Modification UPDATE: 11/4/23 - Growing the Plant Man/Terrarium Head Mod - COMPLETED

Hi all,

Thought I would start a project journal thread for this guy since he'll take an extreme amount of work, and I kind of like to have an area to brainstorm and get ideas from other doll customizers.

This doll is actually a practice project before I attempt an extreme cyberpunk mod on a rarer doll that I have. I got this head as a gift from a friend, and he's just a regular ol' Luts Event head from god knows which season and of which year lol. So I'm giving him new life as Terra, the plant man.

Concept art. Basically a plant terrarium attached as the "headcap"/wig:

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So the game plan... Honestly, I'm not sure I have one. Game plan is called "Operation Winging It". But here's the progress so far:

STEP ONE: First I had to saw off off the upper half of his head so a terrarium could sit comfortably on top (while remaining stable). Here's a very sophisticated diagram of what I mean:

The carnage that actually happened:

After a lot of sanding and buffing the jagged ends this is what I finally got:


Short GIF that shows how everything still connects.
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STEP 2: Acquire Terrarium. I had to do some eBay digging, but I found one that was a pretty shape and just the right size/height for an SD head. Sadly I just checked and they are no longer available. Dang!

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STEP 3: Create a Base for the Terrarium to sit on. Obviously I can't connect the metal and glass directly to the resin so I needed a base I could modify to conjoin the head to the terrarium. My lovely friend @Beansproutmomo gave me these pieces of polystyrene foam to try out. They worked wonderfully. Extremely light weight but sturdy that you can carve and Dremel into. Forgive me, I got a bit overzealous with working that I forgot to take pictures of it bare, but here is the foam core attached to the terrarium with a rough coat of paint on it.

STEP 4: Sculpt plant growth on the base. I really want this to look like a growth from his head so I decided to get some air dry LaDoll clay and sculpt vines and other amorphous plant-like growths to really spruce up the base. This is probably the first stage in which I started panicking. I. DO. NOT. SCULPT. I made some eyelids once. That's it. So I was definitely venturing into some unknown terra-tory (HA!). However, I think for my amateur abilities, it came out ok!





Finally, a preview of how the head "fits" so far...
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To be continued next post!

 

...continuing from previous post.

Once I sculpted the plant growth I did a bit of airbrushing to see if I liked the details/texture of my sculpting. Hard to see with just the very solid base coat of green. So here's what it looks like with a bit more finesse:

Taped up the glass so it wouldn't get painted on.

First draft:



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At this stage I started getting REALLY excited and caved and got my plant man a body. I wanted a GREEN body. And you know how that's every companies favorite color >_>

Well, I decided while I love my plant man. I wasn't wanting to break the bank so I opted for a Resinsoul 72cm body. Boy lemme tell you. It's GREEN. However, I really kinda love it and it got me super pumped to finish him!

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Current STEP...5? Install Magnets in head so terrarium base can connect. So this is the most recent step I've completed as of 1/18/21. I started drilling holes in the remaining resin so I could put a magnet in the foam core so the terrarium can safely attach. I have only done the head so far, but will work on the terrarium soon. Until then, this is where the plant man journey ends for now~

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@ronnie92 : Yep yep! I have some fake ferns and other foliage that I was going to incorporate into the base... I'm trying to figure out what to apply over it to get rid of that fake-y plastic sheen?! I also want to add growths coming from his head as well so after I sculpt and polish that up I'll be working on incorporating all the fun leafy greens. He sounds like a salad lol.

@cloudmine : Yes I have some fun moss in different colors that I'm excited to use. I am still deciding on what actually goes IN the terrarium, but that's a great idea to check out the miniature foliage in the model section I'll check it out for sure!

@Oliver & @skyealloway Thank you both so very much! I'm excited to see where it goes.

