Who is working on making an original BJD?

It's been a thought of mine to actually sculpt and create my own...

but if I ever do, it's going to be a long way off. I have no idea how to start, and I want to try to sculpt better. ops:

But at least I know that I'm not the only one with this plan. :grin:

 

Can you share some info on this? Is there a site I can look at (in English)?
Thanks

 

2 good sites i found:

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


http://toramedoll.hp.infoseek.co.jp/home/esthe2/ogre01/ogre01-1.htm

you can use web page translator for toramedoll. it translates all pages consecutively in english. personally been trying to make my own, but not terribly good at sculpting even with visual aid!

 

I made one.

but it was salt dough. -o-

So my dog ate it.

 

Me and a couple friends are working on creating a line of male BJDs similar in scale to the DollShe Berman doll,.. aprox 28 inches tall, with a mature face/body sculpt apearing roughly 22-25 yo (a verry beautifull 22-25 yo that is) :wink: hehe

Its something thats been in the "play around" stage for nearly a year, This really just started out as a fun project but has slowly grown into something a little more..but its all finally coming together... hopefully the prototypes will be finished by mid November. i wanted all of the molds finished by the end of Oct, but having some delays.. well anyway Nov's what im now shooting for

We intend to start off with 4 diffrent head sculpts, and 2 diffrent body sculpts, wich i think would leave some room for creative combinations. :wink:

as soon as theres more info/pics/the site is up and running , ill let everone know :grin:

im going to be out of town for a week, so if i dont respond to any questions right away, i dont want you to think im being rude ops:

take care everyone,
Donn

 

I'm going to start working on an unoa-size doll (ie msd sized but more adult like) .. a boy to be my sharmin's older brother. He has a more mature face (looking mid twenties) so none of the bjds have what i have in mind for him..

im not going to start him until winter though- my classes are kicking me in the rear right now. Arg.

 

I've done a couple... but I got frustrated with how they turned out. :/ My expectations were higher than my end result.

http://www.geocities.com/batchix/ three early dolls here

and then there's bastian... and I can't seem to get anywhere on him now that he's broken. ._.

 

I have two foam bodies carved out, I just need wallpaper paste and i'm set to make.

EbinCan3an: Thanks for the second link! Now I know how to dye the modeling paste a fleshtone...

 

I've been halfheartedly sculpting a "Plum" doll from Chobits out of Sculpey Premo...but, at the moment she looks like a chipmunk on crack, IMHO, so....and her skin's too dark...I may try lightening the regular beige Premo by mixing in another color, and re-sculpting her...

 

I'm trying to make smaller sized boy dolls. I finished one out of Crayola Model Magic but it's not exactly a durable material and yesterday he fell apart. :cry:
The main problem (aside from the syrofoam material tearing) is that I can't figure out how to make the joints. I used the noah site for reference last time but I couldn't understand how to make the joints, because I couldn't drill like they wanted.
Next time I'm using a different material, and figuring out the joints beforehand. ops:
http://www.livejournal.com/users/fishlove/104202.html <-some pictures of him on my journal

 

**waits for Donn's information posts about his dolls** Ooooh...I can't wait...will they be available for pre-order or limited sale?

**happy dance**

 

I'm presently working on a BJD out of sculpty; I'm going to cast the clay parts and try to make hollow parts using plastic or some type of polyurethane. My father's business deals with polyurethan coatings, so he's going to be able to help me get my hands on some nice stuff. ^^; All I have sculpted presently is the head.

 

Me and my father don't talk often. He owns a nation-wide business that sprays polyrethane resin coatings on trucks and pipes. I have samples of his products he gave me when I told him I wanted to make sheilds and swords for cosplaying. It's flexible (to a degree) and can be textured and colored.

=/ I haven't spoken with him in awhile. He isn't aware of my little doll obession, but he'd be more than willing to help.

I don't know how much he could be of help in the actual casting/molding area. His product is a spray on product, but I'm positive it can be poured. It was made to be versatile.

As soon as I can get some information from him (and permission to free-load) I'll get back to you.

Here are some pics of the head I've been sculpting:
http://www.denofangels.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=3175

 

Okay, I've been trying reaaaally hard to figure out how to make a hollow doll head without resorting to rotational casting. I have an idea which I haven't put to use yet that uses two different kinds of molds. (Source: www.alumilite.com )

I want to try using a combination between the squish-mold and the two-peice mold.

