Repaint Story #3 -- Monster High Bonita Femur & How to fix a broken neck peg!

Hi Magicians!

Are you ready for a big transformation story?  Let's go!

This poor dolly, a Monster High Bonita Femur, had been through a lot.  When I got her out of the box (a big doll lot from Ebay), her head had been squished down to her shoulders!   It turned out that the back of her neck peg had broken off, so her green head peg had come loose and was rattling around in there, and her head wouldn't stay up.  One of her antennae had broken off, her long hair was also really frizzy and tangled, and she was smudged with dirt.

It took me a while to get the head peg out.  I ended up having to use pliers.

While I was at it, I also washed all the dirt off her body and conditioned/combed her hair until it was nice and smooth.  Here's what she looked like after getting cleaned up.

Here you can see where the neck peg broke - the back just popped off, so the head peg fell out.  This was probably because of the strain put on the neck by her long, heavy hair.

I started out with some light modding.


I removed the other antenna...

...And also cut the foam bouffant out of her hair.  There was nothing wrong with it, but I didn't like the puffy look it gave to her ponytail.

Next, after priming her body with Mister Super Clear matte spray, I started to repaint it.  Confession: I don't like moths.  So my idea was to add a more realistic bony color to the skeletal upper body, and transform the mothy lower body from a furry texture to more of a leafy, flowery texture.


To repair the neck, I used Q-Bond reinforced superglue to glue the head peg back into the neck peg socket. This reduces head mobility, but was the only way to make a durable repair.  Besides, even intact Monster High dolls' heads can't really move up and down, so I didn't lose much.

Once the glue was dry, I used Apoxie sculpting medium to patch up the back of the ball joint so it was nice and round again...

...And painted it to match the original pink.  I faded a little pink onto her throat and spinal column to make the design feel more cohesive.

I dunked her head in boiling water to soften the vinyl, then worked it back on.

Much better!

Here's her body paint all finished!  I faded the pink out on her legs so I could leave her feet unpainted.  Monster High shoes are very tight, and I knew that if her feet were painted, it would rub right off!








I'm very proud of my detail work.  I darkened the insides of her ribs with drybrushing to add dimension...

...and shaded each individual leaf on her lower body.

I even painted the vertebrae on her lower back to match!

Time to redo her face.
Her original makeup was cute, but didn't really fit the Day of the Dead-skeleton-fairy vibe I was going for.

Off her face comes, with 100% acetone nail polish remover.

Before starting the faceup, I repainted her antennae with a pink and green fade, to resemble leaves.

Then, I hot-glued them back on her head, but in a different place: I put them on the sides, like ears.  I painted the glue to match her skin, and throughout the faceup process I used pink pastel to blend them in further.

I like her hair, so I protected it with fabric and tape.  Getting sealant on hair can turn it nasty and stiff.

I did a rough sketch of my idea for her face.  I drew heavily on reference pictures of flower tattoos, gang tattoos, and traditional skull face paint for Day of the Dead.

Here she is after blushing, one layer of pencil, and a few layers of sealant.

All the details are painted in black.  Looks like a coloring book!

The colors begin to appear.  At this stage, I noticed her left eye was a little crooked.  Derp!

In the next coloring stage, I fixed her eye.  Whew!
In keeping with the flower theme, I made her eyes chartreuse - a very bright shade of the same green I used for her lower legs and the flower's leaves.



Finally!  After cleaning up some edges, detailing her lip paint, and finishing the eyes, her face is finished!  I also added clear glossy sealant to her lips and eyes to make them shiny.

Here's a full body view.  I love how she turned out!






























I was a little hesitant about the bright chartreuse for her eyes, but I'm glad I went with it now.  The contrasting colors really pop!

Oops!  I almost forgot!  She came with a big pair of black, pink, and neon-green wings.  Luckily, the clear green part matched her eyes, so I didn't have to change it.

I repainted the pink part to a darker pink/green fade to match her body.  I matched the skeletal part where it attaches to her back with the same bony color too.

I used some scrap lace and fabric to make her a quick outfit, too.

I really like the face paint.  She looks so festive!

Here she is with wings in place.

I think Mattel does a great job with body sculpting in general, but the details on Monster High dolls are just amazing.

As the final step, I repainted her little hair doodad (which was bright pink and orange) to match her color scheme.








All finished!  Bonita was part of a larger project batch, so more doll rescue and repaint stories will be coming soon.
I haven't thought of a new name for her yet, but suggestions are welcome at modelhorsemagic@gmail.com.  Stay weird, friends!