Wren Feathers So you want a custom Blythe As always this tutorial is by me (Jennie Bagrowski) and is for your personal use only, you MAY share it by linking to this blog, you may NOT sell it. I assume you have basic crafting knowledge and am NOT responsible for any mishaps or your doll turning out badly. The doll is used here is a Blythe clone called Basaak usually available on ebay for less than half the cost of even a factory Blythe. In my opinion, they look more similar to Blythe than other clones, like Icy.
Off with her head! Pop off her scalp. If you got a doll with good hair, rejoice. If not, chop off her hair and go order a nice wig. And eyes, unless you re going to make your own. My eyes were made from 14mm glass cabochons with eye images found online, printed on a laser printer and mod-podged to the back of the eye. IMPORTANT: get the thinnest cabochons you can find! Mine were a little too thick and interfered with her eye mech. More on that later Untie pull ring. Unscrew head and unhook spring if needed.
That white thing is what controls her gaze. You may have read about gaze correction and this is what that refers to. Sand off a tiny bit (1mm or so) to correct her gaze. This means you ll be able to move her eyes a little bit more up and down. Okay, hard part: getting the eye mech out. It s terrifying the first time, because you re SURE you re going to break the head. You won t. Put tape on a flat screwdriver (to stop scratches), insert where shown and push out. I ve found pushing the eyeballs from the front also can help. It takes a lot of force.
YAY! Take the eyeballs out the same way (pushing with screwdriver) Blythe eyes supposedly come out with a glue stick. Not Basaak. Get two pairs of pliers, two screws, and a candle. Holding with pliers, heat the screw for 30-45 sec and plunge into the exact center of the eye. It may hiss and bubble up a little around the screw, that s good. Don t stick it in too far or you ll damage the white part. Let it cool while you do the next one.
Doing this while it s still warm (like enough that the screw would still be uncomfortable to touch) seems to give better results than waiting for it to be cold. Grasp the eye in one hand and twist screw down with pliers with the other. In a perfect world the pic above will happen. Heat the screw a little to soften the chip and pry it off with the other pliers. Careful! These chips catch fire easily and STINK when they burn. In the real world, bits of chips may be stuck/broken off in there still. Carefully dig them out with something sharp. Test your cabochons to see how far they stick up. If it s too far, use a dremel with a little sanding disc on the lowest speed and deepen the eye openings until the eyes fit flush. Don t sand down too much it should just take a couple seconds per hole.
Raid the knife-sharpening drawer (what, you don t have one?) for some waterproof fine-grit sandpaper. Wet it and go to work. (L) sanded (R) not Rinse and dry frequently to check for shiny spots. Your camera can be helpful here mine picked up a few after I thought I was done sanding!
Ok, let s glue in the eyes. Put them together to ensure your colors line up. Note that mine stick up too far no rim should be showing. Use a toothpick to run glue around the little rim inside and press in your eyes. This is called a pin vise. It s an itty-bitty drill with teeny bits for making dollhouse furniture (and probably other stuff too). Open her nostrils as big as you want by drilling in a little.
Draw your desired lips with pencil. You can erase marks with a wet rag. I drilled holes at important points to guide my carving.
Start scratching in your lip shape. I used dremel bits by hand (i.e. not the tool, just the bits) and tiny files. Continue until they look the way you want. You can periodically brush on some pastels to check the final look. Sand everything you carved.
Yank out the eyelashes with pliers, trim your replacements. Mine were BJD lashes but a lot of people seem to buy human-size ones at the drugstore. Use a pin to spread glue in the crevice and poke the lashes in. The spring makes for a one-click eye change. If you want sleepy eyes that can stay closed, remove the spring and put a very strong string through that hole.
Use dry chalk pastels (scratch with scissors to loosen pigment) and soft brushes to apply her makeup. Minimally you need blush, lip color and eyeshadow above the eye. A little extra eye shadow around all the edges provides a nice outline. You can also add eyebrows, painted eyelashes, or more facial color as highlights, for example around the nose and chin. My favorite paint for painted details is a watercolor pencil scribbled on paper and wet with a tiny brush. It makes great freckles and brows. Dust over your face with a large, soft brush to feather the edges and spray with a sealant. Yeah, you can spend a lot on Mr. Superclear or $5 on a can of Krylon matte sealer available wherever spray paint is sold. Your choice. Add more layers of chalk if necessary at the lips, and coat them with a shinier brush-on sealer like the kind sold for sealing acrylic craft paint.
Check your eyelashes and trim more if necessary. Again, I repeat, these eyes stick up too far and mess with the proper functioning of the eye. Make sure yours don t! Screw in the white piece that holds the eyes in (did you sand it if necessary?) Check the functioning of the eye mech before closing. Ok, you can rebody your doll now if you need to. A 23cm Obitsu will run you about $20 (junkyspot.com) and a small Azone Pureneemo flection about $40 (ebay). Both of those may require some tweaking to fit properly at the neck. An Azone has bigger hips and thighs. An Obitsu means Blythe clothes will be a little too big, and her big head means you need to open the body and insert strips of craft foam to strengthen it. An option to ensure Blythe clothes fit is a Licca body. They are virtually identical in size and Licca is more poseable, since her limbs bend like Gumby. You can buy a cheap Licca for around $20 and pop off her head. Screw everything back together and put on her scalp and wig.
Can someone hand me a mirror, please? When is it my turn?