#quill's bjd adventures

[quilleth]

Well, they're not perfect, but looking at the different stages of these ear mods definitely does help me see progress xD I still need to paint them to color match, and there's definite rough patches, but oh well

Compared to last November (yes it's taken me this long. i got REALLY frustrated and stumped on these and just didn't work on them for a while)

I ended up adding more miliput to the upper helix and fading it in that way, and I sanded down the lower edge and the inner section too, since it wound up not looking even or right (still isn't tbh).

Hopefully it'll look ok once they're the right color, but I'm calling this good enough xD

[quilleth]

Hmm doll dyeing adventure #3 did not go nearly so well as 1 and 2 :/

Attempted to dye Vanora's head, and while the dye took ok on the ears when i was testing colors and time, it got a little blotchy on the headcap (spots of glue maybe?) and took very unevenly on the head itself. Like..one eyewell took the dye darker than the other, which i might think would be dye pooling there, except i had the head on a string and was moving it in the dye bath, so it wouldn't have had time enough to pool enough for that. The back of the neck barely took, same with the forehead, plus there's a weird mark at the top of the forehead where i'm assuming something with the glue holding the magnet in (which fell out at one point) interacted with the resin, because the headcap did the same thing. It took evenly inside the head, which is odd. (The first one is after dyeing and rinsing, which is why it's wet, and the others are a few hours later)

I scrubbed her down before i started dyeing, so there shouldn't have been any oils or mold release left on it. But i guess I'll have to try to wipe it, clean her REALLY well and try again. And maybe up the concentration for the dye bath some too next time, so I can use shorter dunk times. Since it didn't turn out well, I might go ahead and buy some kentucky sky (this was a combination of tropical teal and sapphire blue) since that looks like on its own it's a warmer toned blue a little closer to the marker color I use when drawing her, though i think it's also quite light. But of course i can't find good swatches of it to be sure. I don't need this to be darker per se, i just need it to be even.

it's funny because I've seen people say Loongsoul resin dyes badly, but I had hardly any issues with it the couple times i dyed dollbei jun (and those i did have were on me and i know what i did). But this dreamvalley resin...damn

[quilleth]

Ok I need to type this up and post it somewhere so I can feel guilty if I don’t make steps to follow through or something that sounds like I have somewhat fewer mental eelnesses than I actually do..or something (I can already hear my therapist going “no it’s ok if things don’t go to plan and to not be busy all the time”)

But!! the dollcon is like...less than 3 months away (eeek!) so I need to figure things out STAT and get working on them if I want to bring doll Vanora and Faolán with me...which I do because I think they said there’d be a photo booth and my camera and photo skills are not great ><

Plans (and some sketches) under the read more because I am mostly babbling for my own reference lol

I ordered custom bodies for both of them from Resinsoul last month, and I think they should be here at the end of this month-ish, which works because I have the last week of December and first of January off of work, and work remotely until mid-January to boot. I am extremely nervous about how well the bodies will work, especially the Cen body I ordered for Faolán, but making a doll shorter seems more intimidating than making one taller or faking bulk with careful clothing construction, so I went with that instead of ordering the bigger boy body that might have suited better. I may eat my optimism about this plan later on. I am slightly less worried about the custom body for Vanora because a) they’re modifying the neck to suit the head I have b) there’s not another option available really anyway c) I know they’ve done the modification (making a female muscular body from one of the boy bodies) before with their ¼ scale dolls. I may cry however if they end up redoing their 1/3 girl body in the wave of new bodies they’ve been doing lately xD The new ¼ bodies have been really pretty! I will, however, roll with the current 1/3 scale because that’s what I have lol

