Baron Zemo Custom DDS and DDH-09 Mods

Hi! First time posting, and doll newbie! I'm an artist by trade and have only been in the doll hobby for maybe 3 years, the vinyl doll niche starting this year alone! I wanted to start a thread to show the heavy customization project I started a few months back; So let me set up a timeline!

Late-May to Mid-August 2021;

I won this lot of scrap parts off eBay for dirt cheap. The owner stated it was for parts only, but I figured I would attempt to Frankenstein her back together! Over the next few months, after being kept in a box for a few more as I waited for parts to arrive, I managed to MacGyver her back together. Her right thigh frame was missing entirely, so I was able to find a set of d3 leg internals to replace the missing components. I had to shorten everything to fit the DDS's stature, but she fits together alright, aside from a small gap in her thighs, and a wiggly lower leg on the right. I also replaced her broken shoulder joints, gave her new wrists, and fixed her broken arm.

Pre-mods, the lot of parts I got;

All one piece!!

October 2021;

For the head, I got a damaged DDH-09 head off Facebook in the Summer, where the original owner had attempted to cut the eye flash out themselves and it sort of turned into a bloodbath. I smoothed the eye holes and did a faceup, and kept the doll as a girl for a bit. Originally I intended on having my custom Zemo be a 70cm resin doll, with an April Story Elder body I got from my friend. I even custom sculpted him a head, trying to make him look as much like the actor Daniel Bruhl as possible. However, I much prefer vinyl dolls, and my interest in the project faded.. Until I remembered I had a poor DDS laying around I was doing absolutely nothing with! (After I got a DDdy Towa, she was no longer my only baby)

So this week I began adding apoxie sculpt to the DDH-09 to make the mold more masculine and mature looking, attempting to stylize the actor's face a bit too. So far he's looking very Ghibli-esque, and I really like it! Still sanding to make everything smooth before I paint, as I don't have an airbrush to help cover the mods, so I need everything to be as smooth as possible. 

Concept and references!

Original Faceup, you can see how thick the eye wells still were, and how large I had to sand them to sort of cover up the gouges from the original owner. I made the eyes myself.

First pass of apoxie!

 

Soon I want to get a SS bust from the Volks store (following luciaxtrix's post modding a DDH-07 and SS bust!), along with a set or two of large hands; But for now I'm going to focus on the head and start sewing some clothes so he isn't stuck in girl clothes for much longer! I know this isn't a standard post but thanks for looking!! I really just wanted to share all I've been doing ^_^

Thanks for sharing this! I'm looking to get into Dollfie Dream to customize and create clothes, so all of this is particularly interesting! 

8 hours ago, Hiruma said:

Thanks for sharing this! I'm looking to get into Dollfie Dream to customize and create clothes, so all of this is particularly interesting! 

Thanks so much! I really love vinyl dolls, especially Dollfies, because of their customizability! Excited to see what you make later on!!

4 hours ago, cartoonautopsys said:

Thanks so much! I really love vinyl dolls, especially Dollfies, because of their customizability! Excited to see what you make later on!!

The customizability of Dollfies is certainly impressive! I used to work on GSC's Nendoroids but the tiny size of everything became a bit too straining. Still very much in my planning phase but I will be sure to share once I get going.

Please also keep me/us updated on your mods!