Wednesday Addams Obitsu, & New Obitsus [page 2]

[MeltedCaramel]

It sounds like the details are coming together nicely in my opinion. The mark being both above and below his eye would really push the character into "this is my own character" territory and away from the book as a 'carbon copy' type feeling. The design could be in several colours or perhaps, since he is part of a royal court, pick the royal colours and the tattoo could be in black with accents of the royal colours (don't quote me but I think the royal colours are usually two colours that either complement one another or are in stark contrast).

Also, HOLD THE BOAT HOLD THE BOAT. No, no, no, NOOOOO craft store paint!! You will have all your hard work flaking off in a week!! Honestly, I'm even hesitant to try my high-quality testor's model acrylics on them. Your best bet is to order off the Volks-USA store, order this:

http://www.volksusa.com/matlpa0066.html This is the Basic Colour Set at $15.

http://www.volksusa.com/matlpa0065.html This is the Make Up Set at $9. (Volks also kills you on shipping so add another $15 on there. )

These are paints specifically made for working on dolls. Also, ignore their brushes, THAT you can go to the local craft store for. Buy the tiniest brushes you can find. My advice is to bring the Ares head with you and compare the brushes to his face and sort of "mock face paint" him with the brush. Yeah, you're going to look really weird to casual shoppers, but hobby enthusiasts will understand you need to find the right size brush for your project. XD You may find yourself needing more than one brush, so don't be afraid to stock up on two or three in different (but all tiny) sizes.

The other must have for your faceup to really last is "Mr. Super Clear Matte" but you'll find the doll community shortens this to "MSC" with the "matte" being a given, because no one wants their doll to have a shiny, shiny face. You clean off and dry your doll head and then spray a coat of this on. Spray every time you've "completed" something to seal your work in permanently.

It seems like The Junky Spot, the usual spot for Mr. Super Clear, is out of it, so I would search Ebay and look for a good deal. It doesn't matter if it's "UV protected" or not in the end (unless you're super anal retentive or you're going to be doing A LOT of outdoor photoshoots, then it's justified) but make sure it's MATTE spray, otherwise Morpheus will have a shiny, shiny head, and I think we'd have a tantrum on our hands. XDD

I hope that helps a little bit with the facepainting part of it!! Look around and don't be afraid to ask the forum questions. There are also a TON of "how to" guides if you just google "how to do a BJD faceup".

Are you planning to use pastels? Because that's a whole new ballgame and requires further explanation.

I got the suit from a seller that was recommended for Obitsu on another forum.

<---Do you mind giving me a link to the seller? I'm always up for more Obitsu stuff. Most of the clothes I own for my Obitsus are actual customs (I met my seamstress friend through a custom job but now our Etsy "business" conversations are...less business, more goofing off, but she's an amazing seamstress. *_* ) of anime characters, so having some more 'general' clothing might be a good idea! XD

Why do you think the suit will be baggy? All Obitsu stuff, unless, again, it's custom made, tends to lean towards a little tight or a little loose, it's an unfortunate part of the hobby since Obitsu hasn't come out with any sort of custom clothing line. Azone uses obitsu bodies but Azone clothes are REALLY hard to get ahold of, rare, and expensive.

As for his suit and fabric paint and being flashy versus mysterious...I hate to break it to Morpheus but I think the fur collar is going to destroy his attempts at being super mysterious. I think he's going to have to settle for just being a little mysterious. And I had an idea, since you mentioned the tattoo is part of his rank, like a military insignia, I suggest continuing the design on his upper arm down to his wrist on the side that his tattoo is on. Sort of like...magical military markings? That sounded better in my head I swear, XD. My authorly side has fled, it's late and I haven't eaten. I hope you get what I'm trying to say though, despite my vocabulary taking a vacation.

His fascination with the princess sounds rather...sweet actually. I'd love to know more.

I've had a wonderful time talking to you too. I don't think my drawing skills are up to much, but I hope to be able to do something.

