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ADVENTURES IN DOLL MAKING

Soooo... making dolls huh? This is one of my hobbies! I do it pretty on and off, it's a lot of work, and it's tedious work, and I'm an impatient person. I tend to either rush my projects before I lose interest or go at a snail's pace in short bursts of progress over a longer period of time. The latter dolls tend to turn out better. I also sew all the clothing for my dolls.

(Keep in mind, this page is still not done yet and may be rewritten in the future.)

Thunder v.2 (wip)

My current project and most ambitious doll to date. She is planned to have detachable wings and tail.
She is over 40 cm tall, and my biggest doll yet. Despite being nowhere near finished, I have already sewn over 20 articles of clothing and made 4 pairs of shoes just for her..


The creature all dressed up.



In her infancy.




WIP pictures that show the process of jointing her limbs.


Materials: paper clay, wire, elastic, fishing svivels*, paper clips*, pencil, foam**, hot glue and old leather scrap.
Materials yet to be implimented: super glue, magnets, primer, acrylic paint, mr super clear matte, felt and fur.
Tools: scalpel, whittling knife, sand paper, paintbrush handle, awl, pliers, wire cutters, saw and dremmel.

* To help with stringing, probably placeholder. | ** As a filler in feet to reduce wheight.

Thunder v.1

The first Thunder. She is a very janky doll and has needed various repairs and adjustments since creation. I have so many regrets around how I made her, made many mistakes that I have learned a lot from. She is stuck in a state of "being fucking ugly" at the moment because I can't be bothered to touch up her paint after my last effort to improve her joints a little. It did help a massive amount but in the end, it only proved it was a lost cause to begin with. Her joints just suck. She has a magnetic tail and is balding an insane amount.


Paint around joints ruined by haphazard repair.


Materials: paper clay, wire, elastic, super glue, magnets, acrylic paint, paint markers, varnish, and fur. Tools: scalpel, whittling knife, sand paper, paintbrush handle, awl, pliers and wire cutters.


Rofa cat

RRofa cat! I actually made her after I began working on Thunder v.1, but I finished Rofa first, so if we count from the time of "completion," Rofa is older. I don't have a lot to say about the process of making her (nor do I have many pictures), except it was very stressful since I was on a tight deadline (because she was a birthday gift for a friend). IIRC I made her over the course of only 3 or 4 days, from lump of clay to fully painted finished doll.

Materials: paper clay, wire, elastic, acrylic paint and paint markers. Tools: scalpel, whittling knife, sand paper, paintbrush handle, awl, pliers and wire cutters.


Pepsi

Pepsi was my return to doll-making. After not having made a single doll for around... 5 or 6 years? I had some paper clay lying around and got the urge. She was 100% an impulse project and has had a lot of small revisions and adjustments, plus a few repairs since I first made her. She's a lot easier to do those kinds of things to because, besides her face, she is completely unpainted and unvarnished, just raw clay.

A simple girl... she only has four ball joints total, two at each hip and knee respectively. However she also has swivel at her feet and rotation at her shoulders. Her torso is NOT hollow, but has two separate hollow channels at the upper torso and the pelvis to allow for stringing. Her neck, head and torso is one single piece with no articulation.

Despite her limited range of movement, she is probably the easiest doll to dress. Let Pepsi be proof that if your doll turns out a little wonky at first... sandpaper will turn any 3 into a 7.


As you may have noticed she was made with long "hair" that was later cut.

Materials: paper clay, wire, elastic, hot glue, super glue, yarn and paint markers. Tools: scalpel, whittling knife, sand paper, paintbrush handle, and wire cutters.


My first doll

My first doll... I made this thing when I was 12 (turning 13). This cat made out of polymer clay and has huge glass marble eyes... Its weight is probably closer to Thunder v.2 than any of the other dolls. And this one is the smallest out of all of them. This little fucker has gone through a few repairs, mostly to the hands, feet, and as is probably obvious, I've had to make it new ears. This beast has. the tightest elastic channels of all time... I have no idea how I strung it last time I had to replace the elastic as an adult, let alone how I fucking did it at 12 years old???? It has ball joints at the neck, hips and shoulders. It can rotate at the chest, hands and feet. There is also some limited movement "up and down" at its feet (like from standing on its soles to as though standing on its toes).

Materials: polymer clay, super glue, fabric scrap, marbles, paint, elastic, hot glue and wire Tools: the oven? honestly i can't remember it was like ten years ago.


Failed and bandoned attempts.

My second doll ever we will not talk about, a perpetually sticky polymer clay wench with animal taxidermy eyes. Abandoned by god and banished to live at my old friend, former classmate and neighbor, Soleils house. She is not my problem anymore.


Animal polymer clay wire armature artdoll. My third doll. So this one is very different from every other doll on this page. Both because it's a very different type of doll, and also because it's not anthro. Incomplete yet whole, I even still have the fur I bought for it all those years ago just lying around. I've considered continuing it, but idk... It feels weird. Like I very much could finish it at any time, but it's not really my project? It was the project of the 13-year-old me. If I complete this beast, would I not be defiling an artifact of my childhood? Is that a strange thing to think? I feel like I am too old now... I'll let you know if anything happens to it.


WTF is that?


Yes that is the doll. In the jar. Most of it anyway...

A lesson against colored paper clay. This is a more recent attempt at making a doll that went wrong. Side project while working on Thunder v.2. It had a whole body once. That body is now dissolved in a glass jar of disgusting pink slurry that I am too scared to touch because last time I opened it, it reeked of something evil. I don't want to talk about it. I won't attempt to finish this doll, it has provoked me to levels of incredible rage. The only surviving pieces are the hands and head. I have been using the head to test primer for Thunder v. 2. The only silver lining of its existence is to be a lab rat for the greater good.


Still just parts...

But wait a sec! There may yet be a sliver of hope for our fallen friend! The head turned out too ok to give up... I have no plans nor ambitions with this one, it's pure trial-and-error spontaneous sculpt. I need the practice, and there it was! The perfect victim to be my base for my evil experiments...


I consider the cat, pepsi and thunder v2 to be my most sucessfull dolls. Rofa also turned out good but i




So you want me to tell you more about making dolls?