Well, I can tell you this was a lot of work - trying to get 17 dragons to pose for pictures is like trying to handle three handfuls of kittens. Hence, why some pictures are a bit unfocused (which surely didn't happen because I didn't set the focus right, nono)
But yeah, here they are! The first 5 are the standard colors and then 5 custom colors, and all of them turned out magnificent <3
From a BJD artist perspective, I'm very, very happy how the joints work in resin. Theres a difference from clay master to resin, and everything thankfully works exactly as intended; the legs hold poses absolutely perfect, and the whole body outline looks streamline.
Sorry for the rambling. I'm just glad everything worked out exactly for once :D
Ghost in the Shell Innocence Gynoid Hadari doll I got off Mandarake. The lips seemed to me painted with enamel the same as the white coating, so I opted to just paint right over them. She’s a stunning sculpt! Although, I think it’s funny that her teeth are the only part not coated in white enamel.
The picture that shows the inside of her head gives you a good visual of how yellow 17-year-old resin might get. The inside of her head has never seen sunlight so this is 100% natural aging.
I keep coming back to this post when trying to find other owner’s photos of Hadari.
There aren’t many other than her left default. That last pic shows how nice the sculpt actually is with the sloppy lip paint hidden.
I’m pretty sure that’s deliberate and they intended Hadari dolls to look like old gofun dolls, but it might just be factory workers that weren’t too interested in what they were doing, too.
I do think she’s a genuinely gorgeous sculpt. I just with she had hip/wrist/ankle movement. I still haven’t finished her face but I took a new photo for you.
This is my last unassembled doll - I am this close now, omg..! This boy is years in the making. Let me take you on a journey.
It started with a Kurt Wagner cosplay post on tumblr - I'd link it but I need to brave scrolling literal hours of reblogs first 🙈 I was enamoured, I just had to turn that into a doll. (Also, I had a rather intense alien romance novel phase at the time 😅)
The Dollzone Ivan head I bought in 2016, and the beautifully sculpted Dream Valley body above in 2019. I chucked both in iDye Poly Blue, which didn't only cover my white kitchen in tiny blue dots, it also turned out a very violent, slightly lilac blue.
For months I sincerely tried to love that 🙈 It took a while until I'd forgotten the mess of the dying process sufficiently to admit, this is not working, I need to get the paint off somehow and dye again.
For reasons that are now beyond me, I thought the best way to do that would be wet magic eraser. So I scratched the resin up well and good before switching to acetone, which worked way better. I got a reasonable amount of blue off - not all by far, but enough to dye again.
The body went into the pot the same day as Saffran's jointed hands, for a point of reference. The second time I used Turquoise, which was a lot closer to where I'd wanted to get in the first place.
Even that improved result didn't much to motivate me, the body rested in a box for another year before I blushed it. Finally something worked out for me! Then I did the dotting - I think I needed to sit down with it three times until it was done.
The dots are sealed with matte Modge Podge and a layer of MSC on top. Doing that topcoat I got a fingerprint on the upper arm - tried to wipe it off - and took off everything down to the resin. 😭
I just didn't have it in me to start over. So I did a patch with a layer of MSC, a layer of watercolor, and another seal of MSC. If that scratches I'm willing to spin it as some type of scar. Also all those layers stole a bit of the shine of the gold, but oh well.
Once everything's had time to dry, I'll finally string him back together - after all this time I hope I remember how 😅
Still to do:
* Face up - gathering my courage on that.
* A wig of some kind. I'd like almost-shaved sides with curls on top but no idea how to accomplish that. Or maybe dreads IDK
* Eyes. The sculpt has a weird eye shape so I haven't figured out how to size them correctly. Also I'm not sure about the colour - I once thought something lizard-y but now I'm considering gold.
And then I have to figure out how to dress a maybe alien, definitely eye candy doll with stupid long spindly legs :D
Success! The body came out GREAT after soaking and scrubbing the bejeezus out of it in Cutex non-acetone nail polish remover.