I also need to get over my fear of messing up with the airbrush so I can color match Vanora’s head to the body >< I ordered the body in Resinsoul’s sky blue, since that feels like it will be easier to match the head to the body instead of trying to do a custom color and potentially needing to fudge both to make them look like they match. That’s my other worry about the Cen body. Finding a color match for milktea rose is difficult, and finding swatches even on Switch’s site was hard. I found one that sort of matches some of the pictures I took and a corresponding Pantone number, but color matching is never 100% guaranteed. I may need to do a lot of blushing to make it work or it could be a disaster (in which case I will probably cry in frustration tbh. Any other body I could get for him is significantly more expensive and too tall/ bulky. I’d have to try to sell this one and then order probably a dfh 65cm boy, since I think they can color match MTR, but there’s no way it’d arrive on time and the muscles bother me. Luts SSDF has a slim boy body, but it’s even more expensive, and they don’t color match, though I heard their Bronco resin color is close. In an ideal world, Vings 68cm body would be available in 64-65 cm and not 700 bucks but, alas. This is not that world).

Reason #2 to stop being afraid of the airbrush: faceups and sealant. I live in one of the states that manages to always either have too high a humidity or too cold temperature (or somehow, both) for finicky MSC. I have Army painter air matte varnish and have heard good things about it, and I know their paints work really well, for minis at the very least. But sealing the faces to do the faceups requires figuring out the airbrush and I’ve currently built up a huge block around that because I’m afraid of messing up (see also: imaginary comments from my therapist. This poor woman has had to hear about my odd hobbies and my apparently connected fear of failure so much lmao. I’m working on it.)

I have sketches for both of their outfits already done, and thankfully they’re fairly simple. I ALSO managed to behave and go through my fabric stash before I went to panic buy fabric at the fabric store near me that’s closing, and I pretty much have everything I’ll need already, save for a shade of dye or two, which I can get easily enough at Michael’s with a coupon and educator’s discount (win for me!) (Faolán's sketch is decentish but my god was drawing it a struggle. For Vanora, I have a base I made that I trace for each outfit I want to design for her, but doing the same for him just would NOT work no matter what. I ended up having to print it out lightly and draw over it that way and I’m still not entirely pleased with it. He is frustratingly difficult to draw the way I want! I guess that’s what I get for making him suffer lol)

I’m going to start with the clothes first. Or at least Faolán's, because I think the measurements are similar enough to the Loongsoul 62cm boy body that I can use it to test them. I need to dye some fabric first, so I will work on that this weekend/ next week. Thankfully his style is practical, flowy, and “artfully worn,” so it can look a little grungy or over sized and suit his personality. I’ll have to guesstimate for Vanora’s pants and drape the top once she gets here. Her pants are wrap pants, so they’ll be adjustable in the waist. Her top is decidedly less forgiving, but draping is my preferred pattern making method anyway. Just not sure what the bust is going to be like until the bodies get here. Resinsoul busts on their 1/3 girls are uh...very perky let’s just say xD

I do want to make formal outfits for them too, because that whole sequence in our campaign continues to hurt my feelings, but I can do that later on and don’t need to have it for the con. I do however, need to figure out shoes for them, which is apparently impossible because no one makes doll sandals it seems. I’ve found a couple, but I’m not sure if the size will work, so I think I may have to make some. RIP to me and both of them because they’re probably going to look janky.

I have a wig for Faolán already, and one for Vanora as well, but I need to dye and style it. Dyeing it I’m not too worried about, but I don’t know if I’ll be able to style it “correctly.” She may just have to have her hair down :/

I need to figure out eyes for both of them and should probably just order the ones I’ve been looking at for Vanora like...yesterday. Faolán has hazel eyes and finding ones that match what I was picturing has proven as difficult as finding sandals. I started making some but I need to finish them and hope they look ok. I might buy some at the con if I find ones there that I like. I did start making some for Vanora too, but Dolly Planet has some that I think would be really fun for her.

