Making a plaster mould for a doll's head. 

Well not for a life time, but for several dolls - yes ...untill you get deadly bored with the same sculpt :D

Thanks!

Thank you for your comment! Epoxy and silicon are tempting indeed - the amount of the detail they pick is insane. The only downside that keeps me away is toxicity - I've got my share of allergies from experimenting with all kinds of materials so now I am sticking to those less hazardous ones. :) p.s. yeah, breathing is one thing I can't stop doing even for the sake of better videos - sorry, everyone - a bad habit :D I don't mind those comments though, although I thing there were some other interesting moments in that video except breathing :D

Yes that’s a good point about the detail... I’ve had 10L tubs of silicone rubber (which has gone off a bit) and 2x 10L epoxy resin (both of which have leaked and needed repotting) hanging around for years! I thought I was being economical about price buying them, but have since learnt to buy what you need + a bit extra only Anyway, keep breathing and keep up the great work :)

Oh yes it is...until a master model gets locked :D It took me some time to figure how to avoid that :D

I used simple pottery clay. The same clay I have used to sculpt the master model. It does not stick to the plaster, it does not make the mold greasy - and you can control consistency with water - which is perfect for the job.

Hey Vanessa, to be honest, on my dolls I use any brushes that are under my hand for this kid of work - painting brushes, nail art brushes, cheap brushes from a supermarket - well whatever feels right at the moment. And yes, you can thin the porcelain slip with water.

Plaster becomes hard after curing and it doesn't dissolve in water. :) (How ever it is porous and absorbs water very well, so do not leave it soaking ;) )

Do you mean as for the master model? Yes, absolutely, as long as the clay doesn't stick to plaster.

@@dorotesdolls Thanks a lot, to be more specific i was wondering do you think polymer clay would be a good option to use? I am not sure if the plaster will still to that or not

@@kattywhite4765 yes polymer clay should do.

To be honest, not sure what sort of plaster this is, but it is nothing fancy - some ordinary plaster that can be found in hardware stores. I didn't need much precision from this mold neither I needed it to last for more than 10 castings, so the cheapest plaster will do just fine.

@@dorotesdolls thanks so much i will try to make one from plaster i got,, btw, where do u source ur porcelain slip? Its difficult to find source from where i am now

@@vhebotz I buy porcelain from a seller in my neighborhood. I am lucky to have them so close.

Будет будет - неуспеваююююю.... :)

yes, coming soon! ;)

The shape of the model dictates how many pieces you need. I sculpt the heads in a way that requires at least 3 part mold. Sometimes it can be way more parts than that. If I would want a complete sculpture with ears, I would probably need 5 or 6 part mold. I could also simplify the sculpture and go for the 2 part mold, but I don't want to :)

ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-4jleFcJvniQ.html ;)

Lol... Didn't even think about that. Ears are a simply amazing construct. To sculpt, to paint... Our creator leaves nothing to chance. And I'm just thinking of the part we see, how it functions to allow water to drain out. Whew!

LOL - it takes only one click to turn off the sound ;)

I agree. I had to turn off the sound. It's like she was holding her breath then suddenly releasing it. But very good job on the model and the mold. Learned something new.

@@dorotesdolls im not deaf to not to hear the sound. of course my opinion is based on reality.

She wasn't calling you deaf. She was telling you to turn the sound off if you don't like her breathing.

Hmm... I had the sound off so I can hear the radio. Darote's breathing didn't bother me a bit. To complain when a mistress of this art shows us her craft... How ungrateful.

Good for you! Make sure to create a video and to show us all how to make it a lot better ;)

Thanks for your comments, Martin! Yes I know that many would like to get a full BJD making video tutorial from me, but to be honest - I simply do not have time to make one. Making a BJD from start to the final product takes me a full year, and if I would be making a video tutorial along the way - it would take me twice as long, which would literally mean two years of work without income. From the other hand - there are already plenty of tutorials on how to sculpt BJD and how to make plaster molds or resin molds and how to cast and how to paint etc. etc. - so there s really no point for me to make one more. :)

There is a really good book (in Japanese) on making BJD from head to toe, all pieces that can be found on Amazon. You'll have to use a translator if you want to read the instructions, but there are very good pictures for each step. At some point your desire must overcome your fear of lack of information. Learn by doing! All the books and videos in the world can't replace one's determination and effort. Experience is a great teacher.