PJ's Playing with Dolls!

I thought I'd make a little photo journal for my customs and such. I tend to document my process pretty heavily, so do bear with me and all the photos.

First up, I got an Imomodoll Canis head off ebay, with a faceup already done on him. I decided to name him Westley.

He didn't come with these eyes, they're little plush pillow-y things I stitched up and embroidered really quickly. They don't fit that well, but they were better than nothing.

I tend to make mock-ups before I customize dolls, and my girlfriend likes to help. So we'll usually go through several passes of designs together.

Left is my initial mockup, and right is her improved one. I'm not very used to anime-style things, so she was a big help for this and one of my other faceups!

First layer! I would go back in with heavier pastels and add the eyebrows in the second layer.

And the finished face! He probably could have used another pass to add more purple/black to his eyebags, but I'm chronically impatient and the hour wait between MSC sprays kills me. Plus I live in a place with really inclement weather, so I just have to work when I can. I already have eyebases on the way for Westley to make him some custom ones that fit the concept art, but as for a body...well. I don't know if any resin bodies would fit tan, and the Imomodoll 68 body seems far away...

Did you know one of my favorite movies is John Carpenter's The Thing?

I....miiiiiight be making him a body based on that....

Success! Not the finest sewing of my life, but it'll do, and the ugliest parts are hidden by the head. The fabric is from a dress lining I seam-ripped for parts ages ago, it's been one of the most useful fabrics I own. The armature wire means he's fully posable, but it's a bit fiddly to get all his legs on the ground at once. Westley has a wig and some eyebases on the way from Taobao, but the Lunar New Year means they're a few weeks away. I think his personality is a sort of horrifying alien like The Thing, but kinda just a guy? Like, he just wants to go to work, get groceries, go home and watch documentaries about trains.

Today's a bit of a double feature!

I got this mysterious head off Aliexpress (bad form, I know) that has no markings besides a mysterious 'HJ-1' on the back of its head. If anyone can identify it, please let me know! I also happened to win an ebay auction for an obitsu bust, hips, and thighs that came with a random head, that turned out to be the exact same sculpt.

(Btw, if anyone knows where I can cheaply get some obitsu frame bits, please let me know! Parabox is out of stock for the chest and neck bits atm)

I already had the concept of a cheerful Dullahan character who swaps out heads according to his mood. I wanted to make him a 'main' head and maybe an optional one as well, but I have all these obitsu parts now! So I decided to make siblings.

I made a rough pass and handed it over to my girlfriend, who knocked it out of the park with a second iteration. We discussed that I wanted a kind of spooky but cute character, sorta like the Vtuber Seto Kazuya.

Here's the first pass. Note that I have the handshake of severely caffeinated cheetah, and am naturally heavy-handed, so my faceups still come out a bit clunky. I need more practice (and some finer tools).

Pass two. (I know you shouldn't really use watercolor pencils on vinyl, but uhhhh. I don't know what else to use. And this head was like 3 dollars, so if it stains it won't put me out too much.)

And the final head! Like I said, a bit heavy-handed, but I'm just glad I could get the eyelashes relatively delicate. His name is Hilowe, and he's a cheerful little guy in stark contrast to his older sister. I'll save her for her own post.

Your faceups are great!  They're both very unique - I love how they came out!

2 minutes ago, Insmas said:

Your faceups are great!  They're both very unique - I love how they came out!

Aw, thank you! I really like kind of cartoony, wacky faceups, I'm so glad you like them! ^u^

So. The second identical head.

It came to me with a faceup already on it, and a little dirty. I think it was sealed from too close up? You can see the patterns of the droplets, and it gave the head a sorta grimy and mildly sticky feeling. I was able to remove most of it with isopropyl alcohol and a magic eraser, but it blushing vaguely stained the head, and the areas the eyeliner had been were lighter than the rest of the head because of that. To try and work with this, I decided to make a heavily-blushed head with a thick upper eyelash line.

Just my concept this time, so a bit looser! I used the same photo I did with Hilowe, since the head sculpt is the same. I thought a sort of flustered tsundere look would be cute. The eyes are based on a pair I'm waiting on right now!

I'm a sucker for thick eyebrows.

First and second layers! I dunno if I didn't scrub the old sealant up fully or what, but two little areas on her head picked up pastels way more than anyone else. So I gave her two little scratches.

