I'd always had trouble getting the proportions right in the dolls that I'd sculpted from clay.
#BALL JOINTED DOLL 3D MODEL FREE HOW TO#
Here's a video describing how to get started with sculpting a BJD using paper clay: 3D SculptingĮventually, I decided that digital models are much more forgiving than clay, so I started sculpting the doll in 3D, with the aim of printing it on my 3D printer. However, it is much more cost effective for prototyping than Sculpey: If you are looking for a cheap source of paper clay, it's $2.80 for 500g at DAISO. Paper clay air dries, which avoids the baking step, but it dries out super fast in the hot dry climate here in Brisbane, Australia, and it's pretty messy to work with, so the results never matched my expectations and it still required quite a bit of a time commitment to do any prototyping. I then tried prototyping using paper clay. Breaking a part you've just spent an hour sculpting is not fun :( Sculpey is also pretty expensive here in Australia, and I was going through a lot of clay trying to refine my design over several iterations. After baking, the parts were quite delicate so they sometimes got damaged when I tried to test out the joints. Sculpey is a smooth, polymer clay so you can get some great detail, but having to bake the parts makes the prototype cycle a bit slow (I couldn't squeeze in a few minutes of prototyping in the evening after work, I'd have to set aside enough time to sculpt and bake and cool and clean up etc.). Initial attempts:įirst, I tried sculpting my doll using Sculpey clay. I'd poured over the Yoshida Style Ball Jointed Doll Making Guide, and I had a pretty good idea of the doll I wanted to make: a child-sized pixie / troll doll about 10 - 15 cm tall. I've been wanting to design my own ball jointed doll (BJD) since building my first BJD from a kit about 9 years ago. Designing a 3D printable doll (1) 6 years ago Anna Gerber