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1/4 Mini Doll General Questions

Feb 4, 2016

    1. I currently own a 1/4 MEI Bobobie from Junkyspot.com. I have had her for over 2 to 3 years now, unfortunately I had bought a shirt from Nine9style.net and she wore it for a long time. The shirt seemed to stain her stomach black, and of course without thinking I attempted to remove it with a sponge BUT ruined her resin and she yellowed in that area.

      So my question about that is:
      Is there anything I can do for her resin to fix it ?

      Another issue I have currently is, She has had her default eyes in since I have gotten her. They seem totally fine and the putty is holding up well. I have been hearing in other Doll groups and YouTube videos about some ways to change the eyes that don't work well. I would possible like to change her eyes in the far future, the blue eyes are pretty but I feel like another color would work better with her white skin and bright blue/green wig.

      So my question(s) about this is:
      What is the best putty to use on eyes?
      What size eyes fit best in these sized dolls?
      Where are good places to purchase eyes?

      One more thing; Her elastic is still very tight. She is slightly hard to pose, she fights me with the simplest poses. I was told before to use a wire type to string her together, but I don't know. I am aware some people do something to the joints to make them pose better ( not entirely sure what they do to be honest).

      So my last question(s) is:
      What can I do to make her pose better?
      How do you re-string a doll?
      Where do I buy elastic from?
      Is there something else I can do besides re-string?
       
      #1 CandyBunsK, Feb 4, 2016
    2. Lots of questions so let's start slowly. ^^
      Also, this thread would have fit better in the "Customization and Maintenance" forum for future reference.

      Is there anything I can do about her resin to fix it?
      If the resin is stained, the go-to is always Magic Eraser. You said you used a sponge and I am not sure what kind of sponge you said you used. Using a sponge on an area won't yellow the resin, unless you used a yellow sponge. Then maybe the dyes in the sponge (if there are any?) got onto the doll? Magic eraser is defined as very fine sandpaper and is what 99% of folks in the hobby use to get out light stains or smudges.

      What is the best putty to use on eyes?
      There isn't a "best putty", it typically depends on preference. Some people use sticky-tac used in classrooms, others use sculpey, and just general "eye putty" really. A more unconventional but popular method is Mack's silocone ear plugs. I personally use the silicone eye putty Junkyspot sells because it is clear and won't show up behind eyes if there is a gap.

      What size eyes fit best in these size dolls?
      The general answer for a 1/4 sized doll will be from anywhere between 12mm-16mm, BUT it depends on the size of your doll's eyehole. I'm sure you've seen pictures of other dolls and noticed some have huge eyes while others have smaller ones. Some have bigger heads than others. It's best to look at the company website. Junkyspot actually tells you the recommended eye size on their website. Otherwise, there are tutorials for measuring the eyehole and eyes themselves if you just type in "measuring eyes" or something like that in the search bar.
      The short answer is that Bobobie/Resinsoul Mei generally takes 14mm eyes.

      Where are good places to purchase eyes?
      Again, this depends on preference. There are, to my knowledge, 4 different types of eyes with different positives and negatives.
      Acrylic eyes: Very cheap ($5 or less), comes in many patterns and colors, do not catch light, do not look very realistic
      Glass eyes: Medium priced (~$12), catch light decently, can get cool effects like swirls, glitter, etc.
      Silicone eyes: I know the least about these, but they are good for dolls that have oddly shaped eye holes that make putting hard eyes in difficult
      Urethane Eyes: Pricey ($30+), catch light beautifully, patterns similar to glass eyes, great for photography

      Acrylic eyes can be found anywhere, same with glass eyes. If you live in the USA, Junkyspot, Mint on Card, and Denverdoll all sell acrylic and glass eyes. Alice's Collections also sells pretty decently priced glass eyes.
      For Urethane eyes, I suggest either Gumdrops or Mystic urethane eyes if you want top quality. Makoeyes are the currently quite popular because they are the most inexpensive urethane eyes on the market but according to reviews that aren't quite as nice as Gumdrops or Mystics.

      What can I do to make her pose better?
      Resinsoul/Bobobie dolls are known for being poor posers straight out of the box. The best thing you could do is to wire and/or suede her. Wiring is literally putting a thin metal wire into your doll's limbs so that the wire holds your doll's limbs in place when you pose them. Sueding is traditionally done with actual suede but most people use hot glue. You put a small layer of hot glue where your doll's limbs join the torso so that the rubbery glue helps keep a pose. There are plenty of tutorials on DOA for this, just type "sueding tutorial" or "wiring tutorial" into the search bar. They'll all be in the "customization and maintenance" part of the forum.

