Dragon's Shell Doll Minis

@skyealloway - If you want him to look surprised or startled, the eyes work. I'd try a slightly larger iris. Of course this is easy to say and hard to do. I can never choose the right size when I'm eye shopping, so I take a chance and see if what I bought will work. Sometimes it does, sometimes it doesn't. But I agree with @Hakari-chan that a side glance helps and with @redmaiko that positioning tiny eyes takes much longer than bigger ones.

I love the faceup you gave him. Looking at it I can tell at once that the eyebrows I gave my Dog (and Ghost, come to think of it) are too thin. I haven't taken photos yet. Need to do that today.

 

@skyealloway - You're lucky to have a man in the house for reference. No such luck here.

I never know if I like my faceups until I take photos and see them enlarged on the screen. I took some today--Yikes! Not fit for human consumption. In the interest of making them look more manly, I overdid the coloring. They both need to be redone. It's too hot and sticky to attempt any fix today.

I finally tried the heads on an FID male model body. They fit the neck; aside from that they're too small. The hand looks like a shovel next to the face. There's no point trying them on the muscle body because they'll look even smaller sitting atop those broad shoulders.

 

Thanks. I'm still going to repaint him. Ghost doesn't look any better--and with the same coloring as Dog's, he looks nothing at all like Creature Doll Karin. So much for the twin idea.

I was really surprised that the heads didn't work on FID. If the hands weren't so big it would be less of a problem. The overall look of the head on the FID model body is passible. Still, Model Delf and Lumedoll bodies are in better proportion with these heads.

 

@vermont chick Wow! Yeah, not working on the FID body is unexpected! I will probably stick with my Dollshe body for mine. Love your Irish Elf!! I don't think the coloring is too overdone. The blank hand next to the face makes it look bolder, imho.

Hoping I can work on the head stubble on my guy the next few days! Love my guy so much I am tempted to get a Snake sometime. Love that stern evil look. Although I am also wondering if I should get a new Ferret Android in 5-6. *sigh* My 4-5 Ferret looks slightly off now next to Pitbull.

 

@redmaiko - Thanks. I agree that the blank hand makes the face color look bolder, but I can't blush the hands to match because FID Baron still needs the body. The funny thing is I wasn't thinking Irish when I painted him. I was just shading where the features would naturally be shadowed. I'm still going to repaint both of them--and try a different color palette-- although it may take a while before the weather hands me another perfect day .

 

omg oh no yeah that head definitely does NOT suit the FID body X'D Those hands are bigger than his face!
I am extra glad I decided to just go ahead and order my pitbull with the Nidum Dolls body now o_O At least I know for sure they look good together, even if it is a difficult body to find clothes for.
Speaking of which, he should be shipping soon! I talked to the maker and she was fine with shipping his body to me and his head to the artist I found in Russia to save me some time and shipping, so that's great! Apparently they knew each other, actually, so they were able to work out shipping between them without me being the go-between.

@vermont chick good luck with the face-up, they are always such a struggle! My suggestion would be to focus less on what would be 'shaded' and more on skin texture and tone? At first, at least, and then if you want to add shading as a more stylistic touch maybe save it for after you've done all your blushing and eyelashes and whatnot?

 

@Hakari-chan - Glad to hear that the maker will ship the body to you and the head to the faceup artist. That's great, and certainly more convenient for you. Hope you get the body soon.

The funny thing about faceups is that I usually have no trouble at all with female faces. It's the guys that drive me up the wall. I'll remove the faceups today and then have a good think about how I want to proceed. I'll probably go for the less-is-more approach so I don't end up with clown faces again.

 

Faceups, Round 2. I'm waiting for tiny eyelashes from LeekeWorld. I used light brown the first time and could barely see them. The new ones will be black. They're in Seoul waiting for a plane to take them to Cincinnati. (Cincinnati? I guess they'll have to bum a ride from there to Vermont.)

 

Thanks @skyealloway - I kept the eyebrows on the brow ridge to avoid the surprised look I had before. As soon as I get the eyelashes (still on the ground at Incheon) I can put the eyes in. That will tell me if Round 2 faceups are keepers or not. I know I have to lighten the tear ducts. They grabbed the watercolor and wouldn't let go. A little dab of acrylic paint ought to do it.

 

I bought two wigs for my Ferret.



and



both in dark brown from Blueberry style. Here's hoping one of them suits him, and that they arrive before January.

 

@davri - Ooh, nice! I like both of them. They kind of look like the same style, using two different textures of hair.

 

Yep, but I don't know what size was used in the pics, as they were sold in multiple sizes. Given the kind of tiny heads these guys have I'm hoping the 5-6" wigs will look good.

 

@davri I bought that first wig myself awhile back and was not a fan of the quality. Definitely looks better in the pics than in person, probably because it was custom made for that doll. Hopefully yours turns out better than mine @_@

 

That's disappointing about the wig quality, @Hakari-chan. I was getting ready to order a couple. Although 5-6 would be the right size, not all 5-6 heads are created equal. The shape of the head can throw off the fit even if the circumference is right. I think I'm going to chance it. I have other dolls with 5-6 heads; if they don't fit the DS guys hopefully they will fit one of the others.

 

I'm back. My eyelash order from LeekeWorld arrived and I was able to finish putting Dog and Ghost together. I'm still planning to get one or two Blueberry Style wigs. In the meantime I have a short curly wig from Monique on Ghost and a long saddle brown wig from Iplehouse on Dog. I had to straighten this one because it was basically one huge curl in back.

 

My BlueberryStyle wigs arrived. They do need a tiny bit of adustment. The sideburns need a bit trimmed off to fit around the ears right, might use my dog's thinning shears to shorten the one wig right over his face, and I might cut a tiny slit at the back and put some elastic at the nape to help adjust the fit.

But he's not bald anymore! Yaaaaaay!

Edit: I trimmed a teensy, tiny bit around his ears to set the sideburns right, and used a bit of pitatto? (Some little strip that came with a wig I bought that's like adhesive hook velcro) and it holds position and looks amazing.