Monday, January 24, 2011

† Cosplay Planning: Ciel Phantomhive sneakpeek

I just got the wig today I am very very pleased with it! Made a really quick make up and put it on along with what I could find for my cosplay and this is what it looked like:


Also, I CAN'T SEE SHIT when I don't have my glasses on and an eyepatch DO NOT make it better. That is why I will have to wear lenses and if my budget says yes I will buy coloured lenses which I can see through.
I will be a blind Ciel if I don't.
So You be glad I even got to take these photos as I barely saw the camera XD! Thank God for my butler and my cane, otherwise I would probably just end up in a rabbit hole somewhere...

Sunday, January 23, 2011

† Project Ball Jointed Doll 47-50 cm: Made a wig

Yesterday, my family found this fake fur hat (?) among our hats so I decided to give it some use.

Using this tutorial Simple wig tutorial for all sized dolls (sorry but you'll have to register) I managed to make my doll a wig.

Well, he looks a bit like a troll for the moment but with a few minutes of styling he will probably look like a real person (well, if you do not mind him having no eyes...).

A few years ago I found a sock for cellphones which works super as a hat!
I will probably let him wear it whenever it is too cold outside.

The wig also works if I want him to be a scene girl :3

I could make a tutorial for wigs for you guys who do not want to register for Den of Angels.

Thursday, January 20, 2011

† Happy late birthday Kurage!

So I just felt like writing something.

I just wanted to inform you all that Kurage-chan celebrates 1 year with me. (Ok, 1 year and 1 month, but I really haven't had the time!)

Kurage is my plush jellyfish whom I sewn 15 December 2009. He has been my mascot since my keyring Pikachu pensioned off (he celebrates his 12th birthday this summer.)
Hopefully, Kurage will be my mascot for at least 11 more years!
 

For those who does not know: this is Kurage. Happy Birthday!

Monday, January 17, 2011

† Answers to Comments: 17th Jan 2011

Thank you for your support, Sebastian-sama!
 
Thank you for your kind words! :)

I would be happy to meet you on
a doll convention any time!

I still think you should give
doll making a try!
I am sure that your creation would be
as pretty as any of the jewellery you make.
 
Give it a try hun ;)
You make very pretty art, I am sure
you can pull it off if you set your mind to it.
 
Anonymous
I am not sure who you are
but I am glad I will meet you
during OkashiiCon ;)

 
I always appreciate a good luck!
This picture is just for you (as you thought I did not need a good luck)
 
These are parts I cannot use and that I messed up during the doll making process.
It weights more than the actual doll!!!!!

 So don't be afraid to give it a try as long as you 
do not give up even if you end up with an IKEA box
filled with limbs. 

† Project Ball Jointed Doll 47-50 cm: He can stand! Again!



My beautiful boy can stand!
His one leg is still taller than the other, but I will fix that soon.



(Yes, I was VERY nervous about having him stand on his own )


Also, I hate you camera for dying on me ;__;

Sunday, January 16, 2011

† I just bought my baby a new pair of eyes

Two pairs to be exact. Hopefully, they are as beautiful as I hope they are.
All I have been able to decide about my baby is that I really want him to have blue eyes. Other than that, I have no idea.

Here are the pairs I bought:





I think that they will look stunning, no matter what pair I pick. As I will be casting more than one doll, having an extra pair of eyes is not an disadvantage. Would I really hate them, I can always sell them to someone who like them.

The pictures are copied from Safrin Doll's homepage, which is where I bought them a few minutes ago.

† Project Ball Jointed Doll 47-50 cm: He can stand!

My baby stands! (Even if it looks like he is going to pee himself)

I just assembled him yesterday so this is a small yet big update. It is small since I don't have so many pictures (the light was awful) so I will snap a few better today, and it is big since HE CAN ACTUALLY STAND BY HIMSELF WOOHOO!!


His one leg it a bit longer than the other, and that is why he is standing in such a ridicious way. But I am happy never the less. As many of you know, it is a very crucial point in the making of a doll.

My baby got a bit tired though...

... so he went to chillax mode for a while.


More updates later today (hopefully)!

Saturday, January 15, 2011

† Cosplay Planning: Ciel Phantomhive

As I am a member of the Swedish cosplay group Shangri-La Project 100%
I am going to cosplay Ciel Phantomhive on the Hanami picnic in Lund, Sweden,
on which Shangri La's other members will be cosplaying other Kuroshitsuji characters.


As I am NOT going to buy a full Ciel suit for this cosplay I am
planning a fan art inspired suit instead (which I think is a lot more fun).
Here is a little picture I drew so you can get the idea of what kind of
suit I am planning. Most of the things in the picture are things I already
own or just bought, so I have not much left to finish it.

I will probably change a bit of this according to weather and change of taste, but this
I think is roughly what I will look like.



I will update you as soon as I get my wig!

