#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]

Finally getting around to posting about NYC Dollcon, which really is mostly just my haul lol

I went with no solid plan of things to buy beyond "cute, anachronistic, pink things for Vanora, and also shoes" and managed to find some things. A lot of vendors didn't have much 1/3 scale clothing, or what they had didn't feel like the right style. Unfortunately, one of the shirts I bought for her is too small, so I'll have to look into selling or trading it, since I don't know if I'm particularly motivated to take it apart and alter it to fit better. And the pants that I bought for Faolan are too big, so same thing with those (I was thinking of the pants for his formal outfit when I got them, but honestly, I can just make some simple ones for that anyway). I'm still undecided on what want to do about his body, so I'll probably wait for those. But I bought the things below, including the exclusive head from Logan Dolls, which will become Mercutio, aka discount Shakespeare xD! I got another wig for Vanora too, that's a bit closer to what her hair color should be. It will still need to be styled into a partial ponytail though, so I'm still at "well see how this goes" that I am with her other one lol. I might leave one down so she can have somewhat different hair styles, probably the other one, since it's a little shorter.

Bonus of Vanora in the outfits (minus the heels because i can't seem to get her flat feet off to swap them for heeled ones lol) and dollisabeth in the flower crown I bought for her :3

I went to the molding and casting panel on Saturday, which was really interesting. I don't know if I'll ever sculpt anything, but it could be good to know even for making little accessories or something like that. I mostly wandered and shopped Saturday, and we left a little early xD Sunday I went to the Tianba faceup panel, which was really cool! I also went to the zbrush panel, which was interesting for the bit that people weren't interrupting or arguing with the host (some people were seriously SO RUDE! It was made clear at the beginning that the panel was meant for people with no experience and those who'd tried it wouldn't gain anything, but that didn't stop people who'd tried it before from staying and trying to ask more advanced questions or just argue in what was labelled a beginner panel). I have blendr anyway, not zbrush, but seeing some of the basics would still have been cool. And I also went to the one of joint engineering, but that definitely went mostly over my head because I'm nowhere near trying that xD

The VIP tickets were worth the extra expense! They came with so much stuff! I might have to get a project doll at some point just so I can use the eyes from Tianba, because they're lovely, but don't suit anyone I currently have. And the little teeny monster doll from Logan dolls is cute! the heels have little hearts on them! I'm kind of afraid to try anything with her at the moment though because she's so small lol

I still haven't figured out what to put in the commission forms for the faceup I won in the raffle, so I'm working on that slowly xD I am probably overthinking it, like usual. But also, it says to send the eyes for final pictures, so I need to finish those first I feel like. I think I can also ask for them to do the ear "piercings" which also means sorting out one of his earrings, since it's not a typical stud or hoop. I'm still really excited about it! I've never commissioned a faceup before though, so I'm not quite sure what information is helpful to send and what's more relevant for an illustration (and what's just me infodumping about characters tbh lol).

Overall I enjoyed it! I don't know if I'd go every year (it's an expensive trip with travel and hotel costs!) but maybe every few years if they keep doing it. It sounds like it was successful, so I imagine they'll do it at least one other time.

[quilleth]

Back at work after the weekend away for NYC dollcon and man I do NOT want to be here T_T

I'll make a proper write up about my time at the con later (after I get through this slow AF day in the office) but I had a good time! I saw a few people I know there, got to go to the faceup panel from Tianba and a few other panels that were really interesting (even though in one people were being SO RUDE to the host and would not stop interrupting her so she didn't get to present the whole thing), and most exciting for me, I won the raffle I wanted for the faceup from Angel Toast!!! Like the universe went "happy birthday to you specifically, quill." :D I need to figure out how to word everything for their sign up form and the detail sheet still, but Faolan will be getting the uwu soft boy faceup he deserves lol

[quilleth]

I got possessed by hyperfocus productivity the last few days and drafted some patterns for Vanora's basic outfit, starting with her pants. I made a pair from a really lightweight poly/cotton blend, but I'm waiting for some variegated thread to arrive so i can finally use the decorative stitching embroidery function on my machine before adding the waistband ties (so the ends of the stitching are caught in that seam).

