RepRap?! OMG! Homemade Dolls? No WAY!

[kittyasauras]

I'm PRETTY sure that a few popular doll companies use that technology. I'm most positive that Soom and Fairyland do. How else could Soom release a new doll every month? And CP... Those realpukis and fancy gadgets on the bigger guys (knee joint caps, minifee neck mechanisims, crazy magnet arms on the 65cms...) aren't sculpted by real hands.

[Mary Kathryn]

I'm totally fascinated by the 3D printers and have been ever since I saw them on one of Danny Choo's Cool Japan shows. Shapeways will "print" jewelry and small objects you've designed. I think they're actually trying to work on their own BJD.

[DollyKim]

Actually a skilled human sculptor can make anything in any size. Look how long tiny model trains have been made without that printer, and there's people who make sculptures that fit in the eye of a needle. The key is practice. The heads I make now look a zillion times better than the ones I made when I was starting out.

With computer modeling it is possible for a sculptor to work in their preferred scale, have the piece scanned in, then rescaled to what they want the final figure to be.

There is no reason you shouldn't try to make your own dolls or figures, just be ready to spend some money and elbow grease learning first. As I tell people who want the Yoshida book it won't save you a dime, as opposed to buying a "cheap" BJD, because you'll spend the same amount of money on supplies but you will learn a lot. Then your results depend on your skills.

[kiki-chan78]

I'll chime in since my name was brought up as a person that actually *has* used a 3D printer. Actually, I'm getting fairly decent at it, and have had fewer snafus with my prints.

The company that I go through for my prints, is Shapeways. They are fairly decent. But all they provide is the *print*. How nice of a piece it is, all depends on how well the person submitting it can model in 3D.

The computer is not going to do the work for you. I can spend a few *hours* modeling out something simple. That neat little rotational joint that my Kusarigama has, was a pain in the butt. Making sure that the *chain* on the same kusarigama didn't come out as one solid lump, was also a pain. I can tell you, using booleans in your modeling is one of the messiest ways to model.

A 'messy' model will impact the price of the printed piece. I've seen instances in which the print price doubled because of how messy the model was.

When modeling for print, make sure all your 'normals' (faces of the polys) are pointed in the right direction. A 'normal' facing the wrong direction will give you 'digital poo' on your model, and while in some cases look quite interesting, is not something you want on a piece you might think of selling. A model that isn't 'water-tight' will also give you 'digital poo'.

I'm pretty much a little 'nazi' when it comes to my models. I will spend a few days perfecting them to get an optimum model that will print cleanly, and be cost effective.

As for scanning in an object. I've seen 3D scans. They are messy and require LOTS of clean-up. Reflective surfaces will confuse the scanner. The scanners also can't handle hair, fur or most anything 'fluffy'.

Can a doll be made with this type of technology? Yes, it can.

Is it cost effective to make a doll in this manner? Not really.

Is it easier to make a doll in this manner? Not at all. While this involves a different skill-set, it's still sculpting, and might even be more of a pain in the keister than sculpting by hand.

For anyone interested in my accessories shop on Shapeways, here's a Link. All pieces available in the shop are only released for sale once I've been able to handle the prints and verify that they meet *my* standards. There are pieces not yet ready for sale, which I am currently waiting to check the prints on before making them available... like, the Kusarigama and a Kunai.

<3

-Kiki-chan78.

[kiki-chan78]

Double post, sorry.

Soom has a line of dolls using this technology, where the master doll was printed, and all others are cast *from* the first. But their monthly dolls are not 3D prints. A lot of their stuff is actually mix-and-match parts, and simple modifications to existing pieces. ^.~

Fairyland doesn't use this technology. I used to think they did, but I've been able to examine closely some of the bodies. There are some very slight and minor imperfections in the bodies and head sculpts, stuff that would *never* have shown up if they were cast from prints. They are also too *detailed* to be prints. Nice detail can be achieved, but only up to a certain point. Fairyland just has some insanely talented sculptors.

<3

-Kiki-chan78.

[victoriavictrix]

Honestly, this is like "magic" as I describe it in my books. In the hands of an expert they can do amazing things "relatively" "cheaply." Becoming an expert costs a great deal of time and money. In the hands of an amateur...it is cheaper, easier, and less frustrating to do things the old fashioned way, whether it be lighting a fire or sculpting a doll.

[KatyaR]

Warriors Gate Productions is doing this for some of its 1:6 character heads. Their 3D artist is very skilled, and they have turned out some fantastic heads from which they then produce the resin castings