 18, 2007
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    3. Thanks! I measured her this morning, and she's 52cm top-to-toe.
      I got a rotary tool just before Xmas, and have no idea why I waited to get one!
      Same goes for the pot of gesso! She's much prettier, less intense now..
      I redid her breasts:
      [​IMG]

      After a bit of contemplation I cut down the hips
      [​IMG][​IMG]

      If I'm very careful, she stands by herself...
      [​IMG]

      I'm pretty happy with her torso now - there are just a few suface imperfections to deal with now.
      I am, on the other hand, not having an easy time of the limbs. I've managed to do a double jointed knee
      [​IMG]
      which works kinda OK, but the lower pieces have a tendancy to spin around. The wrists don't move nicely, and neither do the ankles.

      GAH! :ablah:

      (I'm having HUGE fun BTW) :fangirl:
       
      #3 Witchylana, Jan 9, 2008
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    4. Good work with the double jointed knees. I'm still working on mine. How did you make her look soooo perfect?
      *steals your talent*:D
      What did you use as a core...or did you not use one?
       
      #4 SkyexX, Jan 9, 2008
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    5. Wow! Looking good! ^_^ She's very unique looking. I wish I could do that..!
       
      #5 fiyore, Jan 10, 2008
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    6. the adjustments to the body look good. I would love to see a close up of your hand sculpt.
       
      #6 ripples, Jan 10, 2008
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    7. Thanks for the ego stroking :sweat, but she's far from perfect :...(

      I used the only things I had for a core - cardboard, paper towels, tinfoil, and brown box tape... and covered it in a shell of super sculpey.
      [​IMG]
      It is a piece of ugly, but it worked!
      I cut the sculpey while it was still hot, but should have left it to cool down before removing it from the form, 'cos I ended up having to glue five pieces together - instead of two :doh
       
      #7 Witchylana, Jan 27, 2008
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    8. The hands are still very rough, and I don't take very good photos :lol:...
      [​IMG]
      [​IMG]
       
      #8 Witchylana, Jan 27, 2008
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    9. The first feet I made were super ugly,
      [​IMG]
      so I cut my losses, and made a new pair...

      [​IMG]
      little toes, with wire in them (the toes on the first set kept breaking off - I can be taught!)

      [​IMG]

      [​IMG]

      I'm much happier with these feet.:3nodding:
       
      #9 Witchylana, Jan 27, 2008
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    10. Wow, those new feet look great!! And it's interesting to see that the way you built them is in some ways similar to how I made mine.
       
      #10 twigling, Jan 27, 2008
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    11. [​IMG]

      I've made her waist a bit more defined, and changed the joints in her shoulders.

      [​IMG]

      [​IMG]

      She can sit unsupported...

      [​IMG]

      ... And I got her to stand one one leg!

      [​IMG]
       
      #11 Witchylana, Jan 27, 2008
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    12. Thanks!
      The first ones were made as a foot shape, and then the toes were cut into it, but the second way just seemed more ... logical?

      Oh, and while I'm at it - :aheartbea BIGTHANKS :aheartbea for the twiglimbs notes - I'm soooo pleased with the way her knees have turned out - and it's your fault! :fangirl:
       
      #12 Witchylana, Jan 27, 2008
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    13. Wow! I love the detai lin her feet!
       
      #13 Sommersdai, Jan 27, 2008
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    14. She's so expressive! I also love her body...
      Uber-fantastic work! *claps*
       
      #14 Tylluan, Jan 28, 2008
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    15. Yeah the knees are really awesome, you should consider implementing the same mechanism in the elbows!! Her neck is a little long though, and it looks like she can't look down very well? I do love the big hips and legs, very feminine!!
       
      #15 twigling, Jan 28, 2008
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    16. What is really cool about your work, is that you can really see the doll evolving. Your pictures are very clear. I'm about to start work on a new doll myself, and instead of using Apoxie Sculpt, I'm going to use Super Sculpey. I was wondering about how I was going to do the core for it, and your picture of the torso form kind of cleared that question up for me! Love the second set of feet. Again, the picture is great for showing how to do it. Awesome job all around. I do agree with Twigling that the neck could be a *leetle* shorter. Other than that, awesome :)
       
      #16 fairy@changelingchildren, Jan 28, 2008
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    17. Oh, wow, I love her! How tall is she (about)? I don't suppose you'll be offering any cast in resin....? **hope hope**
       
      #17 Kiyakotari, Feb 3, 2008
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    18. Her feet are so feminine, i love them : )
       
      #18 rabidshehamster, Feb 10, 2008
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    19. Ohh, she looks lovely. :: swoon :: I know what you mean about the rebaking on Super Sculptey, that can scorch a little, but in the later pictures when it's covered up she's starting to look a lot gentler.
      And oh my gosh, the knees. The jointing looks really cool, plus I love the fact that hey- she's kinda got hips! And thighs. Pretty. <3 Wish any of my dolls turned out anywhere NEAR this good.
       
