Now with no dead bugs!
I’m wrapping up my day off.
I’ve joined a Pullip Doll group on Facebook. It’s not a selling group.
The woman running it makes solid Pullip related videos and seems to be good at creating community/an online presence with give-aways and discussion prompts.
Much of it is people un-boxing things they’ve ordered, sharing doll stories and pictures, but there is also some face-up content.
Since I’ve come to this point WITHOUT actually collecting dolls and then getting into fixing things and THEN face-ups, I feel a little freakish.
“Hi! I’m here to post HORRORS and start doing the massive undertakings ya’ll have eased into! IS MY WIG CAP ROTTING INTERNALLY!?!?!”
(Reads touching story about dolls as therapy after trauma)
“MY DOLL HAD A SKULL CONTAINING DEAD BUG PARTS!”
Not that this isn’t therapy of sorts. At the school I work in there’s a support staffer who comes every few weeks. She’s tri-lingual and has learned I make SO MUCH STUFF. She now brings projects she’s working on for me to check out. We catch up on works in progress.
Last time she told me she’d seen a bag that says ‘Knitting, because it’s cheaper than therapy” and laughed.
I laughed too and then smiled and said, “hahaha, yeah. I do both!” and when she paused slightly I explained that I’m on medication, regularly see my shrink, and craft like the wind.
All part of normalizing mental health!
Let’s see how my doll skulls are doing!
The above shot shows where I started lightly sanding the surface (right half) to make sure the discoloration didn't go deep into the plastic.
Most of the glue lifted off with some soaking in water.
Sanded glue residue vs unsanded.
Everything you see painted on was done by the last owner. I soaked and removed the eyelashes and started at the face with rubbing alcohol and light paint thinner. Paint thinner is nasty.
Many youtube tutorials show people removing these doll faces with just rubbing alcohol. Not working for me. Wish it did. I save it for wiping down and removing sanding dust before fixing.
Listen to me acting like I have a set routine.
I took a break at lunch and made a trip to a used toy shop via bus.
It was a bust. I now know I'm not missing out on anything by not hitting that store earlier.
I picked up 3.00$USD used Minnetonka boots nearby so WIN!
Look who has no BUG PARTS in her skull! THIS DOLL!
FRESH!
I also located the eye-levers and eye-lids I need to repair the winking action.
The biggest hurdle is that these parts generally use doll-related terms-of-art.
Like "Eye-Mech' and "eye chips"
I not only have to figure those out, I also need to figure out the Japanese versions of the terms so I can search for them in auctions or locate what stores might have them.
These are the levers to make the eyelids wink, blink, or sleep.
These are the eyelids and springs themselves with extra eyelashes.
They were both offered by the same online auction dealer so I was able to negotiate combined shipping. Everything altogether is about 1,000yen or 10$ usd which I paid at the nearest convini in cash (a wonderful buying option here for online purchases).
The eye-mech is pretty amazing. I'll discuss it more when putting it all together.
My Dal face is coming along. I’ll be updating soon.