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Saturday 12 January 2013

>^..^< HUJOO " FREYA" JunkySpot Designed Anthropomorphic Doll >^..^<

So there I was innocently looking for another Hujoo Doll, who could become a big sister for my Suve baby and little sister for Akimoto my wings boy, as I had decided I would finally buy one of these girls after, well it's kind of a long story, but my love of Hujoo Dolls began several years ago when I got talking got a lovely woman on flickr named Ciel, she had the one of the oddest and yet strangely appealing dolls I had ever seen and when I asked her the type, she let me know that I'd been looking at a Hujoo doll, her girl is called Miri and she kind of had a thing for Akimoto for a while, but that's a different story, in fact I blogged about it a while back.

Anyhoo, Ciel told me she bought Miri already customised and pre-loved, and told me I would be much better off  (if I decide to buy one), I really should get one brand new, which oddly would be cheaper and wouldn't have been painted and therefore wouldn't contain mistakes etc. as her one did.

Standard Female Hujoo called "Miri" belonging to Ciel
 So I started searching for them online, and discovered the very awesome Mimiwoo, she had male ones (Wings) in two skin tones and female ones in three skin tones both sexes also had a "sleep eye" version, but I much preferred the open eyed version myself, and after seeing the "chocolate skin" "Wings" Open Eyed version, which sadly Mimiwoo didn't have as a female version, I really had no choice but to buy my little man, wait 2 weeks on tenterhooks until he arrived from China and then fall helplessly in love with him after that!

So much so in fact that when I discovered (through Mimiwoo again!) that Hujoo had released "baby" and "Berry" versions of their dolls, I knew it wouldn't be long before I added a little Chocolate Skinned baby girl to my Hujoo family, and happily Akimoto took to his baby sister immediately, and never lets her out of his sight for very long.

 Recently I decided the time had come to add the little girl I'd been yearning for, also chocolate skinned, and almost did yesterday, until I discovered a listing from Junky Spot for a completely different type of Hujoo Doll....


As the listing says " This listing is for 1x FREYA doll manufactured in Asia by Hujoo. This doll is ABS vinyl/plastic, and STRUNG like a traditional ball jointed doll ( bjd ). Freya was designed by Emory Sung of The Junky Spot in early 2012."

"Hujoo " Freya " 24cm Doll
Regular Version
Light Grey Skintone
Open Eye
Blank, Nude Doll - Eyes Not Included
Brand New, Fully Assembled, Ready For Custimization! "


"Concept Design by Emory Sung of The Junky Spot
Production Design by Sunghyun Yoon of Hujoo and Emory Sung of The Junky Spot
Production and Manufacturing by Hujoo Korea."




As if the photo wasn't enough, I was already thinking "Wow" before I read that, but now my mind started imagining how Akimoto and his little "Sis'"  would most likely love to have a Cousin who' also a cat!


Obviously I had no way of resisting this gorgeous toy, especially as I have long been in love with Pipos Dolls but sadly could never afford one... my favourite is the one with the maniacal grin, but still beggars and all that!
Here's a couple of samples of Pipos Dolls, in case you have no idea what I mean:


The images above and below taken from Pipos Shop  and if interested you can buy them or look at these and other types (rabbits & frogs!) there, just click the link above.

The Pipos below is one of the "Cheshire" series, hence the inane grin!


But getting back to the Freya Hujoo - this gorgeous creation / collaboration, is a perfect substitute for me as she's not all that different to the "basic" model Pipos - shown in the first Pipos picture - she is also around the same height that Pipos stand at, which make them both close to standard ( Original Female / Wings) Hujoo size, but cheap enough to customise with carving, if I do decide she needs to be more like the "Cheshire Pipos" at a later date.


The other great thing about her is, she can wear the same size clothing as a standard female Hujoo, and therefore easy enough to find or make clothing for.


I love the attention to detail, from her paw like hands with tiny claws, to the pads on the bottom of her paw like feet!


The other great thing about her is, like Pipos, she comes with an optional tail, which can be attached to her with the use of a magnet (placed inside her body) - this means her tail can sit on top of her clothing, and you don't have to worry about making sure you have a "tail hole" in the right place when sewing for her, or worry about adapting standard doll clothes to accommodate it.


There's those cute little paw hands again!