@maxxxamillion : hehehe this is so true! My mother and grandmother were both green thumbs and I've always had a little forest of my own at my childhood homes to explore. I got my own collection of plant babies outside, but now I definitely wanted to incorporate another hobby I love with my dolls. ^_^

@Xila : Your feedback is TOTALLY welcome and appreciated. As I said... Operation Winging It is the 'game plan'. So any thoughts/opinions are good food for thought. So, I definitely was conscientious about weight, because I have a few dolls over the years that have heavy headbacks and every lunge forward always seemed to toss the headcap like a deadly projectile. I really love the idea of creating an old school hook that could then attach to the inner S-hook. I've get a super strong magnet in the front, and I'm going to permanently attach the remaining headcap sliver to the terrarium so I can utilize the remaining magnet in the back. Plus the hook, I think this should hopefully secure it pretty well. If not I may come back here for HALP!

As far as outfits, I have no idea. This body is pretty BIG so I don't have any clothes that fit to experiment styles with. But I'm thinking something very fantasy like. I really love Souldoll fantasy type clothes and I think the Tera-Zenith size could work but they're terribly limited in selection. I don't want him looking super lacey/fluffy... but plant man isn't supposed to be an uber badass. Rugged antique-y outdoorsmen? LOL

Lastly, I am not sure how to proceed with the terrarium contents as of yet! Although THANK YOU for the micro-orchid link. This is quite tempting to purchase. I don't mind taking care of plants. I have almost as many plant babies outside as dolls hehehe BUT I also thought about crafting several different artificial bases that could be placed inside and switch em out to have different color schemes and plants. But possibly I could have nursery terrariums to raise a few live plants and maybe make one artificial base that is suitable to hosting a live plant in there for a short time and switch them out??? lol this is something to ponder. Maybe some different sketches now that I've seen some live options.

@cthulhu : Yes! I got some great ideas and tips to keep him all in once piece Admittedly, I keep most of my dolls as display pieces and really don't play/pose them aside from basic photos, but definitely going to need to get a heavy duty doll stand! I'll need to research SteamWitch's work too! Need inspirational mods to keep me going!

 

@LonelyArtist : Thank you so very much! Yes the green from Resinsoul is very bright and lovely. Green is my favorite color and I just love that it's strong chlorophyll packed plant green It will be fun color matching his head to this body. Going to need to shop for new airbrush colors. Posing is a bit of a struggle. He's very sturdy but not very flexible. Like a very rigid beanstalk. :P But I'm going to get him a doll stand at Hobby Lobby for some added support.

@JL_The_Lion :Thank you so much for your encouragement! That is a lovely way to think about it... Terra is definitely the much more benevolent version of a Poison Ivy.

 

@Beansproutmomo : You must definitely document the modification on your Kappa! I think Kappa, Terra and your new frog baby would make for a cute photoshoot!

@saraquill : Thank you so much! It is definitely my most ambitious doll work ever. I used to shy away from this type of customization for fear of 'ruining' something, but frankly I enjoy the learning so much that the new skills will be worth some of the mistakes.

@cloudmine : AGH! I love that clothing idea. If I only knew how to sew! That unfortunately does not exist in my skillset. But maybe I could commission a talented seamstress at some point for him!

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Ok y'all, update 1/21/21.

STEP 6: I committed to joining my terrarium base with the remaining sliver of his original head cap. At first, I was hem hawing around it because I was scared... but I finally said to hell with it and made his 'head cap'. Well, first issue was that it order for it to sit perfectly center over the head, the front magnet was going to need to be extremely close to the edge of the foam and I felt that would compromise the structural integrity of the foam over time. So I moved the magnet further inward, and so now the terrarium doesn't sit perfectly center over the head. So I had to really decorate up the back to provide a balance. My first mistake! BUT, recoverable. Also a great lesson NOT TO CUT THE BASE until I install the magnets so I can cut the base exactly to size. Next project I'll get it right! Onto pictures!​

The underside of the new terrarium head cap

Process of MAKIN' IT PURDY. This time I used Tamiya Epoxy putty for easier sculpting.




