:vicky:This is all information I have compiled myself over the past few months while searching for the best info on BJD's. :) Enjoy.:vicky:
LINKS
The most prominant Ball Jointed Doll dealers:
Volks (The Original)
Soom (home of gems of the forest)
LUTS (Mysterious children and animals)
YELLOWING HELP
Sometimes soaking for several days can help reduce the yellowing done to a doll. As for heads, the threads I read said the soaking didn't touch the acrylic paint even though it wasn't sealed, but I'd be extra careful on this. Dolls only slightly off white have been known to come back to life after an hour of soaking. :) This will probably not get rid of all yellowing but may reduce it enough so that when you look at before/after photos you notice a difference. PLEASE, USE EXTREME CAUTION IF YOU ARE TO ATTEMPT THIS. It's your doll, you love it, be careful. Also, if you are wary use a less intense soaking recipe.
Ingredients: baking soda + peroxide in distilled water. no scrubbing. 5+ days soak!
DOLL MAKING TIPS:
Sculpt:
CLAY: wood clays, air-dry clays, or ceramic clays
☻ Apoxie Sculpt:
☻ Sculpey
☻ Super Sculpey(same as sculpey living doll): stronger than sculpy
☻ Fimo
☻ Paperclay: (you need a really good sealant before you cast because it is so porous)
o Creative Paperclay
☻ LaDoll: $10 a lb. Air Dry
☻ *Marblex Gray Clay: $10 for 5 lb’s. Air Dry
CORE:
☻ Styrafoam core: (covered with plastic wrap or tape)
☻ Alluminum Foil core:
☻ Newspaper core:
Cast:
Mold:
☻ RTV silicone (Goes into the pores of clay so use a sealant on the clay before molding)
☻ Materials for constructing a mold box (foamcore and duct table, PVC pipe, Legos, or whatever you like to build the boxes out of)
☻ A non-sulfurous clay
☻ Silicone
☻ Vaseline or some other release agent
☻ Mixing containers
☻ Stir sticks
Cast:
☻ Polyurethane resin
☻ polytek's uv stablizer
Other:
☻ Krylon primer
Crap to never use because it sucks:
☻ Das Pronto clay
What to NOT do:
☻ you can't bake resin if you intend to eat anything that came out of that oven
☻ you DEFINITELY can't bake sometime with primer on it. But you CAN boil it
RESIN IS TOXIC, NEVER DO ANYTHING WITH RESIN WITHOUT THE PROPER VENTILATION AND A GAS MASK!!!
FACE UPS:
Materials to use:
☻ Soft pastels and acrylic paint
☻ watercolor pencils
☻ 70% Isopropyl Alcohol or Winsor & Newton brush cleaner (For cleaning purposes, these are safe bets.)
☻ Aleene's Tacky Glue (or PVA glue in the UK) - (A good glue to use for gluing in eyelashes, since if you need to remove them, it will peel away rather easily yet holds the eyelashes firmly in place)
Sealants:
☻ Testors Dullcote (it may tint your doll’s skin color though)
☻ Zoukeimura Finishing Powder
☻ MSC (Mr. Super Clear)
☻ Citadel/ Games Workshop Matte Sealer (durable, wears well, has a little more tooth to it. Do not spray too close or in high humidity)
☻ Model Masters (apparently this is works fine)
☻ Folkart "Clearcote Acrylic sealer" by Plaid (holds up, does not tint or cloud, it smells though)
Materials to NEVER use:
Any oil based paint or pastel (Oil eats away at resin, so spend for the preservation of your doll, avoid oil-based products.)
Human make-up (Human make-up tends to contain oils. Although some does not, it may still stain your doll.)
Sharpies or other markers (Markers are meant to be permanent and will stain your doll.)
Colored pencils (Colored pencils may stain your doll.)
Colored nail polish remover or acetone (Nail polish remover with a color (ex. purple) to it may stain. Acetone has been known to eat Cerberus Project resin. )
Super glue/Crazy glue (While these glues are okay for repair work, do not use them for attaching eyelashes. It is very difficult, if not impossible, to remove super glued eyelashes..)
Bad Sealants:
Krylon Matte is NOT an acceptable sealant.
TIPS!!!
-------Don’t use too much sealant!!!-------------
☻ Make sure you wait for each coat to dry before you add a new one
☻ Make sure you always read the instructions of the sealant before you apply it. Using sealants that are ment to be used in room temperature environments tend to bead/goop up if used in cold environments or with cold water.
☻ Testor’s Dullcote and MSC can be removed with acetone
☻ It’s okay to coat the entire body with Testers Dullcoat (in case you do blushing ^_^)
☻ Citadel Matte Varnish is NOW called PURITY SEAL. it contains Acetone Xylene and 2-butoxyethanol(so wear a mask!)