The listing also contains this information, I have to say, that;s another thing I love about Junky Spot, the wealth of information they supply on their listings  it really helps you to make up your mind and know exactly what you are buying, plus if you later decide to blog about the doll, you have pretty much all the information you could require right there in the listing! But again, I digress, back to what Junky Spot have to say: "EYES:The head features a removable head cap, eye sockets, and an eye holder for 16mm eyes. These eye holders are specifically meant for 16mm ROUND eyes with positioning stems, they will not work with half round / flatbacks. 
You can fit half round / flatback and other size eyes into Freya's head, however you will want to use eye putty or some other type of medium to hold the eyes in."


Junky spot provide this additional information in relation to the doll's poseability: "Specifications: Freya features 14 points are articulation for a wide range of motion. She is strung with elastic and features ball joints for smooth posing."


Under the heading: TAIL AND MAGNETS: Junky spot provide the following information: 
Comes with optional tail and magnets for the tail. (7mm x 1.5mm and 7mm x 5mm) 
The magnet that goes inside the tail will need to be glued into place. We recommend the ZAP CA Glue.
There are several ways to attach the tail to the body with the loose magnet:
1) Tape or Glue the loose magnet to the body. Please make sure the correct side is facing out to attract to the tail magnet.
2) Drill a hole into the body and then glue the loose magnet into the hole.
3) Slip the magnet into the lower torso cavity. The tail magnet will "pick up" the magnet through the body and stay on.
4) If you are dressing your Freya, you can also choose to simply slip the magnet inside the pants/skirt. The tail magnet will "pick up" the magnet through the clothing and should stay on. 


N.B: ZAP CA Super Glue is available for cheaps here: ZAP CA Super Glue


There is a note on the listing, that I feel it's only fair to add that seeing as my illustrations are photograph taken from the listing, ( as I currently am waiting for my Freya to arrive I do not have any photos of my own little girl to upload, I've used the "Sale Photos") and therefore feel I should mention it here: "Some images below show Freya with eyes installed. This doll does NOT come with eyes, images with eyes installed is to give you an idea of what Freya might look like with eyes."


As I haven''t mentioned it yet, here are her dimensions which are always handy to know prior to purchasing / receiving a doll, as it gives you an idea of what clothing if any to buy  make and ensures that your new addition will not stay nakie for long after he / she moves in...
"Dimensions:
Height : 23cm
Eyes : 16mm
Girth of neck : 4cm
Girth of Chest : 10.5cm
width of shoulders : 4cm
Girth of Waist : 8cm
Girth of hips : 11cm" 



Another interesting thing I found in the listing is a note about "Version" differences, I hadn't been aware of this type of Hujoo Doll, before I found this listing so finding out there was another version that had been made available several months before was really intriguing to me, anyhoo, in case you do already know there was a previous version of "Freya" then this may also be of interest to you: "VERSION NOTES:
This is the REGULAR non-limited edition version of Freya. Compared to the original first production run, Freya's headcap has been modified to fit better than the original version. As a quick note, the headcap does fit VERY tightly on, and requires some force to snap into place or to remove. (This has been modified from the first production run which required slight sanding or shaving of the pegs in the head to get the headcap to fit)."


The other interesting thing about this listing is that it includes images of other "Freya" Hujoos, both customised and left as is. Also included are links to a Flickr Group which the images were found in, I didn't know about this group either so for me this is a great boon, as I know know there is a place were I can gain tips, information and inspiration for when my little girl arrives, also I like nothing  better than being able to connect with other people who share my interests and who may be able to answer any questions that come up once I start customising her...


"Example of customized Freyas:" Images from Flickr found on Junky Spot listing:

                                                           Above by SydneyGrey



Above by Izabeth Suelli


From the following sentence, also found on the listing, I'm guessing that the previous Freya was a darker skinned model, as shown in the above photographs. Note: the below images show the Dark Grey Freya, which is no longer available.
If you wish to have a look around or even join the  Flickr group, you can do so here: ://www.flickr.com/groups/2127741@N22/

Junky Spot are currently selling two versions of this doll, the "White Skin" version, which can be viewed by clicking this link: White Skin Freya

Or the Grey Skin version, skin in the photos I uploaded above, and my own personal favourite, which you can find here: Grey Skin Freya

I've ordered orange eyes for my girl, but I'd really like some Cat Style ones for her. I haven't been able to find those in the right size though, so I have bought some half rounds with removable irises so I can make my own ones for her, the only thing with this is I will not be able to use the "eye holders" and will have to get some putty to hold them in place. I'm also trying to decide exactly how Id like her to look on the outside, I love the above "Tabby Freya" by Izabeth Suelli and I'd love to make my girl look similar to that one, but without access to an airbrush at present, I doubt ery much that I'll be able to make her look that good!

