Discussion thread for Limhwa Limho Mano

I have Gumdrops in my boy right now, he's had them for not quite a year yet, (I know I got them early this year) and they have remained nice and white. I know other owners who have had urethanes in their dolls for much longer than I have and they haven't had any problems either.

I've never heard of anyone having their urethane eyes yellow or change! Yikes!

I don't plan on changing them anytime soon, so I figure the initial investment is worth it. If they ever go weird, I'll be posting ASAP (considering the price, but at least 12mm runs cheaper XD).

As for wigs, Leeke 8-9 fit ok, it was still loose. I bought Sky's wig through Iplehouse, its a Dollga heat resistant, and it fits him perfectly.

Good luck with you respective searches!

 

The thing with masterpiece eyes is that some batches are better than others. I have a pair of the silicones that are absolutely beautiful, and another pair that are foggy and very disappointing.

 

7/8 hm? I wouldn't have thought of it, (though it does make sense considering the size of his head). All I've had on him are 8/9 and one HUGE 10 that was gorgeous but didn't fit any of my boys, including, obviously, Emile, (though it made for a yummy, long haired photoshoot! ). I'm going to have to mess with some of the 7/8 wigs I have...

I have eyeco silicone in Emile right now. I actually prefer silicone eyes, especially in Mano where the eyes are so deep set. I found that the acrylics I had seemed VERY dark because I couldn't push the white close enough the the eyewell.

 

I've never gotten a 7/8 wig to fit a Mano's head before, but perhaps I have never run into a 7/8 that was big enough, or elasticized enough. (I don't have many Minis to borrow from.) Can you recommend brands where 7/8 will fit?

Stavros has only found 2 wigs that look good on him so far, both of them fur. IpleHouse's fur wigs, in size L, are near-perfect-- same tall narrow shape, with ear-notches cut out, and fine short fur that looks in scale with his features.

For fiber wigs, a medium 8/9 fits him OK. It's usually the style that fails him, more than the size... overly heavy bangs or thick sides, they can overwhelm his face. He has heavy features, but small eyes, so I found I didn't like the way too much long hair 'weighed' him down & dimmed his expression. A lot of wigs intended for SDs, and other big-eyed dolls, are styles that just don't seem to work on a guy like Mano.

(I sure like him in dreadlocks, though; Stavros might like a giant rainforest-creature dread wig like earth.spirits's Luis has. )

I find that problem a lot with round eyes too-- have you tried oval-shaped flatback type eyes? Like the little glass defaults that came with him, those do fit well. I have to go shopping for more of that kind. Does anyone here have a favored brand of oval flatback eyes? Ginarolo, Kanis, or a cheaper brand?


Trying to fit round eyeballs that're just too big is the other problem... I might think the 14mm iris looks OK, but find out the ball-part simply won't fit into his little eyewell. It seems that 12mm eyes just fit better. Right now, Stavros is wearing 12mm round glass eyes, and they're a pretty good fit. There is also the possibility of using an eye-bevel to make that eyewell a little bigger someday.

Eyeco's low-dome silicones are a really great fit in a Mano, though! Cheaper than Masterpiece, and I personally think their quality control is way better. When you do get a good pair of MPs, they're gorgeous, but they're so hit-and-miss. Mismatched pupils, junk in the cornea, etc. (Soom's about the same $$ as MP, but their quality control is impeccable. I just wish they made 12mms.)

 

I know what you mean about Soom's eyes-I ADORE them! Squishy and really fantastic quality and oodles of variety...and no 12mm!! I would buy 12mm from them for my Mano in a heartbeat if they made them *sigh*

I have tried any of the oval/flat back eyes-I used to have a few, but wound up selling them to buy other instead. They might fit though, especially since they don't have the high domes.

