“Refreshing”(?) a doll

I can't speak about the yellowing part, but I removed the company faceups on both my Loongsoul girls and did new ones myself, and while I'm still very much a beginner, I definitely love them a lot more now. Not only do they look more like my characters now but also the fact that I did them myself makes them feel more special to me, though I'm sure I'd have been happy to have them redone by more experienced artists too if I weren't scared of sending them off. So I think if you feel it's time to renew their looks a bit, you should go for it!

 

Resin matching can be done through blushing, yes! I believe yellowing can be somewhat reversed through various bleaching methods, as well, depending on the resin's original color (darker pigments being the obvious no-no).

All of my dolls have been wiped a number of times. I have no interest in company faceups, or any faceup that isn't of my own choosing; seeing my characters come to life isn't possible otherwise. I've also changed my mind on numerous occasions and want the dolls to reflect the shift in writing direction as soon as possible.

Rough tally--

Limhwa Half Elf: 4 times
Soom MD Amber: at least twice; I'm not fully aware of her past history before she ended up in my hands.
Iplehouse SID Stella: once, but I plan to have her eventually redone in the future (her blushing has numerous rub spots and I've scratched a tiny spot in her eyeshadow like an idiot ).
Fairyland Feeple65 Chloe: 3 times
Light Limner Selina: 2 times

 

What’s your thoughts? Have you had a dolls company faceup wiped and redone? Were you happy with the outcome?

I've redone many of my dolls over the years, mainly because I love painting and always wanted to customize my own dolls, I have been a classically trained artist for most of my life now. However, at the time before I discovered BJD I had only seen people customizing Barbie dolls and other 12" fashion dolls, so I was a bit intimidated to try on such small canvases. Then I got my first resin head sculpt and my first complete resin male doll with custom company face ups and I've never redone them, because I love the way they look even now. I think I would never be able to wipe their original paint off, although I did get my third doll with a "company" custom face up and I did wipe him; I was never happy with how that face up turned out and I ended up modifying that doll in the end. I have modified most of my dolls now, with the exception of those two first doll/heads I got with custom company face ups. When I say I modified my dolls, I mean I have subtracted and added material to their facial features, not just paint. I used to modify my favorite doll once every year, now I have slowed down and only do it about once every two years (or more), but it's mostly because I have gotten lazier with old age (I got him in 2007). I think that the part I enjoy the most about customizable toys is where I can customize them myself. I can't see getting my dolls painted by anyone else now; I still feel that I won't ever wipe the custom face ups I got for my first two dolls even though I do get tempted to try. However,I can't see myself ever commissioning anyone else to paint my dolls for me in the future; mostly because I have a very particular view of beauty and mostly because I like doing additive mods and subtractive modifications on most of my toys. Most face up artists don't seem to take commissions if there are mods, or don't do mods themselves. I rather just do all of myself to be honest, even if the end result is not as neat as that of professional face up artist, for me it's just the most fun part of customizable toys as well as being able to redo the customizations over and over again. So, even if I can't do the work a face up artist might be able to, I still feel happy because I can always redo it as many times as I feel like it, and not only learn something new in the process but also bond a bit with my dolls. (:

 

I personally love refreshing my dolls. Even if they have face-ups I'm pretty happy with I like to re-do them at least every couple of years, because it makes me find new excitement in something that has become familiar. I think it's always worth it to wipe a company face-up and have the doll redone in your own image if you have a specific vision because the face on your doll can do so much to bring different characters to life.

A lot of experienced face-up artists will work on damaged or unevenly colored dolls, just find someone who says they don't mind resin matching or color correcting if you need something like that.

 

It might be a good idea to go over your patchy kid carefully with a magic eraser and see if that will help.
I'm planning on re-doing a few of my dolls when I have the supplies all together.

 

Every time I have been nervous about wiping a company faceup the new one has looked much better after I did it. And I have been much happier with them. Even the ones I did myself that weren't great back in the day.

Also, I don't want to get your hopes up, but sometimes uneven yellowing is just dirt. I have bought a couple bodies that had bad uneven yellowing, but a really good cleaning removed it. Underneath they were a little less yellowed but totally even. You might try just giving them a really good scrub with a magic eraser (which is a mild abrasive anyway) and some rubbing alcohol. It might help a little.

EDIT: @Flutterfae beat me to it! But yeah, it can't hurt!

