BALL-JOINTED DOLL - WEEK FOUR

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16in Full body

This week, I completely redesigned and finalized the doll’s body, making significant changes to the face, arms, hands, legs, waist, and chest. I also scaled the doll down. Instead of importing the entire file into Rhino, I first created a 16-inch extrusion, then brought it into Nomad Sculpt, where I adjusted the scale. One of the biggest challenges I faced was refining the chest and shoulders. The shoulder joints stuck out too much, and I wanted them to sit more inward while ensuring they remained functional. To fix this, I carefully cut, pasted, and smoothed the areas without impacting the structure. I also used the split, smooth, and clay tools to refine the chest, making it more uniform.

Another issue I encountered was Nomad Sculpt crashing due to the file being too heavy. To work around this, I deleted unnecessary files and reduced the mesh density for each piece.

To further prevent crashes, I adjusted only one side of the model at a time. I would trim off the side I wasn’t working on, make the necessary changes, then use symmetry to mirror them. This approach not only helped maintain a consistent look but also minimized crashes. I also made sure to save frequently, especially before making major adjustments.

Body close-ups

Beyond refining the body, I worked on improving proportions. The torso originally felt too long and flat, so I reshaped it using the move tool and added details like the belly button with the crease tool. I also combined the groin and torso into one piece and shortened it to give the doll a more stylized look. The legs lacked definition, so I adjusted them to have a more natural curve using the move and smooth tool. Similarly, the arms were too long, and the hands were too small, so I referenced other BJDs, scaled the hands up, shortened the lower arms, and connected the shoulder and upper arm pieces into one to ensure the arms wouldn’t extend past the waist.

New face

I also completely redesigned the doll’s face- I moved the eyes inward, reshaped the chin, and resized the head to create a more balanced appearance. Previously, the head felt too large, and the chin stuck out too much, so I refined those features to make everything look more cohesive. Although I don’t have prints ready for the blog yet, I’ve already set up test prints for each part to check for any final adjustments. The scaled-down model now reflects the final design more accurately and since my last print confirmed that the joints worked well and I didn’t alter them. However, due to the drastic changes I made- I sent the updated model for one more FDM test print and my focus with this is to refine any small details and to ensure everything fits properly before sending the model off to the resin printers. Once that’s complete, all that’s left is assembling the doll and then I’ll be finished. I’m really looking forward to seeing it all come together!