 

Yuu-chan, that's great news, now I just have to find owner photos of some urethane eyes I like. ^_^


laura121786, I have heard about them having bad batches, but also know that if
you tell them you got a bad pair, they'll exchange them -- that makes me feel a
lot better, and also gives me hope that I can get the right pair of eyes for Hombre...someday. XD


arrowchild, & JennyNemesis, I have a few Jpop Dolls' 7/8 wigs that fit Mano really well, but all of the ones
I own have heavy bangs. Maybe they wouldn't work so well if their bangs weren't as long, or thick.
I don't plan on taking photos of Hombre in them, but to me they truly do look great on him. Maybe I'll
get him one in that size in the style he currently has, it's the only blue wig that works for him. ^______^


I would like to try other silicon eyes, the problem is that I need a specific style, emerald-green "realistic-looking"
irises, and no pupils. I guess it's all my fault that I can't find good eyes for Hombre, for being such an
obsessive weirdo. XD



- Enzyme ^____________^

 

I use 14mm Souldoll eyes in my Mano and I think they work really well. I also actually like bangs for him too.............my wig of choice for him is JPOP Kana in black......I would have never thought to try a size 7/8 wig on him.........

 

He's gorgeous JinCIncy! I also use Kana on my Mano, but mine is the long version (in blue).


- Enzyme ^.^

 

I love Cruz and Hombre in bangs!

Bangs just made Stavros look like a moron. He did not look happy at all, until the Kana wig fell off his head & I put the fur back on him. But then, Hombre and Cruz are waaaay different-looking from Stavros, so there's no reason they should all like the same hair.

Oh, and hello there Cruz, ::smooch:: it is just delicious to see you here.

 

JennyNemesis, I am always impressed on how different the same sculpt can
look, just by having different wigs, or eyes, or just by being owned/photographed
by someone else. I remember when I first got Hombre, and gave him his first face-up
(just so I could bond with him, because he was so different from what I expected),
someone told me that he "didn't look anything like in the promos." Which I thought
was more than obvious, that he wasn't going to "look" like in the promos -- first because
I'm not a talented photographer, and second because the promotional Mano was painted
by the latented artist who created him! XD

I thought it was very funny. Personally, I thought the sculpt looked just like in the promos,
just with a crummy face-up job. ^______^;; But, I'm always someone who looks at the sculpt,
the facial features/structure of a face, and not so much the other stuff that goes over it (it was his
resin that I was "shocked" with, not the sculpt). Yet, even if they all are Manos, they are all different,
and unique in their very own way, and look very much like a different doll altogether.

I agree with you, there is no reason why any of them should wear the same wig/hair-style!
But, if you want to try fiber wigs on Stravos, Jpop's seem to work well on Mano's head (whether
you choose one in 7-8, or a 8-9 size).


- Enzyme ^.^

 

I actually have a Jojo in 7-8, but it looks so teeny! Never thought to put it on Stavros. The 8-9 Kana fits nice (but, as mentioned, makes him look like a moron ^^).

I wasn't keen on the faceups in the stock photos either (as nice as they were, they just weren't Stavros), so that's why I ordered him blank, even though I'd never painted a tan doll before [and was a little terrified]. But his face came out very easily. He must've been just waiting to get out! I also hear a lot of "he doesn't look anything like the promos" from people. Of course, I think the sculpt looks exactly like the promos too... only the faceup doesn't. It's probably the eyebrows. Eyebrows change a doll's features and expression so drastically.

 

I agree about the bare sculpt looking exactly like the promos ~ and like you guys, I also ordered Luis blank, so I could paint him to look exactly like ~ well, Luis!

I actually prefer doll companies to share unpainted photos of their head sculpts with us ~ it makes it a heck of a lot easier to decide to buy or not.
Luckily, as an artist, I'm pretty good at looking past company default face up's to see the real face underneath!

On the wig topic ~ I've found that most 8/9's (especially Jpop's) fit Luis just fine, and am actually quite fond of the Kana Long's for several of my crew (although Luis' character "default" is his dreads).

