dragonsdelightstudio

[dragonsdelightstudio]

Get ready with Arthur✨

[dragonsdelightstudio]

So plush! I have some DT chenille in reserve but I’ve never worked with plush yarn before. She looks great.

I impulse bought some very very soft yarn from the dollar store so in order to justify it I made this sweater ( ・∀・)

It's not flawless but I am pretty happy with the end result! Because the yarn was large (for doll scale) it went together rather quickly as well!

[dragonsdelightstudio]

Neck Shortening: A Mini Guide

A few days ago I received an Impldoll Idol 68 Female body. Perfect in every way for my Iplehouse Freezia… save for the neck length….

It was just a hair too long for my taste. I’ve had to modify a few of the crew’s necks because most are hybrids. So let’s begin our adventure for the evening.

The main thing about a modification like this is to go slowly and only remove a bit at a time. You can always take more off, but it’s harder than hell to put back.

I took a grey colored pencil and some tape and made a ring around the neck where I would like to take some height off. Since my cutting wheel is thicker I’m going to have to stay on the one side of the line so I don’t take off too much.

I did make note of the curve in front, but ultimately decided that I didn’t need it. If I had kept it I would have used a diamond file mandrel to gently carve that in.

For this I grab my Dremel Lite with a thin cutoff wheel. On the lowest speed I start going around the neck, making sure everything lines up. Double check that you have a good grip on everything and are purposeful with your movements. A dremel bit can get away easily and create unwanted marks in the resin.

As always when working with resin, wear a mask. I also keep wet towels next to me to control the amount of dust that tried to escape.

I love a good, clean cut.

For our next act, the neck needs to be curved down and smoothed. Again with my Dremel, I employ my nail sanding bands. These are made for sanding nails, but I find them perfect for doll modification as they come in different grits from #80 to #240. The 80 grit is harsh and that’s what you reach for when you want to remove a lot of resin NOW, but today I use #150 to start shaping the neck.

This is where you want to go epically slow and check the fit of your doll’s head often. Rotate the head around and check the range of motion and also look inside to see if the neck is making contact with the inside of the head, this way you can judge whether to skinny up the neck more or give a greater curve to the top.

After you are satisfied with the shape and fit, it’s time to do a finishing sand. I like to use a wet/dry #400 by hand because it leaves a satin smooth finish that typically matches most BJD finishes and the “tooth” that their resin already has. Do small circular motions around the neck that way you don’t leave any sanding marks. Double check on the blending between your sanded area and the unsanded area. This is where shadows can reveal an odd ledge and make the mod look unfinished.

Now! Do your final fit check and suede the head if needed for extra grip.

There she is! I probably took about 6mm off in the end, but it was enough to make a difference. I’m so happy to have Enya whole again.

It’s truly amazing to see how far BJD engineering has come. The joints are beautifully made with posability that was just a dream in the early 2000s. I still remember when everyone lost their mind when jointed hands were first introduced and there were close to $200 a pair.

🥰

Stay crafty, my friends.

[dragonsdelightstudio]

I’m still learning resin craft and how colors and flow work. This doll stand went a bit off center for the design. I shouldn’t have touched it after the pour, but hey live and learn and don’t do it again. I’m also out of resin and I’m hoping to get a gallons worth this round. I also got a pocket precision gram scale for measuring because I think my kitchen scale sucks. I rarely mix any amount over 250 grams so it should work perfectly.

I’ve also opted to just buy some round molds and go from there. The mold I made is ok but nowhere near what I needed.

[dragonsdelightstudio]

Finished remaking the flower collar with a smaller hook (thread 20, hook 1.4).

It's fairly chunky/overwhelming on a 1/3 scale doll, though a charming piece in hand, especially the 3d effect.

Again I used this tutorial (with the small change of making the flower petals a different color, and starting with a repetition of 21 instead of 31).

I think it would look better smaller, but I don't have the dexterity at the moment to do it 😵‍💫 not to mention the drive. It was hard enough to force myself to make the same flower 11 times at this size 😵

[dragonsdelightstudio]

oh so when vampires have heightened sensory awareness it’s cool, but when I have it it’s ‘autism’

[dragonsdelightstudio]

Finally Here~

*unedited photo*

Enya’s body has finally arrived just two weeks shy of a year’s wait.

I adore this body, Impl has been on a roll with their female bodies lately and I can’t wait to place an order for the plump 1/3 for Acacia.

The body is an Impldoll Idol 68 female body. The head is a 2007 Iplehouse Freezia, and you can tell the age difference. Her head may need a refresh and to say I’m nervous about it is an understatement. She was painted by Angeltoast shortly after arriving and I’ve cherished it.

The neck fit is spot on, but it is a tad too long, which I kind of expected. Resin color is a match if you’re 20 feet away and squinting. Proportion between the head and body are good. For some reason the right ankle is snapping to the side making it hard to balance her.

I was actually disappointed there was no resin smell.

As of now she is matched with Kit in height, but the neck mod will change that.

Overall very happy. I look forward to completing my next doll.

[dragonsdelightstudio]

[dragonsdelightstudio]

Workspace Wednesday!

I’ve been a busy bee this past week.