So i made a pair from an old tshirt. I'm thinking for the teal pair, I might sew a simple waistband on the front and a couple of snaps at the side backs instead of having them tie in the back, since it created a lot of bulk. Or just using ribbon instead of a tie in the same material. technically, her pants can be worn in a variety of ways, but the likelihood of me actually doing that for her is pretty low, so if they don't have the "proper" ties, it should be ok.

I drafted the pattern for her top, but I haven't sewn the mockup yet to test it, since i randomly decided to finish the itabag i started making a few years ago ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ I'm not sure why I didn't do more on it at the time beyond depression/ burnout/ etc. but i should hopefully have it done for the con, since it'll be easier to bring around than a full backpack or my purse.

I also painted the charm for Vanora's bracelet. I might do another layer of dry brushing to make it look more like driftwood, and then I'll seal it. Since her body is here now, I can actually make the bracelet for it to go on too, so I'm going to try to get that done in the next few days. I'm still pretty pleased with it in general tbh! I'm pretty sure I'm going to go with the larger one. Her charm is technically supposed to be a tern and i'm pretty sure these are some kind of swallow, but when painted, the shape isn't too far off.

I am still undecided what to do about Faolan, but I'm going to worry about him after the con. Maybe I'll find something there, who knows.

I still need to finish their eyes and dye Vanora's wig (i sort of got into the pattern drafting and sewing instead of doing that)

[quilleth]

PACKIDGE!!!

and i'm working from home today since we had to take the dog to the vet's so i can actually open it when there's daylight!!

I'm excited and nervous abut it and REALLY hope the pantone number for milktea rose i pulled actually is close. and i'm excited to see how they did the modifications to get a muscular girl body for Vanora

[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]

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]

Ok, finally went through my pictures from box opening, and 1) damn the carrying cases Resinsoul sends are nice! 2) the body i ordered for Faolan is too dark T_T I knew this was a possibility, but it's still a bit of a bummer. It is really nicely sculpted though, and seems to stand pretty well out of the box with no adjustments to the stringing and no sueding, etc. 3) I will probably be restringing theses bodies anyway so that the knots are in the torso and not on the s hook because that sure makes the heads hard to put on! Also the s hooks for their hands wanted to bite me which is just rude, but I did manage to get them on myself without needing to ask for help, which is a win for me and my weak little bird wrists.

But like seriously look at these cases! I was a little worried the box was smaller than the ones I've gotten for other, single, doll orders but they're fine, and since they're packed in these cases with a squishy pillow and not a trillion layers of cut out foam, it makes sense the box was smaller

Peek of Vanora's with the heel feet and jointed hands. This blue is really pretty, and i think luckily, it's pretty close to the marker color i use when drawing her!

More picture spam under the cut for both brevity and doll nudity xD

Cackling because dang Vanora your tiddies xD (but also i was very much like oh no what do i do with those about all that extra elastic)

I took measurements yesterday so I can work on drafting patterns for her, and her bust is the same measurement as their 68 cm girl body! Which is actually right about the same as the Dream Valley body girl's measurements. Her shoulders and waist are a little wider, and her hips are narrower, but the neck and chest are about the same. I didn't make any requests regarding her bust size or anything other than for the neck t be about 8.6 (it's a little closer to 9 i think, but her head still fits ok), assuming that it's be about the same as their 1/3 girl body, but since the overall chest for that one is 22cm, and the waist is 15, I can see why they might have modified the slightly larger girl bust piece to work with the 1/3 boy torso. The abs are a little softer than on the 1/3 boy body, but i don't mind that and can emphasize them with some blushing.

In some angles her head looks a little small, but i think (hope) i can accommodate for that when I do her faceup. I'm sure someone could probably mod the head to have a less rounded jawline but after dolbei jun's ear mod fiasco, i don't think I want to try it!

And a couple with her wig, which I need to dye and see if i can figure out a way to style into a half up ponytail without showing all the weft lines. It's a little too long too, but i figure that's better than too short.

