Modification You Little Devil! Miracledoll Baiye Custom (Small Update 12/4/16)

Welcome to my first attempt at a project journal! While I've done my fair share of doll modding, I haven't really shared my process publicly. Not due to any shyness, but because I tend to get gungho about my projects and forget/can't be bothered to take progress shots.>.> This time, however, I have a more extensive project that I'd like to try and document!

Meet Vernon, my Miracledoll Baiye:



Vernon is going to be a cute little devil/demon boy. As you can see, he's been prepped for his "plastic surgery" here, the plans for which you can see printed off to his left.

Cute little Vernon is not only going to get a serious facelift, he's also getting:

• Faceup along with non-permanent epoxy fangs
• Detachable horns and tail (probably made from Sculpey and secured w/ magnets)
• Custom blue wig
  
• Possible mods to fit onto body (Resinsoul dbl jointed body w/ claw hands)
• Body and hand blushing
  
• Custom clothes?

The first thing I do for any mod is prep a mockup in Photoshop or other image editing software. Below is the mockup I printed for reference while I was modding. I outlined the subtractive modifications I wanted to make to the sculpt and greyed out the resin I would need to remove.



I only use ceramic knives and sand paper when I mod faces. Ceramic knives are such great tools for eye and face mods! I use a handheld mirror to check symmetry as I progress.

And, because I dragged my feet on starting this project journal, I've already finished his rough mods:



Overall, very happy with the outcome. Right eye is a teensy big larger and longer than his left, but I'm thinking that is an artifact of asymmetry in the original sculpt. You can see I've also defined his eyelid crease here, which will make executing my plans for his faceup much easier. Now, he just needs his mods smoothed out.

After mods, next up is the faceup! I'll share a faceup mockup once I get him smoothed out and sealed.

 

@BlitheFool Thanks!

@House ceramic knives are very straight-forward to use. Unlike exacto knives, which cut resin, ceramic knives scrape resin. Depending on how much pressure you apply, you can scrape the resin very lightly for more precise and smooth modding or take out short strips of it for faster, rougher work. I go pretty gungho with the knives when I mod, for example, large surfaces like jawlines. These surfaces are easy to smooth out and correct with sandpaper later, so I don't worry too much about how rough the modding looks at first. For thinner, detailed areas like eyes, I move very slowly and tend to work very lightly with the knives. I have knives in different shapes/thicknesses, each of which is better suited in different situations.

 

@naruuchan thanks!

@Misoup thanks! I hope everyone is feeling patient - work has been demanding lately so I haven't had any energy to make any more progress on this little guy. I'm currently using Volks' brand of ceramic knives, though I've used one purchased from Luts in the past (he had an unhappy accident, which is why I picked up the Volks knives). Volks carries a number of blade styles, and I specifically use these two.

 

@fairywhale thanks for following along!
@Wolfie Pie thanks, I think so too!
@Troublingjokers @FastFeet thanks!:3

Just a small update today. I've been so busy with work lately I haven't been able to finish the mods yet. Still a lot of sanding and small refinements to go! Also, we just got our first snow, so weather isn't ideal for faceups. I did, however, make a Hobby Lobby run to pick up wig and sculpting supplies!




And below are a couple of concept mockups for Vern's faceup, wig, horns, and tail. I haven't sculpted anything since high school and haven't used Sculpey since I was little, so these concepts are optimistic and subject to change. Blue hair is inspired by Laharl from the game Disgaea, since Vern's sculpt originally reminded me of him. Tail and teeth are loosely inspired by Blue Exorcist's Rin Okumura!

I've been on a kick of vibrant faceups recently, and decided to continue the trend here. I wasn't quite prepared for how difficult it would be to match that primary blue hair with any other color.>.< Still have no idea what eye color I'm going to go with, thus the black eyes for now. I'm planning to make the teeth out of milliput and to glue them on at the end of the faceup so that they are removable.

 

@Ballet I burned out on sanding before finishing his mods. He's currently hanging out in my floating parts box until I get the modding itch again. I've also been waiting for the perfect body to show up for him - I've been thinking I'd like him to have fantasy legs in addition to claw hands. I like the Soom Volo legs, but not the pricepoint on the body! That said, I have been low-key hoping Fairyland releases a Fairyline Satyr or dragon...