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Customization Fears

Jul 25, 2022

    1. Hello Dollie Peeps,

      So recently I have been struggling with feeling inadequate to do face ups, mods or even simple projects because I am so scared I will ruin my dolls. It took so long to get them in the first place and their price is not the cheapest thing in the world. So my question to you is how do you combat feeling scared to work on your dolls? If it's like me and you feel inadequate how to you work past those issues?

      Sincerely,
      Struggling Doll Lover
       
      • x 3
    2. I've been in the hobby for over 10 years now but when I first started I was in the same situation! I wanted to do faceups so bad because it looked like a lot of fun but I was really scared of staining my doll.

      The best thing I learned is that it's actually VERY hard to ruin a doll. If you use approved materials and seal beforehand with a reliable sealant it's SO difficult to ruin or stain anything.

      My number one piece of advice is take it slow. First, read up on approved faceup materials and watch some video tutorials on YouTube. Then, start with simple faceups with light colors. That way you can get a feel for paints, pastels, etc. Just work yourself up to more over time!
       
      • x 6
    3. probably the best thing to keep in mind is that almost anything you try is reversible! these dolls are expensive for sure, but they're not correspondingly fragile and are much harder to ruin than it may feel like.

      it doesn't matter how your faceups turn out while you're learning and practicing-- they can be the worst faceups in the world and as long as you use resin-safe materials, they're totally removable and won't hurt the doll at all. you can paint a doll 50 times over and it won't hurt a thing.

      if you try restringing and you don't get the tension right, literally the worst that happens is you have to take the strings out and try again. if you make a wig and it looks awful....it hurts NOTHING, just get rid of it and try making another one! (my first wig looked like a hair clog got pulled out of the shower drain and plopped on my dolls head. it was so so bad. nothing was injured except my doll's dignity, and she recovered :XD:)

      you can make eyes and they can look horrible and you can take them out of your doll's head and try again. you can make clothes and they can be an ill fitting mess and you can take them off and make more. ALL of these things have a learning curve and require practice, and nobody's stuff is perfect the minute they start. learning and practicing and being a beginner will not hurt your doll at all-- the important thing is to give yourself permission to not be perfect and to have fun trying new things and figuring out which parts of doll customizing and crafting you enjoy.
       
      • x 7
    4. There is only one way to ruin your doll, and it's completely and easily avoidable by doing one (1) simple thing: do your research. That's it.

      Don't randomly try out potentially unsafe materials. Follow tutorials that have been tested and tried, and the community agrees on are safe to follow. Always ask BEFORE you do or buy something. NOT AFTER, NOT HALFWAY THROUGH. I cannot stress this enough!

      Most people "ruin" their doll because they do no research, ignore advice or think to only bring up concerns when the kid already fell into the well.
      As long as you do your research, most things are like described by the others fully reversible.
      Faceups, restringing, body blushing, even dyeing to a certain degree can all be undone with the right materials or steps followed.

      The only stuff that is permanent are mods, so maybe don't do these right away when you don't feel comfortable or skilled enough yet. Otherwise everything else goes :3nodding:

      It's also okay to just be realistic about it. Your first tries will suck. It will not look like envisioned. It's like that for every artist that ever started doing something. You'll only get better by trying though ;) So just make your first bad steps, so one day you can produce stuff you like.

      (Also in case you don't know it yet: https://denofangels.com/threads/the-big-bjd-faq-guide-for-newcomers.850259/
      It also lists a couple tutorials and talks about materials and more.)
       
      #4 Ara, Jul 25, 2022
      Last edited: Jul 25, 2022
      • x 9
    5. basically everything everyone before said would be my advice.

      but also to add, one thing that really helped me get over my nerves is to test stuff out on the head cap. i figured if a material or trick ends up ruining something, the head cap is almost always covered
       
      • x 4
    6. The first doll that I ever did a faceup for, her head fell off the makeshift spray stand and hit the concrete driveway with pointy rocks in. Aside from a tiny dent up under her wig line and being as stressful as heck for a few moments, she was and still is fine.

      It was really scary! but partially because I didn't know about all the ways dolls could be repaired. Resin is surprisingly durable! And even if the worst had happened there are ways to fix dents, chips and cracks and even full breaks. There are a lot of good things already in this thread but it might help to check out the some of the Project Journals and Customization sub threads under the Workshop tab to see how people have solved problems before.

      It's very normal to be a bit scared to do things with a new and/or expensive doll at the start. And for a limited, hard to find or out-of-production doll it makes sense to not want to risk much. But all risk is not the same and learning about what will be permanent and what won't will take a lot of the stress out of the equation.