I’m planning on going light for accessories for them so that there’s fewer things to risk losing, so while I do want to make Vanora’s sword and a healer’s kit for Faolán at some point, I’m not going to worry about that until later (who knows, maybe I’ll find some cool things at the con I could use for those!). Vanora however needs her bracelet. It is an absolute necessity; she never goes anywhere without it! I found these 3d nail art stickers that I’m going to try to use to make the charm. Thankfully it looks like there’s 2 of each design, so I’ll stick them together, with a loop of wire or thread to act as a bail, and maybe use some putty to hide the seam and add stability before painting it to look like wood.

Their earrings should be easy enough, since I have wire and jewelry findings and seed beads here. I do think I may need to either remember how to make friendship bracelets or rig up a tiny tablet weaving loom for Faolán's belt though xD Which I should’ve thought of sooner. RIP me part deux. I have a bunch of embroidery floss though so either way I can figure that out.

The other part that I need to figure out is his tattoos. And I have no idea how to do that. I need to sketch them out still to have some kind of plan. But drawing/ painting them on is going to take a lot of time, and I’m not sure if I’ll be able to find and tweak decals to suit how I want in time. I may have to accept that I won’t be able to have this done in time, but I don’t like it. I am now kicking past me for going “yeah tattoos are cool, let’s give him a half sleeve and neck-piece in lore and never figure it out beyond ‘plants’.”

Likely overestimating my time/ motivation/ energy would also include making a bag to carry them around in. But I’m still going to write it down here anyway. I have some vinyl so I could make it kind of like an ita bag. But I’d need to make the pattern, and figuring out yardage and supplies is not really my strong point for something like this. I’m pretty sure I have zipper tape and fabric that could work around here though, in my hoard. It doesn’t need to be too fancy, just sturdy and padded enough with something to keep the dolls in place. And backpack style so my hands can be free while I’m walking around. I also need to get a new suitcase before the con because the one we have is from 2006 and beaten to all shit ><

[quilleth]

Hmm I suppose I should stop being anxious about ordering the bodies I need for dolls and order them soon, since who knows what kinds of shipping situations there will be come January, especially on goods from China

[quilleth]

Well the Dream Valley resin either is just like That, or it hates me specifically (leaning towards the latter because most dye projects on DV i've seen have turned out beautifully). Dyeing attempt # 2 did not go any better than the first one, sadly :/

You can see the unevenness on the forehead and the neck pretty well in these pics. It's much more obvious in person (I didn't bother redyeing the headcap, but you can see the spots where the dye just didn't take at all too. I'm assuming there's some kind of glue from the magnets and/or the emblem).

You can also see where something was going on with the headcap and the head both where the magnet is that specifically affected how the dye there took. I wonder if maybe that has to do with why the forehead had issues, but that wouldn't explain the cheeks or back of the neck.

So I guess i need to figure out how the airbrush i have works so i can go that route instead :/ I guess it's a good thing Impldoll's muscle girl body isn't out until who knows when given how dyeing how gone. I'm just going to airbrush it one color, cross my fingers I don't fuck it up doing a faceup, and will request a custom body from Resinsoul in the right color.

My poor girl :( World's tiniest plus- the color does match the mock up i was doing, more or less.

[quilleth]

Ehehehe the NYC dollcon exclusive is a tiefling doll, and he's available in pink!

That means discount Shakespeare Mercutio bjd *will* be happening! He'll be a smaller scale than everyone else, but I guess that's ok given I impulsively ended up going 1/3 for Vanora and Faolan >< also then maybe he can chill on my desk with me sometimes. Not sure how I'll manage his hair since he has an undercut but that's a problem for future future me xD current me is just excited tiefling won that poll lol

[quilleth]

Once again dealing with my nemesis, pattern drafting ><

[quilleth]

Dammit Switch stop coming for my wallet like this!!

