How to Cover or Get Rid of Deep Scratches?

Due to what's going on with this, this is what my poor Kaito looks like right now. ...trying to have fun to keep myself from despairing.

 

 

Today, I was doing some sanding around his mouth because I was doing some reshaping.

 

As I'm sanding...out of nowhere this GIANT scratch appeared on the side of the mouth!

 

As you can see, it really obvious looking. (Please excuse all the very apparent flaws in his faceup right now. He's in the process of being re-done, of course. I would normally never show my "experimental" phases of my WIPs on this level, but it's pretty relevant here so you can see the scratch.)

 

I've just been using sandpaper at this stage(much earlier stages involved other tools), so I am pretty darn positive that I couldn't have done that! The scratch is a very straight line and it's sort of...open? Like, I can take my nail and split it open, which also allows me to tell that it goes very deep. Much deeper than I could sand out. I've heard of people modding and then running into air bubbles within the vinyl, so I'm thinking maybe this is sort of similar?

 

So I need help of what I could do to make it less noticeable, or even better, hide it completely. I don't want my boy to have a scar on his face. Especially not right next to the edge of his mouth. He'll look like the Joker!

 

My first theory is that maybe I could work a mix of the doll-specific Sculpey/sculpey white(I have to find the right color mix) into the "wound" and then use the boil cure method, then sand/blend accordingly afterwards, but other than that, I'm not sure what to do if that doesn't work.

 

Any advice is appreciated. I really don't want to have to buy a new head and start the mod all over. I'm sure a lot of you know that sanding by hand is painful. Plus, I've grown quite attached. Buying a new one would be like having a totally new doll to me, so I don't want to feel like it isn't him anymore. I'm know a lot of people here can understand that feeling.

Hmm. . That's a tricky one. Yeah sanding by hand is a pain but tbh that's what I would do if you don't want to mess with it too much. ..

Hm, first I'd try applying heat and seeing if it pops back into shape (if it's more of a dent than a scratch). Usually I'd trying putting it in boiling water, but since you don't want to ruin the face-up, maybe use a blow dryer? Resin, and I think vinyl too, have a memory of the shape they were cast in, and if you have a dent or a scratch, heat can make it go back to that shape. I don't think it works if the actual surface is cut, though.

Hmm. . That's a tricky one. Yeah sanding by hand is a pain but tbh that's what I would do if you don't want to mess with it too much. ..

 

I guess I won't really have a choice if my sculpey idea doesn't work out...It doesn't help that I'm particularly bad at color mixing.

 

Hm, first I'd try applying heat and seeing if it pops back into shape (if it's more of a dent than a scratch). Usually I'd trying putting it in boiling water, but since you don't want to ruin the face-up, maybe use a blow dryer? Resin, and I think vinyl too, have a memory of the shape they were cast in, and if you have a dent or a scratch, heat can make it go back to that shape. I don't think it works if the actual surface is cut, though.

 

Unfortunately, it's definitely a scratch. A deep one. I compare it to an air bubble because it looks like the vinyl was never together in this spot to begin with...it's really strange. I'll maybe have to still see if boiling water does anything on its own(without my sculpey idea), maybe it can make it look less obvious, but I know it can't actually melt the vinyl together or anything...I'm not worried about his faceup since he's being redone anyway. All will be well if I can get this cut off his face.

So I went full "Screw it" mode over here. I figured it couldn't get any worse, so I just went for it. Before the scratching I had been too scared to try modding the cheeks and chin at all...but I now thought that I might as well. It was pretty much "Best case - I get the scratch out and end up with the face I really wanted out of this head." and "Worst case - I can't get the scratch out/ I screw up the cheeks and chin so I haul butt to order a new one from Volks USA before they shutdown for an unknown amount of time."

 

So far...it's leaning more towards the best case. I managed to sand most of it out. It's about 90% gone now. I think once he's got a new face-up, that it won't be really noticeable. The downside is that it's now very thin in that area. I had to go dangerously deep with the sanding. But luckily for me, Kaito's models in the Project Diva games are on the side of pretty flat-faced, so that isn't an issue here.

 

 

I still plan on buying some of the sculpey to mess with since I'm practicing open-mouthed mods with a junk head anyway. If I learn the right color combo from that practice, I'll probably go back and re-sculpt his nose a bit. I may also possibly try to change his eye shape to be a teeny tiny bit more closed from the bottom. I'm going to continue working on the cheek and chin area for now, and hopefully it'll do what I want this time with no more nasty surprises.

He does look a lot better! I was so sorry to see your picture when the gash appeared, you must have been gutted.