      PS. For faceups specifically with spray sealants please use proper protective equipment every time: thread for protective equipment info
       
      • x 5
    7. Woah I can imagine the panic before you realized everything was fine! I've dropped dolls too (on wooden floors, but still :XD:), and I have to agree, resin is extremely durable and very hard to seriously damage, unless you use something that's just awful for it.

      Anyway, to OP, Experiment as much as you like! That's part of the fun of having a BJD I think. It all depends on what kind of work you're doing on your doll. As others said, any faceup/body blushing, if you use the right materials, can be redone if you don't like it. For making wigs and clothes, you can wrap your dolls in some plastic wrap, or some thin fabric if you're worried about scratches while you work. That's how I made some wig caps and wigs. Other than that, you really don't have anything to worry about. Be like...a regular amount of careful :mwahaha, but not too worried, because they're not that fragile.

      For more serious mods, of course ruining them is a risk, but sometimes you have an idea you really want to bring to life.:love In that case, just work very slowly, and be very careful. Personally, if I like a sculpt, I don't change it except for maybe adding things like ears and such. I've also replaced some joint pieces/legs, and I made my own.
       
      • x 3
    8. -Nods.- I have a porcelain off-topic doll and compared to her my resin dolls are so sturdy! The panic was Real though : D
       
      • x 2
    9. Honestly, after doing the research on what materials to use/ not use, the best thing I've found to do to get over the fear is to just jump in and do it. Your first tries aren't going to be perfect, but if you never try, you'll never be able to improve. You can fix a wonky faceup or adjust a wig or clothing or even mods. It's normal to feel nervous, but try not to overthink it so much you talk yourself out of doing it if it's something you really want to do.
       
      • x 3
    10. Mine is currently a thing of "I've had this doll for ages and I haven't done anything with it and I'm not doing any serious modifications to doll....so I'm going for it." lol. If I don't try, then I'll never do it, because I'll always be afraid to.
       
      • x 2
    11. You can get a practice head! I've been thinking about getting one myself to practice doing anime style faceups eventually. I've seen some practice heads for like 20-40 usd (not including shipping cost). If it's similar size to your actual doll head, it could also be used to practice wig making.
       
      • x 3
    12. For me, I feel like it's okay to suck at faceups and need to redo them a hundred times. As long as you do your research and use proper tools and materials, you won't damage the doll. The only "harm" done is to your wallet if you need to keep buying more supplies, but most will last through tons of faceups, so even that isn't so bad!

      Mods are the thing that scares me the most, because you can damage your doll seriously with them. Restorations can be done to get them back to how they started, but it'll never be exactly the same, and may have spots that no longer match--epoxy is often used for additive or restoration mods, but it doesn't match the resin and requires painting to match, which can change the texture too. So while it can be fixed, it won't be perfect if you're looking very closely. This scares me, but I also want to get good at doing mods. In this case, I'd suggest buying a super cheap doll--either a practice head or some old "junk" doll secondhand to test ideas on before taking a dremel or sandpaper to an expensive or rare doll you really love. No one does a perfect mod their first time, it really takes practice.
       
      • x 3
    13. Knowing you can always try again has helped me a ton! Something doesn't work out? Ah well, I can go back to it another time.

      Another thing is like, even if you do damage your doll somehow, I see a lot of folks make some pretty solid repairs, and even if you like, melt part of it with something, it doesn't necessarily destroy the whole doll. Sure it may never look quite the same, but if something horrible does happen, there's a good chance you can at least mitigate the damage.
       
      • x 2
    14. Thank you everyone for all your words of support and comfort! Reading all your comments have really given me the courage to attempt my first face up. I will post photos once finished. I have my MSC, pastels, acrylic paint, lashes and gloss! Now to just wait for the weather in my area to be just right for the MSC to work best. I already made the outfit but trying to figure out the best way to post it here. Does anyone find a particular site best to post photos on here?
       
      • x 1
    15. Thank you so much for your help!
       
      • x 1
    16. I have a Flickr account, currently the free version and it works well for me as a mostly desktop computer user. If you are doing most of your stuff on a phone or tablet it might be better to use another photo hosting site. There are specific instructions on how to post photos from there in the tutorials section here. Use the BBCode link if you want to be sure that it works. Good luck and happy dolling!
       
      • x 1
    17. I upload pictures to private posts on pillowfort or tumblr, and then use the image links there.
       
      • x 1
    18. Maybe you could practice on something less precious? I bought a damaged head for this reason, I do think it takes some time and practice to do something you are happy with, I totally understand your caution! I also think that being worried or too cautious while trying to develop your skills will be really limiting and stressful! So I would certainly recommend getting something you can practice on without worry!
       
      • x 1