And finally, Hilowe and his sister Nohwe together! It's crazy how different they look considering they're the same sculpt in the same skintone. Hilowe nearly blends into the white background. Those are all the faceups for now (or well, the only on-topic ones) but I  hope you enjoyed them!

It's that time again, more faceups! A longtime dream of mine, I finally got a Mini Dollfie Dream! She's a DH-22, and her name is Tramontane, or Monty for short. It's the name for the northern wind in parts of Europe! I'm planning her being a little witch type of girl, and wanted her face to be very sweet. My girlfriend and I went through many concepts for this, much more than my other faceups. Eventually, I managed to combine two of the design ideas into something I was happy with:

Forgive me, the base blank sculpt photo was from Instagram, but I can't remember the user. My girlfriend also drew the eye design for me based on a pair I have arriving soon! I also got new supplies for this faceup! Specifically, Faber-Castell watercolor pencils, tiny tiny nail art brushes, and Vallajo gloss varnish for her nails!

I don't have really any in-progress photos for her, so instead you'll have to just see the finished (bald, eyeless) product! I'm making her a pair of eyes for temporary use, but they're still drying.

Here's a picture of her hands as well! I really like the soft pastel color, and ended up glossing her nails for a subtle cute look. I feel like my faceup skills (and photo skills) are slowly but surely improving! What do you think? Until next time!

Small update: Her painted eyes are finished! This is my first attempt at this kind of thing, so they're a little ehhh, but I like them enough!

I finally got a chance to make Westley's eyes, and with that and his wig arriving he is finished for now! I only wanna put semi-"finished" dolls on the little doll profile things, so he'll be the first one up there! I set up a tiny shoot for him that I call "the school picture day".

Not bad for my second pair of eyes, I think! A bit uneven, but I owe that to my chronic hand shake. He's such a little dude and kind gives me like, cursed Vocaloid character energy? Like Shiteyan'yo or Larval Rin, or Tako Luka if you're being nice to him.

5 minutes ago, PlasticJester said:

I finally got a chance to make Westley's eyes, and with that and his wig arriving he is finished for now! I only wanna put semi-"finished" dolls on the little doll profile things, so he'll be the first one up there! I set up a tiny shoot for him that I call "the school picture day".

Not bad for my second pair of eyes, I think! A bit uneven, but I owe that to my chronic hand shake. He's such a little dude and kind gives me like, cursed Vocaloid character energy? Like Shiteyan'yo or Larval Rin, or Tako Luka if you're being nice to him.

I think you could make a Shiteyanyo doll work, if you ever wanted to 😂 Very nice collection of little guys on this thread.

12 minutes ago, Imawerecat said:

I think you could make a Shiteyanyo doll work, if you ever wanted to 😂 Very nice collection of little guys on this thread.

Well now you're tempting me! I've been considering the logistics of making a "plush wig" for a while now, making one with armature wire in it can't be any harder. I think it'd need a band around the bottom to hold the head in it and hide the neck hole though.

4 hours ago, PlasticJester said:

Well now you're tempting me! I've been considering the logistics of making a "plush wig" for a while now, making one with armature wire in it can't be any harder. I think it'd need a band around the bottom to hold the head in it and hide the neck hole though.

I mean, you'll never know until you try...

Tramontane finally has a wig and clothes! I'm not suuuuuper thrilled with her first photoshoot, but I got at least one good photo!

My gosh, what a bean! She is perfect, and those horns add some nice extra flair. The pose suits her energetic vibe.

I got the wig and clothes for my Imomodoll 1/6 boy, and so now I can formally introduce you all to him! Say hello to TJ!

He doesn't follow my normal naming scheme for my vinyl dolls (they're all themed to directions and navigation!), and that's because he's a shell of a character! Specifically, he's my own very specific take on SCP Foundation's SCP-590 (aka TJ Bright). His article is due for a serious rework because it's kind of really bad, so my girlfriend and I drafted up what would we have done with the character, and I got attached. Next up on the list of dolls to work on will be his boyfriend, stay tuned!

You may have been able to guess from my new signature, but I have two new dolls that have joined my household! One of them is a bit unique, so today I'm gonna focus on my Imomodoll Maru, Eric!

I had a general idea of how I wanted him to look - both him and TJ are essentially 'chibified' versions of how I draw these characters. But me and the GF decided to both have a pass at a mockup.

