Did You Know...? (Help Needed!)

[IzabethS]

Hi everyone!

I wasn't sure where to post this, but since we're such a versatile group I'm trying it in let's talk.

I'm going to be working on a new BJD book, and I need more random little facts about companies, resin, dolls, and the such. With my last book I got a pretty good list, but this book will be bigger than the last one, which means that I can fit more information in it. Things I'm not looking for are opinions.


This is the graphic that'll go with it.

Here's the facts I have so far:

- Parabox Gretel was sculpted by Rainman from Elfdoll.

- To slightly reposition Resin Fingers, use a hair-dryer set on 'high' to make the resin slightly pliable. You can also boil the resin in water. Never use too much force to move the fingers, if you do they will break.

- Small dents in Resin can be fixed by warming the resin. If the dent is shallow enough, it will smooth back out.

- Resin dolls generally do not come with readily available replacement parts, but Parabox/Obitsu dolls, which are vinyl, do.

- Ball Jointed Dolls are almost always strung with elastic giving them the necessary tension to hold their poses. There’s only a few companies that do not come strung but with an internal skeleton instead. Those companies include Parabox/Obitsu and Volks.

- If you don’t wash off the alcohol or what ever else you used to clean off the head, the sealant may flake off along with the new face up!

- Before it's mixed and allowed to cure in order to become a solid, resin comes in two liquid parts. The vapors released by these liquids are toxic, and they should only be handled while wearing protective gear. Resin becomes safe to handle after it's completely solidified.

- You have to make sure to take proper precautions when modifying resin. The dust created in subtractive mods, will not break down in the human body. Over an extended period of time, this dust can accumulate in the lungs, and can cause difficulties in breathing; in a worse case scenario, it can turn into a carcinogen since this is a substance that your body cannot expel.

Any help will be greatly appreciated! And I can mention you in the acknowledgements section. Just PM the name you want displayed and I will add it.

Edits and added tidbits:

- A $2,000 Exclusive Limited Edition Resin BJD is essentially plastic, similar to a $300 Obitsu or even PVC pants. The difference is the way the plastic is made.

-The way that ball jointed dolls are strung can differ from company to company. The most common way is to use two loops of elastic; one from the head going to either leg and the other from wrist to wrist.

-Yellowing is unavoidable with resin because it's a natural continuing curing process of the material. The resin mellows differently for different tones. White becomes more creamy, Pink gets lighter and less pink, Normal Yellow turns more yellow, while tan has a tendency to become faded and sometimes slightly green due to the red pigment being the most unstable.

-The BJD company RSDolls actually came out with an internal spine for the elastic to sit in the torso. It allows the doll to pose more naturally.

[Nella]

I'm not sure what sort of little things you're looking for but I have one about Souldoll. The older Souldolls, made prior to 2008, had magnets to hold on the headcaps. The magnets showed through the resin, appearing as grey discolouration on either side of the head. If you want pictures, I can take a picture of my Tiffee from 2005. Newer Souldolls still use magnets in thier headcaps, but the magnets were put in deeper, to eliminate the above flaw.

Another little fact is that precise method of restringing can differ by company. The original Soulkids had a bar in their heads that permitted the head to be removed for easy dressing and faceupping without using a chopstick to maintain tension. Mythdolls didn't use S-hooks and instead the heads were held on by double knotting the elastic.

[IzabethS]

I'm not sure what sort of little things you're looking for but I have one about Souldoll. The older Souldolls, made prior to 2008, had magnets to hold on the headcaps. The magnets showed through the resin, appearing as grey discolouration on either side of the head. If you want pictures, I can take a picture of my Tiffee from 2005. Newer Souldolls still use magnets in thier headcaps, but the magnets were put in deeper, to eliminate the above flaw.

Another little fact is that precise method of restringing can differ by company. The original Soulkids had a bar in their heads that permitted the head to be removed for easy dressing and faceupping without using a chopstick to maintain tension. Mythdolls didn't use S-hooks and instead the heads were held on by double knotting the elastic.

