Dream Valley Mini Discussion Thread

Well my Sylves has been home since Saturday, and I still have not found him pants. (or the little foot paddle things that came with my Grayson so I can actually get pants on him.) However been kind of productive with him, he was named, Toxis I'm going to give him a poisonous/venomous theme/vibe. Also I dewinged him, which was a struggle and a half. I removed his wings for a few reasons, I had issues posing the wings due to them being both wired and too tightly strung. As lovely as they are I do not feel they suit my weird little lizard elf, and lastly I kind of want to give him extra arms. I always wanted a 4 armed doll, I got two of the 3 armed ones from DV lets finally make that jump to having four arms on a doll. XD

 

Yes, wrap pants are the epitome of easy access lol! Don't wanna deal with bits making clothing a struggle? Don't worry about it!!! OML yeah, Khafra's feetsies are big enough I wouldn't wanna have to deal with them being as big as my hand. I can definitely see the appeal of MSD sized dolls, though I love my giant of an Idol doll too lol. hehehe Darius sounds like quite a character!

Oh, ye, I never thought about other (smaller) tails still getting in the way of sitting! At least he stands like a trooper so that's not as much of an issue for you. I'm torn with how tightly strung Khafra is. I am assuming it's why he's capable of standing at all (the extra joint in his legs makes this extra difficult), but at the same time the boy is so very kicky. I'm not confident enough yet to be ready to take him apart and suede his joints or something of the sort.

Oh, thank you!! Rah is also MSD sized, coming in at ~49cm. So yes, I have now added "get a saddle stand" to my list of to-do's for him lol.

@MaleficentMrsofEvil Oh, no, I hadn't seen that one! Thank you! I'm very confused as to why they did the rest of the birb as clean and uncluttered, and decided to do so much texture on the tail lol. Maybe I can tweak though, it's a perfect shape. Need to play around in Blender more lol.
And yes!! I can even attach to several different sections (if I go the feather route) and be able to fan it out if I want!

 

I had to have Kheima (SD Phiel head on DV 3-arm body) re-strung because he was so tight, he creaked alarmingly whenever I moved any part of him and that was even after a month of having him curled up tightly in an effort to relax the tension somewhat. He did loose a bit of the ability to hold static poses with his 3rd arm due to the lessening of the tension of his elastic (we had to cut his factory elastic and re-string him with new elastic) but I'm not afraid now of chipping/damaging him with regular movement of his joints because he was so very tight. I didn't find him kicky before re-stringing which was a bit surprising given how tight he was strung.

Oddly, while Kyrieleison (Dean Giraffe-taur) is just as wildly tight as Kheima was, he doesn't make the same creaking sounds when you move his limbs and his limbs are relatively easy to move. He has a... I'm gonna call it a 2nd waist joint in his giraffe body that actually moves surprisingly easily (as does his tail). But to get his head off... that may be a 2 person job. I tried to take his head off initially to make installing his eyes easier and I just couldn't do it. I did get eyes into his head but it was a total pain with the S-hook in the way.

 

Khafra creaks too! I remember you mentioning it with your boy, so I wasn't surprised to hear it but it was definitely frustrating. I don't feel like he's going to chip or crack (but I am new at this, so I might just not know enough), as the joints aren't sticking/getting stuck. They're certainly easy to move around. They're just...noisy. Thinking about it, I think the creaking has gotten less since I've been wiggling him every which way for clothing and such. But it could just be background noise to my brain now.

I definitely wouldn't want to try and take Khafra's head off, even if I knew where to begin! Getting the temporary feet pieces off to get his talons on was. Definitely a two person job. And my partner (who was doing the difficult part of actually separating the two pieces so I could get in there with the hook) was certainly suffering. That's the big reason I needed the wrap pants lol.

 

I won't have a choice about getting Kyrieleison's head off since he is blank and I have negative zero skills when it comes to painting my boys. But he's a little down the list at the moment for getting a face-up. I'll be getting 2 of my guys painted soon (they'll be sent out this month), possibly a 3rd if the artist is up for a challenge.

I'm tempted to send both Kheima and Kyrieleison to the same person to paint as they are brothers and it would be cool for them to have the same style of face-up. But that would also depend on the artist and what they feel comfortable doing. I have another guy who needs a face-up, too, and yet still another that I'd like to be re-painted as I'm not satisfied with his current face-up. Qayin needs a face-up, too, but I'm waiting until he has his body just in case there needs to be a little blush-to-match. And I've got the prototype Impl head they sent me as a gift but again, he needs a body first.

