so, uh, ive been into sculpting for a while and ive had a passing desire to make my own ball jointed doll (bjd)

heres an example, if you have 0 idea what that is (by c_u_l_u_r on insta)

pretty much it's a little doll with rounded joints held by elastic strings that allow poseability

As You Know, im enamored with the idea of makin stuff (that's why i was a manufacturing major in hs, dangit!) and this caught my eye bc it's perhaps the most weaboo and creative thing i could imagine making

however,,it was very,,difficult. resources and tutorials are little to none online, with some stuff even being in japanese (at this point stuff i really need to read being in japanese has become an unfortunate reoccurring element in all my hobbies😕)

so yeah, i eventually just had to skim through instagram and screenshot photos of other peoples WIPs and reverse engineer from there. ive found one (1) sculptor that replies to dms, which is...good?

<<< my ref folder lol

so, i think ive toyed the idea around in my head enough to actually take the first step: actually make the dang thing

this is gonna be my first shot- obviously not gonna look as well as the professionals. rn im just getting a feel of the mechanics. who knows if i can actually sell these things eventually.

so, moving on into the real step, i drew up a blueprint of my body

i will be making a male body, mostly because i want a cute boy, dangit! hes roughly about 10 or 11 inches tall, about the length of a sheet of copy paper.

im going for a more androgynous appearance and effeminate body, probably drawing a lot from esper. im not sure if i want to make him roundish or more underweight- im leaning towards the later.

the joints will be pretty simplistic right now, not gonna use anything i can't immediately wrap my head around. i have some circle molds that work, probably wanna buy some beads to use as guides tho

in order to make the doll hollow on the inside, you have to sculpt around a "core" thats only a little smaller than the doll itself. ive created mine from tin foil, painters tape, and drinking straws

i still need to buy a couple things before i start sculpting, namely some wooden beads to use as guides to sculpt around

so, this should be an interesting project. if there's enough interest ill keep updating on this! hopefully i can complete this project lol