I finally took the plunge. @_@ I disassembled my Libitina and wiped off the face-up and all the body blushing. If it's not too humid tomorrow (rained all day today >_< ) I'm hoping to get her MSC'd and start working on her new face-up, body blushing, warpaint and tattoos. She's going to be quite the project! Especially considering I've never done anything like this before. XD I'm really not looking forward to restringing her. ^^;;
My Elise came Friday and as expected posing was a bit difficult. However, I hot glue sueded her Saturday morning and what a difference! Here she is at tonight's Halloween dolly meetup. Camera focused on the distance rather than Elise, durn it: Elise rearing by dhawktx1, on Flickr
Oh, very impressive! I'm going to suede my girl before I put her back together. X3 I hope mine can do things like that once she's done!
That's awesome, Malaryush! I can't wait to see what you do with your Libitina. ...and that's awesome, too, dhawktx! I didn't realize that a little bit of sueding would make such a big difference. I'll have to give my Elise, Abby, a similar treatment. Which joints did you do - just her legs, or all of her?
Me too Malaryush, can't wait to see! It's nice to get an anthro doll body blushed already, but, yeah, it's going to either be wiped or get the heck enhanced out of it! Koryuu: I sueded everything except the pegged hip joint - I even did the one on the horse body so it would be easier to pose her lying down. I'm experimenting with a new low temp glue called "Cool Glue" - it appears to remain slightly tacky to itself even after it cools. Anyway, it is so low temp that you can rub your finger across it right after laying it down with no blisters! There's a silicone tip guard that I cut off to expose the metal head...for Elise you need to be able to use that to smooth out the glue and move it around cuz there's just not room to get your fingers in there. I took her head off to suede the neck hole...I just love the ribbon and loop setup! Be careful on her hands...the walls of her forearm are so thin that the S hook made a nick in one arm at the wrist while I was sueding her - it would have been better if I'd taken her hands off to do the wrists. Since her hands fit so far down in the arm that they don't have much mobility, I'll either sand the arms a bit shorter to expose the ball of the hand, or I'll fill in the well with more glue to push the hands farther out. I'm also going to separate her fingers better. Still debating whether to ream her eyes to the next larger size - I like the iris filling the eye opening on my anthros for the most part.
You're not kidding about the thin walls on the forearms. >_< It made me really nervous getting her hands off. Normally I'd stretch the elastic and throw a clamp on to stabilize it while I work on getting the hook undone, but not only is there no room, but I'd be afraid the arm wouldn't be able to stand up to the pressure on it. It was really fiddly getting it all undone and I'm not looking forward to retying those tiny knots. XD At least this will give me an opportunity to suede her more easily since she's already apart.
Yeah, showing off on a slick floor has consequences, ya know? Results of showing off by dhawktx1, on Flickr
The only reason I didn't go ahead and take off the hands was the way the S hook was crimped closed. Okay, worked on her sueding a bit and tightened up her front legs when I put in some S hooks on her hooves...Now she's just showing off! Elise Showing Off by dhawktx1, on Flickr
Got tired of the baldness so I made a quick faux fur wig and tail. Elise Fauxhawk montage by dhawktx1, on Flickr
Ooh, I love the new look! That wig really suits her. And I may have to snag your idea of putting S-hooks into her hooves. That would make life so much easier down the line. >_< My poor girl is still in pieces right now. ^^; I got the first layer of pastels down but haven't had any time since. Hoping to get a little bit done after work one of these days and really make some progress on the weekend.
Wow! Great pics, dhawktx! Your modifications really paid off - she poses so well! That faux fur wig and tail look great on her, too!
The S hooks REALLY make a difference. Without them it's like the elastic is resisting posing and the hooves just flip back up (or down) to where they were before whenever you try to tweak the pose. And, of course, it makes it SO much easier to adjust her elastic length. Thanks Cattwo! Let me know if anyone wants the wig pattern - freebies of course!
Got inspired last night and grabbed some of the brass and bronze supplies in the jewelrymaking stash to make Elise a little bit of fanciness. The butterfly piece is a separate hair fork in the Japanese manner, the main piece also has a two tined fork that slips into the hair to hold it in place, along with the chain dangles. Elises new headpiece 1 by dhawktx1, on Flickr
Hopefully I'll have something to spam soon. X3 I'm working on my girl's blushing right now - she's out in the garage letting the latest MSC layer dry. I had been hoping to do a dapple pattern on her equine body, but unfortunately it turns out that I suck at that. XD My dapple spots just looked blotchy and the blush colour is too light for it to show very well anyway. Edit: Oh! I forgot to ask - what did you use for S-hooks for your Elise? Did you get them from an "official" BJD source or are they the kind of thing one can get at a hardware store? I've never had to get S-hooks for a doll before and I'm not sure what to look for since they'd have to be so small.
Yes, dapples would be difficult at that stage...I had been toying with the idea of a fantasy blushed Appaloosa using the color scheme that's on the default...toying only mind you! You know, you can post progress photos too! I'm always fascinated with the process, as well as the trials and successes of other artists!
