Elven Haruhi

I would say they are kind of permanent since they are molded onto her and heat set but I bet I can break them off.

 

How did you heat set the Sculpey without melting the head?

 

~Sister Kyoya

Glued already baked and finished ears? That's quite obvious, I think

Not necessarily. I've done a fair amount of stuff with Fimo (a polymer clay like Sculpey) and it can have the tendency to change shape a little when it is baked. Round things get small flat spots where the clay rests on the baking sheet. From the way the explanation is written it sounded like they were cured on the head so all I could think of was something like a heat gun, and even that didn't make a lot of sense.

 

~Sister Kyoya

I would use the hotglue - it's pretty safe on DD heads and quite permanent.

Volks uses this for eyes and they are hard to remove.

Also fills some gaps when the surface is not even.

Haha. Did not expect you to put her with elf's ears.

 

She look stunning.! Maybe a mdd eleven haruhi would make her so much cuter!

 

I would totally want to see that

Sister Kyoya is right. The whole head went into the oven with the ears on for 10 minutes at 275ºF (135ºC) because the polymer clay changes shape too easily and would likely not fit back on the DD head. It was a risk to "bake" the head but it came out looking just as it did going in. I am surprised how durable the vinyl is. I remembered a post about the heat gun Billy used to loosen some arm joints on his girls. Someone said too much heat would melt the vinyl. Heat guns emit air at 100°C - 550°C (200-1000°F). So 135ºC seemed like the lower range of a heat gun.

 

Thank you, masahiiro. I will try Haruhi on a MDD body when the parts for MDDIII come to Volks USA. If you are wondering where the MDD body I had went to, Billy has two MDD girls now.

It's a little bit crazy and super gutsy to put a limited head in the oven, so kudos to you Mitsuki~!

 

The elven ears look really great - you got a really good colour match with the polymer clay blend.

Wow

 

The heat stability of PVC is very poor, when the temperature reaches 140 °C PVC starts to decompose. Its melting temperature is 160 °C

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polyvinyl_chloride

 

It was on the verge of disaster, I think. Longer exposure might cause at least the evaporation of plasticizers from vinyl and thus material becoming more brittle.

It probably shouldn't be heated more than ~70 °C, at least not for long.

Thank you, archangeli, for your support! Thank you for the information, Kumi.

 

I was wondering if heat stabilizers are in DD vinyl. Is the thermal conductivity and heat stability different between the softer vinyl of a My Little Pony or the softer bust vinyl of a DD compared to the more rigid (at least for older heads) vinyl of the head and internal frame components?

 

Heat stabilizers

 

One of the most crucial additives are heat stabilizers. These agents minimize loss of HCl, a degradation process that starts above 70 °C. Once dehydrochlorination starts, it is autocatalytic. Many diverse agents have been used including, traditionally, derivatives of heavy metals (lead, cadmium). Increasingly, metallic soaps (metal "salts" of fatty acids) are favored, species such as calcium stearate.

 

hmmm DDs could be made of plastic and heavy metal. That might explain some DDs' music choices.

Sister Kyoya is right. The whole head went into the oven with the ears on for 10 minutes at 275ºF (135ºC) because the polymer clay changes shape too easily and would likely not fit back on the DD head. It was a risk to "bake" the head but it came out looking just as it did going in. I am surprised how durable the vinyl is. I remembered a post about the heat gun Billy used to loosen some arm joints on his girls. Someone said too much heat would melt the vinyl. Heat guns emit air at 100°C - 550°C (200-1000°F). So 135ºC seemed like the lower range of a heat gun.

 

Oh my gosh, I'd be too terrified to put a limited head in the oven! It really did give me an excellent idea on possibly how to make elf ears (or other similar type mods) for any of the DD heads. I think all it would take is the Easymold Silicone Putty I've been looking at for a while that I've wanted to use for some DD projects. First I'd use the putty to make a mold for just the ears, then make a reverse/negative mold to use to build the elf ears on (so the head wouldn't go into the oven). Make the elf ears out of Fimo/Sculpey and bake it on the cured putty form (the mold putty is heat resistant to 400 degrees F) and making a 2 part mold from the baked ears. If this would work I'd end up with a 3 part mold for each ear to use for more ears later. I would also be thrilled to see if the mold putty would also work with the Tamiya Epoxy putty or if it would stick to the mold (thus ruining it.)

