ummmm help ^_^ please

Resin is a plastic. You have to make a clay model, cast a mold off of it, then pour the uncured resin into the mold. It can be a pain in the butt to work with as it has to be measured exactly, and weather conditions affect the curing drastically.

Polymer clay really isn't strong enough to make a doll out of, but many many people use it for practice.

You can get the casting and mold making supplies online at various sources. Just do a search for resin and mold making supplies.

You can also make a doll out of stoneclay. Its stronger than Polymer clay, but you have to paint the entire body when you're done.

 

It chips, cracks and breaks easily.

 

Yeah, polymer is rather brittle when its baked, and the tension of the elastic puts a lot of stress on it.


Ive been lucky, Ive droped the polymer head Ive made about six times and it hasnt cracked! I screamed the first time I dropped it, and winced when I went to pick it up beacuse I thought for sure the nose would chip off! But its not normal for it to be that durable (especially when its thin, like noses and fingers)

 

I second Cheshiretiffy and Pookienoodle. I started my doll (seen in this section) with polymer clay. For some fine detailing, it was wonderful, but for larger areas, it was a nightmare. Live and learn, but if you're starting from scratch, you may want to try something else.

 

My take on the situation:

I’m currently working on an anthropomorphic fox/humanoid BJD and am making it out of Super Sculpey. Super Sculpey is VERY strong when modeled correctly and not made too thin (1/4 inch thick at least). Everyone here seems to hate polymer clay... ops: I’ve been using polymer clays for over 10 years and super sculpey never ceases to amaze me. It don’t chip or break easily at all when done right. What I see too often is people make it too thin or don't connect pieces with proper joining so of course they break / come apart. They also might be using the cheaper polymer clays (the basic white sculpey is VERY weak, and the color stuff is pretty weak too.) You have to use the better polymer clays like premo sculpey or super sculpey.

Everyone’s got when they like to work with. Most people here want resin casts because they want something as close to a professional product as possible / want to sell cast of their dolls. I myself like polymer clay, love how I can work it, and am not interested in making casts to sell.

I myself also REALLY don’t want to deal with mold making and resin… O_O I have high hopes for super sculpey holding up to the strain of the elastic stringing. ^_^

 

The biggest problem is 1/4" is sorta thick for most doll parts (since arms and what not must be hollow to string easily) and things like fingers bake faster than the had they are attatched to (making them weaker since over-cured sculpey is more brittle)

I love working with sculpey, but I need to buy a toatser oven to bake it in outside. I have a big thing against plastics and non-stick surfaces (teflon) and try and avoid any thing that can release fumes in the house.

 

You said you are an art student? Go around your school asking for a teacher who is trained in/has worked in resin before. When I did my first resin project, that is actually what I did.

First off, resin gives off HIGHLY toxic fumes. You must work on this outside, even if you use the "supposedly low-odor" resin. You can only work on it indoors if your school has a ventillation booth. You'll aslo need an outdoor place such as a garage to store your project until it cures. (Due to humidity, my first resin project took three days to lose its terrible smell.)

Pick up a bunch of wooden paint stir-sticks and a pack of very cheap brushes, as well as a pack of thick dishwashing gloves. You're pretty much going to have to trash everything the resin touches.

The real reason you'll want a mentor is that they'll know how to break up the mold best. For example, in casting the head you will need at least two separate halves of a mold. Sometimes, I've had faces where I've had to make three pieces because the forheads stuck in the mold. What I like to do is rubber-coat the object to be molded first, and then cast it again in plaster. The final poured resin goes into the rubber, and the rubber acts like a "sling" that helps pull the pieces out of the mold much easier than if you'd tried to cast directly into the plaster.

Tell your mentor that you're interested in "slush casting." There may be a machine for it,
or you may have to sit there and spin it yourself for hours on end.

A warning: If your cast object sticks in the mold when removing it, recast the mold. You will not be able to get your final project out.

I've only made Kigurumi masks, so my knowledge may not apply to dolls. IE, I use cut fiberglass mat in my resin to strengthen it, but it doesn't look like anyone making dolls does that from what I've seen.

Edit: You're going to want to find an industrial resin supplier. The only ones I know of up here, unfortuantely, are local stores only. Basically, they'll be able to help you more. You can find resin in the automotive section at Wal-mart, but if you try to get help the clerks will just stare at you. You may pay more going to an industrial supply source, but if you say "I am looking for a resin with this and this properties, for this and this application, and I want to tint it skin-color," they'll be able to help you. The place I go is Sterling Supply in Minneapolis, but unless you live here that doesn't help.

