a hub for all our art

mostly for doll customization content

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Main account: @lagoonleague

Current project: first ever rainbow high custom

Hobbies: crochet, screenwriting, doll customization

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Scratch the "10 minutes" dad predicted I would need a different glue than what I got and he's right

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FUCK I forgot her lashes!! Give me 10 minutes

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My first rainbow high custom doll is done!!

Start:

After taping up the eyes and pinning back the hair, I sprayed two layers of Rust-Oleum matte clear on her face.

Next, one layer of pastels and a layer of sealant:

Then another layer of pastels and sealant:

I skipped taking one progress picture on accident so this is after two more layers of pastels and pencils:

And one more layer and she's done! The body blushing was only one layer.

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I forgot to post about this when it happened but!!!

This made us soooo excited we love your blog @firespirited been following for months you're very cool and thank you for enjoying our eye customization post enough to like it!!

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Showing “the boys” my doll collection

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Ok, so I've started out my customization journey by customizing the eyes.

First I popped the eyes out of the head and put them in a baggie full of rubbing alcohol. Then I scraped off most of the iris sticker and the white factory paint. Last step of prep was sanding off the rest of the iris. I used 320 grit to get it off and wet 1000 grit to buff out the white scuff marks from the 320.

(the pupil was impossible to get out, I think it's embedded extra deep or something)

Next was painting. I went eye shine → pupil → upper shading → main gradient. You have to paint backwards, like window or glass painting.

They turned out kind of wonky but I'm just not a good painter, sorry!

Finally I popped the eyes back in! I think I did so badly but I did the best I could

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Huge note to self: take more process pictures lol

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Had a question about how you swap legs on Rainbow High dolls, so here’s a "tutorial" aka some pictures and words about that as you can’t really make a tutorial of swearing and twisting legs for half an hour. At least I'm not interested in pulling a new doll apart to do so. ;)

So this is what you’re working with. The top of the leg is hollow, with a thick lip that the thigh pegs fit into. Basically the same set up as a doll head/neck peg.

I had seen an RH doll that someone had 3D printed a prosthetic leg for (I will link when I can find it), which confirmed for me you can get legs off AND back on.

So, first I tried yanking the legs off on one doll, and it went pretty well. I was able to shimmy her legs down the pegs and then eventually fully pull them off. The second doll was MUCH stiffer, with no shimmy possible. I often apply heat for these things, so I burrito-ed her in t-shirt wrapped heating pad set on high, probably for a total of 30 min. I was able to then get her legs off with more pulling work, but the pegs were cold when I first got to touch them. The pegs are made of a softer plastic, and so more malleable but the thighs are a hard plastic that I guess the heat just encouraged to not fully split in half? I'm not really sure.

Getting the swapped legs back on was actually harder, which is why I haven't reassembled the parts I didn't use. Even with heating I REALLY couldn't get the pegs in the new legs. I ended up carving down the pegs and heating to get the new legs on. This means that the legs are attached more loosely before, and can rattle/spin when I interact with the doll. Once I'm done customizing the legs, I plan to try a version of hot glue sueding to fix this issue.

So there you go! That's what I know about swapping RH legs. Feel free to ask my questions/request more pictures if that would be helpful. I'm also down to cut apart the legs I didn't use if anyone wants to see more fully what's going on with them internally.

[karp-kute]

Rainbow High Customization Notes

I mainly collect Asian ball-jointed and fashion dolls so I don't have much experience with Western fashion dolls. I had to do research on how to customize these dolls and here are my notes organized.

Last Updated: July 18, 2022

Wig

6-7 or a tighter 7-8 inch

I tried both 6-7 and 7-8. 6-7 will not slip but a 7-8 is much easier to put on. You'll need a wig cap or tape. These wig sizes are sometimes listed as 1/6 or YoSD (6-7) and 1/4 or MSD (7-8) by sellers. I will be using a 6-7 wig for my Mini Karp.

YoSD and MSD are BJD community jargon for dolls that are similar in size to Volks' Young Super Dollfie and Mini Super Dollfie lines. YoSD sized dolls are designed to look like children next to 1/3 or Super Dollfie (SD) sized BJDs. People also use Large ( 50cm+), Mini (~40cm), and Tiny (~30cm) when taking about doll sizes.

Eyes

Eyes are a unique shape. Recommended getting factory reject eyes from AliExpress. Eyes fit into holes inside the head. Cutting the head open will not allow you to replace the eyes. The eyes must be squeezed out after heating the head in warm water.

18-20mm eyes will fit inside RH's eye holes. If you're using not RH eyes, I recommend acrylic or resin anime styled eyes.

Body

Thicker than Pullip/Blythe, 1/6 Obitsu, and regular Barbie.

Thinner than standard Tiny sized BJDs (YoSD size).

The body and head are not proportional. The head is comparable to YoSD sized dolls, while the body is more in line with "mature tiny" sized dolls. However it is still a bit too thick for most mature tinies.

Mature Tiny is jargon for Tiny dolls that have more adult proportions.

Clothing

✅ Pullip/Blythe tops, dresses, skirts, hand accessories

✅ YoSD head accessories

✅ LOL OMG tops and bottoms if they're stretchy, accessories

✅ Curvy Barbie tops, bottoms

✅ NaNaNa Surprise tops, bottoms, dresses

⚠️ Monster High jackets and shoes are tight (@ca-cupid for info about MH jackets)

⚠️ YoSD tops, skirts, dresses, socks, belts may be able to fit with modifications

🕶️ Deliah's Glasses Measurements (for custom glasses)

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Sooo we have ordered chalk pastels and two dolls off eBay. We already had a can of sealant and a good number of acrylic paints. Today we'll go get watercolor pencils and a kneaded eraser.

I (Eos, host of the system) have also designed an eye and a faceup for the purple haired doll!