Materials Needed for Body Modifications on Dolls

Depending on what kinds of projects you're undertaking, the materials you need are going to vary. Here are some things to get you started. This is a list of materials that I use for nearly every modification, regardless of what I'm doing.

Materials:

• Apoxie Sculpt (or some other type of air-dry clay)

• Sculpting tools

• Wire

• Aluminum foil

• Pliers

• Wire cutters

• Small saw

• Hand-drill or Dremel

• Pushpin or straight pins

• Sandpaper (to smooth out sculptures or doll plastic)

• Hot glue

Apoxie is a must-have for me. This is what I use to sculpt things like elf ears and horns. I've even used it to give a Barbie a realistic body once.

Sculpting tools are a great companion to the Apoxie but not necessary. I went years without using them, but when I finally bought some, it was well worth it.

Wire makes skeleton structures for sculpted projects. This is also where the foil comes in. If you wanted to make a mermaid, for instance, you could pop a Barbie's legs off, thread some wire through the gaps, twist it down as far as you want, and bulk it up with foil. That way, you can pose it how you like, and you don't use as much clay (assuming you are sculpting the tail. If you were making a cloth one, I'd use some kind of fluff instead of foil).

The pliers and wire cutters are more versatile than just using on metal wire. Pliers are good for prying things off, and the cutters work pretty well on plastic.

The hand drill or Dremel is good for making holes in doll plastic to attach things like wings or a tail. If you're going to use a Dremel, buy metal or diamond-head drill bits. Otherwise, you only get one use out of them because the bits get clogged up (I learned that one the hard way).

Pushpins are good for making holes to insert wire structures, and straight pins can be used to attach sculpted pieces. For example, horns. While the clay is still wet, put the end of a push pin inside so that, when it's dry, you can stick the horn straight through the rubber head. Just keep in mind, you'll probably need to clip the pin down a bit so that it doesn't run into the doll's neck peg.

Hot glue is just generally useful. It's good for adding textures to paint over later, and I also use it to bulk up wire structures. It's good for attaching accessories, but don't use it to attach anything heavy or anything that might get bumped or nudged. It clings like crazy to hair and fabric, but it doesn't create a strong bond between rubber or plastics.

And those are some of the basic materials. I'm working on more body-mod posts to give you some more ideas and advice through my experience. When I have time to undertake the project, I'll be making a step-by-step of how to give your doll satyr legs.

If you're looking for materials more geared toward doll repaints, I have a post for that too!

Good luck!

Love,

Haley

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