#sables customs

MGA Dream Ella Extra Iconic Mini doll

articulation including elbows and knees

more realistic adult proportions

brushable hair

6" tall

available on Amazon (but discontinued I think)

only 3 doll models were made

Barbie Extra Mini doll

articulation including elbows and knees

big, rounded head compared to body

brushable hair

5.5" tall

available at retailers

Magic Mixies Pixlings doll

articulation of arms and legs but only elbows, not knees

big, rounded head

molded-on clothing and supernatural features like wings, ears, horns, fins, etc.

6-6.5" tall

available at retailers

My Little Pony Equestria Girls Mini dolls

articulation including elbows and knees

Big head, but balanced out with big feet

Molded-on plastic hair, clothes, shoes, and horse ears

4.5-5" tall

discontinued, have to buy second-hand and can be expensive

Disney Store 5.5" Mini dolls

only basic articulation: head, legs, arms.

Proportions are realistic, close to a 12" doll like Barbie or MH

Brushable hair (although male dolls have molded hair)

5.5" tall

discontinued, obscure, and can be expensive second-hand

Winner's Stable playset dolls

articulation of knees but not elbows

budget dolls (not the best quality)

brushable hair

5" tall

discontinued but affordable second-hand

Breyer Freedom Series 1:12 scale dolls

I'm pretty sure they're articulated to the elbows and knees?

proportions similar to Barbie or MH

brushable hair

hands in reins-holding pose lol

6" tall

available but overpriced imo

Kuu Kuu Harajuku Mini doll

only basic articulation at arms and legs

oversized head and feet

molded-on hair

4-4.5" tall

discontinued but available second-hand, not too expensive

Capsule Chix

LOTS of articulation, including even hands and feet

All joints pop easily on and off

fairly realistic proportions

body has molded-on details to look like a robot

some have molded-on clothes, all have molded plastic hair

4.5-5" tall

available at retailers or second-hand, although a bit overpriced imo

Enchantimals 6" dolls

only basic arm and leg articulation

brushable hair

huge head with slim body

molded-on animal features like ears or horns

6" tall

pretty easy to find on Amazon or second-hand, affordable

Sonic Prime Action Figures

according to the box, 13 points of articulation

(obviously) molded to look like the Sonic the Hedgehog characters

lots of molded and painted details

5" tall

available at retailers, usually around $15 each

I'm including these even though they're action figures because if someone wanted to swap the heads, I think the bodies would be a fun and unique choice for a custom doll

there are actually lots of interesting articulated action figures that have customization potential!

I wanted to use an LPS I didn't really like for my first project, just in case I did a terrible job 😆

I never liked this bunny's smug expression:

First I stuck its head in a mug of hot water to soften the plastic and popped off its head:

Then I removed the factory paint with acetone:

Unfortunately I broke the neck peg trying to get it out of the head, but it was an easy fix with some cyanoacrylate super glue:

Then I repainted the body and head to be white. I used cheap Craftsmart multisurface acrylic paint, and drybrushed it on in many many layers... this part took SO long! I had to trust the process:

Finally, completely white! I added blush with chalk pastels:

And drew on a rough draft of the eyes with Inktense pencils. The paint created a nice drawable surface, no MSC required. But it was impossible to erase the pencil marks!

I moved to more acrylic paints and painted on the face and toe beans:

After letting the paint cure for 3 days, I added 3 layers of Liquitex Matte liquid varnish and 2 layers of Liquitex High Gloss varnish on the eyes. The varnish really helped lock in the paint, since I had to reheat the head and pop the neck peg back in after this step and none of the paint cracked at all!!

I have a bigger project I'm planning involving Monster High dolls, but I am going to keep practicing on LPS until I hone my repainting skills :D

This is what she looked like before:

First I removed the factory paint with acetone. I liked the brown base layer so I didn't paint over it. Instead, I coated the LPS in a layer of Liquitex Matte Varnish applied with a makeup sponge to create a bit of "tooth" on the surface of the vinyl. I tried to photograph the result here:

I did this because I wanted to apply the dark brown gradients with chalk pastels. Unfortunately my chalk pastels are pretty cheap and unpigmented so I ended up sponging dark brown craft paint on the face and blending it out using a makeup wedge. One nice surprise is that the varnish base helped the paint apply smoothly and opaquely!