OOAK Nikki Doll

WOW I can't believe I'm finally done! This doll has consumed the majority of the month for me (well, some of that time was spent waiting for supplies in the mail... But who's counting?)

I wanna do some yapping about my process so here you go.

-I started out with a Generation 3 Monster High Draculaura doll. I modified her slightly by giving her a bigger bust to match Nikki. I wanted to make her chubbier too, but I wasn't confident in my sculpting, so I forewent the tummy for the sake of ease. I also painted her with acrylics to shift her towards a more human skin tone. (This causes some ISSUES later on.) At first, the colour came out way too orange (that's what I get for mixing in bad lighting) and she looked like she got a bad fake tan. So I had to scrape it all off and re-try, and fortunately the colour came out right on the second go.

-While waiting for my order of hair, I worked on her wings, tail and ears. The ears are sewn from some scrap fabric, and I glued yarn wefts onto them to make them super fluffy. The wings are made from Cosclay, a polymer clay that stays flexible after baking. I embedded wires to make them poseable too! The first pair of wings I made was much too big though, so I had to make a second, smaller pair. Then I painted everything with acrylics (except the criss-cross markings on the tail, that's a ribbon, because I figured it would turn out looking cleaner that way. I also added little jewellery wire rings to make actual piercings on her wing!!

-The hair finally arrived, so I rerooted her. Her hair styling is probably the jankiest part of all, but I will fix it later. I'm calling it good enough for now.

-After the reroot it was finally faceup time! This is my favourite part of doll customizing, but was also kinda aggravating for this one simply because I had so many issues even getting here. I ordered Mr. Super Clear sealant online because it's a tried and true favourite of many a doll customizer, but man, that stuff is impossible to find! I finally found a store in the Czech Republic that was not out of stock... But I blundered and somehow accidently ordered glossy instead of matte, even though I thought I checked several times if it actually was the right one, and that just doesn't work. I've reordered the correct one, but in the meantime I ordered a different brand that people online said was a comparable product. This, again, causes issues later.

-I chugged on, blushing her with suft pastels and drawing her face with watercolour pencils. Despite trying to be careful with handling while I worked on her face, I managed to rip up the base acrylic paint several times somehow. I also at one point got giant splotches of pink paint on her, it must have been from painting her eyes with acrylic because I didn't have the right colour pencils, but I swear there was none on my fingers so I don't know how it happened... Had to scrub it off, ripped the paint underneath again, had to patch it again. But it still turned out pretty well in the end, so hey. 

-After the main face was done, I added the fancy flourishes. The glitter makeup on her cheeks was actually done with dots of nail polish, and I even painstakingly picked up individual glitters out of a top coat to put on her cheeks and in her eyes. I also gave her 3D lashes. 

-Then I cut and tried to style her hair, that's where the sealant became a problem. I always see customizers in videos boil-washing their doll's hair to style it, so I thought I could do the same. I was nervous about the sealant so I tried to protect the face, but some water got on it anyways and took half her eyebrow with it. I just painted it back on with acrylics and it looks as good as new, but it was very frustrating because at that point the face was completely finished and it always sucks to have a setback so late into a project.

-Her clothes are scrounged together from scrap fabrics and kind of made by trial and error. My plans for her outfit changed several times and I scrapped several ideas for lack of time, skill or materials to properly execute them. I'm definitely thinking I wanna make some more outfits for this doll in the future though, when I have more time. The sparkly fabric for her skirt was actually salvaged from a dress that belonged to an older Draculaura that I had from a previous dabble in the doll customizing world, and it was just BARELY enough material to fit around the new Draculaura's larger hips, owed to the fact that the original skirt was a bit flared.Her shirt used to be a sock! Hand-stitching all of these teeny tiny pieces was kind of a pain, but also kinda rewarding, to have these cute tiny garments at the end.  I'm honestly just glad I didn't have to make shoes since Nikki is in hooved form for my doll.

-While attaching her ears, the paint on her face ripped one final time, patched that up again. 

-Didn't know what other part to include this under, but her horns are made from epoxy sculpt, painted with acrylics and textured with flocking powder. I also had to apply some soft pastels to make them the right colour because the pink flocking I had on hand was a little too pale. For her nails, I glued tiny tear shaped nail art rhinestones on to give the appearance of a stiletto manicure. I considered using actual builder gel, but figured this method was quicker. 

Submitted By Lollilumi for Toy Fair Craft Challenge
Submitted: 1 month and 4 weeks ago ・ Last Updated: 1 month and 4 weeks ago