Finding The Right Body

[WhiteDove01s]

This is probably going to come out weird, complicated, or both. One of my in-project dolls is a little old lady who I hope will mostly resemble this character:

http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Denia

I have made a great deal of progress on a Barbie head with methods including using a dremel and applying acrylic caulk.

However, finding the right body is probably going to be a problem. As you can see, the chara is a bit tanned. Obitsu is too pale unless I recolor one. Barbie (Fashionista body) is too tall. I checked a headless Skipper I had and she'd be too short... plus I'd like at least Fashionista-level poseability. I thought at one point of sacrificing having a good knee joint (and blaming it on arthritis) and maybe finding some way to combine a Barbie torso with jointed arms with the Skipper legs... maybe even finding a way to work in the Skipper waist joint... But something like that would fall under major kitbashing work and if there's an easier option I'd rather go for that.

I've even thought of using a Monster High body for her, but the proportions would look weird near Barbies. The height would be just perfect though... and maybe I could use more acrylic caulk on the body if I had to. I already have doubts I'll be able to get out of painting the body... I know I'll have to paint the head, but I was hoping to find a body I wouldn't have to mod too much.

So... Anyone here have easier suggestions? Or, barring that, info on how to remove the arms and legs from a barbie without damaging them? Also, I am on a tight budget, so please no suggestions of $100 dolls. XD If it goes too far from $15 or less ($20 would be pushing it), then I'll have to suck it up and kitbash.

And if I managed to make absolutely no sense, please just ask for clarification. XD

[WhiteDove01s]

Apologies for the doublepost, but it seems there may be a solution and literally right under my nose (or, rather, right on this forum). Now if my bleeping paypal account would just finish transferring funds...

[DollyKim]

I was about to say start here http://dolfielittles.com/encyclopedia.html and there's a pull down menu in the upper left. I own all these dolls so I can answer any questions about them.

Monsters don't fit with Barbies too well. If you can find a Liv doll they come in tan.

[yarwel]

I second looking for a liv. They have pretty good jointing, aren't super-skinny, and considerably shorter than barbie.

[WhiteDove01s]

I actually found the solution for Denia in a tan Volks midi over here (hence my facepalm and doublepost XD):
viewtopic.php?f=24&t=8525

But thanks a lot for the tips on Liv and also on Barbie heads not working with Monster High (I had a feeling they might not, what with the skinny necks). The more I get into this, the more I want my 1/6 Theater cast to have a nice varied range of bodies and skin tones... close enough to look in the same scale next to each other, but different enough so they don't all look like they're stuck on variants of the same body.

It'll make doing the costuming that much more of a PITA, but I feel it'll be worth it to have an 'acting group' that varies enough to look more like real people.

I have a whole pile of Liv dolls on my Amazon Wishlist now. XD At first I'd passed them up because for some reason the art depicting the dolls on Amazon has the joints airbrushed out and I thought they weren't poseable or were some kind of bendies. XD Why would anyone do that?? Also wishlisting the rest of the skintones available via the Barbie Fashionista line, and a Barbie Line called So In Style Baby Phat for a set of darker skintones with Fashionista-level poseability.

I'm still kind of new to this, but I think I've reached that first burst of severe addiction. XD

[DollyKim]

The So In Style or SiS come in different styles. Places like Target, Big Lots, and Toys R Us get them all the time. The only thing is some are a bit more jointed than another and it can vary by the line.

[WhiteDove01s]

The So In Style or SiS come in different styles. Places like Target, Big Lots, and Toys R Us get them all the time. The only thing is some are a bit more jointed than another and it can vary by the line.

I noticed that and screened through them on Amazon. The 'Baby Phat' ones seem to have all the same joints as Fashionistas.

[yarwel]

Some of the liv dolls do have less jointing. I haven't seen them that way very often, but they do exist, so be careful.

[WhiteDove01s]

Some of the liv dolls do have less jointing. I haven't seen them that way very often, but they do exist, so be careful.

Eeek. That's going to be a lot harder to screen for due to whatever stupid reason they're airbrushing out all the joints on the Amazon pics. I swear I thought they were unposeable, or at best some kind of weird rubber bendy dolls like were around when I was a kid. (remember those, with the wire inside?)

I already dropped the Liv Color and Liv Brites from my wishlist because I found an online review mentioning lost articulation. I guess I'll have to google up reviews on any specific one I plan to get in order to get good info on the joints and be really sure.

Meanwhile, I'm happy to say I found one of my old BanDai Tiny Blessings babies! Apparently they're hard to find these days, but they're pretty close to 1/6 scale (maybe a bit tiny to be the toddlers they're meant to be, but good for only a few months old-I haven't been around many babies so can't be certain of the age they look next to a Barbie), and posable at five places (shoulders, hips, and neck, even if it's just a twist in each case)... which is pretty darn good for infants. I wouldn't expect a baby to have the same articulation I want for all my adults. XD

There's a reference on them here... I'm just so happy to have found the little one and she wasn't rat-chewed (there was a rat problem in the storage room, and while the rats are gone the cleanup is ongoing)

http://www.ghostofthedoll.co.uk/tinyblessing.htm

I found little Katherine, and I'm pretty sure I had Michael but he's still missing - hopefully in the same large box. I remember seeing Lee Ann too, I think when I bought them... which I think was at a Dollar General. I'd hoped at the time to collect the whole set, but the next time we were back that way they were gone. I forget if I only had a couple bucks left from my allowance and they were $1, or if they were a whole $3 each and I had to borrow $1 off my gran. XD

Google says they now run $10 a pop loose and accessory-less on Ebay... if you can find em. Maybe someday I'll track down the rest.