These are my plans; if there's anyone with experience that proves this WILL NOT WORK, PLEASE tell me! I'd hate to go through all the trouble when it's pointless.


GRAY - Mold
BLUE - Synthetic clay
ALMOND - flesh-toned resin/similar substance



First off, I plan on following the procedures for the two-peice mold to make two mold peices that can be pulled apart.
Then, I'd add a layer of synthetic clay inside the mold (both strapped together), at my prefered thickness and bevel spaces for where the glass eyes would go. Then let it sit and toughen up some.




Leaving the clay inside the mold(s), I'd then follow the instructions for the squish-mold tutorial (replacing the car-frame/body with the layer of clay). This should give me a third peice that is removable. Then I'd remove the clay.



Following the instructions for the squish-mold tutorial, I'd fill the mold with resin/etc and then place the third mold peice into place, squishing the resin/etc out of the mold.
This should leave some spacing between the third mold peice and the two-mold peices.



Once the substance had cured/hardended, I'd remove the third mold peice and pull the two mold peices apart. This should leave me with a hollow head (without a cap) and a slight seam.
I didn't take into acount the head cap; that'll be much simpler and I wont even attempt molding/casting it untill I have the finished head.

^_^;; please tell me what you think and whether this will even work. If by chance this is a good idea, then great! ^^;;;;;

 

I checked your hand-made dolls out and I was so impressed! I think they're wonderful and I think you're extremely talented to have created those on your own! How interesting it must be to own a doll that you created by hand.

 

I don't want to rain on your parade (you've obviously put quite a bit of time and thought into this!) but...

If you do this, how will you get your third piece out? Won't the bumps that place the eye sockets get stuck inside the head once it hardens?

Now, that said, have you thought about making the sockets for the eyes separately? What I'm thinking of is the same pattern as what you've got, only have the eye bumps attatched to a wire frame or something that rests against your main piece instead of being attatched. That way after your head hardens, you can pulll out the big piece and then pull out the eye bumps. At least in theory. I'm not sure how to go about getting these new separate pieces to seal to your original piece to keep from getting gunk in between them, but then again, I've never tried making my own doll .

-Of couse, if the wire frame -or just wire stems- could slide up into the original piece via some carefully drilled holes, that would solve that problem pretty well. You would in effect make a mock up of the size eyes you wanted and insert long wires into them. When you made your third mold piece, you would simply make round indentations where the eyes would sit and drill the holes at a corresponding angle for the wires. That way you could push it into your resin as one piece, but you could remove the larger piece of the mold before removing the pieces for the eyes. (As long as the wires were placed at an angle that would allow for the movement!) Would that work?

Hope this was understandable enough to help!

~Ann

 

Hmm... Now you guys really have me interested...

Now, I have no experience with this sort of thing, so just tell me if I'm being a moron (like if this stuff has to be scalding hot to work with or something) but could you make some sort of inflatable piece to go inside the torso to hollow it out? I'm thinking sort of like when I used to make sculptures out of papier-mache and used balloons to create hollow pieces... Is that even a possibility?

Other than that, all I can think of for the torso is a series of pipes for all the needed openings with strategically placed holes so that they fit together like a puzzle inside the outer mold pieces. The only thing is that it wouldn't give you a very hollow doll.

Now this is going to bother me all day at work. Hmm...

~Ann

 

Aaah... the eye holes...

Not something I initially planned out ^^;; I kinda assumed the third peice would be silicon and squishy enough to yank out.

Hmm... I'll have to think on that. Thanks for the tips!

Also, my plans for the body/limbs are different. Still figuring those out ^^; I think the body would be made in two halves, front and back, to be attached somehow, making it hollow.

But, yes. I must figure out how to get the eye holes to work out. When I made these plans initially, I was unaware of the eye-bevels in the dolls head and therefor excluded them completely. They were really squeezed into the plan without much consideration.

Ah! And I also thought of positioning pipes/poles inside the molds to make holes!

Sadly, I wont be able to put my ideas into action for a few months. Money is presently a bit tight, although my mother wouldn't be opposed to chipping in... so long as she can paint one of my finished dolls XD

 

Mandiiv, the mould-material they sell at Alumilite.com is flexible, you should be fine with getting the mould thingy out of the eyeholes. Great visualisation by the way!!

Setsuna, have you looked into slip casting yet?