Thursday, January 13, 2011

† Tutorial: How to make a BJD Head†

Tutorial: How to Make a BJD Head in polymer clay

Materials:

You will have to have a few things in order to complete the head (ONLY THE HEAD MIND YOU)
  • Super Sculpey Living Doll  (No, ordinary Super Sculpey won’t do. Trust me.)
  • Tools for sculpting (dentist tools, soft sculpting tools)
  • Aluminum foil
  • Paper tape
  • Baking paper to put your doll on while baking
  • Dremel  or other multitool (with sanding-, drilling , cutting tool)
  •   Different types of sanding paper
  •    Plastic Eyes for dummytesting your doll’s eyewells  (Or you can buy silicon eyes when you are done, they should fit well even without testing)
  •   Rolling-pin that is not used for foods
  • Thermometer for ovens. 

Make a Blueprint


No matter if you are going to make a whole doll or just the head, you should always use a blueprint.
First of all I suggest you to think it over what size your final head should be. You can look around at various sites selling dolls and on most of them you should find measurements which you can use as a base for your head.
As I am making a MSD I wanted his head to be 6-8” all around (I would suggest you to think that over, all wigs for dolls DO NOT come in all sizes).

There are a few ways on which you can get a blueprint:
Get a big paper and freehand draw your wanted doll in accurate size. Make one from the front and one from the left or right side of your doll. Also make the feet and the hands, as if they were foot- and handprints on the paper.

OR

If you suck at drawing on free hand or if you’re a bit lazy like me you can get a free template for your doll from Aimi Doll
I picked a doll template that I found best for my MSD but you should really pick the one you like.

After that, I downloaded a trial version of Corel Draw. I can’t give you an exact guide on how I did the rest but if you take 15-20 minutes to get to know Corel Draw and read a few guides on the subject I think you can pull this off.
Anyhow, I used Corel Draw to get the doll in a correct size. You should use MATH for this.

Example on math you need to know:
You want the head to be 7”.
7”/Pi = diameter.
The resulting diameter is of course the head from ear to ear.

 
It might take some time to get this right but when you do it is really worth it. Don’t worry to get it PERFECT. Your doll won’t be -perfect- in that sense either.
You should do this with the rest of the head too, like the placement of the eyes, mouth etc.

When you are done, export your doll from Corel Draw. If your doll is going to be 40 cm, the final blueprint should be around 40 cm as well.

I downloaded a trial version of Poster7 and imported my blueprint. When I was asked what size I wanted the paper output to be I chose 45 cm, as that is the length of my blueprint. Poster7 then printed my blueprint on 4 pages which I had to tape together.

If you should have major difficulties with this step, feel free to contact me!

Make the head 
 
Now, put your blueprint on the table and crumple a piece of aluminum foil.

Tape it with paper tape (or masking tape). As long as the tape is made of PAPER you should be fine.



Roll a piece of your clay out so that is covers the whole area around the aluminum core.



Now start making the head! First I suggest you mark where you want the facial features to be, before you sculpt.


 Now.
Look at plenty of picture of both faces and doll faces. I printed quite a few doll pictures so I had a reference.
Or if you do not want to waste paper, just use a mirror! :D

Does he/she look like a sweety now? If not, change the features you do not like. It is better to kill your darlings at this step than doing it later.
Pull out the clay in the eyesockets. They should be empty when you bake him/her.
Also, do not forget to apply ears!

Now, bake! Use the thermometer to get the correct temperature. I made the mistake of trusting the oven that 130 C really is 130 C. It turned out to be 180 C!
Keep the thermometer in the oven the whole time while baking.

If you do not have a splendid oven on which you trust your life I suggest you babysit the clay the entire time.
Put the head chin down in the oven to minimize deformation.

Is it done?

Let it cool until the temperature is the same as the room’s and enjoy the head you’ve made!

Now, LOBOTOMIZE!
Pull out a pen and draw on the head so you know where to cut. Don’t be too generous or too shy on  this point, you are really making the headcap.



Put on your safety gear and your dremel with a cutting disc. Take a deep breath and cut along the side of the head.
When you can take them apart you are done. Don’t worry if the clay inside is not fully baked, you can bake that again later. It should be fairly baked though.

Pull out a few tools of your choice and start to pull the aluminum foil out along with the paper tape.
When you are done you should have a pretty little head on which you can sand, drill or anything you want.

Pull out your multitool and drill a hole in the bottom of the head where the neck shall be. If you accidentally drilled a hole that is too big or at the wrong place, fill the hole a bit with fresh clay and bake again. Be sure to pull the clay at the insides of the head before rebaking, so that the fresh clay sticks as good as possible.

 Sand him/her now. You should sand both inside and outside. Test the eyes, see if they fit in the eye sockets. If they do not, don’t worry. Just sand a bit more. If you can’t do that because the clay is too thin I suggest you should buy silicon / soft glass eyes as they fill out gaps better than acrylic or glass eyes.
Also, professional dollmakers makes mistakes that render their dolls unable to use glass eyes so you should not feel weak about that.

The head cap you can make in many different ways. One way is to build an inner lock mechanism like I try to do.
You can also buy magnets to make it fit better. Really, I can’t say exactly how to do this step so I leave it to you to figure it out.

I hope you found this tutorial helpful!