If I'm going to be all technical about it, Moswen (AoD Chi) needs to be re-painted as he's 14 years old and still (mostly) has his custom face-up and full body blushing. Since he's my favourite, he's been played with a lot and been to tons of places with me including vacations out-of-country. His face-up is still pretty decent but a fair bit of his blushing has rubbed off over the years from handling him and just his clothes rubbing against his body.

 

uuuuuuugggggghhhhhh I really do have to take that mantis body apart, don't I.

Not only do the joints creak, but the stringing is so tight that if I'm not really careful, little bits of resin flake off from the joints. This is probably the first BJD that I'm absolutely dreading restringing, though....

@Brytewolf - yeah. Me and the spouse:
Me - "Pull harder!"
Spouse - "It can't possibly stretch any further!"
Me - "PULL!"

And that's how we got Z7's head off.

(Spouse is a 6'5", big, strong dude.)

 

Yeah, I think I'm going to need to get the Hubby to help me get Kyrieleison's head off. I injured my thumb a few months ago in a moving accident and it's still not back to what it was (what it was wasn't all that great to begin with but it was better than the BS I've got going on right now). Gripping things firmly/tightly is problematic without causing myself a lot of pain.

I really don't want to have to figure out how to re-string him either. It's probably not as hard as I'm fearing but if I don't have to do it....

I have several dolls that need to be re-strung (Moswen is still rocking his original 14 year old AoD elastic) but after nearly dislocating my thumb in a joint that already was all about the chronic pain, I'm not feeling very confident that if I took someone apart, that I'd be able to get them back together with at least semi-reasonable tension. I don't have a choice about re-stringing my Akhmel Nathan as the super tiny elastic used to string his hands broke and the beading elastic used for his body has become quite loose. he's not about super muscle power to string but about how teeny-tiny the parts and elastic are.

 

i wound up buying a tennis racket stringing tool especially due to Dream Valley's tightly strung protocol
I think Bethel was the most difficult, getting those wings on was ridiculous.
the tool helps a lot since it's a solid piece of metal i'm not so worried about it also snapping. but i can at least get enough give to stuff a piece of chopstick in then wrangle the S hook off usually. works great with the big boys too, but i still need a second set of hands at times too. and i'm more afraid i'll break the smaller ones

@Iron_Dog gotta say so cool you have a Nathan. i wonder if you could use a nylon threader loop if he's got small channels. i hope your thumb is feeling better soon.

i'd love to see the elastic patterns for the mantis and the giraffes.

i had a thought about pants for the big footed ones... lace up the sides!
maybe a pain to fully lace them each time you dress though.

 

The Nathan is very cool. He's really unusual and so delicate looking. I'm not sure yet how I'll string his main body although it seems fairly straight forward. I've never strung hands and that's one of the things I'm a bit nervous about doing. It's only the first joint where fingers meet palm that are jointed but his fingers are TINY.

I have no idea how Kyrieleison is strung. Head to front hooves? Back hooves and body to... something? I don't think it goes up through the upper torso/head as there's only 2 loops of elastic over the S-hook. Not entirely sure what the tail attaches to but it does attach with an S-hook because there is a little give with it and I could see the S-hook when i gently pulled the tail back from his butt. Beyond that... I've no idea.

I really like the Bethel sculpt a lot. I was tempted hard with a 2nd hand one off a FB group I belong to. He was a very good price but while I was hemming and hawing over him, somebody else snapped him up.

 

@Grimalkin Your a genius! A fricken mad genius! Bless you for the idea of pants that lace/string on the sides. I didn't want to give Toxis (DV Sylves) wrap pants, but the idea of having to change his feet for little paddles every time I want to change his pants felt so overwhelming. Mostly due to how tight DV dolls are, and the struggle that was getting his head on. One of my fav pairs of SD pants are laced on the sides, I think I am going to hunt for something like them in MSD or make a pair. Omfg just thank you for that spark of outfit creativity.

 

i think he's going to be looking pretty amazing in lace up pants
maybe there's a way to speed lace them like with doc martens. heh.

the other thought i had was hakama style, but the traditional wrap ones where the waist is wider to wrap criss cross, and where the pockets usually are is bare, you can get some pretty big feet through that likely since each leg is almost a skirt. but it seems a crime to not show off those legs with a tighter fit LOL

i've been loving seeing the Sylves pics, i think i'm going to regret not finding a way to make him happen. i really love his wings and feets. can't wait to see what all you do with yours

 

If you're going to do laces, I'd highly suggest a small fabric panel sewn on the inside so the metal grommets for the holes don't scratch the resin. You could sew around the holes for lacing (like making a button hole) but given the size of the doll you're sewing for and the size and number of holes required, it would likely be very time consuming and a pain in the butt.