(Bonus very blurry emote stickers of Vanora and the party's sorcerer, Raven on my craft cart in the background xD)

And onto Faolan....*sigh* I knew it was a risk that the color would be off, but I was hoping it would be closer, ngl. This is on me, so I'm not upset with Resinsoul or anything, and it is a nice light tan. Just doesn't match. I was hesitant to send them a headcap, and didn't take as much time trying to find a paint swatch from the hardware store that matched the headcap to mail to them instead, so used a color picker and one of the swatches on Switch's website and a photo i took to get a pantone number. Don't do this if you want a closer match, folks! It does mean I need to decide what to do about it though, which is a little disheartening.

The head is a little big, which I knew would very likely be the case. No one gives head height in their measurements, just diameters, so I've been a little :/ about it since his head arrived, given the diameter is about the same as Vanora's, but his head is definitely larger.

Hybriding is hard, but I just do not like Switch's bodies, and it seems kind of impossible to find other slim boys. Resinsoul did say they could make the bigger boy body less muscular, but aren't able to change the height, so they suggested the Cen body instead. I think with some kips and a neck protector and a little bit of fudging the cut of his shirts to give the impression of wider shoulders, it will be fine. It seems more pronounced in photos than it does to me in person.

Of course, since the color is off, I need to figure that out first. I can always dye/ blush the head to match the body (the easiest, cheapest route), or I could order either a) a Cen head to match this color body (i almost just ordered a full Cen doll at the time, just in case, and am kind of kicking myself for not doing the smart thing and going for it), or b) a new body and send them a physical swatch that matches his current head in the mail to match from that--the choice here would be order another Cen and try to sell this body, knowing it's probably not an exact match of their default light tan, or order the bigger boy body, knowing the dimensions are probably a better fit out of the box and try to do some mods myself to make him shorter (scary! saws are involved! also i'm not sure how much i can take off and from where before the proportions get all out of wack! it's i think a 70cm body, and the max height he should be is 65. That's a lot to take off!)

I took a couple of pictures with his wig too, and I almost think matching the head to the body might work better. I almost think the wig color makes the head look too pale, but I also know that things naturally end up a little darker during the faceup anyway. Also, even though it's a pain in the butt to match, milktea rose IS a pretty color and I paid extra for it :/ It's an odd shade because it's almost more like a "normal" color, until I put it next to one of my normal colored dolls where it is definitely darker.

bonus puppy inspector!

And the two of them together

[quilleth]

Little update for doll Vanora and Faolan:

I'm still waiting on the bodies, so I will probably not be able to have them with me at the con in March :'( I'm kind of disappointed by that, but I'm telling myself that it's probably for the best, so they don't get damaged or lost and that way I won't need to carry them around with me all day Sunday after checking out from the hotel. On the plus side, this means more room in my luggage for things I buy at said con >:) (hoping to find some good shoes for them, and maybe some better eyes. And maybe other accessories and fun random outfit things lol).

I made the charm for Vanora's main bracelet, minus painting it to look like wood. The nail art stickers worked really well!

I'm going to use the bigger one, and I trimmed down that branch.

Worked more on eyes (also eyes for my Dollightful bunny and dollbei jun, but those aren't pictured lol). I need to clean them up and seal this layer before I try doing more details or doming them with resin, since this is mostly various shades of watercolor paint. Clean up for the ones for Faolan will also mean needing to refresh the scelera, since it's a little stained around the iris lol. The ones for Vanora aren't really the right size and are too blue, but I have a shimmery black mica i want to use to see if that can get the depth I want in them, after I seal this layer.

I also ordered some sandals for her from amazon, but they're unfortunately made form the super cheap pleather and arrived already cracked and flaking. I might take them apart to make a pattern and reuse the sole, but it's frustrating. The current material is like a perfect match for her shoes in the art of Vanora i got from Maya Kern :/

I also made a pattern and mockup of a shirt for Faolan, that needs the armscye dropped, length overall added, and to be taken in at the sides. So I've been figuring out how I want to do that.

[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]

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]