      #19 Rhoswyn, Feb 10, 2008
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    20. She's great-I love her hips and hands and feet! Can't wait to see her finished!
       
      #20 fragilelildoll, Feb 11, 2008
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    21. Great thread * Subscribes*
       
      #21 Mich, Feb 12, 2008
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    22. Oh, it's been a while....

      I kinda bottomed out there for a while - I've had really nasty tonsillitis and there was something about her that just wasn't working for me. *_*
      I have shortened her neck, and she does look much better, but now her arms feel a little long.
      I've decided to scrap the first head and have been working with one of the heads that I did for the head a day challenge:
      [​IMG]

      I've refined it (fixed the ears and fiddled with the eye shape) and cut it so the face comes away, rather than having a head cap. I'll post some pictures tonight.

      As a side note - some of my students had asked to see the doll in person, so I brought her in to work. One of them was holding the faceplate and dropped it. :doh It cracked quite badly, and the student was mortified. A bit of carving back, a dot of super glue and some extra clay (silver sculpey - verah pretty) and we're all happy again. :)


      I did a displacement test on the weekend, it looks like she'll take 1.2 litres of resin, so that's sorted. The company I've been pricing with sells their silicone by the kilo, does anyone know how I would calculate the amount I'd need?
      Would I need to measure the dimensions of each piece, add the volume up and subtract the 1.2 litres? Or is there a nice mathematical formula?
       
      #22 Witchylana, Mar 27, 2008
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    23. I have enjoyed watching this one be made, I am gathering my nerve to start this and have a question, did you cut the body in 1/2 to extract the form, and what about the legs and arms did they have a core or did you use straws or dowels inside them to hold the core hollow, great job, I loved the poses you had her doing
      barb
       
      #23 BabesbyBarb, Mar 27, 2008
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    24. I cut the shell for the torso in half, but it got stuck and I had to force it a bit - the front piece broke into two, and the back broke into three pieces. Superglue is my friend. After it had been glued back together I sclupted over the shell (my first layer of sculpey was the widest setting on my pasta machine).
      The arms and legs both had cores (I was being a tightwad and trying to save on materials). It's not a problem with the upper arms because I used wooden beads for the 'ball', but the thighs are hollow and when the leg is bent the elastic has less distance to cover, so the tension is reduced, and her legs go floppy when bent forward.
      Cue crappy diagram...
      [​IMG]
      This is what a cross section of the thigh actually looks like, and what I need it to look like. The white lines are the elastic when the thigh is at 90 degrees to the torso.

      In hindsight, using a straw would have been better...
       
      #24 Witchylana, Mar 27, 2008
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    25. I looove her big thighs and knees! :D And her face really came along!!

      She's got such a genuine feel to her, she is a lovely woman of a doll, I'll look forward to seeing her done! :)
       
      #25 Lithe-Fider, Apr 1, 2008
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    26. i love the feet! theyre adorable
       
      #26 keru, Apr 1, 2008
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    27. Faceplate Ahoy!
      [​IMG]
      The silver bits are my patching job...

      [​IMG]
      [​IMG]
      (excuse the fact that she's not 'wearing' her right foot, the ball part of it broke off (again) and I don't trust it to stay together :...(

      And in a ratty wig, holding a babeh dragon...
      [​IMG]
       
      #27 Witchylana, Apr 7, 2008
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    28. *flails* the feet are so wonderfully detailed! I like the shape of her body-- reminds me of Botticelli's women.
       
      #28 saibrrmen, Apr 7, 2008
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    29. Oh! Wow! That is awesome.. she's come along so well ~ I LOVE the face!!! I use around 1.4 kg of resin for v1 twigLimbs.. which is a body without a head. As for how much silicone you need, there is maths for it, but I don't know how it works. I am getting ready to mold my new doll and I have ordered 1 gallon of silicone... I hope it will be enough. I think if you work out the volume of each mold-box, and then subtract the displacement weight of the parts you should be close, but it doesn't hurt to over-estimate. Check the Smooth-On site for the formula to figure out how much you need. I think I used somewhere between 7 and 9 kilos for v1 twigLimbs. Remember that litres is volume and kilos is weight and there is a difference, so be careful.
       