 

Best of luck with your Kaito mod! He's such a cute character (I shouldn't call him cute, he would probably hate that).

 

Linda S.

galatia9

He does look a lot better! I was so sorry to see your picture when the gash appeared, you must have been gutted.

 

Best of luck with your Kaito mod! He's such a cute character (I shouldn't call him cute, he would probably hate that).

 

Linda S.

galatia9

 

I totally was! Of course it would happen to me, I have bad luck like that.

 

Thanks, his faceup is going well so far and if I can keep doing this well, I think I might even like him more than before.

 

I can't speak for anyone else's Kaito out there, but mine certainly wouldn't mind being called cute. The term I find myself using for him is "adorkable".

I totally was! Of course it would happen to me, I have bad luck like that.

 

Thanks, his faceup is going well so far and if I can keep doing this well, I think I might even like him more than before.

 

I can't speak for anyone else's Kaito out there, but mine certainly wouldn't mind being called cute. The term I find myself using for him is "adorkable".

LOL, I like that description! I really liked your faceup on him too, even if it was still "in progress". Hope to see him back to his "adorkable" self soon!

 

Linda S.

galatia9

I totally was! Of course it would happen to me, I have bad luck like that.

 

Thanks, his faceup is going well so far and if I can keep doing this well, I think I might even like him more than before.

 

I can't speak for anyone else's Kaito out there, but mine certainly wouldn't mind being called cute. The term I find myself using for him is "adorkable".

LOL, I like that description! I really liked your faceup on him too, even if it was still "in progress". Hope to see him back to his "adorkable" self soon!

 

Linda S.

galatia9

 

Thanks so much! I can't wait to post him. I've re-done his eyes and eyebrows now and I am so happy with it. Now I just need to figure out exactly how I want his mouth done as the final step. At least this scratch issue ended up being a good thing. It forced me to mod further and to start over. And now that I have...I think I did pretty good for my 3rd faceup and my first mod ever! I tried my best to use stencils this time, so my lines are a lot cleaner and more even now since his original faceup was freehand. I hope everyone will like him when I post, because I am super happy with him right now.

He does look a lot better now! I also ended up with stray scratches on some of the heads I modded somehow... And there was also a time when I used a little too much force with my xacto knife when opening up eyes.. @_@" The former I also fixed by sanding it down, and the latter... just ended up with larger eyes than expected I like to reason that it's all a learning experience in the end, and that you may end up getting more attached because of all of the hardships you went through xD;;

 

Also, shallow scratches can be camouflaged pretty well with the normal layers of MSC(and other sealants too, presumably?) you'd use for faceupping.

 

I realized I haven't commented on your Kaito photo thread---I just wanted to say that I love the outfits you've made him! I especially like the winter cape. He's very adorkable indeed!

He does look a lot better now! I also ended up with stray scratches on some of the heads I modded somehow... And there was also a time when I used a little too much force with my xacto knife when opening up eyes.. @_@" The former I also fixed by sanding it down, and the latter... just ended up with larger eyes than expected I like to reason that it's all a learning experience in the end, and that you may end up getting more attached because of all of the hardships you went through xD;;

 

Also, shallow scratches can be camouflaged pretty well with the normal layers of MSC(and other sealants too, presumably?) you'd use for faceupping.

 

I realized I haven't commented on your Kaito photo thread---I just wanted to say that I love the outfits you've made him! I especially like the winter cape. He's very adorkable indeed!

 

I wonder why the scratch thing even happens...I guess it probably comes from some part of the manufacturing process. Makes me curious about that. I know the feeling with the xacto knife. That happened to me with the open mouth mod I'm doing. xD I pressed too much in a couple places...

 

But you're totally right. As panicky and terrified as I was, I learned a lot and I am definitely more attached! And I'm a bit more confident in my own abilities now because of it. I went from thinking "OMG this is impossible!! I can't possibly save this with my skill level!!" to admiring my own work in a way I never thought I could. I have NEVER been so pleased with my own work in my life(I'm a classic self-loathing artist ) He's certainly not perfect by any means...but I just never thought I was capable of this with my amateur experience and notoriously shaky hands! I still can't believe I managed to get the lines as straight as I did. The lighting is bad, so I definitely have to wait for good lighting to show him off more, but here's what I have for now:

 

 

(And at least you'll understand exactly why I have so many Pokemon in the background!)

 

I especially can't wait now for the new eyes I ordered for him the other day. Once he has the proper darker blue eye color...I think I will be 100% happy.

 

I'm glad you like the cape too! Luckily he was wearing it for pictures!