Having said that I also love the "Cat Walk Kitties by Lanard Toys which were available for a short time circa 2005, sadly I only discovered these dolls relatively recently too, and they are so rare and very hard to find for sale for less than £70, now!  They seemed to me to have so much potential for customs, but sadly due to the price they are now, they're ot really viable for that purpose, and since seeing Pipos and Freya they just cannot compete, that said though they come with some very interesting "extras" which would have provided great value for money while they were still readily available on the market, now though... I'm not so sure!















Apparently this item needs batteries for her stage area, so I'm guessing it has some kind of lights or sound, which is a cool feature, I'd love to know exactly what and what the effect produced is.



There is just one I could find for sale on Evil Ebay, and that one costs £74.39 with £39.04 postage from the U.S.A - Yikes! (I could get two more Freyas for that!), still here's the listing is you'd like to take a look:Lanard Catwalk Kitties Paris Runway Callie

Just in case that listing disappears in future, I've also uploaded a couple of images (above) from there, so you'll still be able to see what I'm talking about even if the above link turns out to be dead!


 I think what appeals to me about these dolls apart from the cat faces and unusual subject matter for a
Fashion Doll, is that to some degree they remind me of Petra, the dog faced fashion Doll from the 1960's, who I'd also love to own, and who is also ridiculously rare and seems to be impossible to find to buy *sigh*

But that's a different subject for a different post!

Getting back to Freya, Id love to know what your views on her is or if you have one, to see what you did with her.

Anyhoo, that's all from me for now, enjoy!

☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆   FREYA UPDATE   ☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆

Amazingly, my Freya arrived this morning! and of course I LOVE HER!!!

What's crazy about that is; I wrote this post just after I purchased her and 3 days later she's here, all the way from America!

I can definitely vouch for how great Junky Spot is in terms of  quality of products and speed of delivery.

The other cool things that arrived today, where her eyeballs - from a different seller, so I could straight away see how well they suited her.

One thing I will say about fitting her eyes is, even with the "stem" type eyeball, I found they were not as easy to place or hold in place with the "holder" and I'm interested in seeing just how much easier - if it is - to give her "half round" eyes, as the pair of blank (Do it yourself) eyes  ordered also arrived in the same post, so there will definitely be more on "Freya" at a later date!

But enough of all that, here's my girl so far!


I'm still not sure exactly how much customising I'll do on her yet, or whether or not I'll be giving her some hair or even if she's going to be dressed, or stay dressed very often; but I will be making her some clothes soon, just so she has one or two things of her own if she starts to feel a bit nakie!



Friday 11 January 2013

Btw... My Tangkou French Girl Arrived ...

So here's a little photographic review on the deboxing process and my first impressions of her...

I guess I forgot to mention, that my new French Girl Tangkou arrived the other morning, nagdabbit, I have been so side tracked recently, anyhoo, she's here and hmmm as I bought her for custom work purposes, I'm not so miffed as I could have been, but still hmmm I say... and here's why:

She arrived safe, sound and well packaged and her outer box is as stunning, as I expected from buying my Chinese Girl.


 There was no "sets" number on the box front, which led me to believe she may be a later version of this doll,also I noticed the eye lids on the box are the same as "Chinese Girl's" but as Tangkou boxes, passport etc frequently have a mix of several other Tangkou doll pictures in them, I just assumed this was a similar thing, especially as all the "French Girl"s I've seen have the cross-hatched black and pink eyelids.


 The back of her inner box is identical to "Chinese Girl" Tangkou's box, as it the rest of this box art.


She looks really cute in her box, I also love the cover of the outside box. You really can't fault the quality of the design and materials used for the packaging.


She is definitely much cuter in person, than I thought she looked online, and again, the quality of the fabrics used for her costume are just as high quality, right down to the plastic her shoes are made from!


One thing did notice though that I didn't like was she had quite a lot of tiny fluff on her from her hoodie, it was over her top, her legs and even in her hair... One piece was really bothering me, so I decided I'd just gently pick it off... bad move - I ended up with a chunk of her wig as well, which sadly came away as soon as I touched it!

It seems so strange to me that they would have excellent quality in every other aspect, so why not for her wig?!


This time, the box was rattling like mad, when I took possession of it, I found out this was due to the things inside the box breaking away from the tape holding them to the back of the box!


Same items inside as "Chinese Girl" came with, although her "Credit Card" style Certificate is obviously slightly different, due to batch umber etc.



Passport, also identical, taped to back of box under the hair brush, "Alice Band" and stand packet.
Next to this is a small bag with her underwear and feet inside!