 

Almost all of my dolls have had company face ups removed and have been redone by various face up artists here. I have been happy with all results. I have also had some dolls with custom face ups wiped clean and given new looks as their styles change and evolve or my tastes change over time (I've had more angst over this than company face ups) but I've always been happy with the results

 

The one problem I can see is the possibility of the dolls no longer looking like 'themselves' - the boys that you've known and loved all these years. I wouldn't want anyone to feel regretful over something that's been lost forever, and obviously that's kind of the risk when you wipe a faceup. But if you decide that's not a deal-breaker worry for you, then you should go for it. Personally, I've never been anything but pleased with the results after getting a new face for a doll when the old one didn't suit him, including one that was part of an extremely limited edition.

As for the uneven yellowing, I agree with the others that a good scrub could potentially be all it needs to even it up. And if that turns out to be the case, you might want to explore this marvelous color restoration tutorial and subsequent thread, which could help him back to the land of the living, and aid in the freshening process even more.

 

Faceups fade over time, so I tend to want new faceups on my older dolls every few years. There’s always some adjustment when you’re getting to know how their expression changes a little with each repaint, but it’s a nice way to revitalize a doll you’ve had for a while. It makes them feel exciting and new again!

 

I tend to update my dolls frequently to keep them looking their best. Even perfect faceups will chip, fade and show wear over time. I do my own faceups, so I also like to repaint them every year or two when my skills improve. I’ve been nervous about redoing a doll, but I’m always happy I have.

 

Im buying a second hand bjd through another bjd lover that already has a faceup that i dont really like and i cant wait to remove the faceup and add my own lil personality to her
While i dont mind the factory faceups i prefer my dolls blank as i love customising and hopefully one day plan on taking commissions

 

I dread the day when I have to have any of my dolls' face-ups "refreshed".
Although when I originally got Nadeko, my first BJD, I had plans to change her eyes and get her a custom face-up I very quickly grew accustomed to and came to love her just the way she was default. This has since been the case with all my BJDs that came after her with the exception of wanting my DearSDs faces re-coated with matte MSC to get rid of the gloss on their lips.

I think that when the time does inevitably come that I'll just take a train down to Tenshi no Sato and have VOLKS redo their face-ups.

 

You can blush your dolls to hide the yellowing.
I think it depends on whether the company faceups match your ideas about the dolls' characters. If they look the way you want or like any change may make them look less like themselves. If their faceups don't suit you than redoing them is a great idea. You'll most probably like them even more than before.

Personally, I have only one fullset doll with company faceup and styling. He was nice and everything...but wasn't like my character, so I cleaned his faceup and started to work on more suitable clothes for him and so on. I have an idea how his new faceup should look, but I didn't bring myself to actually re-do it, yet -- my usual problem. But I'm still happy with my decision.

 

I LOVE refreshing my dolls, especially when I feel my faceup skills have improved enough to make a difference. I never feel like my faceups are good enough and redoing them is always at the back of my mind, but there are some faceups (like my girl's) that I'm terrified of redoing. The time will come when I talk myself into doing it though...

The only doll I own who came with a company faceup is my Bermann, but I wiped it a few months after because I much prefer my dolls having my own faceups. I don't usually buy dolls that come with faceups with established artists either because I never want to erase someone else's work.

 

I refresh my dolls' face-ups from time to time, when it has started to fade or it has chips or when I feel they no longer suit them.
I send them to artists as I do not see myself even remotely close to being able to do even a simple face-up but I think it is the smart thing to do if they need it or else I'll be looking at them and complaining about it to myself xD
My oldest main girl has had 3 different face-ups (in 7 years) and her partner has had 2 (in 6 years) and I'm starting to think he needs his third face-up soon as I feel his character is evolving again.

 

I do my own faceups but sadly I'm no artist so results can be a bit hit or miss and I still don't feel like I can guarantee something will turn out how I want. So I have clung on to some old faceups because even though they were bad, they captured something of the essence of the character and I feared losing it. Also one time I really liked the lower lashes on one eye and it was quite a wrench wiping them! But even though I have done some awful faceups the general trend is upwards and I've always ended up feeling the change is an improvement.

Obviously sending your doll to a faceup artist is a bit different as you have to communicate what you want to someone else. You could take pics of the current faceup and say what you like or don't like - they can't replicate someone else's style but they'll be able to see sad or neutral or sassy eyebrows or how intense the shading is and so on. Getting a new faceup can be as exciting as getting a new doll.

 

It's my favorite thing now to do an overhaul. I love cleaning them, sanding them, re-stringing them and repainting them. It is almost like a bonding process with the doll! I've done one and a half so far and I have three more in the pipeline.