Aesthetics Working on Shigadolly and Dabi!!

Since I'm planning on working on him literally as soon as the humidity is low enough during the day, I figured I'd try making a project journal thread to document the process.

Shigadolly is the affectionate and slightly (ok, more than slightly-) silly name I use to refer to my Miracledoll Ian I'm making into Tomura Shigaraki from My Hero Academia, specifically his look in the earlier seasons.

I already made him a super simple version of his basic outfit, not counting the trenchcoat or the... disembodied hands he wears all over his body. Just leggings and a shirt for now, both made using tutorials from Lomi's Playground on YouTube. He also has some oversized shoes because I misjudged the sizing but I think it works for him even though they make standing kind of tricky for him.


(hoodie is not my work! It's by Milk+Honey and I got it at NYC Doll Con!)


He also has a wig but I need to trim and style it because right now it doesn't really have the layered look he has in the series, is a little long, and I accidentally trimmed the bangs way too short but we've gotta live with that for now. I've been advised to get an eyebrow razor and look up scene or wolf cut tutorials on YouTube which I plan to do.

Right now because it's getting closer to the time of year where the weather will be your unfriendly, I'm focusing on giving him a basic faceup. I initially scribbled something in pencil over the base coat of MSC to make him recognizable before a convention I brought him to, and my next step is to see how removable it is without wiping the entire MSC layer. After that I will probably do some sketching with watercolor pencils and possibly attempt his eyebrows or making the dry spots around his eyes and lips look more wrinkly… still mostly conceptual stuff now I'm less afraid to doodle on the actual face since he's already sealed for protection and all. I'm not sure if I'll go for a more realistic look in the end, I do like the idea of maintaining the style of the manga a little, but I'll have to see how uncanny he looks and whether that's actually a plus or not.

I also need to update his painted teeth part to look less... Cartoonishly pink. But it works for now. I also remembered to add his mole a bit later.





I'm a bit nervous ngl because I only have a month or two really where spraying MSC is actually viable, and I have a month long intensive art event outside the hobby for most of September. Here's hoping having a project journal can help hold me accountable at least!

I also have a very WIP Dabi I will also be working on, not sure if I should be keeping his stuff in the same thread but might for efficiency's sake.

Say hi, Dabi!


... he's still a bit moody. Maybe when he has his scars and his badass villain outfit he'll feel better.

I can get better pics when it's not 3 in the morning... I've found that I actually get more daylight hours when I stay up all night especially when it gets colder, but I have to actually stay awake for several more hours first and hope I have steady hands while sleep deprived! (don't worry I've done this a lot-)

That's all for now!

 

Thank you!!
Unforch with the weather getting colder I don't have much of an update, but last month Dabi was in Parts Hell so I can doodle on him safely in the future for sketching his scars and such.



I didn't seal every part, just the ones that I wanted to practice on. So, his torso, chest, forearms, and non jointed hands since there is no way in heck I wanted to deal with taking apart his jointed ones for this.

If anyone has tips for how to seal more delicate parts like jointed hands without having to take them apart, PLEASE let me know. Though I expect it to be pretty likely I'll have to restring them to do so... Though maybe I could just spray the wrist/non finger parts since it's not like he has the scarring on his fingers anyway. Might consider that for the spring, good sealing weather is basically gone for this year by now.

I've also been looking into ways to add texture for Dabi's scars, and even though I can't mess with it on his actual parts right now since no more sealing, I might test some methods on a plastic spoon or something. I have several DoA threads about burn scars bookmarked, but I may have to wing it since I have a very specific texture in mind not to mention the purplish coloration.

Will probably try with basic glue first, I have pastels in the colors I'm thinking of, but I still can't seal anything until around March most likely so that will hinder experimentation involving that.

Otherwise, the next updates will be whatever watercolor pencil sketching I try on both Dabi and Shigadolly (since I can wipe that with water without removing the MSC) and possibly clothes adventures. Shigs has his basic outfit but I want to sew Dabi's canon jacket (well, one of them) and some arm warmers maybe. So far I'm thinking Winter is for sewing, but I need to find a good pattern. Wish me luck!