As always, a pleasure seeing everyone's handsome Mano's!!!

best wishes to all,
earth.spirits

 

Tell me about it! I'm an eyebrow obsessed weirdo! Limhwa always makes
her Manos (face-ups) look so gentle, and "soft," which I find truly beautiful,
especially the eyes - but I'm into unrealistically well 'groomed,' thin-eyebrows.
It also helps if they are highly arched, and slightly slanted (angry-look)! XD
I wanted to buy my Mano with a custom face up (as I often do with my other dolls),
but as far as I know, Limhwa doesn't take custom orders. U___U; So, I had to do it
myself, it was my first face up -- it was very scary, but it has been a very interesting learning
experience as well (so different from want I'm used to painting, no ctrl+z buttons either!). >_<

I also agree that eyebrows change a doll's features/expression. To me eyebrows
make or break a face (not just doll faces, but any face with eyebrows in it as well),
depending on what each individual looks like, of course. ^____^



Earth.Spirits, I'm also with you, I can look at most doll sculpts and imagine what they look like
without all the paint. As a graphic artist, I can always PS any that I have trouble visualizing in my
head, so I'm kind of fortunate either way. However, I do agree with you that it would be
a great thing, if companies shared photos of their blank sculpts as well, so that we could
all appreciate their facial structures a bit better. ^_________^

Also love seeing everyone's Mano, and would love to see more of them with custom face-ups!


- Enzyme ^.^

 

Hi Mano fans

I really love Mano. I have been trying to read this thread to figure out whether I can use Mano's amazing body for a minimee.

Proportionately and asthetically his body is perfect but someone earlier in the thread....maybe JennyNemesis, said that his head is not on an S hook. What is it on then? And if not an S hook, is it something that you think I could mod?

Thanks for any info in advance

 

^ The head is the type with a face-plate, and a neck piece that is what
holds the complete head in-place. There is a bar that holds the elastic,
I'm guessing any head could easily be placed on the Mano body, without
the need to mod, unless the neck is too big/small for the head.

I will be getting a Minimee head in a while, and I'm planing on 'temporarily'
using one of my boys bodies for it. I will post photos of how it looks, for someone in
the gallery request thread, that is also interested in the Mano body for a Minimee.
If you want I can give you a heads up once I've gotten the photos up on that thread,
if you are interested in match/proportions (it won't be for a while longer though, my
head is still in the process of getting cast!!!). Hope that helps a bit!


- Enzyme ^___________^

 

Thanks so much Enzyme that's mega helpful.

 

Right, but that's where it gets weird-- the bar is fastened INTO the neck-piece. It doesn't come out. I think it's glued, so you might not have to chop up any resin to get it out. But I'm not sure how it's stuck in there; I've never tried to take it out. All I know is it means you have to cut his elastics to get them off of the bar, because it's on there pretty permanently.

Ack! This must sound like gibberish to describe! Pictures would be easier but I've never photographed it. Has anybody got a picture of the neck-piece without the faceplate on?

Anyway, yes, if you got an S-hook, I'm sure you could put any head on there, as long as it'd fit his neck. (Big neck!) But you might also need to cut a pair of notches in the neck, for the S-hook to sit in. Since he doesn't use an S-hook now, his neck didn't come with the usual notches there.

 

My Limhwa Eva has her bar glued in as well, I was told by Catrina that the older Limhwa dolls bar was slipping out during shipping and the dolls would arrive unstrung, so I asume the artist started glueing them in so it would not happen for future dolls.

 

Here's the pic. I've never tried to remove the bar.

 

I forgot to mention the bar is glued in place, but you don't have
to cut the string to remove the neck-piece, just unstring the whole body!!!
I tried removing it once, but it is stuck hard! I was going to get a Volks'
ceramic knife, but I forgot when I last ordered from them...>_<;;

I'll try again with a regular exacto, and if that doesn't work I'll get the knife,
if I remember the next time I get stuff from Volks...Lol
I think the S-hook would sit on the head, and not the neck, so it would probably
be easier to get one of those round things Luts sells (used to sell?), than to modify
the neck (which is pretty big/thick!).

I think it is a good idea to glue the bars if they were getting lost, just not
such a great idea to glue the bar with super glue, or whatever it is that is
holding it there....hot-glue/silicon would have been a lot easier to remove,
yet would still get the job done. ^__________^;;


- Enzyme ^.^