<----Thank you!! I've had a great time talking this out with you!!! And as for your drawing skills...you'll need to show me a picture, but unfortunately our drawing skills usually affect our faceup skills, especially when we're talking about a painted-style faceup. If you have a very unsteady hand, you may want to hit up one of the faceup artists on the board to help you. I'd even offer myself, but I haven't figured out a price range. <___<;; But if you feel confident that you can do it, then YOU do it. It's the best way to learn. I just don't want you stuck somewhere!! (Like I had to bite the bullet and admit that yes, I can draw fine, but I CANNOT SEW. XD)

As soon as your 'in progress' Ares appears I would love to see a picture!! Keep in mind when his wig comes, it's going to be all smooshed in itself (unless you chose a really long wig) so don't freak out like I did when I first saw my first wig. Take it out, fluff it, and just try and let it sit for a few days, eventually it starts looking less like a ball of hair and more like a normal wig as the fibers relax. Your wig might also require some cutting and styling to look how you want. You can use these two hair products:

got2be Glued styling gel (screaming hold)
got2be freeze spray

Use these two products in tandem and you'll be able to fully style the hair.

Hope to hear from you soon!

[ShortNCuddlyAm]

It seems like The Junky Spot, the usual spot for Mr. Super Clear, is out of it, so I would search Ebay and look for a good deal. It doesn't matter if it's "UV protected" or not in the end (unless you're super anal retentive or you're going to be doing A LOT of outdoor photoshoots, then it's justified) but make sure it's MATTE spray, otherwise Morpheus will have a shiny, shiny head, and I think we'd have a tantrum on our hands. XDD

As Werepuppy's in Glasgow, somewhere like Think Pink might be a good option too - they have both UV and non-UV in stock - the non-uv is 1 euro cheaper, and as the UV apparently makes no real difference in the yellowing I tend to go for that And even closer, Angels Cave sometimes has it, but appears to be sold out (don't be fooled by the fact their prices are in dollars - they're in the UK)

[werepuppy]

@ MC Ahhh, thank you for that information! *make note of all of it* I was looking around the Sanctuary, and I saw a thread, erm, here which suggests that watercolour pencils could be used. I'm wondering if that would be a better idea, since I'm generally better at using pencils than I am paints. And when I say ... Okay, My drawing skills are not terrible, but they're ... rusty. I haven't drawn in while, so I'll need to rectify that.

The seller on ebay is raretoys-figures I believe. I googled searched the name after reading it.

I understand what you're saying about the mark, and I like the idea. It would be quite a cool thing to look at. And thank you for the advice on the wig!

(Sorry reply is so short, I'm weirdly exhausted and have a lot to do. Really am looking forward to this creative project though. And it is great chatting with you ^^)

@ ShortNCuddlyAm Ah! Thank you so much! I didn't know there was a store this side of the pond that had MSC

[MeltedCaramel]

Hey there werepuppy, glad ShortNCuddlyAm could help you with the MSC portion of things!!! As for watercolour pencils, this is for details and accents only, this wouldn't work for a full faceup due to the watercolour's very nature to be see-through. Technically you could do a faceup with pencils, but don't expect them to look anything like a faceup done in high grade acrylic paint. There are brushes you can buy with really short bristles, I suggest you look for one of these as they almost mimic a pencil's point. But if you want a nice, vibrant faceup, I'd suggest sticking with the materials I first linked you to. They're good for beginners all the way up to the old pros.

Also, you never answered the pastel question! Pastels are used in faceups to give a bit of colour to the cheeks and mouth, that's the most basic use for them. Beginners tend to just do a light coat on the cheeks and lips, but some of the more 'professional' faceup artists can do amazing things with pastel (and also commission a lot of money for their custom faceups!! )!

Ohh, and if you bought on Ebay then yeah...the outfit is probably made for a Hot Toys doll or similar 1/6th figure which...Morpheus might be swimming in his clothes!! Do you have a link to your finished auction? If you post it I can possibly tell you just how much he'll be swimming.

I understand what you're saying about the mark, and I like the idea. It would be quite a cool thing to look at. And thank you for the advice on the wig!

<---I'm glad you like the idea!! I figured if it was a military/status mark and not just there for show, then it should probably continue down his outfit in some manner, and since this is a faerie/fantasy-esque type court I figured it would be a little more flashy than your usual mark but not be like...all over his outfit. You're welcome about the wig advice, both kinds of it (not sure which part you're referencing). Styling it just right is important, and not freaking out when your shorter-hairstyle wig comes in a weird little wig-ball is important too!! XD

I would love to see some concept sketches of Morpheus when you've got the time!! And I'd also love to hear more of his backstory with the star princess and your idea in general.

It's alright about the short reply!! Just reply when you've got the time, don't feel pressured to reply IMMEDIATELY to me, I'll be around!!

[werepuppy]

So, great news, Morpheus' body arrived today! Now just to wait on his head, wig, and clothes.

