Dollieh Sanctuary

Here I will post all the WIP shots and updates of my first doll, Wren. He will be 3D printed and hopefully cast into ressin if I can manage it. If this process works I hope to open my own doll company.

First the concept! My favorite doll I have found out there is migidoll Ryu, so I knew I wanted to use him as part of my reference. I also referenced my own doll I bought. Lingfeng, from Doll Family. If you want a good doll that is cheep I suggest getting him during a holiday sale. He was only 220$ for a 1/3 size doll! Anyway I also used my own artistic sense AS I did not have an outright profile pic to use. So the first part was to draw a symetric front and profile of his head.


Next I needed to star building him! To make sure I get his features right, I started building each significant part first, instead of a whole head, build the eye, then the nose, then the mouth. Then I will connext them all together as I flush out the face.




Here’s Wren with his body. I didn’t make his body from scratch, but used some other objects and detailed in zbrush, since my body anatomy isn’t as good as I’d like yet and don’t want a sucky body for my hard worked head. The head was a little smaller but it looked odd to me and now with just a little bigger, seems much better. he’s about 7 1/2 heads tall make taht 6 1/2 upon double checking….hmm not sure what to do anatomy wise about him, and in real life he will approximately be 62cm. I think the top of his head is a little flat

Well what do you guys think? Next is figuring out how to cut him up and do all the joints, then any other polishes, and we are ready to try and print him out! Hurray we are getting closer!

Cool, I can't wait to see more!

OoooOOOooooooh.... critique time. Warning, I have no tact.

The mouth looks a little weird, like he's doing a 'duck-face' or pursing his lips very oddly.

Check him against your reference drawings, the brow is a bit more prominent than in the refs.

Lengthen the legs. Real proportions like the ones your model has will look stumpy in comparison with other BJDs.

Move the connection for the head to his neck back a little further. This will give more room for the doll to naturally look up and down once printed, and not act like a wooden ball-joint manikin. (I've sold heads because they moved like wooden artist manikins.)

The head isn't too flat, there just isn't a large enough cranial space, and that is what makes it look flat. Again, this is something that should become apparent if you drop your refs into the image plane in Maya (i'm guessing this is the program you are using).

Where are his ears?

Since you've already got a doll in person, why not use him as reference for proportions? Again, these images can be dropped into the image plane in Maya.

I'm honestly not a fan that you've grabbed the body from another source. It causes a slight disconnect in style between head and body.

Unless you are going to go the 'Uncle' body route and have three different sets of bait&tackle that pop on and off with magnets, don't bother being too detailed in the anatomy. As long as there is something vaguely phallic in the pants, it should be okay.

Watch it with the head-cap. You'll want to make sure it's large enough to get into the head and put eyes and a connector in there.

I can't really say much about the body, since it isn't completely your own work. But the reference drawings for the head are cute. Good luck on the joints. I do *not* envy you for having to model out the *interior* of his body AND have to make the joints. ^.~

<3

-Kiki-chan78.

Wow...you guys...I thought I was smart for figuring out Photoshop...it's so cool, you guys are my tech heroes!!

Gerald and I have already done some resin casting, he has made Kitty Ears and Fox Ears. Available through Junkyspot. And he also has a doll head that is in final production stages. Besides that, I notice you found our Baby Fox! And there is another doll due for the beginning of July. So - enough of my credentials!

Resin Casting - It is NOT a cheap startup. Do NOT go to the hobby store and buy a resin casting kit. For one thing, you will be paying a premium cost for the material, and you will probably not have enough to do more than one doll. Get it from a supplier. Get a tax id! To do commercial doll quality casting you will need a vacuum pump setup for degassing the silicon mold compound. This is necessary because under casting pressure any air bubbles will show up as knobs. Not fun - trust me! The silicon is otherwise a really nice and easy material to work with. You do need to get sulfur free clay to make the molds, and mold release. However, resin is toxic. Really toxic, as in it will cause brain damage. Trust me, you like your short term memory. Really. You will need a respirator - found at your local hardware or building supply store. Wear protective clothing and gloves. I suggest non-latex. You will also need to do it outside or in a commercially ventilated space - most of us do it outside (garage kits). The vent on a stove or bathroom is not good enough. Resin is temperature and humidity sensitive. Read the OSHA information and all suggestions for casting. In order to make castings without bubbles and holes in them you will need a pressure pump and chamber - also easy to get because you can adapt it from a compressor and paint pot from Sears or the building supply store. All together, figure on between $1000 and $2000 startup for equipment. The easy way is to get someone else to cast your doll from your master. Bobobie in China casts dolls for many people, both abroad and in the US.

I couldn't see your pictures of the body, only the head. I agree that the forehead is too far forward. Look at anatomy books, they are wonderful resources. I would actually suggest starting with a skull, and working your way out. There are some good Ball Joint Doll making books that also start that way.

Wow, I can't wait to see what he looks like when you print him!

As for critique, my only concern is that his more realisitc proportions will put him at odd with typical BJD's. He'd need longer legs for sure to keep up with the lanky types. However, if you're aiming to be proportional and not simulation the BJD aesthetic then I don't have anything to say there! I have no idea how proportions work on a real life human being in comparison lol. Except I always thought I was tall and slim until I beheld my first BJD XD

I actually agree that the pursing of his lips has that "duck" look. I love the slight smile that he has on your concept drawing, but he doesn't seem to get that in the 3D render. I think it's because in the drawing the upper lip comes out more, and the lower lip is much rounder towards the mouth corners.

What size eyes are you thinking about giving him? Just curious ^^

Anneke wrote:I have no idea how proportions work on a real life human being in comparison lol. Except I always thought I was tall and slim until I beheld my first BJD XD

*greyhaunt puts on her lecture hat*

Artists use the head as a measurement. The average human is 8 heads tall. The shoulders are two heads wide. The legs take exactly half of the body height. That gives you a normal standard human figure. However, that rule is often broken in fashion design where they will add an extra 1 head in height to get that lean lanky look. I've never actually sat down and "measured" any of my BJD to see if they conform to the standard or not...I suspect many of them add length to the leg Oh, this measurement is for adult humans - teens and children have different head measurements that off the top of my head (pardon the pun) I don't know. As most BJD are meant to be teens or kids they probably conform more to those standards.

*greyhaunt takes off her lecture hat and steps back down again*

Thanks for all the tips and advice guys! My brother has some equipment since he does lost wax casting, but I think I may wait on it to see what other options are available since it sounds like a lot of particular work and without experience it would cost me a lot of trial and error which I can't afford.

Any artists out there? I am thinking of modeling my own body for the doll, but shudder at the thought of my drawing skills for my reference. There may even be pay.

silverbeam wrote:Any artists out there? I am thinking of modeling my own body for the doll, but shudder at the thought of my drawing skills for my reference. There may even be pay.

I'm a cartoonist! *waves* I'm interested. I could send you some examples of my body drawing chops via pm if you want?