First pages of Passport ad "Credit Card" style Certificate... The second page has two diagonal slits at the top and bottom, presumably to hold the "Certificate Card".

This area is however,  slightly too small and so the Certificate can only be held at one corner.


Her feet (at the top left of the bag), below this, the "Heart Button" is for the eye change mechanism.


After taking off her boot (which is of excellent quality, as are her socks), I got a better look at her ankle joint.

It seems weird though, how she has to have her feet removed to wear her - what should be - "made to Measure" boots!


This girl is also packaged with the buyer in mind, and very easy to remove from the plastic inner sleeve, again, using one twist tie to hold her neck in place.

Her feet are held in place with a strip of plastic, which is held in place with a strip of sellotape.


This was a shock, I was so looking forward to seeing those black and pink, crossed hatched eyelids, so it was a bit of a downer  to discover, she doesn't have them!  She has the exact same eyelid make up as my "Chinese Girl"!

Yeah I know the picture on the box has her shown with the pink ones, but in every photo I saw of this girl on the Tangkou websites, she has the black crosshatched ones... oh well :(


Even with no hair and big splodges of glue stuck to her head, she is still a very pretty doll!



As you can see there was a little residue left behind, when I removed her wig, but to be honest, it was actually a lot less than I was expecting!



I contacted 6th Sense to ask them why she has different eyelids  whether this means she is a later version  if this means she is not a limited edition, like the previous "French Girl" and to inform them that the quality of the wig was terrible as the hair came out in a clump after the lightest of touches!

The reply wasn't quite what I was expecting either! - Perhaps I have been spoilt by the amazing Customer Services Dept in MakieLabs?

Even so I certainly didn't expect what I got in reply, 3 days after my query (not bad for a large company) I received an email informing me:


"Tangkou France with black/pink eyelids was the second production runs (2011). 
Regarding advertising, you can find some pictures with the two different colors on online retailers sites and this is why it is written on the item description 'eyelids colors may vary'.
I suggest you, on your next purchase, to ask your seller your eyelid color wanted."


Well I'm glad that cleared that up, next time... I'll definitely ask the seller whether or not the doll has eyelid patterns that I didn't know was an option, after looking online at Tangkou dolls and seeing only "French Girl" Tangkou dolls, that don't have the "pink bow" option, which is why I had no idea this might happen!

"About the wig, the manufacturer intended to make them interchangeable. However, to much glue was used to make them easily removable. So it comes the time to remove it, we have to be very careful. I recommend you to contact your seller and discuss with him about your hair problem."

Hmm, so it's down to the seller, not the manufacturer?  

Also, I didn't actually try to remove it at the time, Aaron said "It's up to you Mum, but I wouldn't customise her, I'd keep her as she is" and I had just started thinking he was right, when that bit of fluff (from the hoodie happened) and voilà chunk of hair in hand, I hadn't even taken her out of the packaging so there was no way I could have removed the wig at that time!

On the plus side she ends with this, in regard to my  Tangkou "Chinese Girl" review ...


I have read your blog and I absolutely love it. Great description with a lot of details and nice pictures!

Thank you. 

You can find that review is here if you haven't read it and would like to: "Chinese Girl" Tangkou Doll Review

I do feel a bit bad about having sarkie thoughts, especially when it comes to the last part of the email, but meh I say Meh, I'm not so sure that the Seller is responsible for the problems I've encountered and all I really would have liked from 6th Sense / Tangkou would have been "Thank you, we've made a note of these issues and will be making sure that the dolls with 2 types of make up style are clearly marked on our websites" or even "Sorry for the issue you've encountered with the wig quality  we will look into this issue, and try to rectify this on future dolls" something like that really, but to pass it off onto the seller I feel is a bit of a cop out.

 Also it has left me confused, so that would make my "France" a first production run, later tweaked and reissued with pink and black eyelids due to hair glue issue?

If so, why was the wig quality issue not addressed at the same time as the glue for the wig issue was?

And if my girl is the first issue "too much glue" type, how come her wig whipped off so easily without leaving load of residue behind on the doll's head or wig?

It all seems a little fishy to me, but having said that, she was a cheap for custom, although if she is in fact a first edition, perhaps I should leave her as is - minus the dreadful wig that is, I already have a replacement on stand by, I just hope it looks good on her o_0


Thursday 10 January 2013

Makie "Skin Dyeing" Experiments

My "Bag of Scraps" arrived yesterday morning, so I got busy making some dye baths and testing a few ideas I had...

