Custom dollfies!


It's been a long Chinese New Year holiday. I finally managed to complete painting and hair-styling my first two custom 1/6 dolls. They're the first decent results since I've completely failed in my previous attempts, lol.




They're head-to-toe Volks, from body, head, to their outfits. The girl wears a Tenshi-no-Koromo outfit. The guy's clothing is from WTG-BF Selfish line. I regret not picking up the jacquard jacket and shawl collared jacket while I was in Japan, because now that I want it, it's out-of-stock on Volks' website. X<

The Neo Go #3 head turned out to be more androgynous than I'd preferred, but I tried my best to downplay the pouty lips.. with not very much succcess, lol. Still have another #3 head to paint before I start using the manlier looking #2.

The female head is actually a mini, on a midi body. The proper midi head is bald because I haven't taught myself to root by hand yet. I'm still learning as I go along and reading tutorials by experienced customizers. On one hand, looking at their work inspires me, on the other hand - (and on bad days I must admit) it's depressing when my own results fall far short of their standards. But I'll keep trying, heheh.


Cutting their hair left these two small clumps, which I'm reluctant to throw away since it costs quite a bit to import doll supplies. They're too short to root another head. Anyone have any ideas?

I haven't thought of names or backgrounds for them yet, but I'm thinking along the lines of the blonde guy being a lesser known relative of Lestat, of Anne Rice's vampire novels fame. Seems to fit him wearing the frilly shirt.

I'll replace these with better photos after Timo lends me his camera. :)

8 comments:

milk said...

First try?!
*speechless*
I think you did an excellent job and there's so much detail in the eyes. *___* I can't wait to see what you do in the future.

I never thought of picking up those Tenshi no Koromo outfits. But that one's really nice. Gah I can't afford all of Volk's stuff. It's just too expensive.

I think they both look vampire-y to me. But then again, I love vampires so I'm a bit partial. :3

Love them! <3

Mizu said...

Thanks!! Those are really encouraging words. *_*
It wasn't a first try per se, but they're the first I've decided to keep. I love your customs, and your blog was one of the reasons I picked up the hobby when I saw what you could do with blank-faced dollfies and picking the right clothing. ^_^

I still don't have very good brush control yet. And I'm ruining my brushes. XD

The fine ones from Volks are so great to use, but I keep finding that the tips on mine don't stay sharp and pointy for detail work. Do you have any advice keeping a brush's tip pointy?

Anonymous said...

you done quite a nice job on your dolls.

you could always keep the hair from streaking/highlighting or do a medium length root (or do duo tone hair).

wish I was as hard working as you to do doll work during the long CNY holidays *lol*

Mizu said...

Thanks for the suggestion, Iwa! I see that you've done a good deal of hair rooting. I haven't tried Dollyhair or US sources yet, but I've ordered a bunch from Noix de Rome along with their elf heads. I'm gonna use a hair rooting needle from Volks, but if that's as tedious as ppl say it is, I'll try the neat tool that Nat (Milk) came up with on her website. :3

Do you still get your Obitsu from CSC? They've got far too few heads and bodies and most are the light-skinned variety. They hardly seem to restock either. I'm hoping for more local sources for Obitsu, Volks, etc, but it's such a niche hobby.

Anonymous said...

I get my Obitsus from Junkyspot now. There's more selection head, body and skin tone wise.

Sad lah, local market focus more on male military 1/6 (considering the the fan base is mainly male)

O_o! You ordered NDR elf's head. I always wanted to try those but don't have a character for the head. At least you might be able to make Link out of those heads

*lol* I'm a sucker for punishment, unable to resist pretty hair colours.

Mainly order from Dollyhair because of their range, you can also try Volks whenever you order stuff from them at least it be cheaper to ship in.

I think I should go see Milk's rooting method before I start a new head (hopefully it be less tedious than my regular method (knot method)

- knot as much hair as possible in 1hr (watch whatever's on tv as distraction
- watch TV or DVD as you root hair
- poke needle into head to make hole
- take out needle and reverse the needle, eye first into hole
- eye of needle come out from neck
- use thin wire to pull knot of hair into needle
- pull needle out along with hair

milk said...

You're most welcome! I think the compliment was definitely well deserved.

Oddly enough a good way to keep your brushes together is to keep them oiled. When you finish painting, swish the brush around in acetone to get any dried out bits of paint. Then rinse with warm water and dish soap. After that, I always run the brush over a part of my body. The oil from the skin can re-oil your brush and condition it naturally while in storage. I got that tip in art class. XD Or simply dip the brush in water and store it like that, letting it dry on it's own to keep it's shape.

The rooting method on my site is good but I've actually stopped using it. I prefer a more secure method now since I realize I'm pretty hard on my dolls' hair. :3 You might want to consider that before picking a method to root.

milk said...

By the way, on average Japanese artists use their brush no more than 5-10 times before they dispose of it. A bit wasteful if you ask me, given the prices of some of these brushes... but I can see why they would do that.

Mizu said...

Iwa - I'm trying to order from Parabox's Japanese site, because they carry some rooted Obitsu heads Junkyspot doesn't stock. Have to pay a small fortune in S&H either way. :S

Nat - Thanks for the advice! I have to take better care of my brushes if I want to paint in detail... I suppose Japanese artists can afford their extravagances if they're selling their customs at a tidy profit. Speaking of such, I'm still keen on seeing the custom heads you plan to sell. X3