See, I was thinking of doing the face-up in pencils because the two characters in mind (which includes my boy, much to his annoyance) have a rather soft look to their faces. For Morpheus, this helps in his being able to conceal himself, and for the star-girl princess, it adds to her ... well princess-ness. That, and like I said, I have a steadier hand for pencils than for paint.

I haven't been really sure about pastels, I'll need to read some tutorials on how to use them before I come to a conclusion. I don't have a link to the finished auction, sadly, because I am an idiot who can never find anything. I will do my best to try to find said link. Having received the body today though, I don't think it'll be as 'swimming' as I thought it might be. The body is actually bigger than I thought it would be.

Concepts sketches will come at some point! I just ... don't know when ><

[MeltedCaramel]

Hello there Werepuppy!!

I'd really, really advise against doing the faceup in all pencils, especially with no MSC on hand. You can do a gorgeously soft look with acrylics, but as with anything, the important parts need to stand out. You're going to want bright eyes. If you want to 'soften' their faces, I would really suggest looking into some basic pastel work. Take a look at this tutorial for both basic pastels and what you can do with acrylic paints (in other words, no excuses!!! )

http://roosterblue.deviantart.com/art/B ... -147422118

Things to keep in mind when looking at this tutorial:

-This doll head is MUCH LARGER than a 1/6 doll head and in general, a lot of these rules don't apply, such as the resin tips, etc.
-1/6 faceups are generally going to be a little bolder because of the size you're working with. Faceup artists like Setsunakou here on the board (and plenty of other users, I've just seen Setsuna's up close and in person and know how thin and elegant she can get the lines on a 1/6 face) can get some amazingly thin lines, but it's always going to stand out more than if you had put that same line on a 1/4 size doll head, it's just simple size mechanics (is that even a thing? )
-I would regard much of the second half of the tutorial as a "curiousity look" for now. You just want to see the basic blushing mechanics. Also, I personally don't recommend "blushing" the eyes on a 1/6 Ares head unless you want him to look like he's wearing eyeshadow. What's good for depth in one size might be stark and overbearing on another.

In short, in the end it's not my doll and obviously you can do as you please, but just a friendly well intentioned warning not to use pencils. Trust me. I stupidly tried to use a ballpoint pen for my 'practice head' before I ever joined a doll board or bothered with tutorials (in my defense I was embarking on a solo project at that point and hadn't thought of the benefit of a community, and I still wasn't sure dolls were my thing at the time), and it's one of the many lessons I've learned along the way.

Since you didn't order a practice head I would suggest trying the basic face style on a piece of paper taped around a round fruit, with Ares basic face shape penciled in and your goal to get everything to go where it needs to. The round fruit is more to get used to working on a surface that isn't flat. You're going to have to re-train your brain, because many artists spend their time trying to create the illusion of 3d on a flat surface. Now you have that 3d surface and your intent is to fill in details.

I think I found the suit with the fur collar, the outer part is faux-leather, right, all black? If it is....trust me, he's most likely going to be swimming in it. I can't find a brand identifier on it but it's most likely made to fit Hot Toys or dolls of that stature, and they're beefy and tall, a heck of a lot taller than most other 1/6 dolls if we're talking clothes swapping, trust me, a little bit makes a big difference. The 27cm Slim looks big, that is until you compare him with other dolls. Let me give you a quick comparison shot.

Here's my 27cm slim male next to my True Type Male:


And here's a picture of my True Type Male drowning in a ninja outfit from a completely aborted project. The ninja clothes don't fit that great anyway, but it's just an example of how big Hot Toys bodies clothes are made:


Yeah, the jacket I found is said to fit True Type and Hot Toys (which is stupid because one's going to swim in it or the other it's going to be too short for but ebay doesn't care about accuracy! XD), which means you're going to deal with a swimming situation. That's why I have a seamstress custom make all my clothes. Even the ones on Parabox don't fit the darn doll right!

Work on some concepts of at least his face and crest. I want to see what you had in mind for a faceup and then I could probably guide you better, but honestly with all of the trepidation you're having with a faceup I would consider commissioning one. Setsunakou's got a long waiting list (...I may have contributed to that *coughs*) but she's aces at faceups and I believe it costs something like $10+shipping for a realistic faceup. It sounds to me...are your faceups going to sort of bridge the line between anime and realistic? Sort of like those Kpop-inspired paintings of guys on deviantart?

Hope to hear from you soon!

[werepuppy]

Great news! Morpheus arrived!