I have a few more ideas I still want to try out on this skin, so that when I get a Makie I will not have any "mishaps" when it comes to doing the "Face Up" or any other customisations I get the urge to do, for the purpose of this post, I've restricted the "Experiments" to "Skin Dyeing" as this seemed to be the main thing that most "Makie Parents" wanted to know about in the forum.

Makies - Bag Of Scraps
I Posted my results as well as some tips on the Makie Forum , On  09- 01 - 2013) for the benefit of other users,  But I think it's also worth my keeping a record of them here as when the time does come for me to "Adopt a Made Real Makie of my own" I'll be able to refer to them easier, also they may be of benefit for other's who do not use the forum often or whatever...

Firstly, I have to say how impressed I was by the Makie skin, it feels just like porcelain, I was expecting a more rough possibly even bumpy finish from what I had seen in some of the photos on the MakieLab Blog (see my last Makie post - Head with Ardunio Lilypad inside, if you don't know what I mean; link here: Makies Dolls by MakieLabs, London ) also, I did a bit of research while I was waiting for the Scraps to arrive, and I couldn't help being worried for some of the other members when I (mis) read (it turned out) that Dying  SLS Nylon in Tea can lead to brittleness, as there had been several experiments with this medium as a dyeing aid posted in the forum, so I posted a "Word of Warning", turns out I was completely wrong to be worried however, due to my misreading, I say misreading, but what I'd really done is either not noticed or not taken in a couple of works that made all the difference, duh!

 Anyhoo, I'm very contrite especially since SULKA HARO (CDO) from MakieLabs, replied in the forum with this: "Tea dyeing SLS Nylon is most definitely possible, and at least so far we've not seen any adverse effects on durability. Note that nylon is plastic - it's a branding DuPont users for certain polyamides. Objet is a type of a printer. They use a proprietary material for the prints, where it's entirely possible that tea causes brittleness."

Bag Of Scraps Contents

I just hated the idea of all those cute little Makies turning pretty shades of brown, getting new face ups then one day snapping somewhere, but typical me, worrying over nothing and of course I've also began to digress again!                                    

 Back to the "Skin" in the "Bag of Scraps", I'm a big kid I guess that's pretty obvious from the fact I collect toys and dolls in particular, and I've always had this weird problem when I get hold of anything that feels like it might be ceramic, I can't help putting it in my mouth!

 Not in the same way a child does, but in a check for porosity type way, it's not only dolls I do this too, I did it all the time in Ceramics Lectures in College too, to check on firings etc - Anyway, the weird thing about this "Skin" was it felt like porcelain too!

 I had expected it to be more not pitted exactly but definitely rougher, bumpy even, and perhaps needing a light sand down, but no, it's stunning and as smooth as a baby!!

But finally after all that preamble, I better hurry up and get to the "Experiments", so here goes:

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RIT Dye Experiments - Take 1

Colour achieved by mixing Rose Petal Pink with Peach in powder form prior to adding water, as this is the same way I recolour sun faded or “ghost” plastic doll heads.

I expected the colour tone to come out completely different due to the difference between SLS Nylon and Sindy / Barbie Vinyl, although is didn't hold true at all, it was identical!?!

Long limb (Leg)  was placed in a bath of  dye mix and just boiled from  kettle water and stirred constantly for 3 minutes.

**The limbs were dyed a darker shade than is "natural" this is because, I dye all my heads etc, a darker shade than I wish them to be as RIT Dyed dolls tend to fade slightly over the following weeks / months, again, my knowledge of this is Vinyl based only, so it will be a good lesson to see how this transfers to Makie Skin over time!**



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Rit Dye Experiment  Take 2

Limb (again a leg was used) this time I  placed  it in a cooler, weaker dye bath (added cold water to dye bath, after it had been left approx 5 minutes since kettle had boiled) and stirred constantly for 1 and a half minutes.

The colour obtained on the second leg is shown on the right of pictures 1 and 2 and on the left in picture 3.



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Rit Dye Experiment  Take 3

This time I used a Liquid Rit Dye in Tan and the “Stove Method” - again the limb was in the bath for no longer than 3 minutes and again it was stirred constantly, before being removed from heat, then dye - this is shown on the left of each picture.

The Arm section (smaller limb on right of each picture), was placed in a weaker solution of the same dye, although this time it was not subjected to the “Stove Method” but a watered down (cold water) removed from heat, bath with the same dye and again, it was submerged for 1 and a half minutes and stirred constantly.

In picture 3 you can see the difference in shades between the Tan and Pink dyes - I'll be uploading a picture of all the dyed parts as a collective in a few minutes…




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Rit Dye Experiment  Take 4.

