Cicada, the Icy (my first custom doll!) (WIP)

[Haint Blue]

She isn't QUITE done! I still gotta make her teeth (you can see the tail end of the clay in the corner of her mouth here) instead of just cramming some clay into her mouth to placehold... and she needs three new sets of chips (she is keeping these) and she needed some touchup after this and her wig is a wreck because it fell out of the hairnet and rattled around a box for a month and I hate these eyelashes (they're so CRUNCHY urgh!) but I am so excited I couldn't help posting her so far!



I've done repaints before but only tiny dolls and definitely no carving or anything! This was a really weird learning eerience. Definitely I can't figure out how other people sand their dolls totally smooth... I gave up eventually She has scuffs/etc. under the MSC but the freckles hide the worst of them as I placed them, uh, strategically... lol. Someone tell me how you get totally smooth Blythe faceplates!

Also I used really crappy pastels for this and I can tell orz. I miss my nice ones... if I make any more custom dolls I might have to invest in some, but since I don't think I'm good enough to sell my dolls and I've recently become really interested in stock Blythes I doubt I will!

[Pink Haired Freak]

She's beautiful! I love love love icy girls! I can't wait for mine to finalllyyyy come from the customizer! ( I love her cute tooth!!)

[Alliecat]

"cram some clay into her mouth" haha It must be fun to go through this process and see the face take shape. Good luck getting her all finished. Sounds like you are doing OK in spite of all the issues!

[Pink Haired Freak]

Oh I forgot to mention how I get smooth faceplates, I use multiple sanding sponges/paper Starting with the one to remove the makeup and then one to refined that one and I keep using softer and softer sandpaper until i get the desired smoothness. Sometimes I actually use magic erasers at the very end because there basically just super soft sanding sponges.

[Offgenemi]

She is very very cute and you did an impressive work on the mouth if you ask me! I can't even imagine doing such thing. She is very very cute and happy girl

[Haint Blue]

@Pink I tried that! I think my actual technique must be bad... I tried many different grits of paper and started at the coarsest and moved up; I even tried automotive sandpaper thinking my stuff was too coarse! But I didn't try a magic eraser and I'm definitely going to next time, that's a great idea. Thank you for the advice! I really think it's just bad technique on my part lol

Thank you Offgenemi and Alliecat! I made her teeth and used some eye putty to wedge them in there so I am about to go finish her up I might not post pics til after I make a special outfit just for her though...

[Pink Haired Freak]

Did you try wet sanding, it prevents all that stuff it's really what I think makes a difference in terms of doll face sanding.

[Haint Blue]

I did! I was googling "sanding plastic" after sanding blythe just brought up stuff about 3m sponges and stuff and a bunch of people talked about wet sanding so i tried that... i did notice the MSC took some of the scuffs out/leveled them so they're less obvious but not enough to satisfy me. Maybe I'm rubbing too hard or not hard enough... hmmm...

Also I got impatient and put her together xD No new dress yet, I need to get back to my actual job now. But I love this old dress on her and I've never had a chance to use it before!

I still have to take her apart to put her eyes in when I have them, so her scalp is just perched on, hence the gap. I have got to cut her hair--it's so thick and heavy it's weighing her head backwards! @_@ So I think a nice mid-back cut to alleviate some of the weight and I might thin it out in the back too. But I'm so happy with her! My heart sings with pride when I look at her.



And obligatory lids shot! I might redo them, the paper I used it very thick and while I like the wrinkly texture it gave it makes the mech stick a bit even tho I sanded her eyeholes to accommodate. On the other hand, that makes her sleep eyes stay open even without a heavy pullstring... lol



And obligatory pullstring shot:

[Pink Haired Freak]

OhHHHHH I love her <3 I love everything about her!!
I think the issue is she might be a factory Icy because the Arker ones sand smooth like normal blythes but the new ones made by the same person who does factory girls and the plastic is harder to work with. So it might be that not you

[Haint Blue]

I think she's an Arker because the person I got her from had had her for ages and ages, since before factory dolls were easy to come by. But she might be--it was so long ago I don't really remember the details of the exchange and tbh I probably didn't ask, lol I have heard that Icys in general are a little tougher than Blythes--is that true in general or is that just true of the factory ones? If it is maybe I shouldn't be comparing her to photos of Blythes, lol. However just to make myself feel better I'm going to tell myself that she's a factory doll, because sanding her felt a lot like sanding my factory Blythe faceplate, i.e. "I'm never going to finish this doll because I hate sanding so much" rofl

Thank you! I love her too T_T I am so pleased.

[Alliecat]

That's paper, on her eyelids? I didn't know you could do that. Why not, I suppose! Looks like some meticulous work. The "old" outfit suits her just fine. Congrats on getting her (mostly?) done

[Cornflower Blue]

She's adorable! And you even found a Cicada charm for her pullstrings.

[KiraKira]

She's pretty! I think you've done a spectacular job. The eyelids and cicada charm are perfect!

[EvergreenMoon]

She's so adorable! D: I think you could possibly have a good shot at being recognized in the Blythe community if you continue to customize and put your work out there. That's just myyy two cents,though~ haha what do I know. x'DD
But she's so cute! I love her red hair, her freckles, her toof. u_____u