Barbie/Liv Hybrid neck question

[WhiteDove01s]

This is probably rather newb-ish. Anyhow, I finally stuck Denia's head (a Barbie head, pre-Fashionista and very likely from the Generation Girl line) on her new body (an Alexis from the Liv doll series), and I've noticed the fit is a little loose and her head comes back off very easily.

Is there a way to mod to fix this without losing the ability to pose her head, or should I just live with it? Other than this nitpick the match is just what I was going for.

[ArtCresc]

A simple fix that worked for me is SUPER low tech. Take a strip of plastic wrap, about 1 inch wide and 5 inches long, fold it in half length-wise (still 5 inches long), and wrap it semi-tightly around the neck peg so that about 1/8th inch of it is overlapping onto the doll neck. The last bit at the end will need to be tighter to help keep it in place, but it's not necessary to tape it on or anything because the doll head will do the job. If a little bit of plastic wrap sticks out once you have the head on, just poke it back in with some small, flat, preferably rounded (NOT a knife or mini screwdriver unless your fairly skilled with them, which I am).

You may have to adjust the length to make sure that it's just right, too little and it doesn't do any good, too thick and it reduces neck articulation and stretches the vinyl. I fold it length-wise, sometimes up to four layers worth, because it reduces the likelihood of only wrapping the neck peg. Having a little bit on the doll's neck helps produce friction to help the head hold positions.

The thing about Liv is that they went through a lot of minor production changes from one wave to the next. There are, I think, three or four variations, each slightly different in length and with a slightly different thickness in the disc as the top of the peg.

Incidentally, customizing with Liv prepared me for how to best use the multiple neck attachments that come with 1/6 Obitsus, which are designed to take on a lot of different kinds of heads. There are some tutorials on doll customizing floating around this forum and definitely the web in general.

[magkelly]

I just use a bit of masking tape around the knob. It's slightly flexible so it allows for head movement but it works well for making the head knob sturdier.

[WhiteDove01s]

I'll give those a try, thanks! I did try googling first, but in this instance I guess I just didn't know which words to search for yet - I'm still really new at this.

[ArtCresc]

Yeah, I used to use tape on my customs, and while the material is more durable, the stiffness can become an issue later if you want to swap out or reuse the head. The vinyl can get stretched, temperature variance between seasons causes it and the plastic to expand and retract overtime (the same reason a door to an house or apartment with a wood frame doesn't open or close exactly the same way throughout the year), and even if you heat up the affected parts with a hair dryer or hot water to restore it, it is never quite the same.

I have found plastic wrap works better than tape in the long term especially when working with loose ball-socket joints in which case the socket can become looser. Depending on the material, heating it up sometimes helps (the heat expands and stretches the material, it tightens up after cooling down). The wrap to tape is like packing with layers of bubble wrap versus form fitting foam (the hard white stuff).

Resin is another story.

[magkelly]

Actually tape has never been an issue and I've swapped heads tons of times.

[WhiteDove01s]

After some experimentation, I ended up trying something completely different! XD. I compared the detached Liv head to Denia's Barbie head. The outer edge hole (where it touches the neck) was the same size on both, which is why her head looked like such a great fit. The inner edge of the hole was about maybe a millimeter smaller on the Liv head. So... since my Red Devil All Purpose Caulk had done such wonders on outer parts of sculpts and bonded so well to the vinyl, I decided to give it a try here. I put a very teeny ring of it around the too-large edge (I made the hole in the end of the caulk tube with a sewing pin), and when it had dried overnight the caulk had shrunk a bit and bonded to the vinyl. The holes were now the same size between the Barbie and Liv heads. Her head was a little harder to pop back on this time (I didn't pre-heat it), but once on it now fits perfectly!

This is also known as "I was out of plastic wrap and figured if this didn't work I could dremel it back off". XD

[ArtCresc]

Fantastic!

[WhiteDove01s]

It still seems to be working. I had to give her head a little wriggle today as it felt 'stuck' at first - guess I should have let the caulk dry for two days instead of just one. XD But it 'unstuck' right away and is perfect again. Now all I need to do is her faceup and find/buy some grey hair for wigs... well, and make her some clothes. And my dropper bottles (for thinning and mixing paint) and magnifying visor are ordered and in the mail, so I'll soon have all my faceup tools.

[yarwel]

You can use yarn and/or faux fur for wig making as well synthetic hair.
It might be easier to find? It also gives you different looks.