WIP making a "shoulder devil" --a lofty project for my tiny. Suggestions?

I’ve been working on this project on and off for months. It’s finally starting to take shape in a way I’m comfortable sharing. There has been a lot of trial and error so far...mostly error... But it's finally coming along.

Here is my boy before I did anything to him…

I was thinking of just selling him at one point, before I had modded him or anything, because I couldn’t think of a character I liked. But now I want a little angel and devil to sit on the shoulders of one of my SD girls (like in the cartoons), so I thought this would be just the ticket! XD (I am thinking once Mephisto’s done I’ll likely get a WS DZ Sheep to be Nero, the angel counterpart…I like the idea of the angel being a sleepy-looking anthro.)

Concept is something like this: (only with two tinies and a volks SD10 Rio, not Homer)


Anyway, here is my boy’s head in its current state…


Mephisto started out life as a 14cm Dollinian tiny. His head is nearing completion. He just needs a few more coats, a bit of sanding, and of course, some sealant and a faceup.

What I’ve done to his head:
[X] close the eyes quite a bit for a mischievous look.
[X] area behind ears shaved away somewhat to make ears appear to stick out more
[X] elf ears
[X] satyr horns
[X] tone down overbite
[X] shorten nose. (I felt this made him look older, meaner, and less boyish. He’s supposed to be a little man. I think he kinda looks like a cross between a chubby little cherub, Satan, and Marlon Brando.)
[X] diminish smile
[X] fangs
[X] finish painting
[X] seal 9-27
[X] faceup 9-27
[_] find a cool pair of eyes (perhaps Van Dyke’s taxidermy walleye eyes&#8230
[_]And I would like to pierce his ears, but I think on something so small this may be a pipe dream…I’ll probably end up just gluing his earrings on, unless someone has suggestions!

I used gloss spray paint after a lot of experimentation. It seemed to stick to the resin better in this case (of course, I live in the middle of nowhere and our selection of paint is quite limited around here… perhaps a different brand of flat paint would have held up better…or in hindsight, ordering something online…oh well. No harm done, just lots more work.) ;_;
My intent is to let the spray paint fully cure, and then to lightly sand away part of the gloss with emery paper. Then with flat sealant on, it should take care of the rest. Sadly this kind of spray paint says even after it’s dry to the touch, it has to cure a week. O_O

Anyway…
Obviously, his body will also be painted to match once it’s ready, but I have a few other things in store for it as well…

Plan for the body:
[X] reshape the tummy area to give a little more definition
[X] separate fingers
[X] sculpt small tufts of fur around wrists with Apoxie Sculpt
[X] sculpt fur around waist
[X] Sculpt fur over thigh parts
[_] make new lower leg parts--demon/devil legs **planning stage**
[_] make hooves to replace old feet
[_] insert a magnet into back **in progress**
[_] make little magnetic wings. **being designed**
[_] mod one hand to be a middle-finger hand. XD **in progress*

Anyway, he has a long way to go, but that’s where things stand at the moment. Thoughts? Input greatly appreciated, because I haven't really tried to do anything on such a small doll before this...

 

Zagzagael: Thanks so much! That means a lot to me!


First attempt at painting Mephisto's face.
Overall I am ok with it, but I want to either redo or completely remove the eyebrows.



The little tribal tattoo is to hide where the red paint kept rippling around his chin. Despite my best efforts, it kept happening in that same place every time I painted him, and gentle sanding lessened it but didn't make it completely go away. A minuscule problem, (barely shows up in the first pic anyway) but it bothered me.

The eyes were some little 8mm acrylics I had lying around. I like them. I think they'll do since I really can't afford to go a-shoppin' on the Van Dyke's website at the moment.

I've also made strides on the middle finger hand, and inserting a magnet into his back. More photos to come.
Comments or suggestions MUCH appreciated.

Thanks for looking!

 

TsukikoAiko: Thanks!! ^o^

FURTHER UPDATES:

I've been touching up his faceup. It was SCARY trying to remove his eyebrows without harming the red paint underneath. I decided that I wanted to keep with the tribal theme laid out by the tattoo, so instead of eyebrows, he now has dots! ^^



I've also been working on his custom hand some more.
I spent a while this afternoon refining the mod. Don't have any new pictures, but here is where it was when I started it today:


I have the other hand in the picture to compare, because they were both positioned the same way. I clipped off all but *ahem* one of his fingers, and clipped off the thumb, and am sculpting over the nubs with apoxie sculpt. I've been carefully refining the new fingers to be a little more even and less fat. I originally tried doing the heat method to bend the fingers into a new position, but found that with such itty bitty hands, I just couldn't make it work.
However, I think this is probably going to work out ok anyway. ^^

I shall update progress again sooooooooon...

 

Thank you for your kind words everyone!

Miss_Pygmalion: Yes, I do believe I will *try* to suede him... he is about the size of an Orientdoll SO tiny or a puki, just a teeny bit larger. But it'll probably be worth the effort to do *something* inside his joints to minimize wear.
As for why I chose to spray him rather than dye him... I modded him with Aves Apoxie sculpt, and it's on so much of his face... I looked but couldn't find anywhere that said whether or not the apoxie sculpt would absorb the dye the same way as the resin, and even if it did, it's not the same color as the resin and I was afraid that it wouldn't look right through the dye. T-T
I am paranoid.



Progress status: I've been tweaking his faceup even more. I removed much of the excess blush above his eyes, and glossed over his eyebrow dots...and he's looking pretty cool.
His "bird" hand is also coming along nicely. I think I may be ready to paint his hands and arm parts tomorrow, but we'll see. Don't want to rush these things.
I lost the magnet I was going to put in his back, so that is on pause for the moment. But I'm making some CUTE bat/demon wings for him. Two pair: one closed/folded, one open/spread.
I am still in the blueprinting and experimentation phase for making his new legs.

 

Chaos Aroura: I want a WS DZ sheep to be the shoulder angel. XD Only the devil will be a modding project.