 

So on the 19th or thereabouts I decided, what the heck, time to try doodling Dabi's scars to see how difficult they are!! With the relevant parts sealed (except for the back of the head which i hadn't considered), I figured I could experiment with watercolor pencils that are supposedly removable with water and would hopefully allow me to scribble without fear of having to wipe and seal the head again completely. Which I would not be able to do until Spring, so having the ability to experiment safely was important.

Unfortunately it turns out that water mostly smudges things like black eyebrows which I discovered via trial and error. It still came out reasonably well for a first attempt, in that the faceup... at least happened. Though I actually really like it for now despite seeing like 20 different mistakes!!



I unfortunately struggled to get his wig to go on right and look reasonable-- it would look perfectly fine without the silicone wig cap, but then fall off once he moved. Eventually I forced it on over his wig cap, but it doesn't want to behave and its only high point right now is that it is a VERY soft landing for affectionate headpats.

BTW, this is black hair Dabi for now since I think that shade looks better with the faceup, and I have a slight preference for this look (despite the later seasons Dabi being VERY FUN ALSO hehehe).

I also kind of hated how his scars looked like makeup, clown makeup specifically, but I realized today that part of the reason is I didn't really emphasize the shape of is jaw very effectively. Dabi in BNHA has his burnt jaw grafted a certain way whereas this faceup makes him look a bit too Joker-smiley. It's definitely something to fix when I redo it, but for now I'm keeping it because I don't want to attempt to redo it and potentially ruin the look before I show him off at NYC Doll Con in March... hopefully with his outfit to match.

Other mistakes include his eye scars being uneven, his eyebrows being basically just jagged lines, and the fact that I didn't seal the back of his head so the color wouldn't adhere to the back of his neck (and the watercolor pencil I did get there may very well stain-- it's okay to me because he is going to be Dabi forever most likely, so he will always have some scarring there, unless he's [NAME REDACTED DUE TO SPOILERS]-moding hehe). I also didn't want to take apart his jointed hands to seal them, so they also lack his wrist scars, though I did seal his static pose hands and may take them off the shelf to draw on them as well. I really, really should have sealed his jointed hands though, I like the look of them but they look jarring missing his scars.

His arm scars only go just below the edge of the sleeve at the moment, and his collarbone ones don't go very far down either. I mainly did them to capture the basic look under his clothes, and I do plan to make the rest of his outfit and have him wear it most of the time. I'm nervous about sewing his coat but I have plenty of basic linen for mockups, and one or two potential patterns in mind to start with. RequiemArtDesigns has a 1/4 BJD jacket pattern for sale that claims to have longer lengths than the previews so I guess I will see when I buy it, worst case extending what is already there. I can probably figure it out without experience with modifying patterns much... maybe.

With all this progress and even with all my complaining, I'm actually really happy with him so far-- I thought an amateur faceup would make me frustrated with him and feel bad about the process. I was worried I'd feel frustrated with him until I made him look perfect at a professional level, which I have a long, long way to go before I reach that kind of skill. But having a lil Dabi to hold and give me attitude is so fulfilling especially being able to look forward to him really living up to his potential.



Shh, he's thinking. Probably annoyed you interrupted his nap and trying to decide if it's worth burning you or being a bit more courteous as long as you let him sleep


Re: Shigadolly, I still have to work on his wig, or possibly make a new one, so that cutting one to style isn't that scary due to having an actual backup in case I screw up. Next on the list is drawing on him with watercolor pencils, to experiment mainly with the wrinkle lines on his lips and eyebags, an attempt at eyebrows, and his own scars.

I might work on my Jinx Arcane doll too as I shift from sealing-painting season to sewing-wigmaking season, since I have some ideas of how I'll do her wig that I want to mess around with during winter. I haven't talked about her much, should I add her to this thread? She's less of an interest for me than my BNHA dolls but I do still want to work on her when I have the time. For her I'm most nervous about making her faceup suit Arcane's unique style, but I need it to be sealing-painting season again first. So for now, wigmaking and sewing it is.