[quilleth]

I think I'm going to have to suck it up and just request a customer body from resinsoul for bjd vanora, both for the costs and so I'll be able to bring her to the con with me in March :/

I really would like the impldoll muscle body, since the sculpting on their new bodies is nice and they seem to pose really well, but she keeps getting pushed back for other releases and their turn around time seems to have gotten longer than the 3-4 months it was (understandable with all the releases they've been doing). But I feel bad because I've been occasionally dropping in social media to ask about it, but unless it drops in the next week or two won't be getting it :/

At the same time though I'm already going to be ordering a custom body from resinsoul for bjd Faolan so....it makes sense to just do that for them both. Hopefully they'll be able to accommodate the request. Based on measurements and other hybrids, I need to see if they can combine the chest piece of the bigger boy body with basically everything else from the newer cen body for him. The neck/ shoulders of the cen body are about the same as the 62cm loongsoul I have and they're a little too small for the muhyul head I got for him on DOA, but it seems the bigger boy body works pretty well without looking off.

And or course hopefully they'll be able to do a custom muscle girl body based on the old 60cm/58 cm bodies they have for vanora. That's the big thing I should be worried about probably lol but I know they've done it at 45cm scale before so there's some kind of precedent

Plus side - if I'm ordering custom bodies anyway, I can actually just have them be around 60-62 cm instead of bumping it to 65 like I would've for the impldoll body :) that'll make them easier to bring places and display

[quilleth]

Trying to get pictures of the Boys (hualian bjds) outside by some pretty flowers was a fail and has cemented in my brain that I am never getting dolls taller than like 65cm ever again. IDK how people get nice pictures of their dolls outside without completely bungling things. Like...this was just in my yard and it still was a disaster lmao

Guess they're just doomed to live in the cabinet forever

[quilleth]

The universe has flipped me a giant fucking bird this week so i'm going to commit retail therapy to make myself feel better and go ahead and buy a head for Faolan now...if I can decide which one to go with.

I have the money, so why not? Yes I also need a body for Vanora still, but the Impldoll muscle body isn't out yet anyway.

There's a few on the secondhand market i like, and Muhyul and Ruan are up for order on Faithz, but most of the ones I've looked at I'd need to modify in *some* way--either dying (the easiest tbh, though I'd have to remove old faceup residue on some and that could be a gamble), or changing the eye shape, or both. And I'm a little nervous about doing eye mods on an expensive switch head :/

[quilleth]

Impldoll released more images of the new muscle girl body!!

I'm not a fan of when companies use high contrast lighting because it makes the details hard to see, but it looks really pretty! I want to wait and see when they release more pictures and measurements before deciding it's what I'll go with for Vanora. I really didn't want these dolls to be another 400+ each T_T

[quilleth]

uh oh...Switch has Muhyl up for pre-order again on Faithz....

Since finding second hand head sculpts I like in milktea rose is so difficult, and most other dolls I've bookmarked for possibilities for Faolan would either need to be dyed (i don't mind doing this, and obvs I need to do this for Vanora anyway, just blue not light tan) or modded in some way (mostly eye mods and I'm in no way shape or form confident enough to do an eye opening mod) or both this could be a sign. But someone posted a MR Doha the other day too (I really like Doha! He's a super cute sculpt! But I think he might be a little too...sweet looking for Faolan)...

but also after going to a doll meet yesterday (so much fun!!) and seeing some 1/4 dolls in person....i am still waffling on selling the DV head and going that route xD

I need someone to make decisions for me lmao

[quilleth]

I was going to say now that a cat isn't using my arm as a pillow i can post an unboxing for the dream valley vanora head, but freya decided to nap on me again xD (it's ok she's older--14 this month!-- and her health's not very good so she can use my arm as a pillow if she wants). i just need to type one handed i guess lol

so the reason the box felt so hefty when it arrived? is because this is what the box for the head looks like! cushioned and padded inside and that black outer is fabric! like damn this is a NICE box y'all (featuring uninterested inspector #2)

She came with a postcard print of Adria and one of Vanora, and the COA (also really nice. like wow dream valley lure me in with nice boxes and holo coa printing! unfortunately they're not releasing the body as a human body so i probably won't actually be getting more from them, but never say never!)