Those are useful informations as well. I'm kind of looking for general facts. I'm not sure how to generalize the information with the head cap magnets for older Souldoll heads.

Now I'm thinking to use your tidbits like this:

-The way that ball jointed dolls are strung can differ from company to company. The most common way is to use two loops of elastic; one from the head going to either leg and the other from wrist to wrist.

[Nella]

Ok, I've got one in place of the Souldoll one if you need more general 'did you knows'. While yellowing is a natural and unavoidable feature of resin, different shades react differently. White skin loses the starkness, often gaining a slight creamy tone. Normal skin with a yellow undertone will become yellower. Normal skin with a pink undertone will gradually lose the pinkiness and seem to become lighter in tone. Tan can become faded and slightly green, as the red colouring in the resin is the least stable.

I don't know how the colourful resins such as blue and green change over time, but I remember that Bambicrony's light slate grey started off grey with a lot of purple but aged to more uniformly grey shade. It's probably too specific, but there was the first few batchs of Luts white skin back in 2003/2004 that got called Beauty Green, because they weren't yellowing, they were getting a green tinge. o.O

[kiki-chan78]

The 'beauty green' thing happened because Luts was putting an additive in their resin to try and prevent yellowing. Unfortunately, it greened instead. ^.~

[IzabethS]

Ok, I've got one in place of the Souldoll one if you need more general 'did you knows'. While yellowing is a natural and unavoidable feature of resin, different shades react differently. White skin loses the starkness, often gaining a slight creamy tone. Normal skin with a yellow undertone will become yellower. Normal skin with a pink undertone will gradually lose the pinkiness and seem to become lighter in tone. Tan can become faded and slightly green, as the red colouring in the resin is the least stable.

I don't know how the colourful resins such as blue and green change over time, but I remember that Bambicrony's light slate grey started off grey with a lot of purple but aged to more uniformly grey shade. It's probably too specific, but there was the first few batchs of Luts white skin back in 2003/2004 that got called Beauty Green, because they weren't yellowing, they were getting a green tinge. o.O

The first one is great! So many people are terrified of yellowing when it's going to happen regardless.

-Yellowing is unavoidable with resin because it's a natural continuing curing process of the material. The resin mellows differently for different tones. White becomes more creamy, Pink gets lighter and less pink, Normal Yellow turns more yellow, while tan has a tendency to become faded and sometimes slightly green due to the red pigment being the most unstable.

Thanks so much for this! If you like, you can PM your name (either real or chosen to represent you) to me and I'll add it to the acknowledgements page.

[Pandor]

Here's a pretty basic but important one:
-MSC is still pretty much the only sealer I've found so far that will work on most, if not all doll-like surfaces. Volk's ZM Powder-spray will make Obitsu vinyl bodies sticky. Testor's can yellow and get sticky.
(But there are still several hobbyist sealers I haven't tried yet...)

[IzabethS]

Here's a pretty basic but important one:
-MSC is still pretty much the only sealer I've found so far that will work on most, if not all doll-like surfaces. Volk's ZM Powder-spray will make Obitsu vinyl bodies sticky. Testor's can yellow and get sticky.
(But there are still several hobbyist sealers I haven't tried yet...)

Thanks! I cover this one in the materials section of the book. I found out that Purity Seal works great on resin, but terrible on vinyl, it turns sticky.

[yarwel]

Hows this:
RSdoll's have an actual resin spine hidden under their torso pieces.
Link: http://www.rsdoll.net/shop/step1.php?number=6


Is this too specific?

[Alopecia No Hime]

Hows this:
RSdoll's have an actual resin spine hidden under their torso pieces.
Link: http://www.rsdoll.net/shop/step1.php?number=6


Is this too specific?

That...Is amazing. An actual spine...Seriously freaking amazing.