The stress of shelling

I feel you so much on the scaling aspect. I'm doing some "passive" shelling right now (looking around, trying to pick some possible companies, slowly collecting the pieces, etc). It's so hard to find a doll that will be slightly shorter than the other one but match the proportions. Like I'm pretty sure I found the base for the taller character but finding a doll that will be like ~2 cm shorter is a journey haha I also don't feel like the hassle of sending the head for a faceup, so company's one must work.

But for blank heads, I recently started on a faceup for my YoSD and using drawing apps like Procreate helped to draft a possible look to match the hair and eyes I got. For ADHD brains, I literally throw all the idea into my Notes phone app. Should I, ideally, be more organized? Yeah. Can my brain handle it? Not without stressing for weeks. We're going with "I'll make it work eventually" mentality

 

Ah hello, fellow ADHD havers... I too find shelling more difficult than it should be

Resin matching is really tricky business... If I can't find what I need on DoA, I just pop it into Google in case someone posted pics on Flickr or Tumblr or their blog, etc. But unfortunately, for some companies you kinda just have to ask around and hope someone out there can give you some pictures!

And finding fitting dolls for me just comes down to lots and LOTS of window shopping! It helps to have a scale in mind to take time off of looking, but otherwise... yeah I kinda just go on Alice's Collections, Denver Doll, etc and browse until I see something promising. A bit mind-numbing but fun with a long YouTube video playing in the background, LOL.

I used to keep a Notion with all my doll plans, that way I could add images, links, all that to one page! It fell a little by the wayside though... >_>; maybe I should go fix that...

 

The main character of the story the majority of my dolls belong to, has been missing since 2010 Or better, his big form. I have him as 1/6 kid, but I desperately need his 1/3 form, and also 1/4 if possible.

It's ridiculous. It seems to be absolutely impossible to find a doll that has it all: face that works for him, correct body height and proportion, a nice medium brown skintone that isn't orange or waaay too light. I had a few "I guess it's...okay...." options, but none that really hooked me. It's so frustrating, I just want him here!

For all the others, I try to avoid hybrids nowadays unless it's a super known and well working combination. I had too many dolls where parts didn't match, even though I had done quite some research. As long as the height and silhouette of a body works for the character, I accept that. The majority of BJD bodies all follow the same aesthetic anyway, it's absolutely impossible to find some that work for my OCs. I'd need a broad, muscled 70cm body for one of my girls, but the muscled female bodies available are just sad. Same for slim, none-toned male bodies in that size.

 

I prefer going for whole dolls over hybrids, as it's fewer moving parts to look after. That said, I've also had to compromise in my head, especially for my novel characters. It helps that I don't have a detailed idea of how they look, but a series of broad sketches.

I'm also neurodivergent, though I don't have ADHD. Channeling two of my big interests, fiction writing and dolls, was more asset than headache. Unless I was in a bout of unrelated hyperfixations.

 

I’m a fellow ADHD haver, and I’m lucky because my hyperfixation for BJDs means that my brain is a reservoir of doll facts. So I’ll remember stuff like “didn’t company x have a decently fairyland-matching NS?” Or which companies have tiny necks, or massive necks, or resin-matching. I just spent like 2 weeks trying to figure out a reasonable match for a grey head, and I’m willing to wipe his amateur faceup, so he can get blushed to match.

Probably 3/4 of my dolls are hybrids, I’d say.

Whenever heads or doll parts come in I also play “doll Tetris” in which the new head may displace existing heads off bodies, or onto other bodies, and that’s cool. I also passively shell a lot. Eden, Vesuvius, Nirathos, Az, and many others have been shelled cause I plunked an impulse bought head onto a body and went “hold on, that works.” So my current methodology appears to be “buy what you like, figure it out, and resell if necessary.”