      How do you restring a doll?
      First gently pull on your doll's limbs and take a look inside her torso to get an idea of how the elastic runs through the doll's body. There are two sets of elastic, one runs up and down through the doll's body and the other one just holds the arms. Again there are re-stringing tutorials on the forum. I actually re-strung my doll for the first time yesterday (without a tutorial, like an idiot). I did it but it took much longer than I wanted it to because I figured it out just by looking at the doll's insides. "Restringing tutorial" in the search bar gave me like 6 different tutorials on the first page. This one seems the clearest to me but find one that you can follow along to. There are also plenty of restringing tutorials on youtube if you need more than just pictures.
      Restringing Tutorial

      Where do I buy elastic from?
      Almost every doll company I've seen out there sells elastic. But if you want to stay in the USA, Junkyspot and Mint on Card sells elastic.

      Is there anything else I can do besides re-string?
      Already answered in the posing question.

      I know it gets really overwhelming because there's so much information to take in. Just take it one step at a time and do things when you're ready to. ^^
      PS: I'm also in PA (well, not right now but I'll be back soon) and I'm real close in age with you. Just a friendly greeting.
       
      #2 HoushiChan, Feb 4, 2016
      • x 1
    3. Thank you soooooo much for all the help! I really appreciate it (QuQ)

      The sponge I used was just a random sponge given by the doll seller. Maybe she just yellowed because she's my older doll.
      I will look for a Magic Eraser to remove the rest of the black stain.
      I have heard about the ear plug idea, but recently I watched a youtube video about them being bad because the oils from them smear onto the dolls eyes and makes them hazy. I'll look into clear putty to use so nothing gets dyed or oils ruin the eyes.
      I'll make sure to check out Junkyspot about the doll size and if it's not listed I'll try to measure her eye holes.
      I knew of glass eyes, but not the others O-O didn't know eyes could go so high up in price. Which would you think is best to get from personal experience?
      I'm so scared to try and re-string her myself because I feel like I'll mess her up QuQ, and I'm too scared to sued her too. Thank you for the help, and I'll look at the tutorials to see if it's something I'm able to do or not.

      Again thank you for the help!! I am still pretty much lacking the knowledge for this hobby and I enjoy when I learn more about the dolls themselves and what do to improve them.

      Also it's wonderful you live in PA as well! I appreciate the greeting! It's very nice to meet you!








       
      #3 CandyBunsK, Feb 4, 2016
    4. @CandyBunsK I just checked junkyspot's website. I might have confused them with Mint on Card. Oops. ^^;; But Bobobie/RS Mei takes 14mm eyes, 12mm if you like the look of a smaller iris but you will probably end up with some gaps between the eyes and the hole. Have you seen the Resinsoul and Bobobie mini discussion thread yet? It's full of resinsoul owners like you who share pictures of your dolls and just chat about them... and this thread is pretty active, too. This is the one for 1/4 size dolls (including your Mei): LINK. There are tons of useful links on the first page.

      Restringing isn't bad as long as you're patient. If you're like me and get frustrated when you make a mistake and have to start over, you'll want to play some relaxing music in the background. The stringing system is actually really simple. The elastic just goes down to the feet and them back up to the neck.

      I love looking at pictures of Urethane eyes. They really glow like no other and I would love to get a few pairs. But I can't justify $60 on a pair of eyes (plus 6mm urethane eyes are impossible to find) so I stick with glass. I actually really hate acrylic because they look too flat to me. But it's all on personal preference. If you're not picky about what color eyes you get (and plan to get glass eyes), Alice's Collections have an awesome eyebags (5 and 10 pairs) where you can get random pairs of eyes for a good price. LINK
       
      #4 HoushiChan, Feb 5, 2016
    5. @HoushiChan Ohhhhh Alright! Yeah I went on junkyspot today to look for eye size and didn't see anything lol. I'll probably stick with the 14mm eyes, I wouldn't want a gap between the eyes and the hole, I think it would look a bit strange in my opinion. I have not seen the thread yet, I'm not on this site as much as I would like to be, mainly due to having college classes everyday during the week, and work on the weekend, every weekend. I appreciate you opening up to me and sharing with me forums for 1/4 doll collectors.

      I can have patience but when I mess up multiple times I tend to give up sadly lol. I'll think about it and watch numerous re-stringing videos or look at tutorials on how to do it, before even attempting to un-string and re-string the doll.

      I would not be able to afford or be able to justify buying a pair of doll eyes for $60, though I am sure they are very lovely. Maybe one day you can purchase a pair and maybe myself will invest in a pair one day as well haha. I have looked at acrylic eyes before on etsy and they do seem a bit dull to me, but they are cheaper. I'll make sure to look at the glass eyes, and thank you again for all your help, I really appreciate it a lot!
       
      #5 CandyBunsK, Feb 5, 2016