Terrarium head cap by itself:


Testing head cap while Terra is sitting on the body. Man it's pretty freaking solid. However I'm still going to take @Xila 's advice and install a hook inside because god help me if this ever breaks.



Next phase: Sculpting vines and growth on the front side of the head. I started one vine gave myself a little break for the back part to solidify and dry! Preview of what comes next~


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Update 8-8-2023

Dang! I can't believe I started Plant Man back in 2021. Time flies... Well, I have returned to him and picked up where I left off. Which was the tedious process of adding epoxy 'vines' and growth to help diminish the clear separation of his foam head cap and his resin head. I wanted it to look like a singular growth stemming (ha!) from his forehead. This was a challenge because I also didn't want to accidentally bind his head cap together with his head. So I was careful to make sure the vines hung over the cap, but did not make contact or obstruct his head cap from fully connecting to his resin head. Lots of learning happening! I also tried making some epoxy thorns on his vines. I feel like I got some nice ones, but they are very delicate and I already broke one. I will need to go back and add a few more. Please enjoy the update!





I notice that DoA has issues with loading images, so if you'd like to see his progress you can always check out my Flickr photo album: Mr. Terrarium Modification Journal

 

To all the wonderful people who have dropped by and left me a nice comment (@chrstphrl @BoyToy @Beansproutmomo @With-a-curl @SerafinaAreis @bayberry_plum @Wolfie Pie @animalboything @Panjiren @FastFeet @Follow-the-Wind @quilleth )

I appreciate the wonderful encouragement and enthusiasm for the plant man. I was a little afraid when I started this endeavor because I haven't ever modified a doll this extreme, but it makes me happy to see people enjoying his progress.

Next decision.. to dye or not to dye?

 

@cobaltconduct : Thank you so much!! He has had more work done on him~ I think now that I've airbrushed him, the vines definitely took shape!

@Kaiyashu : He is getting closer to the finish line. I finally bit the bullet to start some paint work. ^_^

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Plant Man Update 9-3-2023

The plant man is finally coming together!!! I made some decisions to move forward with color matching his head to his body and doing the final airbrushing on all the vines. After this point, any paint work I do will be with acrylic and pastel. I definitely do not want to overwork him with the airbrushing because after so manly layers, the skin looks very think and gets a gunky texture. I am happy with the color match. I had to do a lot of mixing to get the right shade of green because I used a Phthalo Green as a base. I think it ended up the right vibrancy to match his Resinsoul body.

Pictures of the base green:




Added some lavender, rose pink and shimmer to contrast with the beautiful green -


His head attached to the body for comparison, looks very "greek" -


Finally the full head with terrarium cap which is still taped~ I need to cut the elastic in his head, so the cap sits more flush, but WOW. He is coming alive for me, and I'm so excited for him!!!!

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Thanks so much!! I definitely wanted to use some more vibrant colors for his whole look. The green is lovely but it can be a bit overpowering as well.

Thank you so much! Green is my favorite color so it's been really fun to paint a doll like this.

Thank you so much!! Yes I think the paint and blushing made me really see him come alive and get to those final stages. I just need to do a faceup and finally figure out what lives in the terrarium -_-;

Thank you so much! I was happy the airbrushing worked out well. I had contemplated dyeing him green, but I don't have any experience with dyeing dolls, and didn't want to damage any of the sculpting by swishing him in a boiling dye pot.

Thank you so much!!!

 

@SerafinaAreis : Thank you so much! I decided to keep a lot of lavender and pinks in his faceup to balance out the intense green~ More updates are below
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OK all, I have gotten myself to an ending point for the Plant Man! It's been a super fun journey (and long one too)... but I told myself I needed to cross the finish line so I could challenge myself with new projects. I hope all of you have enjoyed seeing him come to life. Once I get him an outfit, I'll make a formal post in the gallery for him!

