What would help newbies?

Where to start? What types of products to use. What to put in for the holes before sculpting over and baking. Where to get resin casts of your dolls.

 

HOW TO CAST DOLLS HOLLOW! That is waaaay up there on my list.

 

How to make ball-joints, the different joints for different parts, how to string them...

 

Where to get resins, how to make molds, what to sculpt out of, the properties of the most commonly used sculpting materials, where other FAQs are, what books are helpful? :3

 

;___; I've Googled for at least an hour now, and I can't find any good information on making a doll hollow that doesn't cost upwards of $1K. **creepy voice** Hoolloooooowwwww.....

How to make wigs, eyes, and clothes for your doll; not all dolls are made to standard sizes.

 

There is a method that bead makers use, when making a round, miliform sort of bead out of polymer clay.

They use a Cornstarch foam ( www.magicnuudles.com ). Unfortunately, I can't get a good sense of scale with this... though it would probably work just fine with smaller dolls. Or there might be a way to make your own?
Anyway, the foam just melts away with water

Eh, it's a thought, anyway..

I'm just using styrofoam.

 

A "where to start?" kind of FAQ would be very helpful. All of the things people have suggested seemed very appropiate, since I don't know a thing about creating my own BJD ops:

 

Ohhh~ those are sometimes called biodegradeable packing peanuts! They're the same size as packing peanuts. :3 It would probably work for a larger doll. If you wet them they stick together. We spent an afternoon making crowns and horns out of them after we realized if you wet them they stick to your skin. Granted this was with the packing peanut ones too... and I was in High School... X3

 

oh yeah, I'd also like to know how to finish a doll...like how and what to paint and coat it with.(preferably without having to order stuff online)

 

hm... I always just kind of thought that they had to cast them in two pieces and then stick them together, but they probably don't, now that I take a good look at the seams.

 

Please tell me you are using an air-dry or curing material.

Don't don't don't use styrofoam with oven-baked clay.

Melts, fumes, ruins your sculpture.

Please?

Ann in CT

 

an important feature is proportions. How big should the head be in poroportion to the body, thickness, lenths etc... nothing concrete...
also they come in play for balancing
tons of pictures usually help

 

Not only am I not sure where to find a curing material I'v definitly been using styrofoam...it shrinks after its been baked long enought so its easyer to get out of the doll.
I am apparently making dangerous fumes though..thanks for the heads up.

 

how do i make the joints out of wooden balls? people mention to use them, but i've yet to see how! ^_^ also where to get them and for msd what size? kthnxs XD

 

^^ sorry this took so long to respond to. No, I'm not useing polymer clay. I'm using Ladoll. I'm in Iraq, and don't have an oven available to me, first of all... second, I don't think I'd have the paitence to finish up with stuff like sculpy even if I did.... Ladoll is the best. ^^

And second, the foam in mention earlier was a cornstarch foam, not polystyrine foam... I've never messed with it though... but it sounded safe enough in the magazine I read.

 

If you're using regular styrofoam? Yes, very dangeorus fumes.