This time, I went back to using  powdered  Rit Dye, this time in Cocoa Brown Chocolate (I love this colour!).

I dyed the leg first using the "Worktop Method" and soaked it for 3 minutes, stirring constantly - (Larger limb on right in picture 1 and left in picture 2).

The Arm piece was soaked, again in a weaker, colder dye solution for 1 and a half minutes, again stirring constantly - this is shown on the left of picture 1, left and right of picture 2.



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As promised, Here they all are together, so you can see the differences between soak times, and dye shades obtained from weaker and stronger dye baths.



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Makie " Spray Dye" Experiment  Take 5 (But also 1!)

And lastly, I thought I'd give spraying a go, to see how well this adheres to the Makie's "Skin", as I had some Acrylic based spray paint I bought to use on another doll and it seemed a great way to find out if the colour is the right shade I had in mind for her and also, to see how well it works on Makie Skin.

 I only sprayed one side as I had an idea I'd like to try something else at a later date with this piece and I only gave it one coat as I wanted to see just how well it would be absorbed, and I didn't think this would be possible if the entire piece was coated.

It looks hideous!!

But on the plus side, I have discovered that Acrylic based spray paints work really well on SLS Nylon, not mine though, as I didn't build up the layers like I normally would or use my directional nozzle for the spray and the colour is pretty ugly too, which certainly didn't help!



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Points to note:

 1) For the “secondary dyes” that I did of each colour, the temperature was lower, the first and darker dye baths were “straight from kettle” but for the secondary ones, it was around 5 minutes later and I added cold water to the dye bath, so the Temperature would have been significantly less.

2) The colour is very similar though, only a hue or so difference... but I'll have more colour information on these parts to share in about a week when the dye has time to fade - if it does on Makies Skin!!

3) Poklfil (Another Forum Member and Makie Parent ) informs me that, "The problem Makie lab have found with any heating method is the Nylon parts shrink a bit which means parts may not fit all back together!"

4) Personally, I think this is due to the water temperature (and not an issue with prolonged submersion for example), as I've discovered from looking at other companies that use SLS Nylon for 3D printing, that they keep the dye bath temperature to around 90 Degrees. While I'm not 100% as to how hot the water in my kettle is when boiled but I think it may be slightly under this temperature, if so, the “Worktop Method” of dying shouldn't cause much of a shrinkage effect, and there is even less chance of this if the dye bath is made with boiling water, to dissolve the dye, and then topped up with cold or cooler water when the doll parts are added.
I was worried about the “Stove Method” though, so if dying by Rit, I would recommend using it in it's powered form and not the liquid variety, also, I would make sure it is well dissolved before adding doll parts, otherwise small particles of dye will stick to the “skin” and make the doll look like it has a few varicose veins!

** I wonder ... **  Another Forum User (sadly I can't find the post now or remember who!),  told me that over time the joints tend to grind down slightly, so perhaps a dye bath leading to slight shrink, would actually solve this issue?

After all, the problem with the parts fitting back together is that the doll is is pieces  but if it was dyed whole, with the head  only removed, the joints would then contract slightly and perhaps counteract this "wear and tear"? ***

5) Rit is the dye most customisers use to dye plastic as it gives very good coverage, and is relatively cheap also, seeing as you only need a small amount for one doll!

6) I have read that Acid dye is a good dye for dyeing Nylon fur ans well as real fur, so this is worth noting, if you're a wig maker, or are planning to try it.

7)  Spray paint would also work to colour limbs and face of a Makie doll as well as Vinyl dolls, but only if you're 100% sure you want her that colour for ever, because it's next to impossible to remove without a hell of a lot of sanding and serious amounts of chemicals.

8) For a more “Human tone” - I'd go with the Rit, it should work out if you leave it to cool slightly after making it up, then place the parts inside… And add the cold water after stirring it, then continue stirring in a    cold bath.

** I think the thing with it is, it needs the heat to dissolve the powder, but once dissolved the temperature only has an effect of speeding up the dying time, so there is no reason why you couldn't dye parts “cold” although the temperature may in factor in intensity of colour, this seems especially the case when the object being dyed is a type of plastic, fabric however responds well to cold dye baths, which is why I used all my baths today on tie dying 2 tops and they turned out pretty good! ***

9) Personally, I think the best way to get an even "human type skin tone" would be really to add dye while the SLS Nylon is in it's “Powdered form” however, this may not be cost effective and also, I have no idea how easy that would be or whether they'd need different machines to do it.