Additionally, I still want to experiment with layered glue and pastels for burn scars, I will likely be doing so on a spare plastic spoon, though without sealing I can only go so far. I've seen some examples in DoA posts and elsewhere of realistic burn scars-- I think I know what texture I want Dabi's to have based on how he looks in the animanga; they would probably be a bit wrinkly and dry, crinkled in lines like how he is drawn and animated. I might also look into 3D paint/puffy paint in case I want to try that for his staples.

Wish me luck!

 

I updated Shigadolly's faceup! I'm not entirely happy with how dark I made the lip scar or the shape of it, but someone on the BJD Discord said it looks just like him so I am excited that people like it- when i get the pics from my phone I will post them here!

Edit: images under spoiler

Spoiler: Shigadolly faceup progress!!

First I fixed up some of the wrinkles around his eyes. I guess I never showed the first attempt here but I did his eye scar and some of the wrinkles, then took a break. This is after I touched up the wrinkles, and added some lip creases, but still haven't done his lip scar.


Here's a test of his wig before adding the lip scar- it's already starting to look like him!:



And here's with the lip scar added; I might still go back and try to lighten it a bit, but it works for now. I got an eraser pencil specifically to touch up this sort of thing, but I'm a little scared to try it, because I don't want to accidentally make anything worse while trying to make it perfect. Even though watercolor pencil should supposedly be redo-able, I don't know if I'll be able to get results this decent a second time- a silly fear, I know, since I'll have to redo all this at some point eventually. But hopefully by then I'll have a bit more confidence.

Unfortunately, I forgot to take a final pic with the wig on. I think I was so nervous about fixing the scar that I wanted to not look at him for a bit. Gonna focus on other things for the moment but I will have to make his new wig eventually, so there's that. Kind of worried that the saran wrap would smudge things, but do I really want to have to wait til I can seal the faceup in the spring?

Feel free to let me know thoughts on whether to stick with his current wig or not, given the potential risks. I probably won't cut it though if it's the only one I have.

Edit: oh and yes I know his tongue paint has chipped. It bugs me a LOT, but unfortunately that, at least, is something I can't fix until sealing weather happens. D:

I also made the wig caps for my related mini-me (Elfdoll K who I will be modding the chest of), the off topic Obitsuroid version of the mini me, and my Jinx doll because I could do all three of them at once. Those dolls are now waiting on yarn for my attempt at ragdoll-type braids but it depends on what I can find at my local Michael's. Not sure if I'll post much about them here, because I'm not sure if this should just become my general-purpose multi-project thread when most people are probably here for Shigs and Dabi.

I do have a pattern to try for Dabi's jacket, but I misunderstood the description on the RequiemArtDesigns shop page and not only is it meant for curvier(bustier) dolls like Minifee girls, it doesn't have the trenchcoat length like I was hoping for. I was originally going to try it to practice (i.e. learn at all) modifying patterns, but I worry it will be too much of a pain so I'm mentally blocking on even trying it.

If anyone knows of a good BJD trenchcoat pattern that can (or can be easily modified to) fit the Resinsoul 45cm boy body, PLEASE let me know! I will consider paid ones as well, depending on if they come with instructions or at least some indication of what I should be doing. Or tutorials.

I might just try to pin fabric together and see what happens. Doll stuff is being done in tandem with off topic cosplay stuff, which means that more effort/stress-intensive doll stuff is kind of falling by the wayside despite the cosplay not needing to be finished until July. Maybe if I get cosplay stuff done ahead of schedule I'll feel more interested in doll stuff. Though I want Dabi to be ready by NYC Doll Con, and that's earlier in April... :/

Also I have been eyeing sculpt and hybrid possibilities for a Big Dabi. Not going to buy anything for him until 2027, but my current ideal pick is Devotion Doll Bite SP (that head is ABSOLUTELY a later-seasons Dabi, you can't change my mind) and if the neck size works, which it likely won't, boo hiss, the ANS74 body is perfect for the character, but the hybrid may not work out. Also it's all expensive and may be more difficult to get, but the former is why I'm waiting until after 2026(when I focus on current dolls) and the latter... well, I'll just have to deal with that. Tips on the hybrid, or other similar bodies that could work with Bite SP, are welcome and encouraged.