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!

Repaint Story #2! And how to make doll dreadlocks-- MH Rochelle to OOAK Kelpie Girl

This is the repaint process for one of the old Monster High dolls I got off Ebay a while ago.  This particular doll, a "Ghouls' Night Out" Rochelle Goyle, had very sticky hair.



Here's what she looked like once I'd gotten her out of the shipping box and taken off the dress.











Her hair was such a mess!  I boilwashed, conditioned, and combed it....


...But it was still awful.







 I tried to salvage it with soap, Goo Gone, and other substances.  It remained sticky.  Besides, taking a closer look at the roots, I could see that a lot of it had been pulled out and/or trimmed, so it was very thin.

Here's her face before.

She was also missing an arm, which had been replaced with one from an Operetta doll.  It didn't match at all!

But I didn't have any extra Rochelle arms, so I  had to keep it.

It's also hard to see, but the tip of her right ear crest had been cut or broken off.

Off comes the makeup with 100% acetone nail polish remover.

It's not safe to use acetone on Monster High dolls' plastic bodies, so I sanded off Operetta's tattoo and sealed the arm with clear matte acrylic spray.

Haircut time!

Take off the scalp paint with acetone as well.

My idea for this doll was to create a kelpie girl with seaweed dreadlocks.  I found a ball of variegated green wool yarn left over from a sweater that was the perfect set of shades!

Strands of yarn look exactly like tiny dreadlocks, so you don't even have to make wefts.

Cut off a length of yarn about the right length...










...and superglue it to the back of her head.  I didn't want to root because that would make the yarn stick out in the back, and yarn doesn't respond to heat treatment the same way conventional doll hair does.

 Here she is with one row in place.







At this point I decided to paint her scalp dark green, so any spaces between rows would be invisible.





















 I also repaired the broken ear tip with hot glue.

 Continue to add rows...

 ...working around the ears, and gluing some hair to the side of the head in front, so it falls the right way.

There's still a bald spot in front, and the hairline is blank.  Supergluing on more yarn would leave a visible seam.

Time to break out the rooting tool!  Cut lengths of yarn that are twice as long as the desired hair length...

...and unravel the yarn into two plies, so it's thinner.

Make a loop in the middle (excuse my paint-y fingers)...

...loop it through your warping tool...

...and continue to root like you would with regular doll hair.

 

You may have to punch some new holes with a big needle to even out the hair under the ears.

Much better!  Her hairline is about half done here.

Here you can see how tightly I rooted the hair around the ears.  You can also see the first steps of sanding and painting the ear repair.

Finally, all the hair is finished.  I couldn't be happier!  It turned out just like I'd hoped.  It really looks like seaweed!

Soak the hair in hot water with a bit of conditioner to soften and felt the wool just a bit.  This makes it look fluffier and less stringy.

While it dries, train the hair around the face with rubber bands.

Squeeze some glue inside the head, coating all the rooted parts, to make them more secure.
  Wait for it to dry, and pop the head back on.

You may have to trim it a bit, especially in the back.












The hair's finished!  How exciting!

To prepare for the faceup, push the hair back, wrap with paper towels, and pin or tape it in place.

Before starting the face, I mixed a batch of Rochelle-colored acrylic and painted her replaced left arm to match the rest of her body.

I also finished the ear.

After a few coats of Mr. Super Clear sealant and green pastel, her face contours are starting to emerge.

Here she is with pencils and pastels finished.

And finally, acrylic paint.  I added glossy sealant on her lips and eyes to give her a bit more life.



Take down her hair, and....

Isn't that better?
I haven't decided on a name for her yet, but I'm leaning towards Ness.  If you have a better idea, I'd love to hear it!  Any other questions, comments, feedback, or awful puns are always welcome at my email: modelhorsemagic@gmail.com.  Thanks for reading, and stay tuned for more doll excitement!

Vintage 1920's Doll Restoration! - Part 7 - Say Hello to...

This is the seventh and final chapter in the story of this old composition doll.  Now that she's been fully restored, the only thing left to do was to give her a name and some clothing.
At first, I had thought that, due to her vintage construction, I would have to measure her and sew a dress specifically for her.  However, I got lucky!  It turns out that, while her legs and body are longer than those of an American Girl or Götz doll, her body's circumference is almost exactly the same!  This means that she can wear many articles of clothing that were designed for modern dolls.  
I happened to have a Götz stock dress in the sewing workshop; it was the dress that one of my dolls arrived in but it was in need of repair.

As you can see, two button are missing from the front.  The sash was also coming unsewn in the back and the velcro closure had been removed.

I mentioned in an earlier post about another doll - Lucy - that velcro is terrible for doll hair.  That's why the velcro was already gone.  As I did for Lucy, I replaced it with some snaps, adjusting their positioning so the dress would fit on the composition doll.  Her neck is much thicker than a Götz doll's, so there was a bit of awkward fiddling in the back, but it's all hidden by the hair.  I also repaired the sash and replaced the buttons on the front by stealing two from the rear sleeve gussets.
And here she is!

 I think the dress suits her very well, since both the doll and the dress are of German design and in a style from the twenties.  In terms of names, it took me a very long time to pick one out, but I've settled on "Florence Ivy."  Both names are from the era, and the combination seems to suit her quite well.  The nickname for Florence is "Flossie," so I will be calling her that in future posts.

Thank you for following Flossie's story!  She has certainly come a long way.  Now that she is finished, I'm finally ready to move on to another doll in need of help, so stay tuned for the next story!

If you're looking for someone to restore your old doll, or you'd like some advice on restoration, feel free to shoot me an email at modelhorsemagic@gmail.com.   I'm always happy to help!