I was thinking about maybe having dollshe do it but if i cant find some one in the US that may be better plus i want to compare prices .
I've been looking for a company in the US as well...I haven't inquired into the details of each, but here are the companies I have found in the US when I searched: This one seems to specialize in wildlife statues in metal-like finishes, but they list urethane and art resins in their materials to choose from...based in Arizona, that sounds like good weather for resin casting! http://www.centuryreproductions.com/intro.htm This one specializes in model horses in bright white resin, but they offer "fleshtone" (which looks a bit like French, ick) and custom request options...they're based in Tennessee. http://www.mountainviewstudios.net/index.html Either one of them sounds like they allow for small sized orders..the first says from 1 to thousands, whatever amount wanted, and the second said any amount from 1 to 50 or 60 per mold (I'm assuming that might mean you have to pay for each time the mold is exhausted and a new one is made?). The second place also says they'll do a junk mold and cast you 1 or 2 of an item, send it to you so you can tweak and clean it up and then you send that one back to them for a final mold. ^o^ Here's one more in Kentucky: http://www.serradesignsinc.com/ These guys based in Ohio...they are the only ones who mention BJDs, they say they've cast for Dollfair: http://torkresincasting.wordpress.com/category/resin-casting/ None of them lists prices though, so further inquiry would be required.... >_>;
I probably wouldn't recommend Tork honestly.... although at this point I am not sure if it was Tork or Dollfair who caused the problems we had, knowing now what I know (though there is still a lot I don't know too)? They are nice guys but the work quality was so-so and the prices not that great. They had a lot of difficulty with our stuff because they were just setting up their injection machine and took a long time to iron out the kinks, but when we got the castings back they needed a lot of tidying up, which is why we sanded all the Ylisande's before we offered them for sale. Some sprues were badly placed causing chronic bubbles, and really with all their casting experience they should have known better. Their installation work that they have done for restaurants and so on is excellent, but dolls was a new thing for them. Mind you this was back in 2008, not sure who they might have worked with since or whether they have done any more dolls after working with, or stopping working with Dollfair.
Ahhh, good to know, thanks! I'm really worried about sending anything away to be cast, and I for sure want to be certain that whatever I get back is quality work! @~@;
On the same subject, does anyone know anything about (or had any experience with) this company? http://www.excel-cast.com/index.html
I looked all over for a US company and then ended up using Fantasy Doll in China. I ultimately wanted to work with someone familiar specifically with the bjd world. I actually shipped a paper clay original (foolhardy probably!) and it got there and was returned in perfect condition. It does seem hard to find a US company who knows our needs exactly.
I just got an email back from excel-cast, and they told me they did not cast dolls. So there is one you can take off the list as a possible hopeful. It's a shame too because that one is in my city. Anyway, I also did some googling the other night and I have a few more sites to add. The most promising one is this one: http://www.karlyl.com/?page_id=125 I kinda wonder if perhaps they are part of this forum. :arrr The next one is the dollsmith, who appear to mostly cast heads and hands for fabric dolls, but I think I saw a wrist joint under some clothing of a doll in their gallery, so it might be at least worth a try to ask them. http://www.thedollsmith.com/html/prototype.html The last promising one I found was this baby doll maker: http://www.lindakays.com/page8.php If anyone has any information about those three to share I'd love to hear it!
Wow, that's a bummer about excel-cast. Did they mention any reasons for not casting dolls? It's a bit strange since their website has a bunch of quotes like this: "We love to be challenged and specialize in projects that most resin foundries would deem impossible." :pout Hopefully after school (last day is today! ) I might be able to contact those other companies. If someone else has any info/has already contacted these companies I would love to know! Thank you for your post Tsukiyono.
I guess, according to the email, excel cast won't consider casting hollow objects because they do not have a rotary casting machine. I guess they don't care to cast hollow doll parts the old fashioned way....because surely they know they can make hollow casts without a rotary casting machine. :/ I'm still super curious about Karlyl creations, but they want pictures of the doll to get quotes and my doll isn't finished yet. As soon as I finish my doll, even if I cast it myself I will still be interested in contacting them and getting a quote.