STEP: Plant Base for Terrarium
As I was getting closer to the end of this project, I started to work on the insert-able plant base that would fit inside his terrarium. I made it out of the polystyrene foam that I used for his headcap. It's easy to cut up, and since it's foam - you can insert things into very easily. I can make different bases with different plants/colors/textures etc. Sorta like changing his wig no? lol

HERE WE GO~ Cut out a piece...


After it was cut, I needed to shave it down and give it the texture of soil/ground. I forgot to take this progress shot (oops), but here is me painting the piece of foam once I was happy with the texture & shape.



Now to decorate and create the mini terrarium growth!






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STEP: Repair/Cut the Plant Base
Of course... I didn't test out the plant base IN the terrarium until I was all done with it... and then discovered it was way too tall for the terrarium. I felt the soil/ground was too 'high' and the plants were too close to the top of the terrarium (pics below). SO, I had the unfortunate task of cutting down the base after I spent so long making it look so pretty. I took a knife and just trimmed the bottom and had to repaint the bottom of the base - BUT ultimately I think it was far better when it was shaved down. Let me know what you think?

That's better!!

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STEP: Finishing the Plant Man's Faceup~
Perhaps the most stressful part of this whole process was completing his faceup. Of course, I've done hundreds of faceups before, but I knew if I screwed up this particular faceup - it would reset me back to the color matching process. So, this faceup does lack a bit of refinement that I normally try to achieve with my work -- I had to let some mistakes remain and did my best to cover it up as best I could. Overall, I am happy with his faceup. I kept it fairly simple because his interesting parts are not his face! See process below:

Started with the lashes~ Painted them in a brownish-copper color to match the copper colored metal of the terrarium.




Some better close ups on the details~ Actually, at this stage... Mr. Plant Man took a tumble and chipped his poor nose. So I did have to do some airbrushing again over his nose. I am super happy the chip wasn't very large. I was able to mix a small amount of paint to fix it. PHEW!





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STEP: Final details & putting him all together!
At this stage, it feels so surreal to know he's finally done after almost 3 years of on & off intensive work! He came out so much better than I imagined... and for being my first extreme mod on a doll, I feel incredibly accomplished. I think that this project built up my confidence immensely! Not only for the fact of completing it (and liking the outcome), but also that his project had various challenges and flaws along the way that challenged me to problem solve, remedy and ultimately accept that no project is without it's flaws... but we can work to remedy them and be happy with the progression of our skills. I learned a lot of things I'd do differently, but it's time for me to retire this project so that I can use my new skills toward something else. Hope you enjoy Mr. Plant Man!

Attaching head to his body~ Loving the color match!




FINALLY~ All together!!!





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@cobaltconduct : Thank you so very much for supporting this project!!! And that is a fantastic idea! I have some red colored moss I really wanted to use, but didn't feel it fit with the current items I have. Now I can think about doing a fall terrarium with mushrooms and leaf litter.

 

@Kaiyashu : Thank you so much! I appreciate the comment. He's been sitting on my desk ever since. lol sometimes I still can't believe I actually got him done. I'm so horrible with long-term projects!!

@cthulhu : That's an amazing idea! Honestly... I am having a hard time finding him clothing. One challenge is that the Resinsoul body is very large. So I need to look for 70cm+ clothes~ and I really wanted to get him something rather earthy colored... and the selection of brown/tan clothing is rather hard. I don't sew, so making him something custom is not possible at this time unless I find someone who can sew for his size... =_= Gonna try to find something as a place holder until I have some extra funds to commission something more suited to him.

@Follow-the-Wind : Thank you so much! He definitely is the most vibrant in my collection

@maple.honey : Thank you so much! Years ago, I would have never attempted something like this... I was so afraid of screwing up. But I'm glad I went for it. This was an old event head that I got for free... and usually these poor heads just get stored away or sold, so I'm glad I made it into something cool. Now I must decide what my next project will be...

@Harmony909 : Thank you so much! I appreciate the comment. It took me ~3 years, and there were some times where I was worried he would never get done, but he made it to the finish line. Now it feels like I have a brand new doll at home. ^-^