      #29 twigling, Apr 7, 2008
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    30. ah! she is just awesome! I love your approach to making her, if a part isn't right, just cut it apart and put it back together in a better configuration. and i love her toes and the way you did her feet.

      so neat to see another faceplate system too.... you inspire me to go try one again.
      best of luck with the molds ---- so very cool....
       
      #30 patl, Apr 8, 2008
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    31. She is gorgeous! Her face is absolutely stunning! Can't wait to see her finished. I'm loving the idea of face-plates.
       
      #31 Bruny, Apr 8, 2008
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    32. May I suggest that if you continue to work with Sculpey, I find that liquid clay is the best thing ever for gluing polymer clay together. It has the consistency of white glue, but after you bake it, it turns into sculpey and it's as tough or tougher than the original piece was.

      Once, I had made some little angels, and when I baked them I accidentally scorched their hair, which was made of polymer clay. I decided to take the hair off and re-use the heads, only it turned out that since I had used liquid clay to glue the hair on, I literally COULD NOT get it off. I would have had to get out a knife or something.

      Some people say it's better for gluing unbaked clay to baked clay than two pieces of baked clay, but I haven't really tested it for that. I mainly use it to glue unbaked to baked and to glue foreign objects to clay, which seems to work great.

      Okay, end of Liquid Sculpey commercial. I liked the old head, but I LOVE this one! Wow!

      Thess
       
      #32 thessalyrose, Apr 8, 2008
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    33. Thankies :)

      I :aheartbea me some liquid fimo, but I find that when it cures it goes a bit rubbery - and the texture difference makes the carving back a bit weird...

      I mix it into really hard clay sometimes, bit mostly it gets used for my jewellry making type-stuff (the wee dragon she's holding has glass beads that have a dab of liquid fimo behind them).
       
      #33 Witchylana, Apr 8, 2008
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    34. Very nice job! I love how expressive her hands are.
       
      #34 Sommersdai, Apr 8, 2008
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    35. Her face is absolutely gorgeous!~ And I'm loving her knee joints... they're so well-designed and seamless!
       
      #35 Mandiiv, Apr 8, 2008
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    36. I think the first head looked a bit mature, and made the body look skinny. Each part just fine, but not right together.

      The second head, and the shorter neck, work together a little better.

      It is so cool watching you figure out what works for you & her. :) Thanks for showing us.


      Ann in CT
       
      #36 Ann in CT, Apr 9, 2008
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    37. I can has Twignotes too? please? :D
       
      #37 KasaMadhuri777, Apr 10, 2008
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    38. wow, i love her! i can't wait to see her cast in resin! I envy your awesome talent! :)
       
      #38 PrincessAI436, Apr 10, 2008
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    39. I bow before thee......WOW! I love her! You're gonna have people knocking on your door wanting casts of this girl! She's fabu...
       
      #39 DollsnDolls, Apr 10, 2008
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    40. I don't know if I've mentioned this, but I really, really love my husband.
      Why is this relevant you ask?
      Because he just sold his xbox console and is giving me the monies I need to get my silicone & resin :fangirl:!
      I'll be picking it up tomorrow!

      So I'll be unstringing my girl tonight - and I still have to give her thighs a good sanding.
      Then I've gotta construct some mold boxes....
      I'll be sure to take photos of the process


      (I really hope I don't screw it up too badly...)

      <skips off merrily>
       
      #40 Witchylana, Apr 16, 2008
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    41. i love the shape of her body! it's very sensual... and those feet! wow!
       
      #41 chibitakeshi, Apr 16, 2008
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    42. You have the BEST. HUSBAND. EVER.

      squee.
       
      #42 KasaMadhuri777, Apr 17, 2008
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    43. wow --- congratulations on a truly magnificant life partner choice!!!
      you guys are both so cool....
       
      #43 patl, Apr 17, 2008
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    44. Yes I do.
      And before you ask - no, you can't have him ;)
       
      #44 Witchylana, Apr 17, 2008
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    45. Drat! He he he he...
       
      #45 Michikaru, Apr 19, 2008
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    46. Ok. I dropped over $450 on silicone and resin and dye and rubber gloves and vaseline and foamcore board and plasticine and spraypaint...

      My Husband stood over me the entire time saying "So, you know what you're doing, right? You're not going to stuff this up? I miss my xbox. Do you know what you're doing? You'd better sell some"

      Bless him.:XD:


      Ahem...
      [​IMG]

      And I was going to be good and wait until I'd set-up all the molds.
      But, well...
      7am this morning...
      [​IMG]
      SQUEE!!!
      And, with cheap and nasty slapping on of colour:
      [​IMG]
      [​IMG]

      There were a couple of little pinholes on her eyelids, so I had to open them a little, and there's one biggish (about 2mm across) on the lobe of one of her ears, but all-in-all, I'm very happy with the result...
       