Alternatively, you could sew a series of thin ribbon loops along the edges to lace through eliminating the need for a protective fabric panel and the PITA of sewing so many tiny holes. The ribbon colour could be chosen to offer contrast for extra interest. Snaps are another alternative (avoid the plastic ones though as they are often a struggle to snap together/pull apart). As a last resort, velcro is a choice. Not one I'd embrace but still a choice.

I've thought about doing this quite a lot but my laziness frequently stops me.

I think for the DV boys of this size a hakama style pant would be a decent choice if you wanted him in pants. I don't think I could get either Rhyia or Akash's feet through as they both have feet as large as my hand both in length and nearly in width. Wicked sharp talons on their toes, too.

 

@Iron_Dog I think having the brothers painted by the same artist would be a lovely choice!! Definitely get the hubby's help with getting those heads off though! As someone with lotsa fun chronic joint issues (I'm looking at you, tendonitis that's been there for over twenty years), you don't wanna do anything to exacerbate the issue.

@Grimalkin I have been considering using laced up shirts for Rah, but the whole having to restring them every time has been stopping me LOL. Getting the holes set up properly as Iron_Dog mentioned was also a concern, especially at this scale. I'll probably try and tackle it once I have some more sewing practice under my belt. I do really LOVE the look of laces lol. The hakama style you describe does seem like what I ended up making for Rah! They are very useful, though I made his short to show off those leggies lol

 

I was thinking the tiny loops for closing bras and/or some corsets over fabric so as not to scratch/catch, but also as less work then either buttonholes or grommets. I have made doll corsets with those before so know how to use them for lacing.

 

@Brytewolf Yes, I'll def need help. I'm finally old enough to mostly know when to ask for help instead of trying to struggle through a problem on my own. Took nearly 1/2 a century to reach this point but hey, I eventually learned.

I don't know if they still make them but rrabbit has made some hakama pants in the past (possibly for tall MSD/short SD girls? maybe part of a shrine maiden set?) that do fit the DV boys. Or at least they fit the 3-arm body as I bought a pair 2nd hand and Kheima wears them. They're a touch short on him in length hitting a bit above the ankle but it works for him.

 

@Iron_Dog It takes some of us a while sometimes xD It took me decades to figure out what makes my knee unhappy, and how I have to do things to make sure it doesn't get to the point I need the brace. Loads of fun.

I'm not sure if the measurements on the 3-arm body are different than Khafra's. Short isn't a bad thing on this boy, gotta show off those fabulous leggies. I'll have to check into those pants! Anything I don't have to make myself will be welcome.

@Tippetarius OH yeah, that's a great idea! Should be a great deal easier than cutting tiny holes in the fabric of the pants and dealing with those!

 

@Brytewolf Yeah, my life is all about the concessions I must make in order to not have my body scream at me and call me unflattering names for just trying to live my life.

The pants aren't hideously short. They're not trying to be capris or anything. But they would 100% qualify as floods. I just looked through my pics and not all that surprisingly, I don't have any pics of Kheima wearing the pants. I'd offer too take some but it's a bit difficult to access my dolls at the moment. Not impossible, just difficult.

 

@Iron_Dog It's almost as fun as "oh, yeah, I got this huge sinus headache this morning so yeah the weather is changing. Again. Wooooo"

I checked the measurements of both body types, and it seems that Rah's is just a smidge bigger on some measurements (and if I remember, a bit shorter so length might not be an issue). So I think they should be a good fit for him still, based on how loose they are. Also did a quick search on Etsy for any BJD sized hakama, and found only YOSD size. Haven't looked for the rrabbit ones specifically. More research is required xD Don't worry about taking pictures, thank you for hunting for some! I know what the pants look like now, and I'd actually prefer them not being capris cause I just...hate that style lol.

EDIT: just hopped to rrabit, and they have the pants available in MSD size in multiple colors. Sadly no black ones at present. Now to debate whether I get them in his preferred autumn colors or the aqua that's my personal favorite.

 

@Brytewolf They must've re-stocked since I last looked as there weren't all these colours before. I like the turquoise, too. Kheima's current pair are red. He'd def go for them as well as the lilac ones. Darn. I shouldn't have looked *sigh*.

I'd suggest double checking on length (if you haven't already) before hitting the buy button. I don't know which size I bought as they were from a local seller and I was able to try them on him before purchasing them. The seller only knew that they were rRabbit.

 

@Iron_Dog He demands them now. You cannot resist hehe.

Oh, yeah, thanks! The length is listing about 4cm shorter than the official measurements on the listing for Rah. Still don't have any mental picture around what 4cm difference would be, but that sounds like a lot. I'll wait til I'm home and can see just how the pants hem would sit before placing the purchase!