 

Humm...yes, you are correct in that you must be careful with those thinner parts (fingers). Best to bake the hand for less time then you think you should, possibly almost under baking the palm part, but truly, it should be fine (better to under bake a little than over bake which, yes, makes it brittle, burns it, and releases toxic fumes X_X )

I will have a challenge in keeping the 1/4" thick rule with things like the arms...but I'm trying... ops: It is kinda an experiment in the limits of super sculpey. I know it's not the best, resin casting is the best, but I want to see if it can be done! :grin:

A toaster oven Those are not the best thing to bake sculpey in. I know they SAY you can, but in my experience they really don’t bake too evenly. But if you are worried about the platic fumes I guess you don't have a choice (or bother a friend at their house :wink: hehehe).

If you are getting fumes from your sculpey baking then you are baking it too long. Bake it for less time. Possibly your oven is hotter than it reads. We had that problem for years with our oven, which kept over baking my sculpey. It was really around 80 degrees HOTTER than when you set it on the dial! O_O Eeee!

Good luck and happy baking!

 

Another suggestion, perhaps? I have a device called a "heat gun." I mostly do OOAK dolls, and I use it to set sculpey that has to be cured on the actual doll, since I can't put dolls in my oven without melting them.

Perhaps you could look into loaning one of those from a hobbyist friend to cook the parts that aren't fully done on a larger piece?

Edit: I think I wasn't clear enough about what it is. Essentially, it's a blow dryer that can get up to the heats of your conventional oven. I thought it might be helpful for spot-curing any places that don't quite get done in the oven.

 

Oooo....I want one... ! That sounds neat!

 

Hello =n.n= i think i remember you from posting lots of questions and requests for information ; i am impressed in your confidence to start making them =n.n=

Firstly, as an art student, you should be able to ask your teachers for supplies and costs as they usually get funding and spend it on art materials anyway =n.n=

Secondly, your art teacher is your friend, so you can ask these sorts of questions and maybe even make one for your portfolio!! (i know i would have if the science lab would have let us use their darned equipment

You could even experiment with the type of material you use. If you read up on a lot you will find that you might have to wear protective gear; especially after molding and sanding you will need to wear this to avoid toxication.

Thirdly; you will need to know how each limb needs to be put together and made before trying to construct one yourself.(You can't draw an exact human anatomically correct without having some sort of background experience in its research)

I believe there is a tutorial on making your own bjd and while it takes a lot of practice, its a very good starter.
I have provided the link below for convenience =n.n=

http://www2d.biglobe.ne.jp/~dhnoah/make_00.htm

Good luck on your project and let us know how it goes !

 

I use Cernit which is a polymer clay, and I've never had any problems with it being brittle or anything. I have never worked with any other kind of polymer clays, so they might be bad, but Cernit it great.

 

Hello! I am new and I am starting to make my own bjd. I have sculpted solid doll figures in Super Sculpey in the past. I am starting a project with Paper clay. I have found the
paper clay to be very strong and light weight. I will post the results in the future.

I wanted to make some sugestions for some good informational sources for doll sculpting.
Many of these should be availible at your library.

Susan Oroyan has written some great books on working with Sculpey, Fimo, Cernit and
Paper clay. She also works with cloth dolls and much of the design information would be
very useful to you making a bjd. She also has great information on wigs, clothes and shoes. The books are

Fantastic Figures 1994
Anatomy of a Doll 1997
Designing the Doll 1999
Finishing the Figure 2001

I have also found the book "Creative Cloth Doll Making" by Patti Medaris Culea to have a great ball jointed cloth body for those heads in need of a quicker fix.

 

With this method you can actually use stoneclay for the entire doll as opposed to worrying about finding the sawdust powder.

This is the exact method I'm going to use once I can afford supplies. Sadly, this tutorial isn't complete.

They don't tell you how to get the hooks in the ankles and wrists, or how to get to modeling paste off of the eyes again etc.

 

Hi

I got a big box of sawdust free from a local cabinet making shop. I asked for finer sawdust but there probably is coarser stuff mixed in it. I will probably have to sift it a couple of times before I use it. I will have to make a sawdust sifter 0.0 . The cabinet shop said I could have more when I wanted it. I told them I was making a craft project like paper mache except more permanent. You might ask around and see if there are any shops that would give it away in your area.

Sand3 has said they are using Wood Flour (a super fine sawdust like wheat flour) for their BJD project you might pm them to see where they get it or search for it.

Heres a link to their thread, they spell it wood flower at first.

http://www.denofangels.com/forums/showthread.php?t=82723

Good Luck on your doll!!