She also came with a nice pair of eyes that sadly, won't work for anyone I need eyes for and couldn't get a nice picture of, but they're a pretty purpley grey

My lack of spatial reasoning strikes again because i thought these ears were a LOT smaller xD I almost feel bad that i'll just be using them to test dye formulas

The Dream Valley White is a warm toned white more like a cream color as opposed to the paper white from Loongsoul (and Ringdoll and Charm Doll I hear, though I don't have any white dolls from them). I'll have to keep that in mind when I look at dye formulas.

These ears are SO cute! I don't think the 1/4 bunny girls have the same detailing on their elf ears, but the new jellyfish girl does i think. I think this could be really fun to paint for my Vanora, since she is a genasi and I usually draw her with some pink/ coral on her ears (like fishy fins without actually giving her more fin like ears)

I apparently have a thing for sculpts with slightly open smiles like this xD Idk i just think it's cute! and it matches the first dollmaker thing I made of my Vanora.

She also has a cute profile!

now I just need to figure out a body for her. Interestingly, she's listed as having an 8.6 cm neck, but when i was looking at her it seemed larger, so I thought I'd see if she could fit the 62cm Loongsoul boy body which has a 9.4 cm neck. Her head fits fine and moves ok on it, but the aesthetics don't look good to me (the neck looks too thick, and obvs it's a boy body), which is good to know and keep in mind when looking at bodies for her! Some of the 60-65 cm girls have like 9.5+ cm necks, so I'll know to avoid those ones. Also it was just generally funny xD Her head is 21.5 cm and Bai Jue (dollhua) is like 19, so it's definitely a shift in aesthetics in my bunch I'd say xD

The only thing making me waffle about it (other than there not being muscle bodies in the 60cm ish range) is that i could (should?) get a body for her and figure all that out now, or I could get a head for Faolan now and try placing a custom order for their bodies through Resinsoul at the same time (cen for him and asking if they could do a custom muscular girl body like i've seen them do with their 1/4 dolls before). The latter would potentially save me needing to dye as much (easier to request a custom body color to match the dyed head than try to dye a head to match i think) and potentially be a bit cheaper, but if i get her sorted now, then i can customize her and potentially have better luck getting a switch head in milktea rose for him if i find one i like second hand or get really lucky and they rerelease Ryuzo again. Most of the dolls i've got bookmarked for him second hand are normal resin, so I'd have to dye them a light tan. Which i don't mind per se, but also milktea rose and ryuzo are really pretty xD But if I don't get something for him now...then the heads i do have marked might sell by then...and then i have to find another option! There is one head that's tan that I have bookmarked, but it has a pretty faceup already and I'd feel bad wiping it :/

Decisions are hard ><

[quilleth]

[quilleth]

The Vanora head i ordered shipped today!! I wasn't expecting her to ship until near the end of next month based on the time frames people were listing in the Dream Valley waiting room!

Since it's just a head, the order didn't qualify for free express shipping, so I chose air mail, which can take a while, so she might not get here until the end of next month anyway. But still!! She'll be here soonish!

Which is probably a good thing given the recent recasting shit with the star line for Impldoll :( i hope they won't discontinue the line, and that they'll still go ahead with the new muscle body, but if she's here sooner, then i can get a better idea of if the head will work and look into ordering a body. The star bodies are so pretty, and even the basic and model ones are toned, so even if they don't post more about the muscle girl soon (impldoll please! you said it'd be coming soon in January! T_T i need info!!) one of them would work nicely for her I think. Probably the basic one because she's shorter and has a more natural shoulder line.

Then I can worry about figuring out a doll for Faolan too. I'm still debating between a soom head and one from switch. And asking Resinsoul if they can make a custom Cen body that's a smidgen taller, so he can be taller than Vanora (listen, he's two inches taller than her and he fought for those two inches xD He deserves to have that height difference saved in doll form too, ok)

I guess i need to really work more on that faceup mockup in csp now though!