Revisiting an old project

Way back in 2007 I discovered Ball Jointed Dolls, and decided that I could probably make one myself.
I had just received a Jan McLean vinyl doll as a gift, and while I was on the Internet looking at her other porcelain) dolls, I stumbled across Marina Bychkova's Enchanted Dolls. Eventually I found myself at Den of Angels, a large fan-forum for Asian Style BJDs. Way back then they had an artists subforum for people sculpting their own dolls, and I jumped in with both feet.
My first ever BJD was a 53cm tall doll which took me the better part of a year to complete. This poor doll got almost finished, then hacked into pieces and reworked over and over. She was my first experience with working with silicone and resin too. I pulled a complete cast in resin just once - my moulds were not correctly built so I had all kinds of issues with bubbles and miscasts, then I moved onto smaller dolls, where I would be able to experiment without having to risk "wasting" $1000 in supplies again.

This has been a long preamble to say that I have dragged her poor broken prototype pieces out of storage, and have been cleaning them up in preparation for alterations to make her suitable for casting in porcelain (which was what I wanted to do with her in the first place).
She should end up around 48cm tall in porcelain, due to shrinkage.
I will update with photos just as soon as I get replacement batteries for my camera.

From 3D Model to Resin-Cast Doll - Step 1

I thought it might be interesting to chart my progress with this particular project.
I've had this 3D model in the works since late November last year.

In Early December, before I scrapped his body and started again - at this point he had no hands or legs.

I had a concerted burst of energy in early February - working on building him a body and then chopping the model up for joints.

How he looks currently.

Working in 3D software is odd. It's the same skill set artistically, but at the same time, a whole different type of thinking than physical modelling. It seems to absorb you, and it becomes very easy to spend what seems like hours trying to find the perfect position for each vertex. You spend hours creating something that doesn't really exist.
Weird.


Last week, I ordered a print of him from Shapeways, a fantastic service based in the Netherlands. 



Also, this beautiful thing was purchased around the same time:

It's a painters' pressure pot which, with a few minor adjustments, I will be using for pressurised casting.
My silicone moulds will be cured in it under pressure, and after that the resin casts.


The print I've ordered is 1:12 scale, so he's the same size as the old G.I. Joe toys - and just right for doll-houses. Once he gets here - and exists in the real world - I'll be stringing him together and checking to see if he "works"; how his balance is, do his joints work like I expect them to, and all that stuff. Then I'll make any necessary adjustments with Apoxy Sculpt and prime and sand (and repeat) until he's nice and smooth. Then I'll make moulds, and cast him.


If all of that is successful, I'll update my digital file, and get him printed in a larger size.