 

If either option works it really could make a difference in custom DD mods for things that I don't think Volks is likely to do. The Tamiya putty description says it can be used for making things like armor and elf ears and I'd imagine that it would cure harder than Fimo and doesn't need to be baked (generating potentially dangerous fumes) and may make more accurate pieces. I've wanted to use the Easymold for a while now, but seeing the potential in this way is seriously exciting with the prospect of near seamless custom ears!

 

~Sister Kyoya

Sister Kyoya is right. The whole head went into the oven with the ears on for 10 minutes at 275ºF (135ºC) because the polymer clay changes shape too easily and would likely not fit back on the DD head. It was a risk to "bake" the head but it came out looking just as it did going in. I am surprised how durable the vinyl is. I remembered a post about the heat gun Billy used to loosen some arm joints on his girls. Someone said too much heat would melt the vinyl. Heat guns emit air at 100°C - 550°C (200-1000°F). So 135ºC seemed like the lower range of a heat gun.

 

Thank you, masahiiro. I will try Haruhi on a MDD body when the parts for MDDIII come to Volks USA. If you are wondering where the MDD body I had went to, Billy has two MDD girls now.

 

you are truly brave lady! I feel so inspired now!

That sounds like a great plan, Sister Kyoya! Will you give it a try?

 

Thank you, di-chan123! I wouldn't have tried it if this wasn't my second Haruhi head. I wanted to do something unique with her.

Regardless, she is adorable.

Thank you, Misheru!

That sounds like a great plan, Sister Kyoya! Will you give it a try?

 

Definitely. I just got my belated birthday money from Raven's grandparents and I wanted the mold putty for my birthday anyways. Last year my in-laws gave me a bunch of different colors of Fimo they bought at a yard sale and thought I'd like it. It was an overflowing gallon bag of tons of colors and I've been itching to get my hands on the putty since I found out about it a few months back.

 

I've tried using other Fimo molds but hated how it would get warped when the piece was removed from the mold, that's why I'm thrilled that I can bake the shapes in the Easymold to get around that annoying issue. Tamayuki has been asking me about more DD food for months, but I'm a perfectionist that can't stand the the thought of making one perfect cookie (for example) and have all the rest be not as perfect. I did this a while back with a couple of tiny chocolate shapes and have been waiting for the mold putty to duplicate them for a whole box of DD chocolates. So realizing that I could do ears with all the same stuff is just a bonus.

 

~Sister Kyoya

Since this is morphing into a materials discussion I figured I'd share what I used the other day to try and replicate what mitsuki did.

 

http://www.sculpey.com/products/clays/sculpey-ultralight

 

It's a sculpey, and can be colored with sculpey III but it's super light and is flexible (vinyl levels) after it's been baked.

 

 

And Kyoya, I've been trying to work on ones that can be removed, but I've been failing at getting them to secure properly.

 

I like the idea of making it with the putty mold though. It would take a lot of the uncertainty of the whole process. How are you thinking of having them attach?

Edited November 11, 2012 by Guest

That's awesome about the Sculpey UltraLight Misskale! I have been wanting something like this for ages to do DD food out of. I was worried about the custom ears not being even a little flexible and one tiny topple would chip or break them.

 

For the ears I was thinking of doing them to fit over the ears like the Obitsu ones do, rather than just adding on like in your photo. Your ears look great by the way! For me, doing an ear mod would be a permanent change for the intended DD so I was simply going to glue them on. However I have been thinking about using the LeekeWorld Ear+Horn magnets if they would be strong enough for removeable versions. Basically I'd have one magnet on the inside of the head and one on the outside (sitting in the middle of the ear) before making the mold of the ear, if the magnets are strong enough. So by the time the completed ear was done there would be a space already for the magnet to be glued into the Sculpey ear, making it easy, very close fitted, and secure. If it would work, the best part would be that no modding to the head would be needed.

 

~Sister Kyoya

This Sculpey® UltraLight™ sounds awesome! I want to try it!

This Sculpey® UltraLight™ sounds awesome! I want to try it!

 

One thing I found out is to let it cool down after blending... The ultralight will keep it pliable, but if it's still warm it will stick to you more than the vinyl.

 

>_<

Oh I'm INLOVE with these elf ears!! If I were to send you a doll head, could you do the 'elf ear' treatment for me?

She looks incredible! I love elf girls and the Haruhi doll- the two things together go together better than peanut butter and jelly.

That sounds like a fun project, AmuletSoul.

 

Thank you, mrsmarks! I love Haruhi expression. She is great as a mischievous elf.

WOW! How cute!!! And both girls look wonderful as elves! I am truely jealous! They look gorgeous.