Duriel Development Diary (NSFW)

This is where I’m collecting all the materials related to Duriel!  Duriel is the main male protagonist in my light novel series, and he’s Gabriel’s husband.  He spends several thousand years as a fallen angel, where he’s forced to do terrible things just to survive.

Duriel began as an IOS Blood, and it’s still one of my absolute favorite male doll sculpts.  However, as time has passed, his skin has become a more olive brown color, and I’ve been much more conscious of it than I was before.  Also, I’ve found a lot of sculpts that I think fit his facial structure better than Blood.  Still, I’m keeping the IOS Blood Duriel, because I do love him.  He’s just not a perfect fit anymore.

I had been sort of vaguely thinking about reshelling him for a long time.  Since I’d been working so much on his concept art lately, the places where he wasn’t a superb fit we’re getting more and more clear.

On top of all that, I just like vinyl a lot more than resin.  If I could have a vinyl Duriel, that would make me the happiest.  I wasn’t really sure that was possible though, apart from me putting a resin head on a vinyl body.  Duriel is physically in his late thirties, but he looks older than that due to the circumstances of his life (and his genetics.  And his general personality) so none of the sculpts available for vinyl boys would work for him.  In anime, adult and middle aged men are generally drawn much more semi real than anime.  This is what helps people to identify that the character is older.  Without a sculpt that emphasizes his facial features, Duriel just won’t look like Duriel.

Spoiler warning: naked man ahead.  It’s just anatomy design sheets, to show off his scars. As you can see, I’m still redlining to get him on model, but here you can see what his facial structure is like.

 

And here you can see his build and the scars he has on his body.  He’s so scarred and beaten up because he worked as a hunter of fallen angels before he became one himself.  After his fall, he ended up in a nasty altercation where his wings were totally burned off (hence the burn scarring on his back).  He actually tore some other parts of his essence apart and fashioned some new wings, but they’re unfortunately made of broken glass, and they cut him up every time he manifests them.  That’s why he has so many fresh lacerations on his back.  The magic circles are to keep the physical damage minimized and contained, but it still hurts like hell.  He’s the Lord of Pain, go figure.

Blood Duriel actually has an earlier design for his back scars that I painted myself when I blushed him.  I will probably end up doing the same to my new Duriel eventually, but it’s not super high on my list right now.

So here’s the worksheet I considered when choosing the new sculpt for Duriel.

 

I looked at dolls from Granado, Iplehouse, and Sartoria J, along with IoS just for comparison.  I really wanted a Granado Vindoll, but I wanted Udell in Tan, and he hasn’t been released in a few years and wasn’t available new from Granado or on the secondary market in that color.  I hemmed and hawed over it for about two weeks, and then went ahead and pulled the trigger on a Vindol Udell in bronze.

Of course, one day after I bought my Udell in bronze, I found him on Mandarake in tan, and so I bought him too.  I’m going to look at them side by side when they’re both here, and make a judgement call over which is going to be Duriel.  I’m still going to keep both of them because I just love the Vindoll body that much.  The Not Duriel Udell will become another male character I have, Melekel, who happens to be Duriel’s nephew, so the resemblance will make sense.

Because of Duriel’s hairstyle, I know I either have to make a lace front wig or commission one.  I have all the materials to begin, I’m just waiting on some nylon.  I also want to try and make a version from Suri Alpaca, but I want to begin with nylon because I love how it feels.  Before I make the wig, I need to make sure I’m absolutely certain of how I want it styled, and just where the white and grey streaks are.  It’s funny, but there are a whole lot of ways for that brushed back hairstyle to work, so a finalized design is important.

I’m also planning on making some custom eyes for him, because, as you can see, his pupils are small.  This is part of the endeavor to give him a “mean face.”  He looks scary.  That’s part of the idea of his character.

One of the reasons Blood Duriel doesn’t look a lot like Duriel is because of his hair and his eyes.  I definitely wasn’t prepared to make a custom wig for him back when I first began this hobby more than a decade ago.  Now I’m much more confident, plus there are other artists out there that I can commission if I just get frustrated doing it.

In his civilian form, he generally wears three piece suits, or a suit with a lab coat in place of the suit jacket.  He’s a hospital director who is very particular about how he dresses.

This is some earlier concept art, which is probably pretty obvious.

Duriel’s voile (his clothing when he’s an angelic) is inspired by a combination of regency fashion and military uniforms. I have some pieces that will work for it already, and other pieces on commission, or on the drawing board for me to attempt myself.  You can see the redlines on this piece too, but I’ve already done most of the corrections, they’re just not in this draft.

He’s a very closed off person, guarded, quiet, serious so he’s absolutely covered in buttons, buckles, and belts.

What will likely be the most ambitious project to make regarding him will probably be his weapon, simply because of how absolutely huge it is (and how ornate, because I have problems and have to cover every surface with complicated designs).  His assassin garb is on the far right.  It’ll be fun to sculpt the skull mask.  I’m also looking forward to the light armor pieces.

So that’s where I am with Duriel currently!  I have lots of stuff to get done before he looks like himself.  I also can’t wait until my other Udell arrives so I can look at them together.

He’s already got some clothes, but I’m waiting on stain blocking garments for him before putting him in anything other than white.

No worries from me though.  It just means I get to enjoy semi naked time for a while.

Duriel’s faceup has been finished and it looks amazing!  It looks super close to my mock-up, and obviously incredibly close to his concept art.

I can’t wait for him to come home.

Wow, his faceup is looking awesome! 😍

 

He totally gives me Kaburagi from Deca-Dence vibes! So glad the Vindoll worked out so perfectly for your character, I too would be sad if I had to do one of my characters in resin--especially at that size! 

Wow, all the ideas and work you put into this character is awesome! He look so incredible! I wish, I had the discipline to do that... unbelievable! Can't wait to see him finished! 

 

So I had to post an update because original Duriel got a major upgrade!

He looks so spot on (apart from skin color).

Don’t worry!  I’m still working on the Vindoll/vinyl version of Duriel as well.  I need to make some new eyes for him!

 

This costume from Volks is honestly astonishing.  It’s so close to my original illustrations, as close as an outfit from Volks is ever going to be lol.  It’s unfortunate that vinyl Duriel can’t also wear it, but it’s a difference in body size.  Vindolls are taller and more totally ripped lol.

And here is a bonus image, of Duriel and Gabriel together!

Yes, he is holding her freely with no other support than a saddle doll stand.  He held her like this for over a week, before I realized his outfit might stain her and that she needed some strategic masking tape lol.

BEHOLD THE POWER OF ARMATURE WIRE.

I am on a quest to make my resin dolls behave like my vinyl dolls lol.

Edited October 24, 2021 by Gabihime