Not-so-great news - his wig keeps falling off. I'm this close to just super-gluing the thing in place. I've heard Velcro can be used, but was wondering if anyone had any tips either way. I don't think I'm going to style his wig. Annoying as the falling off is, when I put it on him, he just seemed to ... smirk. In a happy way. As you can see from below, he's a bit of a poser.



My "in-progress" Morpheus, though who knows when I'll actually have the time/money to finish him off to the extent I'd like. At the moment, I am quite content with him. Even though he's not the full design I was thinking on, he's close enough that he feels like Morpheus to me. And for that, I'm happy. His personality just kind of ... screams out at me.

I also got the outfit for star-girl, who's name has changed from Selene to the softer sounding Ahim, which is taken from Kaizoku Sentai Gokaiger, as the outfit of choice reminded me a lot of her wardrobe. (Yes, I like Sentai, and Kamen Rider. I also really like Sailor Moon, and metal and musical theatre. My tastes are varied.) It's very pink, and flowery, and lace-y, and generally quite elegant. I also kind of ... well, I decided to buy eye decals instead of painting eyes because I spent a long time looking round at face up tips, and instructions on how to use eye decals, and I think I'll have more success with the latter than the former.

I should probably explain that while it's been about ... well six, seven years, I did used to do art in school and do have some prior skills at painting on a 3-D surface. I also made a hat for a CAM who was originally going to the Mad Hatter to my BeGoth Malice, but ended up becoming another character that I had in mind. My skills are ... limited, and rusty, but there. However, I really do need to thank you for all your kind advice. I am paying attention, even if it sounds like I'm not. I'm discussing the different options with my Mum, who's glad that I've got a creative project to keep my mind off things.

As for the clothes ... yeah, they do swim quite a bit though surprisingly, the coat - the reason I went for that one in the first place - is ... actually fairly alright. A bit on the big side, yeah, but it drapes nicely, and Morpheus really likes it. But yes, so far, I am pleased.

Hope you're all doing good!

[MeltedCaramel]

Ohhhh, I loved seeing the picture!!!

If you like the Ares head's faceup enough, you could probably just get away with doing some pastel work and his tattoo for a full faceup!! And I don't know what eye colour you had in mind for Morpheus, but even those without much artistic skill can fill in the irises with a different colour paint.

The wig...err...I'm a "one personality per doll" person, meaning I don't change wigs and stuff and once a doll is finished, it's FINISHED, like a factory doll. XDD Add to that the fact that most dolls in the 1/6 range are prerooted and...yeah, I just glue mine the hell on, I'm not gonna lie!! XD Especially when it comes to Parabox/Azone/etc, their heads seem designed to make the wigs pop off. I'm slowly making an Alois Trancy doll (I have a severe, severe back injury that causes me to be able to do almost nothing, and they're trying to figure out what's wrong with me, so in the meantime doll work is slow and painful, thus I can't do much) to go with the pre-made Ciel and Sebastian dolls from Azone's Asterisk collection. (Alois is getting a Claude too, which basically, like the show itself, is restyling Sebastian's hair, doing an eye switch and moving a couple buttons around. *Snorts*) The wig for that is short and bobbed and it pops off like it's trying to hop away, so I've already decided to glue it down. I would work VERY CAREFULLY with some superglue. You need something fast acting that's going to grip the wig, unless you want to stand with your fingers holding the wig in position for the next 24 hours.

The outfit...I'm surprised it's fitting as well as it seems to in the picture! Do you mind talking a standing, head-on shot so I can see the outfit, warts and swimming issues and all? I'm trying to decide it buying some of that brand for the outer clothes is worth it. Just pose him like I have my Obitsu in the post above. If you wouldn't mind. I'm surprised as hell that the jacket isn't like...falling off of him. Hot Toys and Obitsu really DO NOT MIX, but this is an off label brand so you seem to be lucky in that it doesn't seem to be conforming exactly to Hot Toys bodies. Even the boots seem to fit decent!!

(Lol, no one is judging you for liking Sentai!! You're on the 1/6 thread remember? There's bound to be people who collect Kamen Rangers stuff, etc. My tastes are equally as varied. I'm working on a bunch of anime character dolls right now, and so far have a vampire girl, a mad scientist, the heir to a stylized grim reaper, and a sadistic young boy with a demon for a butler...even my ANIME tastes bounce back and forth!! Can't say I'm into metal though. Migraines. I get them easily.)

