Resources for Nendoroid Customization
Alrighty, I wanna help out my friends and any anons out there who might want some more flexibility with their Nendoroid figures. Some sweet, sweet, sweet pose ability and the chance to dress up their tiny little pocket buddy for a trip out and about!!
So first off, if you wanted to do research on your own outside of the links and info I’m going to provide, some key terms you’ll want to be aware of are “YMY”, “obitsu” and “obitsu 11″, “nendoroid doll” and “custom nendoroid”, “nendoroid archetype”, and “disono”. When you get started, obviously you’ll probably be overwhelmed by the info out there if you’re going in blind like I almost did. First off, pick which nendo you plan to do. If you have only one like I do, you’re in the easy end of it. If you have multiple, I’d say pick ONE of them so that you don’t just go and buy bodies and clothes for all of them if this ends up being something you don’t like later on.
Now, nendoroids come with varying skin tones from one another. Its not… like, a drastic amount of different skin tones, because if you aren’t paying attention to that it may seem like they’re all the same, but I’m here to tell you that there actually are differences depending on the nendoroid you’re going for.
So with that said, let’s say you are going with the officially licensed Good Smile Company Nendoroid Doll body for this customization.
The Nendoroid Doll Archetype body is the officially licensed body for posing and dressing up your nendoroids in various fashions. Multiple characters have recently been given Nendoroid Doll releases, such ad Hatsune MIku, Kagamine Rin and Len, Kizuna Ai, and many more. (source)
If you plan to go with the officially licensed Nendoroid Doll body, you do need to take into account what skin tone your nendo has. I learned from watching beNYSandcollect that while some Nendoroid Doll’s in the series have a body specifically made to match their skin tone, other may not. Below is are two videos of his that can help with deciding on a skin color for you Nendoroid Doll body.
Now, let’s move further. In my personal opinion, I find the officially licensed Nendoroid Archetype to be kind of clunky. The joints (ie. where the arms or legs bend, for example) just remind me of the 1/3 scale action figures from Star Wars: The Clone Wars that were released way back when the show was still running on Cartoon Network. They seem nice for beginners, don’t get me wrong. They serve their purpose very well. But in my opinion, these bodies are still not best suited for someone who wants to do more thorough customizations to their nendoroid’s style. To me, personally, I feel they are more suited towards just having an alternate way to pose your nendoroid for display without having to swap out an arm for a different, static pose.
This work-around brings in the use of ball-jointed bodies. When someone says “ball-jointed” or “bjd” in this context, I’m sure some of you are going to think of Dollfie Dream dolls. Those utiflize ball jointed bodies for their anime dolls. This is a similar approach for nendoroid, just on a much smaller scale. Often times, I see people using the Obitsu 11 scale body for their nendo customs. Below is a video by Clay Bum showing their Obitsu 11 body review in regards to their nendoroids.
Now, what if you like the proportions of the Obitsu 11 but not so much the way the joints are? Well, that’s where you have two options: YMY and Disono.
YMY bodies are what is most used nowadays for customizing your nendoroids due it is flexibility and range of motion. This is the type of body that I personally chose when it came to finding the right body type for my Megpoid Gumi custom that’s in the works.
One particular perk of the YMY body alongside this is the fact that they also have height increasing parts that you can purchase seperately in order to make your nendoroid taller if the default scale does not suit your needs.
And if you want an alternate for the YMY body, some have even taken to using the Disono DDF bodies for their nendoroid customs. Both of these bodies provide a far better range of motion and posing ability than the GSC Nendoroid Archetype does, on account of the more articulated joints in the arms, knees, feet, hands, etc.
One downside, whoever, is when you use these bodies… the skin may not match precisely. If you go with one of these bodies, you have to be patient and make sure that the body you are choosing the skin tone that comes as clsoe as possible to your nendoroid. Below is a video by beNYSandcollect in regards to the different skin tones that the YMY bodies come in, and below that is a video comparing the Nendoroid Archetype, YMY, and Disono doll bodies and their posing abilities.
After taking all of this information into consideration, ultimately the choice is up to you in the end. You have a lot of options, but it all comes down to your personal preference.
If you go with the Good Smile Company’s licensed Nendoroid Archetype, you can buy clothing specific to that body shape on their website. Clothing that would fit the other featured bodies will fit, but be very baggy on them.
If you go with Obitsu 11, YMY, or Disono, you’re in luck. Obitsu 11 is usually the scale that people make and sell clothing pieces for in regards to this topic. YMY and Disono bodies will fit almost perfectly in the Obitsu 11 clothing with little to no issue according to the information I’ve come across.
Personally, I would suggest the YMY body for your custom nendo adventures. You will find more clothing options, along with shoes, that are going to suit your characters. Again, the choice in the end is ultimately your own. Go with that you think will be best.
Another good thing to note would be the Chibi Chop Shop. If you want alternate faces that are close to your nendoroid, or alternate hair, or maybe different hand poses for cheap? This website is a big help! I ordered some funny faceplates as well as others with green eyes for my Gumi, and while the green-eyed faceplates are not from Gumi related nendoroids, the eye color is close enough for my tastes to work for alternate expressions!
I hope this information has helped everyone who is considering a nendoroid customization in the future!!
@strawberry-metal @kazekothestrange
