How to Make Wigs for Action Figures and Dolls

Before vs After of my Custom Deet Figure

Wigs elevate an action figure's look big time, especially if you're going to repaint it. Of course, you can make wigs for dolls as well, but I recommend rerooting for them because it's sturdier, and you can change styles if you wanted to. Wigs tend to be good for a static hairstyle.

I used acrylic yarn to make the wig for the Deet action figure on the right. I'd actually only recommend using acrylic yarn because saran is really bulky looking and can get messy. You can also get really great braids that fit the scale of dolls and action figures with acrylic.

Check out my article called "Saran vs Acrylic Yarn for Doll Hair" for more info on the pros and cons of using both materials.

Preparing the Head

If you're here for doll wigs, you can skip to the next section after this paragraph. All you need to do is to cut the factory-rooted hair as low as you can, remove the head, and use something to scrape the rest of the hair out from the inside. Use a hairdryer or hot water to soften the head before pulling it off so as not to damage the neck peg. Your doll needs to be completely bald before moving on to the next step.

The first thing you're going to need to do if you're making a wig for an action figure is to remove the sculpted hair. For something like the Deet figure above, grab some needlenose pliers and pry the molded hair off. You may need an X-acto knife to cut the rest off. Just be careful not to cut yourself! The dollar store sells silicone finger gloves, which you can use for protection. I've actually also seen knock-off X-acto knives there too, but I can't vouch for how good or bad they might be.

For this article, I'm going to be demonstrating on this Anakin head, which, as you can see, is not quite the same as Deet from my previous example. If you're going to make a wig on a head like this, you first have to shave down the plastic. Otherwise, your wig is going to be bulky and misshapen. The hair is already going to add bulk, so you'll want to make the head as skull-shaped as possible without damaging the structural integrity of the head (making it too thin).

If you have a Dremel, that is going to be your easiest option. I used the round head to carefully shave Anakin's hair down, and I smoothed the rough edges with a metal file. If you don't have a Dremel, you can use an X-acto knife or any similar blade like a utility knife. Though for a hard head like this, it was difficult for me to get the blade through. Again, be careful not to cut yourself.

In the end, this is what it looks like. It's okay if the head isn't completely smooth because it will be covered up by a wig cap. You're just looking to make it round. And if you do accidentally break through and make a hole, again, it'll be covered by the cap, so it's okay. You can always fill it with glue or clay if you need to.

For heads like Deet's, where the hair is a separate piece you can peel off, the head will almost certainly be a weird shape.

Example of a weird head shape

To round out heads like this, I cut off the pieces sticking out (when they are present) and use hot glue to fill in the rest. You can also use Apoxie Sculpt or some other type of air-dry clay if you have it. I use hot glue because it dries almost instantly. Just be aware that it can melt again if left in high temperatures.

Making a Wig Cap

A wig cap is a base where you'll be gluing your hair wefts onto. You can glue directly onto the head if you want, but using a wig cap gives you the option of redoing everything if you need to. You can also remove the hair altogether if you're repainting the face, which means no stray hairs stick to your figure's face and ultimately cause damage when you chip your paint trying to get the hair out later.

What you'll need:

• Plastic cling wrap

• Pantyhose or some other stretch fabric

• Small rubber bands

• Water-based glue

• Paintbrush

• Scissors

First, make sure you wrap the head in cling wrap. This is going to ensure you don't accidentally glue the wig cap to the head. I've forgotten the cling wrap before, and the cap got stretched and misshapen when I pulled it off of the head. Not a big deal, just something to avoid. You can always redo it.

Next, stretch some panty-hose around the head and tie it off at the bottom. You can use any fabric, but panty-hose is elastic and is easy to eliminate wrinkles from. You'll want this as smooth as possible so your cap is flat and fits perfectly.

To make the cap hold its shape, paint the top of the head with glue. I use Matte Mod Podge. Tacky glue works as well.

I like to paint the cap bigger than I need just in case I cut too much off later. It does shrink sometimes. To eradicate the elasticity as much as possible, I paint two to three layers of Mod Podge.

Also, if you want to recolor the cap, this would be a good stage to do it. The reason you'd want to do this is if you didn't want the wig cap to show through the hair. I like to mix my paint with the glue so that the hair wefts aren't going to stick to a layer of paint rather than the cap itself. It's just a little sturdier.

Here's what it looks like dry. The next step is to cut it to fit the head.

Making Wefts

I'm not going to explain how to make hair from yarn since I have another article outlining that, but yarn is definitely the best thing to use for action figure hair (in my experience). It looks great on dolls too, but any other hair type is too bulky for action figures if you're going for realism.