      #46 Witchylana, Apr 20, 2008
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    47. Oh wow - she looks great in resin. I like all the detail to her face shape that really shows now that she's cast. Her cheeks, brow and chin are beautifully sculpted.

      And it's just a glorious moment when you can take out the first head of the mold - congrats!

      I think the open eyes suit her as well, even if it was not intended. I haven't had that many problems with small air bubbles apart from the eye lids, but they were hard to get rid of. I found that bumping/ dropping the mold ever so slightly against the table repeatedly after pouring and trying to tilt it a bit in various directions while pouring helped quite a bit.
       
      #47 zidora, Apr 20, 2008
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    48. oh congratulations!!! she looks wonderful.
      beautiful job with the molding and casting too..
       
      #48 patl, Apr 20, 2008
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    49. she looks great, I will be looking forward to seeing one all together, the mold boxes look good too
      barb
       
      #49 BabesbyBarb, Apr 20, 2008
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    50. OMG, she's great... congratulations!! can't wait to see the rest of her. I assume the roundish mold is the head mold. I think you have made your hubby proud ;)
       
      #50 Bruny, Apr 21, 2008
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    51. I laughed so hard when I read this. Yes, bless him :lol: you've done a fantastic job and its really wonderful to see the progression of the model. I look forward to seeing her when she's complete! Thanks for sharing :)
       
      #51 myrianu, Apr 21, 2008
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    52. Wow. Great work, & very inspirational to other lurkers, like me! And thanks for the photos, they make a wonderful tutorial. Super work!
       
      #52 NancyS, Apr 21, 2008
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    53. And in a ratty wig, holding a babeh dragon...
      [​IMG][/QUOTE]

      The face is so cute:aheartbea I´m really impressed!
       
      #53 anna_mee, Apr 24, 2008
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    54. Wow! She looks wonderful with the new face...

      I wish my girlfriend would sell things to buy me resin... premade into a sexy doll resin! lol
       
      #54 Shiro, Apr 24, 2008
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    55. I can't wait to see her all in resin! Yay!
       
      #55 verilens, Apr 24, 2008
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    56. she looks great!!! go, Anna, go!!!
       
      #56 cureilona, May 1, 2008
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    57. Hi Witchylana! What a wonderful doll you have created!
      she is even more beautiful in resin! May I ask you, have you dyed the resin in this color or it is the color of the resin? It's such a beautiful pale skin color!
       
      #57 tatianatofaneto, May 1, 2008
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    58. OK, been a while since I updated...
      <whinge>
      Ack! I ran out of silicone with one half of a mold to go!:vein

      Also, I dyed my resin - which shortened the working time - so I ended up wasting heaps of it :...( It was setting up as it was pouring! so huge pockets of air were getting trapped under the flow of resin.

      And pinholes! - Hardly any on the first cast (which had no dye in it) - but on the next ones... - argh!

      So, between the miscasts and the airbubbles - I only got one body piece that I'm happy with. Out of the 18 completed pieces I cast before running out.

      </whinge> ;) Ok I feel better now :)

      I've had a good look at the miscasts - and I think I've figured out where I need to cut extra vent holes - I'll be getting more supplies in the next week or so, and hopefully will have more luck (I'll try the baby powder thing too).
      It had been raining before I did my last casts - so hopefully that was the problem - I'll put the dehumidifier on before starting next time too...



      The resin in the photos I posted is undyed - white.
       
      #58 Witchylana, May 13, 2008
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    59. [​IMG]

      All in resin!

      I don't have a nekkid pic - I've sent this first girl to live with my husbands Mum, whom I intend to nag to make clothing for subsquent dolls....

      I'm NO GOOD at face-ups. My calm, serene girl now looks like Queen Bitchypants :sweat
      (In my defence, I have discovered an mathematic certainty: me+face-up+2am=crap result)

      So once again, I'm back to saving for resin - 2kgs gets me one complete girl + assorted bodyparts for the next.
       
      #59 Witchylana, Aug 9, 2008
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    60. Come on, the face up isn't that bad...just close. Kidding!:) For 2am, that's great. I think it makes her look like one of those old-time Hollywood stars. And I'm really glad you updated with a picture even after all the trouble you had. I wonder if dyeing resin always changes the set time...? Good to know, if I ever try casting anything.

      Congrats on getting an entire doll done! Hope you get your new supplies in soon!
       
      #60 Sennenrin, Aug 9, 2008
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