Ahim is a very pretty name, assuming I'm pronouncing it correctly. I'm pronouncing it so it sounds sort of Arabic, like "Ah-heem". Care to share an outfit picture? And am I correct in assuming your star/faerie court idea is sort of modern fantasy? *Points to Morpheus' modern clothing*

As for decals...hey, no shame in that!! My friend used it for her Ai Enma doll and it came out very nicely, you can see it on this thread: viewtopic.php?f=6&t=9523 . There's no shame in saying you don't think you'd be that great at faceups. It's a pain in the ass and something I do mainly because I have no alternative if I want the anime characters to look like their respective styles. Since you're working with original characters you don't have that same style issue. Just a tip though, like I told my friend, cut decals as close to the actual ink as you feel you can comfortably get without cutting the actual design. This really cuts down on the shiny, fake tattoo (which is basically what decals are) look that a bad decal job can give.

Also, I don't doubt that you have skills, I'm just approaching all of this from an extremely novice standpoint because a) you mentioned you're fairly new to customizing and b) this is a social, community board, and I try to write my tips in such a way that perhaps someone with the same issues might stumble upon this (you never know!) and get something out of it.

I'd love to see your CAM creations!! Are they still with you that you can take pictures of them?

Thank you for the thank you. I really am trying my best to help with the information provided. Once you have more money/time/tools/references/whatever you feel you need I think I'll be able to help you more with this specific project, if you would like. For Morpheus, if you decide on a suit design (since this seems a little more 'cop' and Morpheus seems to be a bit more of a gentleman about town suit kind of guy, just with the hidden 'faerie cop' side ), I can point you do some seamstresses who do full outfits for very little money (it would cost only a bit more than this outfit did) and you can keep the coat from this outfit. It would make a rather striking contrast if the suit was a different colour than the jacket!

I hope you're doing well!! Keep me updated!!

[ShortNCuddlyAm]

Re the wig - if you don't want to glue it try white blu-tak, or a small elastic band round the head to give it a bit more friction (and make it a bit wider!) As annoying as wigs popping off are, I don't glue as I'm never convinced I've got exactly the right look yet!

He looks great, btw.

[werepuppy]

Here we go, a standing picture of Morpheus beside Ahim (pronounced Aye-mm. Japanese. *le shrug*) Dear Ahim, as you can see, has been cursed with loss of sight. Which, thanks to the wording of the curse, was taken rather literally in removing the eyes. We're not sure how long it will take to reverse the curse; there's many security spells binding it together, but Morpheus is using his dream magics to help her have some form of vision currently. She favours quite a girly look, and is a quiet sort of person.

Thank you both for your advice. I had tried the elastic band trick, and it refused to help. The wig just kept popping off. Eventually, I did end up gluing down the wig with some really strong super glue. That dripped on the to fur collar a bit, as you might be able to see. So yeah. Morpheus is not pleased with that, but I've promised him when my funds are actually in a healthy place, I'll see about getting him a proper suit.

The boots are from Parabox, because I loved the look of them. There's meant to be a shirt with the outfit, but it really didn't sit right under the outer-coat, so we opted to ditch it. The waistcoat works better as his 'working outfit' because it will allow me to show off the markings - when I get around to doing them - better. But he's still going to get a suit because he's a bit of a dandy, and wants a spiffy suit. This boy, I swear.



This is my most complete CAM creation, Nikolai, Grandson of Count Dracula and heir to the title. Happens to be the son of the Vampire Queen - Dracula's youngest daughter. ... Yeah, I'm not actually all that fond of Draculaura, so I kind of ... came up with my own thing. Which was basically using a fandom OC child from a Ruke!63 interpretation of a pre-existing lead character. Nikolai, Nik to his friends and Nicu to his mother and baby sister, has a bit of a crush on Wednesday. She generally can't be doing with relationships, but she tolerates Nik's presence. His outfit was got from etsy, the boots were taken from a Ken Doll, and the leather jacket is from my Living Dead Fashion Victims Sheena. The glasses were a gift from a friend.

I do have two other CAM creations; a gargoyle called Hugo who's name was inspired by Victor Hugo. He's French and an all round very soft-spoken sweetheart of a boy. The other is my witch-girl, who is the great-granddaughter of an Oz Witch. (Yes, it's obvious which Witch we're speaking of, but she'd rather not get into thank you. And it's great granddaughter as I decided to follow the Wicked Years books for lineage). Her name is Kelly Maladicta, and she's very much a leader type. Neither have anything other than stock materials, but once I find something that perfectly suits them, money permitting, it will be got.