During the process, I was most worried about the bust. It took longer than the rest and the dye was coming off very unevenly. It got much better with repeated soakings and scrubbings, but it has some darker staining on the problem side.
Before and afters.
It wasn't all triumph however, as the head, cast by a different company, turned out poorly. One cheekbone is super white, everything else is varying shades of yellowish white. Headback a different color, with the pointy bits discolored more. From the placement of the more yellowed parts, possibly this is due to faceup fixative remnants? I notice black paint in her lips, so possibly it wasn't all removed before dye?
Here are some mildly discolored areas on her arms, too. I'm so happy with how much better she is than before, that I don't even care at all about these.
Notes: Half a dozen bottles of nail polish remover SMELLS SO BAD. I wore my respirator and had all the windows open. After a while of airing out the house I took the respirator off not realizing how strong the smell was, and had to put it back on and open the doors too. 😬It took a good 30mins to clear the air sufficiently, and the doll still smells perfume-y. Had to put the plastic bowl I had her soaking in outside to dry. Even after multiple cleanings, the softer plastic bowl reeks.
AdanneOBJD sells human hair afro wigs for BJD's. they look SO realistic and adorable. they have glowing 5 star reviews, praising the quality and looks. amazing, amazing, amazing.
Absolutely losing my mind over this Falkor art doll, but I can't seem to find the original artist--just a bunch of shady people with the exact same pictures claiming to sell it.
That's a Gakman Creatures creation! It's unfortunate that people steal her pictures so often. He's listed on her website under "Falkor the Luckdragon". He's ~$1,100, 50" long, and there's about a 24 month wait time, but when they do arrive the quality is unmatched by any other art doll maker.
Hey guys! We’re working on a new ball-jointed doll, that’s a fantasy character - Granny Mouse. There are 3 types of grannies - Nora, Ayra and Mira. You can see Nora (the first pic) and Ayra (the second pic) in the pics.
We’ll tell a bit more about them later. We hope you like them
Yesterday, my Meeksdoll Emerson arrived! I haven’t had much time to play with him yet and he’s in dire need of pants but it’s exciting to have him home.
Black history matters. The National Black Doll Museum was forced to shut down in 2020 due to the coronavirus. Help us relocate and reopen!
BLACK HISTORY ACTION ITEM: POST DATED 12 FEBRUARY 2022
The National Black Doll Museum had to shut down due to Covid in 2020. They were hoping to reopen this year, but they've lost their physical building.
They've found a place that's like "hell yeah, we want the National Black Doll Museum! We have land we're literally looking to develop for cultural improvement and preservation!" in Attleboro, MA. But to make that happen, they need $1.5 million dollars for a building. Their collection dates back to the 1700s, and dolls that old will need special lighting, climate control, knowledgeable curators, etc. to help preserve them--plus of course they need staff, display cases, you know, stuff. They want to crowdfund the first $100k this February to make that happen. As of the date of this post, they have 16 days to go and have raised only $27,435. While the minimum donation listed is $25, I checked--it is actually possible to make a lower donation if you only have $5 or $10 to spare. (There's a custom screen after you select your donation level.)
All too often, when we discuss history at large we cut out the part of women and girls--preserving dolls is part of preserving that history. And all too often when we discuss Black history in America, we kind of go "they were slaves and then they weren't" and ignore that while they were slaves, they were also people, and that their existence was commodified beyond just being cheap labor. (And that there were free Black people, and that those people were also taken advantage of, and and and....)
Let's celebrate Black history. Let's celebrate Black play. Let's celebrate Black women and children. Let's celebrate the visibility of Black people, as people, for 300 years.
Last year, my kitty Radar passed away. I’d always wanted a pet doll from Eve Studios, so I decided to order one in his likeness. They were even kind enough to offer a customized head so it would look more like him.
They were super nice to work with and actually finished making him in just a month. That might be a record for me in this hobby!
Well, it took me 800 years, but I finally painted her. By no means an amazing faceup as I’m not actually good at them but at least she’s not blank anymore!