10) Poklfil suggested several links to various articles and blogs which deal with dyeing SLS Nylon... after looking at them, I was  pleased to note someone else has had the idea of Acrylic Spray Paint, so it's good to know that this won't damage the “skin” in any way...

11) Another experiment I will be conducting soon, is to try to remove it soon, which is another reason for my only giving the Makie leg one coat!

12) Another of the links given to me by Poklfil used  the same process I used for all but the liquid Rit as it only had instructions for washing machine and stove so I didn't know if it would work if used with kettle boiled water only (Most likely it would, but I only had one chance to try, so I went for the safe option and used it as per the instructions) -  As I've only used powdered Rit before, but as I'd been given this to dye a doll's body I bought from an online friend, it made sense to finally try this dye, when I had an excuse!

**However, I am not sure if the plastic dyed is the same type of 3D Printed Nylon as is used for Makie Dolls... The end product looks like the Makie skin did in the pictures I saw on the MakieLabs Blog,(prototypes possibly?) but no where near as smooth as the bits I received, so I'm a bit confused  **

13) In a week or two, once I have found out if fading occurs on the pieces I've dyed, I'm going to try removing the dye… that should be fun!!

14) Another way to dye plastic and Nylon Fur wigs/ Barbie type Doll Hair, is to place the item in a solution of watered down Acrylic Ink - this will however, produce a much lighter shade than the "neat" Ink does

15) I've been doing some figuring out, and I know now why Warhammer paints are giving a much better effect and coverage than the acrylic ( presumably neat? / straight from tube/pot etc) on the Makie Skin, so I can definitely see why everyone seems to love using them (me included), this is obviously due to this type of paint already being premixed with water! - I can't believe I didn't think of that before!

I can't help wondering how many pots it would take to do a whole doll though, or how much this would cost!

 I think in future I should confine all my experiments to my blog pages instead and just provide a link back to them in the Forum if requested, although at present I'm not totally sure I'll be using that section of the site for much longer.

Anyhoo, I hope at least some of this may be of use to someone reading it, any questions or comments, please let me know, and I'll do my best to answer them!

*hugs*


Sunday 6 January 2013

✿♥~♥ Korean Sonokong Queen Inhyeon Doll ♥~♥✿

I'd never even heard of this type of doll before last week when I was doing my usual drooling through Ebay and found this listing, copied and pasted below:


"This doll is made by Sonokong and is in a played with but clean condition. She is 11" tall aprox and is fully articulated. She is dressed in the costume of a 17th Century Korean Queen."

I tried a Google search, but couldn't find any information on her at all, but I thought "What the hell, she looks pretty, her clothes are stunning and with any luck she will look even better in person", it turned out that was a total understatement!


It turns out she's also ball jointed, has rooted lashes and the most beautiful fabric has been used for her costume, it's also high quality and incredibly detailed.


Her outfit is a traditional costume, referred to as "Hanbok" - I'm pleased to learn that the tradition of wearing such beautiful costumes is still practised in Korea although nowadays, it is mainly kept as a form of dress for Celebratory or Festive occasions. 

This stunning doll's beautiful Hanbok is known as "Chima Jeogori" worn during the Joseon Dynasty (July 1392 – October 1897) by Royal Women in their Palaces.

It consists of  a very ornate "Dangui", a knee length outer garment, open from under both arms, worn by both men and women, but not the King or Crown Prince, who both wore an Ohjoeryongbo, which is a similar style garment but much more ornate, than those worn by Commoners and even Women of the Royal court. 

Commoner's Hanbok was traditionally white, as only people of the Noble classes and Royalty were allowed to wear colourful and ornate garments, this lead to the use of the descriptive term "The White Clad People" in relation to the Korean people. 

 The Dangui was worn by Women of the Royal Court over  a "Jeogori"  (type of short waist length jacket, held together with a half bow at the front, as was the Dangui ) this covers her upper body and arms, the shoulders and chest have large covered embroidery appliqué circles called "Ohjoeryongbo", for the doll's costume, these have been decorated in gold thread and gold decorations to the end of the sleeves back and front , this is also a sign of the wearer's nobility. 

Traditionally they would have used a technique called "Geumbak" to decorate the Royal clothing, the word "Geumbak" refers to the art of applying thin layers of Gold Leaf to the Ohjoeryongbo, Dangui and Chima areas of the costume, for the Queen this would be applied in phoenix shaped patterns.
The Empress and the Queen had Geumbak depicting a Dragon emblem which was used as decoration on the front, shoulders and back of the Dangui;  as did the King or Crown Prince on his Ohjoeryongbo - a similar style garment to a Dangui, but much more ornate.

