#doll mod

so I began disassembly. removed TWENTY ONE screws so far.

what I'm trying to do is isolate the eyeball cradle so I can screw only that back in and have the head as light and empty as possible.

all the gears were coated liberally in so much grease.

but we're down to the basics now. I just need to saw off a large chunk of the black plastic electronics housing on the back of the eyes.

then finally get to cleaning everything off. see if the blue stuff will come off her lips. maybe it doesn't matter since I'm thinking of painting them a solid.

think I will probably remove her existing hair and use a wig. cannot overemphasize how dry and crunchy and stiff and awful it feels. I could probably cope if it was just texture, but it also doesn't cover that awful forehead/scalp seam. needs some bangs or something.

“As the world falls down…” 🫧🎵

Finally modded this doll someone gifted me years ago into Sarah’s bubble dream dress from Labyrinth. Lots of layers of hand sewing iridescent ribbon and fabric, with custom painted eyes & makeup ✨

(Before and after under the cut)

Nov 29, 2015: ...seriously?! ------------------------

Nov 29, 2015: Aargh! Nooo! :( If this were a doll for my own amusement no biggie, but it's suppose to be a gift! ------------------------

Dec 5, 2015: New plan: Make tail. ------------------------

Dec 14, 2015: Let's go! ------------------------

Dec 22, 2015: Finally going to start priming and painting tomorrow. Two more days! ------------------------

Dec 24, 2015: This may end up a day-after-Christmas present. Shame we don't have Boxing Day here. :P ------------------------

Dec 30, 2015: This is so over due it's embarrassing! If it wasn't the weather it was general cruddy health problems getting in the way. Even now I have a lingering headache but must finish! ------------------------

Dec 31, 2015: Ahahahaaaaaaaaaa really? Maybe it's a sign I should stop working on dolls. ------------------------

Jan 2, 2016: WIP faces. ------------------------

Jan 7, 2016: And it broke. Again. @#$%! At this point I'm just going to glue it down with gorilla glue and if that doesn't work then I have no idea anymore. ------------------------

Jan 9, 2016: So afraid to try and attach the head again. ------------------------

Jan 10 2016: Still haven't attempted to attach the head. But, look! Twists everywhere. ------------------------

Jan 12, 2016: WE HAVE CONTACT! @$%# FINALLY!!! ------------------------

Jan 14, 2016: First timer. Oh dear. ------------------------

Jan 16, 2016: The rare and elusive mermaid! Taking photos but sunlight's a little too bright. ------------------------

I just came across a post about the Princess and the Pauper dolls, and was happily reminded that there were black dolls made for Anneliese and Erika. Singing dolls, no less!

For the Hell of it, I checked to see if there was any video of one of the black dolls singing. I found a singing Erika on YT!

So I think, okay, cool! What does the white Erika sound like, just for comparison's sake?

...Aaaaaaand that's the same recording. idk what I was expecting, I know it was a pipe-dream to hope they had a separate recording outside the movie's official soundtrack.

That thought is why I'm putting this all on my doll idea blog. I know how tech-savvy y'all are -- do you think there's a way to hack a Barbie voicebox to add a different recording? There are a lot of black Barbies released for the iconic y2k fairytale movies, but in hindsight it feels a little cheap to just stick them all with Kelly Sheridan's voice.

Black Barbie is such an important doll -- that's why they made her an official character to interact with the white Barbie. She's not Christie, she's not Shani, she's not Nikki, she is a separate woman named Barbie who has her own story and upbringing, and that's a BIG step up from just being a palette-swap of a white girl.

I appreciate the pre-Fashionistas Black Barbie variants, but as a white person I feel like I ultimately can't fully weigh in on the conversation surrounding her -- she wasn't designed to appeal to me. That being said, if I was in the shoes of someone in an under-represented demographic... yeah, I could see it coming off as a little lip-servicey. You could make the dolls, but we've yet to see Black Barbie star in her own fairytale movie -- as in NOT co-starring with the white Barbie.

Maybe Brooklyn will get her own fairytale movie in the future? Never say never, right?

...Right?

I know you have scouts out here, Mattel. The people have feedback for you!

idk, lemme know if I'm making any sense or if I'm just talking out my ass. Also please feel free to give your opinion on the Black Barbie movie-release doll variants, especially if you're not white. I'd love to know if the dolls alone made enough of a difference for making you feel represented, or if they felt more like being thrown a bone.

Well, partially. I had a Monster High body that was missing limbs and frankinsteined him some replacements. Plus a few extra fins and a tail. He can't really stand on his fin leg (though I did make the fin articulated), so I made him a simple crutch. I've been watching art doll videos recently (of the stuffed and wire-articulated variety) and got inspired.

I still need to paint some details to make everything more cohesive and repaint the head. All the translucent additions glow in the dark, so I really want that to come through in his eyes. To cover his head to neck transition, I'll probably use some painted fabric.