- Therese

 

I started the dubious task of making my own doll out of a combination of Sculpy III and DAS air-dry clay. Right now she's just a head and a bunch of sytrofoam parts, (using Noah's method for the body) because I'm waiting on supplies and so so nervous about getting everything symmetrical.

Here's the link for my progress~
http://www.angelfire.com/sd/SatorisKiSS/pygmalion.html

 

I used Noah's method with super sculpy and although it was just a quick lets see if it will work project it had it's drawbacks, the torso looks rough but it is smooth the white spots appeared after it was baked, scraping out the foam was easier than I thought it would be, as was backfilling the leg holes, the head I sculpted split almost in half, unlike the torso wich I left a hole in the neck just so I wouldn't have to drill it later, the head had no way for air to escape, ie. the foam has air pockets, when heated the air expanded the foam and split the head, I decided to start a new project using prosculpt and a type of foam my hubby uses when welding that isn't heat sensitive, although the torso I have has the white spots I could still sand detail into it clean up the shape, and make a mold out of it, but it was a two day project and I didn't put much effort into it, I would much rather take my time and make a decent one..........Jeannie

 

I love seeing everyone's projects so much! They all look great.
My mom will never let me buy a BJD, but she doesn't mind me making one really. I've had a few tries, but then I start on another one just to see and end up abandoning the past ones, but luckily with each different try my sculpting gets even better. I'm currently working on a larger boy... kind of SD-13 sized... kind of...not. And a stylized 50's era fashion doll that's about mini/unoa sized for my senior project in art. The hardest part for me are the sizes, since I don't have anything to compare them to except measurements, so I just usually end up doing my own thing anyhow.

-Caro

 

If you use sculpy or other over-baked clays, Don't Use Styrofoam as the substrate. Syrofoam melts & gives off somewhat toxic fumes.

At best, it will merely cause problems with your doll pieces, possibly even exploding, though more likely a less catastrophic failure.
At worst, it will cause problems with YOU. You are precious & should not make yourself sick with Styrofoam fumes.


Use Styrofoam and room-temperature curing materials, like papier maché or Apoxisculpt (sp).

Use non-melting cores & sculpy, premo, et al.
I.e., Aluminum foil.


Please, really. please please.

Ann in CT

 

I've been working on ball joited dolls in poercilin ( I know it's spelled wrong). And so far it's going well. I'm still working out the joints thought. you can see a picture of it on http://www.deviantart.com/deviation/15131167/

 

I thought about carving a base out of wax and then sculpting over it with oven-curing polymer. That way...no toxic foam fumes and then the core would melt out...leaving my doll hollow. I want to use Noah's method.

What do you think?


Thanks!

 

I'm not sure you would get good results.

Sculpy & the other oven-bake polymer clays tend to be soft when they're baked & don't harden up until they are cool again.

You might wish to try a little bowl or napkin ring thing with a bit of sculpy & wax as a quick way to test the theory, so you don't spend a lot of your time sculpting, only to find that the whole doll collapses on itself.


There's also a fire risk.
Please don't do this if you have a gas oven especially.

Ann in CT

 

I've temporarily put my doll-making aside, due to a) becoming very busy lately, b) a rift between my father and me. Originally, the deal was I was going to use his product (free of charge) to cast and mold my doll. We're on talkign terms, but I'm not willing to ask him for favors. Either way, my doll will have to wait till later this year for me to be willing to have a go at it.

 

I'm making a custom BJD, however I had to start over, as I am a gemini, and as such, I have a low attention span when it comes to large projects. So instead of making a SD sized doll, I'll be making a close-to MSD sized doll. ^^

 

WOW!

Hmmm i was a "little" off in estimating my finish time. haha

making a doll turned out to be a little more involved than i originally thought, ops:

 

Just don't specify Which November, and you're good.

Ann in CT
Finished a soft-sculptured doll (my first) a month ago.

 

Good point! :grin: lol

 

I'm slowly working on it. o__O It's my summer project. o_o I'm still gathering materials(Saw dust and some more styrafoam and gluee) I'm using noah's method.. I have Elmers glue, will that even work? O_O;; I'm going to trace the plan i have with a sharpie onto another sheet of paper and take a picture... I'm having trouble getting out right now, Summer and stuff. o_O Still dont know if i passed. >_<

So. yea I'm working on one She's like a centimeter shorter that a MSD

 

ops: I've gotten into it! Iam making a tiny doll, and another that is almost more like doll shaped beads *Iam such a nerd* Any way, I just added ears to the head, and re-closed the eye holes so I can make a mold. Iam currently using cheapo brush on mold builder, but right now I just need some thing I can make one or two copies from, so I can refine it. Yey!