Below this she wears a very ornate Chima (skirt) decorated with golden embroidery (Geumbak) at the bottom. This sits over a plain white "Sokchima" (petticoat), with plain white trousers underneath.

 On her feet she wears a pair of  Beoseon, these were traditionally a type of socks that were quilted for protection from cold weather and in some cases an under sock was also worn inside, there are several types of  Beoseon that were worn traditionally in Korea, but as her's are plain and made of thick cotton, I am not entirely sure which type she is being depicted as wearing, but traditionally the Queen would have worn Beoseon made of white silk.  


Her hair is elaborately styled, in a rolled braided bun, that sits at the base of her neck (this style is often referred to as a Chignon) and decorated with a brown ribbon this has been plaited into the hair, and a very ornate ornamental pin, called a "Binyeo". The ribbon was used to hold a "Cheupji" in place, sadly my doll is missing this part of her costume*.

 A Binyeo is an ornamental hairpin used to hold the Chignon in place. The material the Binyeo is made from and it's design, were used as an indication of the social status of it's wearer.
 Women in the Royal Family wore Binyeos made of gold and carved into the shape of a phoenix or a dragon the size of them varied, in some instances Binyeo have been made and worn, that were 2 foot long!

*A Cheupji is an ornament which was placed on the top of plaited and styled hair and worn as part of a woman's ceremonial dress. Royal women wore this item every day but women of  non Royal status were only permitted to wear it on such occasions when they wore ceremonial dress, example below.
Photo found on http://www.trendkorean.com
    After receiving this doll I realised that being Asian a " 17th Century Korean Queen" would most likely have been given the title "Empress", so I began to search online for that in the hope of finding more information on this gorgeous doll I now own, so I did a Google search and discovered that Sonokong have made quite a number of these beautiful dolls, not only a whole range of these stunning Traditionally dressed  dolls, but also a range of more contemporary dressed dolls, which is great if you love this girls face, but also want the option to play dress up with her, rather than keeping for for display and photographs only...

 Even better than that my new addition is in fact a depiction of a real person, not only that, but a very beautiful by all accounts Queen Consult called Queen Inhyeon. 

Here are two very beautiful images I found of  a recent adaptation of a novel called Dong Yi by Chon Che-in, which is based on her life.

Photo found on http://dreamkorea.sunphoto.ro/regina_Inhyeon/34807672
Photo found on http://dreamkorea.sunphoto.ro/regina_Inhyeon/34807676
Wikipedia gives her life dates as 1667 - 1701, and her I have to say, her story is fascinating, so much so that it has been the subject of many films, books, plays etc.
Here's a link to the page: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Queen_Inhyeon


 And here's the Sonokong Doll information I've discovered: Sonokong is a Korean toy company who have started making dolls under technical partnership with Takara, so says an Ebay listing for a similar doll.

I'm really impressed with the quality and attention to detail on these dolls, as well as their beauty.

Image and caption taken from http://www.trendkorean.com Korean Barbie Doll who is a very famous Queen Consort Inhyeon
And this excellent series of images of her body shape and movement, I found again on trend Korean .com, where they have a whole range of these beautiful dolls, dressed in some really elaborate historical costumes, each one of them is beautiful, I've been finding myself drooling away while looking at them all, if you'd also like a quick drool you can check them out using this link: http://trendkorean.com/prestashop/73-ball-jointed-body

 As I am not planning on undressing her, for fear I won't be able to get her clothes  back on and looking the same, I haven't had the opportunity to see how her body looks beneath her costume... also whipping off the clothes of a Korean or any other Queen for that matter, is most likely a form of Treason!


http://trendkorean.com/prestashop/content/17-ball-jointed-body-of-korean-barbie-doll

I can't remember which website I was looking at the other day, but the only one I could find at the time stated that the doll's costume is made from Korean Silk and listed her sale price as being $112.89 (£69.46), not bad for a doll I paid less than £5.00 for!

This is how her missing Cheupji should look as you can see in the first image below, I found this series of images on  Dolls Korea.com who are selling her for 65,000 won (£37.60)!


Looking at her missing Cheupji, it should be a pretty easy "fix" to replace this, I already have a similar bead in one of my "bead bottles" in the studio (hopefully, it will be the right size) and a plastic page binder which is a similar shape to the Cheupji itself so with a little Magic Sculpty and a bottle of  Gold Vallejo Model Colour, I should able to have it made up in next to no time, the only issue will be raising the ribbon enough to sew it on, as it is on her head pretty tight, still I'm pretty confident I will be able to sort this out for her real soon!

That's it for now,