Notes on customization of Blythe Dolls: CARVING

Notes on Customization:  CARVING

Okay, HERE is my newbie CONFESSION:  When I first noticed this Blythe doll / world on flickr, I kept coming across photos of Blythe dolls "in progress" of many stages of customization. 

The bizarre part was, that under each photo as the caption was as follows:

     "HERE is my FIRST ATTEMPT at customization."

And / or

     "HERE is my FIRST ATTEMPT at nose carving, lip carving ", etc. 

And WHAT did that photo show???  PERFECTION every single time! 

I have NEVER seen anyone post their FIRST TIME AT ATTEMPTING TO CARVE A FACE, and SHOW THEIR FAILURE!!!  WHY IS THIS?????  Hmmm, I do not know.

So, with that being said:  I am going to show you MY EPIC FAIL at MY FIRST ATTEMPT AT FACE CARVING.  (well, truthfully, I think ALL my efforts at carving are pretty horrible, but THIS ONE is just “dolly-cide”, as I have murdered the poor girl.  IF it was a REAL BLYTHE, and IF I had spent hundreds on this doll, perhaps I would attempt a ‘fix’ …. But now that I have experience with clones AND real Blythes, I don’t think this epic FAIL would happen on a REAL BLYTHE, they are made SO MUCH MORE DIFFERENTLY !

This photo shows the OVER-CARVING of her mouth and philtrum area

Close-up of the EPIC FAIL  (this is a Blybe / CCE doll)

The CLONES (Blybe/ CCE/ LBEs) are made of a very, VERY hard plastic.  To “carve” this is nearly impossible.  It just doesn’t ‘give’ the way a REAL BLYTHE face does. 

Secondly,  the plastic is VERY, VERY THIN in places, and THUS THE HOLE in my now-Popeye looking dolly face.

Here is a HINT:  IF you are concerned about the thickness of plastic you have to work with,
Just take the doll into a dark area and shine a flashlight underneath ...

This will ILLUMINATE the weaker areas, so that you don't carve through the thinner areas.

           

NOSE CARVING:

            The first nose I tried to “carve” was an LBE.  And stupid me, I thought they really meant “carving” !  but AGAIN, carving on a REAL BLYTHE is possible, while on this EXTREMELY HARD PLASTIC of a clone, the exacto just has no effect! 

To get any sort of progress/ shape ... I had to SAND THE HELL OUT OF HER NOSE!  Sand as in SANDPAPER, Emery boards, and the like.

Luckily her nose had a LOT of plastic on it, but still … I did take my guinea pig into a dark room and shone a flashlight into one of her eyesockets, just so I could tell how much plastic I had left to carve.  I did feel VERY close to the edge a few times, so perhaps I should be grateful I didn’t commit further dolly-cide!

Even though I now have 7 dolls that are EXACTLY the same (Little Big Eyes all have the SAME face;  they only came out with 4 ... in 2001.  There ARE prototypes out there, VERY rare, but basically, only ONE FACE MOLD ) ...

I still wanted each of my girls to look SOMEHOW “different” ….. I did NOT want them to look like a bunch of CLONES OF CLONES!  

I did carve ALL 7 LBE noses.  Some do look the same, I’m afraid, but none of them have a bulbous nose any longer.  I just wanted them to be as small as possible, because after I got my REAL Blythe, I put them "nose-to-nose" and there IS a noticeable difference in their profiles.  Some of the differences are fixable, but some are not.

LITTLE BIG EYES:  Left:  ORIGINAL PROFILE  ... Right:  AFTER some carving

LBE:  My FIRST carving attempt ... I nearly took her nose and lips OFF ...

LBE:  Another carving job where I nearly carved her lips off ...

Regarding BLYBE/CCE clone:  when it came time to carve this doll, again, HARD PLASTIC !  I kept looking at ALL those awesome BLYTHE pics on flickr of ALL the customizers who apparently do this for a living, and making THOSE LIPS!  THAT NOSE! ..out of THIS?  Well, I couldn’t understand HOW DO THEY DO IT?????  [okay, I STILL don't know HOW they do it ! ]

Regarding my REAL BLYTHE DOLL:  I like the nose that she came with, except for the teeniest bit of "point" to it ...  All I had to do was sand it down just a tad, “pug it” just a TEENY-TINY bit, which was SO EASY compared to the carving on the plastic of the clones.  No comparison. 

LIPS !                              

 AGAIN, hard plastic.  I worked on the first LBE a LOT … but the results are just … well, AMATEUR at best.   THIS is also where I killed the CCE.  The lips.  I could not, for the LIFE of me, “carve” any sort of SHAPE into them.  SURE, I don’t have “diamond files” or whatever it takes that the TRUE PROFESSIONALS use … but even if I had those tools, I still look at those flickr pics of the pros ... with wonder and awe !  

In the end, I decided to JUST LEAVE THE LIPS of the LBE’S.  I just sanded off their lipstick, but not much more ... It was BETTER than carving the lips OFF into oblivion, which I did do on at least 2 of them (sorry girls !!!) 

Lip Carving of my REAL BLYTHE:    When I finally proceeded to attempt a carve the lips on my REAL BLYTH .... the texture was …. SMOOTH AS SOAP !  I was thinking to myself, WELL HECK!  THERE IS NO COMPARISON HERE!!!  It was SO EASY to “carve” a different shape to her lips!  IMAGINE THAT.  THIS was the moment that I thought … WHY does everyone say to get a CLONE to practice on?  It is like trying to PRACTICE doing the high-wire with dental floss.  It is like trying to PRACTICE running a marathon in flip flops.  NO COMPARISON. AND EPIC FAIL GUARANTEED.

FINAL NOTE ON LIP CARVING:  I still do not know how to carve the BEAUTIFULLY SHAPED lips that I have seen on flickr and have seen the PROS do.  Even though the FACE / LIPS are more “carve-able” on a "real" Blythe vs. a Clone … still doesn’t help if you don’t have the SKILL to make the beautiful SHAPE. 

I BARELY changed my REAL BLYTHE’S lips … just TRIED to make her look a BIT more “smiley” … as she looked a bit GRUMPY at first … and don’t get me started on that COLOR they chose to put on her!  I mean, REALLY?  MAUVY-PINKISH-PURPLEISH lips on a GREEN FACE?????  Yikes.  Those I had no hesitation taking OFF !

REAL BLYTHE:  Before (as she arrived out of the box)  ... and After:  She has a matte face; pastel make-up;
New eyelashes;  New hand-made-by-me eyechips;  Carved nose and lips; slight haircut;
Peachy lipcolor painted with acrylic

* Disclaimer on ALL of my NOTES:  I am not a true customizer.  I have only done the few girls that I own, 7 Little Big Eyes, 2 Blybe, and one real Blythe.  The caliber and skill and profesionalism that is so evident by the lovely flickr pictures ... well there is no comparison to my extreme amateur attempts.  HOWEVER, ALL I really wanted to do was to change them from the hideousness that I saw, into just a teeny bit more beautiful, for my own pleasure and sense of accomplishment.  I do not now, or ever, plan to offer my own skills at customization ... the reason for these blog entries is to help the few out there who would like to do just a few little steps, without spending ANOTHER huge amount on their already expensive girls.