 

I'm starting to make one, having come to the conclusion that sadly I'm not going to be able to afford a Hound or one of Donn's boys for quite some time. Besides, having started customising doll heads by adding elf ears and vampire fangs made of Fimo, sculpting a whole doll seems to be the next natural progression.

My doll is intended to be a tall slender male elf doll (he's going to be my Taliesin). His torso will have two joints, much like Hound's; I'm basing his upper torso pieces on my friend Cavalorn, and his hips and legs on my boyfriend David (who has legs that are far too sexily shaped for any man - just not fair!! ), but the head will be entirely from my imagination. He's probably going to be around Bermann/Hound height.

I've got a long length of 3mm round dowelling which I'm going to cut to lengths slightly longer than each limb segment, and form the limbs around them before baking - this will form clean even channels for the elastic cord afterwards, which should make stringing much easier.

I shall post progress photos as he takes shape; if he goes well,my next stage will be to make silicon molds from him and then try my hand at casting in resin.

 

PherretLord and I are in the planning stages for doing our own doll(s). We're both shameless liberal art majors and hardcore hobbyists, so it should be very entertaining.

Now, if only we could agree which idea we want to pursue first.

 

Thanks!. Fimo doesn't seem to behave in quite that way; I've been doing test pieces this week and they haven't cracked thus far. Fimo Doll Clay is different to normal Fimo - it stays ever-so-slightly flexible (which is great for making elf ears to put on a vinyl head).

That said, my test pieces have all been smaller than the final limb size; tomorrow I'm going to make the first full-length piece and see how it turns out.

 

Well, I can add my name to this list now. Had some super sculpey around for another project and decided to try it. He will be smaller then an MSD...more around the little Jr. Size. A cat boy who's eays I will hopefully be able to change the ear to different postion ones and also a hopefully posable tail. We'll see how it goes -_-
2d and me get along better, but hopefully it will go well..once I get his eyes done I think I will post so can get some help rom you dears.

 

I will hopefully be able to get some Fimo doll clay this week, and if I do, I'll be starting a project I've been thinking about for a while. In the story my dolls are based on, 'Dina has a pair of imp attendants that follow him everywhere, and I want to try making them. They'll be tiny-sized, but fairly mature in proportions. Should be an interesting experience, if nothing else.

 

I'm going to be starting a BJD project myself soon... Papier Mache over a foam base mostly. possibly polyclay for the "skin". to be SD-sized. I've got my materials assembled, and my plans drawn up, but won't actually start until my current project (cleaning/reorganizing my bedroom/studio) is done. whee

I made a LJ community on this topic at http://www.livejournal.com/community/bjd_artists/ if anyone would like to join and share experiences, tips, and such. not much currently, but hey, it's a start ops: so yeah... sorry for the plug...

So for those of you making your own dolls, just wondering why you're doing so. A few people have already said it's because the price of the asian dolls is too high, which is quite understandable. Personally, I'm wanting to make one as an art project... to make a doll from scratch, make a wardrobe, do a high-quality photoshoot, etc. it's a challenge involving several things I enjoy, are depicting the human figure, careful craftsmanship, textiles... And if one goes well, I may try doing a series... assuming I don't get horribly distracted by something else (damn gemini tendencies... ops: )

 

I am also working on making my own asian-inspired BJD. I'm using sculpy just because it's what I'm familiar, even if it is very brittle.

Once I'm done with the original I may try my hand at moldmaking and try and cast it in resin.

As to the reasons for making one myself? I just have a tendancy to "make stuff", as I put it. I'm an art major and have always liked creating human characters, the medium is just a bit different for this one.

That and none of the headsculpts for the comercial dolls were ever quite right for any of my pre-existing characters and I wanted to try and make one of them.

A note on cooking sculpy and shrinkage. I'm just using tightly crumpled aluminium foil to create hollows it just packs into itself when the sculpy shrinks.