I also resell a considerable number of impulse dolls, because the brain craved something new, but this was the wrong something (and it didn’t tell me that several hundred dollars ago?) but I’ve found I usually make most of my money back, so I consider that the ADHD tax

 

Oftentimes the internal image we have of a thing or person is just infinitely more complicated than anything irl, and it can be difficult to translate that to reality whether you’re writing your story, drawing the OC, or shelling them. I kind of lucked out because most of my OCs are based on historical figures that we already have images of but I’ve only ever visualized the true OCs in my cartoony art style so I have no idea what they’d look like in a more realistic sculpt. I think it might always be a little weird tbh…..

 

Mine all come to me in different ways but yeah, sometimes finding a matching head and body is difficult when hybriding! I tend to lean more towards artist dolls who don’t have bodies made for them. It is hard to get one that is your whole list sometimes. Like wider nose, certain eye shape, certain height. Certain color. I guess I see them as my project dolls. I hope you find your dream soon!

 

What helps me are lists. I have OneNote, both the app and browser (both of which are free you just need to make a microsoft acct), where I create pages for characters and just drop all the info I need for the character into them. You can include pictures which is a huge help, and you can draw on the page using the app, too. When things are hard to wrap my head around, I just toss all the info I need into OneNote, which has notebooks you put the pages in so you can keep everything together in one place. It really helps to just dump it all in there so I don't have to think about it, because I WILL think about it otherwise, as a chronic overthinker, lmao.

Also, if you're having trouble with resin matches, definitely look into companies who offer resin matching for an extra cost. It's also an option. I know Resinsoul does off the top of my head, but there are a few others, too. I think there's a thread or google doc out there with companies on it.

 

What helped me was when I found a sculpt that I thought would work for a character, I would screenshot it and draw over it or photoshop wigs and clothes I liked onto it. I took screenshots of everything I thought I liked and put them in a folder for me to review and decide later. I understand your frustration but just take your time and keep researching and I know you'll find the perfect doll! Good luck!

 

I have an OC that I've had for 18 years now. He isn't that unusual looking, but he just doesn't exist in doll form for some reason or another (I have no idea what the issue is). I've been in the hobby for 8 years and have been trying to shell him ever since. I've went through many sculpts, a lot of money, and finally (maybe) settled on one that's close enough. I paid A LOT for his faceup and went through a small bit of hell with it, and well... wiped it last night. His sculpt fits close enough, so I decided I'm just going to keep taking the financial hit until I'm really solid on keeping or not.

My characters in my head are real people - I can see them realistically only, so imagining them in doll or anime form is really hard. I feel you. also ADD here. The only advice I have for you is:

1. Really consider your expectations. Pick WHAT on your character is most important to you - not the exact match. For me, it was his general face shape (but not completely, because it was impossible), his cupids bow (I had to decide what could be painted or not, sanded or not) and the FEELING of his eyes. Not totally the shape only, but the feeling as well. Since my character's stare is important to me.

2. Really just find what's close "enough" and don't worry about resin matching too much. Things can be blushed, matched by a company, dyed, etc. Go for the whole doll if you can and if you can't really just get what's close enough. Lots of artists will blush to match with a faceup. Do digital mockups or print out a blank head and draw over it with a pencil. Use instagram for hashtag heaven to see.

3. Stop actively looking. Take your time. If it doesn't come now, it could in a year or so once you get more exposure. Don't exhaust yourself into a bad decision. (Speaking from experience)

As far as the body goes for my OC I have searched forever and the closest body that ever matched his type was a fantasy doll so I've completely given up on that XD Again, Close Enough(tm)

 

This year I was finally able to shell one of my characters that I had been wanting to shell since about 2014/15. When he was first created, I was actively looking for a perfect shell to no avail. I realized that the image of him that existed in my mind's eye was realistic as opposed to the stylized look of BJDs. I wasn't viewing or imagining him as a doll and therefore was not able to see him in any of the dolls I was looking at. This naturally caused conflict between what I was seeing in my mind vs what dolls actually existed in real life at the time. It wasn't until I stopped looking at dolls with the sole mission to find his specific shell that I found a perfect match; in a sense, I let go of the image of him, loosened up the restrictions I was giving myself, and reframed how I imagined him.