I’ve gotten a couple of projects done that I’ve been meaning to. The first is the doll stand I’ve been meaning to cast. It seems like I used a metric ton of silicone but in reality there are a lot of chopped up reused bits in there.

…

I’m currently trying to fix an oops in a couple of spots of the mold with silicone. Seems I finally had a reaction with the UV resin and silicone. Thankfully it is a minor clean up. My test cast is very pretty, purple with a cloud like effect. It currently waits to be finished.

I think Cas has finally chosen a character design, a mushroom themed Kitsune! It combines two loves of mine and is not seen much in Kitsune characters, though I have found many little designs with foxes and mushrooms together.

Here is a teaser, I actually have a full set of photos and a mini tut about the making of the hat complete with holes for the fox ears.

Below is some more random odds and ends I’ve been working on. One is a sunburst for my kitchen light.

Thank you for visiting,

Stay crafty, my friends!

[dragonsdelightstudio]

It appears Enya’s body has cleared customs without incident.

Almost a years wait for this body, I hope this will be the right one after three failures.

This is the Idol 68cm female body. Depending on how she looks next to Kit I may have to take some height off.

[dragonsdelightstudio]

Workspace Wednesday~

Oh, so many things being worked on…

I’ve been tinkering with my desk. I tested out a potential texture for the different colored bits. A long time ago I fell in love with how a shop had done their floors in paper mache and it ended up looking very spiffy. So I tested it out on my mouse pull out. I also raised the pull out keyboard platform so it is way more comfortable for my shoulders and thunder thighs.

It still needs to have a layer of PU put on it, but I otherwise like it a lot. So the color scheme has changed plans. I would like the majority in an aubergine purple, with some ink blue accents and the paper mache covering the inner parts of the frame.

I’ve also been wanting to change out the handles for some time. I’ve looked at everything and of course the fancy ones are out of my price range. So as I stared out into my living room I remember I have a corner full of sticks. Yes, I hunt for sticks.

Spur of the moment I chose one with worm lines carved into it, cut, sanded lightly, and rubbed down with coconut oil. I adore these and I think this desk will definitely have a personality. Never mind the unfinished drawers themselves. The tambourine also has a thicker set to match.

And thanks to the Fetch app I was able to get another gift card and get myself a little mixer so I no longer have to hold the heavy ass Ryobi drill to mix anything.

Honestly love this thing. I’m actually wanting to put a review up for it. It saves my shoulders and wrists. If you don’t know by now both my shoulders are shot to hell and I’ve developed carpal tunnel. Yay me.

There are so many other things I’m working on. After I finished Rynn up I set aside the dolls for now until Enya’s body arrives.

I apologize for the long post, It’s nice to be able to type on my keyboard now!

[dragonsdelightstudio]

*Clothes shopping for my boys*

I’m rotating the tee shirts display because they have sooo many my boys would love. My oldest is currently having a Kirby moment so I grab one.

*holds up shirt to my mom* “Gabe is gonna love this one! It’s got Kirby all over it.”

*mom, grossed out* “But it’s pink?”

I laughed and laughed. “Welcome to 2025, Mama.” *victoriously tosses shirt into cart*

[dragonsdelightstudio]

Reason no. 7 why I should not be left unsupervised…

I’m a dumpster diver.

Two almost brand new shelves just sitting there.

I’m ngl, the insane amount of wastefulness some people in my complex have drives me nutter-butters. One of my neighbor kids was throwing out trash the same time I was staring at these. He told me the lady had started a project with them and then simply didn’t like it, so she tossed them. 😡

Needless to say I drug them back into my place and did a little modification, now they are staged as a hutch for my desk. I need to strip off the previous paint attempt and refinish, but I call this a win.

This method is also how I got my lovely metal rocking chair for my garden, which I absolutely love.

[dragonsdelightstudio]

Flower (and vine) hair collection~

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Things I have learned from my wife getting into doll collecting:

1) This hobby is somehow even more expensive than Magic The Gathering. Which is REALLY saying something

2) A lot of these people are horny for the dolls

[dragonsdelightstudio]

I love Halloween Decor…

But why the f does it all have to look so cheesy? Cheap?

I look at the decor offered and it’s either terribly sculpted, painted, or assaulted with glitter. I mean, damn. Some nice ones I’ve found had to be stripped of the atrocious amount of glitter they’ve been dipped in. Since when did glitter take over Halloween? Don’t get me wrong, if it’s well done it can be a great accent. But to literally pile it on like it’s a god damn triple cheeseburger with extra ketchup and mustard is a little excessive.

Thanks for coming to my mini rant.

[dragonsdelightstudio]

Been wrapped up in using my UV resin before it goes completely bad. It’s at the point where it will cure but remain somewhat tacky. I usually plop the casts in cool water and then hit them again with the light. Why the insane amount of clear eye blanks? Not one, but two of my eyeball molds (bought) critically failed. So I salvaged the molds that were still good and made a bunch of blanks to mold over with silicone later. I may actually do this with the other mold sizes too because I don’t like doing tiny batches of resin for just four eyeballs of the same size. Casting 12 blanks at a time for a size would be great since I’m going to be using Epoxy and not UV resin.