In this section, I'm just going to tell you about making wefts. This works for any hair material you're using, whether it be processed acrylic yarn, saran, nylon, alpaca hair, etc.

Here's what you'll need:

• Doll hair (Any kind)

• Hot glue, fabric glue, or Mod Podge

• Paintbrush

• Scissors

Optional but recommended:

• Silicone mat

• Silicone finger glove (for if you're using hot glue)

• Eyebrow razor

Lie down sections of hair and apply glue to the top end. You're just making groups of hair that can be applied to the head more easily.

This is where I recommend having the silicone mat. I've used plastic from toy packaging before, but it's still difficult to peel the wefts away without damaging them. I got a pack of 2 silicone mats for $10.99 on eBay. It's definitely worth it. The glue peels off super easily.

If you're going to use hot glue, a silicone mat is a must. To do it that way, you would squirt a line of glue at the top of the weft and use a silicone finger glove to flatten the glue before it dries. While hot glue does harden very quickly (therefore you don't have to stop working to wait for it to dry), it is thicker. Mod Podge is good for having a thin layer of glue that can be hidden more easily.

When the glue dries, trim to tops. If you're going to do a short haircut like I am doing with Anakin, I recommend using an eyebrow razor to smooth out the ends of the wefts to make it more natural. I found my razors on eBay in a six-pack for $6.35.

Here's an example of what it looks like to use the razor on the end of the hair to make it look more natural.

I use the razor to blend wefts together after they're applied to the head as well. You'll see what this looks like below.

I also find it useful to use a small pair of scissors and cut at a downward angle (rather than straight across) in place of using the razor. Softening the edges is really only recommended when you have wefts with a harsh edge. You can very well do a full wig with long, full-length wefts and then trim it all down later if that's how you prefer to do it.

Applying Wefts

Materials:

• Glue

• Eyebrow razor or scissors

Start gluing at the base of the head and work your way up, whether you're doing a close cut like Anakin or long hair.

I like using hot glue for this, but make sure you use a really small amount. Hot glue can quickly become bulky if you're not careful.

Pay attention to the gaps between your wefts. You're going to be able to have more space between wefts with long hair than with a traditional "male" cut. That's because when the hair is trimmed so short, gaps are noticeable.

You'll also want to keep in mind the direction you want the hair to go in, especially if you have a specific style in mind. For Anakin, the flow of his hair starts at the bottom pointing downward then flows into a diagonal, and begins to face forward at a certain point at the top. Drawing lines and arrows on the wig cap helps to keep track of where to place wefts.

While I applied these, I kept going over the ends with the eyebrow razor to blend the hair together. And in case you're wondering how I curled his ponytail, I mixed a little bit of Mod Podge with water and curled a small piece of hair around a pen.

For long hair, the process is more or less the same. Lay the wefts from bottom to top, and you won't have to worry about blending the ends. The only thing I'd say that you might do differently is to face the hair outward along the front so that the glued parts don't show. You're also going to have to create a middle part.

To create a clean part, cut the wig cap where you want the part to go. Glue wefts on the INSIDE of the cut in the cap, facing up. Then you just glue the gap back shut so you have a nice middle part that hides all of the top bits of your wefts.

If you're making a wig like this for a particularly small action figure, I would just glue the hair straight onto the cap (without making a weft first). Gluing under the wig does make a bit of bulk, and if you're not using a weft, you cut down on the thickness that the glue will add.

Here's what the finished Anakin wig looks like. Keep in mind, before I glued with wig cap down, I laid some more hair under the seams to make for a smoother transition.

And since Anakin's hair sticks up a bit, I used cling wrap to train it. Just wrap the head, tie it off with a rubber band, and leave it for at least an hour. I like to leave it overnight for the best results. In the end, I always wrap a doll or figure's head in cling wrap whether I'm rerooting or making a wig. It tamps the hair down, making it more natural-looking.

Water is also good for styling yarn wigs. Toothbrushes work really well instead of conventional doll brushes because there are more bristles.

Here's the before versus after! Very much worth the effort, I'd say. If you're going to go through all of the trouble of making the face look great, why not compliment it with great-looking hair?

Your wig may not come out the way you wanted on your first try - mine certainly didn't. If it's beyond help, don't be afraid to scrap it. Sometimes, it's better to start over than to agonize over something that isn't working. It's all a learning experience.

With practice, you'll get better results each time. We all have to start somewhere.

Good luck!

Love,

Haley

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