Left is mine, right is hers. I preferred her mouth, and I tend to draw Eric with big eyebrows, but I was really happy with the sort of graphic lower lashes of mine. So I messily mashed the mockups together.

Thaaaat's better! With a general guideline in hand, I went to work.

Full disclosure, I recently started a new job, and it's also been crazy rainy out. So Eric actually spent a few weeks on my worktable waiting for his final coat of sealant. I was also waiting for his clothes, wig, and eyes in the mail, so I wasn't too burnt up by it. He actually ended up sealed just a few days before his items arrived!

I wanna give him the usual "school picture day" white background treatment, but I've been sick the past week, so it might take a while. Until then, here's a more candid photo:

He's the one I was searching for a blue hoodie for! And ofc I find a more character-accurate blue zip up later on OTL
His wig is too light, but I'm otherwise happy with him! Him and TJ will get a photoshoot once I recover from my sick. Hope you all enjoyed!

 

You did a great job he looks so cute! I love the big eyebrows 

4 minutes ago, roro_robot said:

You did a great job he looks so cute! I love the big eyebrows 

Thank you! I love drawing big eyebrows, they add so much character to a face!

Ok, I decided to take it slow and get a photoshoot done anyways. Eric and TJ time!

Eric and Fuzzy, also known as SCP-066.

Eric and TJ are kind of reckless dumb teenagers, but they try to look out for each other.

Next time is my other new doll! Wait until then!

Time for that new girly I was telling you all about! I got aaaaa Dream Choice! A Dollfie Dream Pretty DDH-19 in tan, specifically. I ADORE the DDH-19, and finally got to order a Dream Choice via proxy! I also nabbed some tan DD hands for her, and I think the big cartoony look is very cute. Everyone say hi to Polaris!

I love her so so so much! Her and Monty are gonna be friends! I also have a little project in the works, but that's for next time! See you later!

What a cutie! I love her eyes, and that wig's shade usually isn't my favourite, but it fits her so well!

Oooo she’s so cool looking!! I also love DDH 19 🙏

1 hour ago, Yami Usagi said:

Oooo she’s so cool looking!! I also love DDH 19 🙏

I knew I had to get a DDH-19 as my (first?) Dream Choice! I'd eventually like to get one of the boy bodies, but I need to wait until I have some extra funds for that!

A couple of firsts today! I did my first eyehole mod and used my dremel for the first time ever!

Some of you guys are probably aware that I got a jet-black vinyl head. It's actually the same mold as Hilowe and Nohwe, just in 1/6 scale. I got it specifically for an oc of mine who is a 6 year old boy, so I wanted to make the eyes larger (and maybe buff out that chin scratch and make the nose softer). First came carving very carefully with my box cutter:

After some fine-grit sandpaper and a melamine sponge, I decided I should really break out the dremel I got a while back. It was a little scary at first, but I got comfortable with it surprisingly quickly! It'll be hard to see the results of it though, since I didn't think to take any pictures post-dremel of him blank.

The character is named Little Boy Lost, and he's a voidy space-like creature from between dimensions. A star kid, if you will. Here's a drawing of the character, and the mockup I did of his faceup!

His eyes are meant to be two subtly different shades of blue. I thought some little star "eyebrows" and blue eye lines were a nice touch on a doll. I really broke out my tiny brushes on this one. I also made him two custom eyes with buttons!

The carving is still a bit rough, but I'm happy with a first attempt! Unfortunately, his eyes don't sit fully flush because I had to carve away two little cups in his eyeholes, which was hard as hell in the small space of his head. I'm likely gonna dye him a body in the future, and figure out how the heck to get "hair" for him I like. A little hat, maybe? Or just jet black hair in a similar swept style? Maybe have fun with giving him clothes, even though he typically doesn't wear any!
I actually finished another faceup just today, but I wanna give people a chance to admire this boy before I break out the next one. But as a preview: I won an auction for a Real Doomsday head on YJ!A recently! Until next post!

No custom photos today, but my Dollbot girl arrived, along with her top and skirt! I slapped some socks I sewed on her, some vintage Crissy shoes, and a Taeyang Sol wig that's probably 12 years old, and got some pretty cute photos! I also swapped her eyes out, I feel it's pretty fitting for a pirate! Meet Compass Rose, the Captain of the Mapserpent!