I don't have experience with hybrids, but you're more likely to find something that is close enough rather than an exact match in terms of heads, bodies, and resin matching. I recommend focusing on features that matter the most to you! There are so many ways to customize that even if you don't find exactly what you want, there may be someone out there who can mod, blush, etc. to make it what you want. Also, I agree to not exhaust yourself into a decision or try to force one, take your time!

 

The short answer is, I don't.

It's too much hassle. I get dolls I like the look of and get to know who they are once I have them. With one exception - where a doll I had turned out to be character from a favourite series of childrens books, so I then had to shell her sister. It was awful, and I ended up with an entire unplanned doll from one of the not-right shelling attemepts. NEVER again. It's just not worth the hassle.

Good luck with your shelling. I hope you find the right prts and sort out the compatibility issues.

Teddy

 

For scale I've straight up printed out photos of doll heads or tried to scale it on my monitor. It sounds so dumb but it actually helped me realize I didn't want a certain $$$ head.

I'm not super familiar with what can be changed by a faceup when it comes to realistic leaning sculpts. I can't even recognize features in real people, much less dolls.
So I think commissioning someone for realistic art is honestly a great idea! It'd make asking others for sculpt ideas way easier too.

 

I am blessed (or cursed, depending on how you look at it) with a very creative mind and an overly creative imagination. Because of this, I am able to come up with fascinating characters in my head, and then I look to shell them…leaving a cast of characters floating around loosely in my brain looking for a resin home. Because of doing it this way, I don’t put any pressure on myself as far as timelines go, and I believe this is key in how shelling works for me. Coming up with the characters is a fun reward all its own, and I just figure they’ll show up when they’re good and ready. Sometimes it’s fairly quickly, sometimes it’s taken 8 years or an entire decade…but it’s always a sudden recognition, “Oh, there you are! I’ve been looking for you!” It’s like stumbling across an old, well known friend.

 

I don't know if this will help you because it is not the way everybody's wired .... but if I want to inresinate an OC of mine as a BJD, I think of it like a director filming a beloved book. Of course the film will not be a 100% realisation of the story in my head, because that is simply impossible to accomplish. But taking into account the differing characteristics of each medium (book vs film, OC vs doll), I try to find a representation that gives me the right vibes. It's like, you know, the film actor does not have to be a 100% equivalent of the book character in every aspect, but they need to be believable as that character. Sorry, it's hard to explain... (does anybody here understand what I mean?)

That takes so much pressure away from me. Not only does it make things more fun but it has always had the added benefit of teaching me new things about my OC I didn't realise before, just by working with that doll.

Cannot help on the ADHD front, unfortunately

 

This is pretty similar to my approach actually! I think of it like commissioning an artist for a picture of my OC, where I would want to see their own style interpretation of the character, even though that will obviously have differences from my own art/mental image. Being stylized differently doesn't necessarily mean it won't be recognize or not "feel" like my character. Same as how fanart doesnt need to identically match the original series to be identifiable as a related work. The artist in this case just happens to be in 3D instead of 2D, haha.

For organization, I've given up since I can never remember to update any sheets I make. I do have a tab group on my phone dedicated to holding things I want to purchase later, so I have them all in one place, but that's about it. I'm very mobile-dependant for work reasons and do most of my browsing or shopping there so it works.

 

This. I also don't shell pre-existing, before-resin OCs for the same reason. When I was new to BJDs, I attempted to shell one of my oldest and dearest OCs with my first doll -- it was completely unsuccessful and left me frustrated, and I ended up selling the doll and giving up on the whole idea. I think the main issue was: there was too much at stake, I had so much history with this OC that nothing short of 100% perfection (perfect match between my mind's eye vision and the physical doll shell) would do. And I couldn't make it work.

Now I buy the dolls I like and let them tell me what character they are. This method is so much more relaxing and enjoyable for me, plus I get to create new OCs and have fun exploring their stories. I might attempt to shell my before-resin OCs again, now that I've had more experience in the hobby, but honestly it's not a priority. I'm fine having some characters that have doll form, and some that don't.