And I'm just planning on sawing the bodies in half to remove it and glueing them back together. Haven't actually tried this yet, so I'll let you know how it goes. ops:

 

I'm donig the same kinda thing..we shall have to see how it all works ^_^;

 

Please, if you start with foam, don't use polyclay (I'm presuming you mean the oven-bake sort of polyclay).

Foam + Heat = Bad Stuff (toxic fumes, sculpture distortion or actual explosion, etc.)

Perhaps an air-dry clay or apoxy sculpt (a two-part epoxy clay) or something else of that nature, if you wish a different surface than your papier mache gives you.


Ann in CT
likes you, wants you around a long time.

 

^_^ not to worry... I plan on thouroughly scraping the foam out once the papier mache is dry, and before polyclay gets anywhere near it. I try to be careful about what I bake, since i bake clay in the same oven as food. thank you much for the concern though

 

I just made one out of plain super sculpey, and it has no joints. So I guess its more of a sculpture. It is 9 in. tall. I shall post pictures when I am done with the hair and face up. Maybe some clothes too. I moulded the face after the sweet dream Nana face even though it's a guy. I am planning on making him a girlfriend with joints, and open eyes (If I can find glass eyes).

 

I'm also working on one. I plan to make him either SD or Msd size. But I want him to look more mature. I even have a guy I'm modling him after ^_^. Iv'e been researching the joints and stroning and how to make them. The only thing I can see myself having an issue with is the scaling of the head. It looks so hard to try and make a head that you can open up and put eyes into when your moulding things by hand. how would you make it? it seems so awkward. Does anybody have any info on the measurments of the sd and msd? as in how long they are the otrso arms and legs e.ct e.c.t.

I want to make my own because I like to create things. Im a cosplayer and artist so I design and make costumes and I paint and CG pictures, so I love to try my hand at new things even if it isnt any good. I'm still buying a BJD though I have my eyes on HEATH HOUND and Tender Zen. Their all so awesome ^_^.

I cant wait to get stuck in ^_^ and to see everyone elses pictures

 

I'm currently planning out the make-up for my Mana (Malice Mizer/ Moi dix Mois) bjd. the face model i plan on using is Tender TOO (DoD)

 

I just started one... he needs a lot of help so far...

 

Last night I attempted to start my boys torso. It diddnt go well I had the right idea but I cant work it. I need to make a base to mould it round. or are the torsos not hollow?. I got the neck, and his coller bones lovley but it wasn't working so I kneeded the clay back into a lump. Should I make a base for him out of foil?, or are the torso arms and legs solid not hollow?

thanks guys

 

All the doll's parts, except for hands & feet, are hollow, or at least hollow enough so the elastic for the stringing can get through.

Try the foil armature for the torso at least.

I've got an idea for a removable-after-curing armature, but I'm not at all sure that it will work. Hopefully I will get enough done this weekend so I can actaully explain it, IF it works. (i've had "bright" ideas before.)

Ann in CT
hope everyone is well.

Ann in CT

 

I have some info! for those of you who want to dabble, have a bit of fun but don't want to spend money..

salt dough! it easy to use and cheap!

obviously not very strong and you can't make molds, but just mess about and make a tiny see if you are good at sculpting and want to proceed

150g salt
150g plain white flour
100 ml water ( room temp )

wet you hands and knead for a while. have a little bowl of water while you work to soften bits and wet your hands if its too too dry

bake at 100 degrees celcius for 3-4 hours, apparently, but mine is still in the oven so not sure about this bit!

really its nice to work with salt dough and so cheap.

I'll post pics of how it turns out tomorrow! hope someone will try it too!

for everyone!

 

He's finished!

cracked a little in the oven, but worked quite well!

the dough is stronger than I thought

he's not really an ABJD, but just to show how the dough works-

 

Babytarragon - he's so cute! And the salt dough is a good idea just to putz around with. Sounds like a lot of fun. :grin:

I've started my bjd in ernest. I posted the first, of probably many, pics here.

About useing sculpy over tinfoil: make sure you put a layer of non-crumpled tinfoil around the base or there will be no way to get it out, the sculpey will fill in the cracks and never come out. I lost my first try at a head this way.

And a question. Of everyone making their own bjds are any of you/have any of you thought of making articulated fingers? As in you can move and pose the fingers? I've seen pictures [okay , manga drawings] of humansized dolls like that and I am attempting to do that for my doll even though he is much much smaller. I was just wondering if anyone else had thought to try it.