Your faceup looks great on him, I like how you painted his mouth. I really like Kaito's blue and white color scheme, he's one of my favorite vocaloids.

 

I'm glad you could save him!

 

Linda S.

galatia9

Your faceup looks great on him, I like how you painted his mouth. I really like Kaito's blue and white color scheme, he's one of my favorite vocaloids.

 

I'm glad you could save him!

 

Linda S.

galatia9

 

Thank you! The mouth was really tricky to get it the way I wanted, so I'm glad it looks good.

 

I find blue and white to definitely be the most appealing color scheme to me. I'm just always drawn to it! I think that's probably a big part of why Kaito became my top favorite lol.

 

I'm happy this turned out well too. It's such a relief. I really thought Kaito was a lost cause there for a moment! Quite a scary thought to me now.

I'm happy this turned out well too. It's such a relief. I really thought Kaito was a lost cause there for a moment! Quite a scary thought to me now.

 

nice SAVE! you got some mad skillz now

I'm a bit more confident in my own abilities now because of it. I went from thinking "OMG this is impossible!! I can't possibly save this with my skill level!!" to admiring my own work in a way I never thought I could. I have NEVER been so pleased with my own work in my life(I'm a classic self-loathing artist ) He's certainly not perfect by any means...but I just never thought I was capable of this with my amateur experience and notoriously shaky hands!

 

I can soo relate to you on this! I finally started doing faceups after more than a year of doubting myself, but I'm surprised at how satisfied I was once I actually sat down and did it. Of course it's no where near the level of some of the amazing artists here but it's definitely work I can be proud of especially since I can say that it's all the result of my own effort, and I can see improvements with each successive faceup too! Shaky hands are still a big problem though and I think I'll need a LOT of practice to fix that

 

Your Kaito looks INCREDIBLE now! So handsome and cute! If I didn't know better, I would never guess that he went through some plastic surgery at all. xD His mouth just might be my favorite part of his faceup, actually. His calm smile + the cape makes him even look a bit.. princely to me? It's a really nice look overall. I can't wait to see him with his new eyes!

I'm happy this turned out well too. It's such a relief. I really thought Kaito was a lost cause there for a moment! Quite a scary thought to me now.

 

nice SAVE! you got some mad skillz now

 

Thank you! I've always wanted to be in the mad skillz club.

 

I'm a bit more confident in my own abilities now because of it. I went from thinking "OMG this is impossible!! I can't possibly save this with my skill level!!" to admiring my own work in a way I never thought I could. I have NEVER been so pleased with my own work in my life(I'm a classic self-loathing artist ) He's certainly not perfect by any means...but I just never thought I was capable of this with my amateur experience and notoriously shaky hands!

 

I can soo relate to you on this! I finally started doing faceups after more than a year of doubting myself, but I'm surprised at how satisfied I was once I actually sat down and did it. Of course it's no where near the level of some of the amazing artists here but it's definitely work I can be proud of especially since I can say that it's all the result of my own effort, and I can see improvements with each successive faceup too! Shaky hands are still a big problem though and I think I'll need a LOT of practice to fix that

 

Your Kaito looks INCREDIBLE now! So handsome and cute! If I didn't know better, I would never guess that he went through some plastic surgery at all. xD His mouth just might be my favorite part of his faceup, actually. His calm smile + the cape makes him even look a bit.. princely to me? It's a really nice look overall. I can't wait to see him with his new eyes!

 

It's such a cool feeling to do your own faceups, definitely. I'm glad we both went out and a limb and sat down to do them! Maybe we'll both be as good as the other artists on here someday if we keep improving! Getting over shaky hands will be a huge pain though. It's really annoying when your head knows exactly what you want, and then your hands won't follow!

 

And thank you so much for the kind words! I'm really happy that the mouth is good because I was so unsure of it! It may be because I was taking some inspiration from someone else's mouth mod and theirs is pretty different from mine at this point.

 

I think the cape really helps with the prince look! But I'm glad he gives off that vibe. I was just wondering if I made him too cute to pull off the Diamond Dust outfit anymore, but I think it'll work out! I just bought him some casual clothes too, so I'm curious to see how the hoodie/casual pants/sneakers look will work with him. All of this stuff is so new and exciting for me.

His new eyes finally got here so I posted a better picture in the style database section for anyone still curious.

His new eyes finally got here so I posted a better picture in the style database section for anyone still curious.

 

He looks amazing! I'm a bit late to this thread but I'm glad what happened was nothing that couldn't be fixed.

I didnt see this till now but agh that would have been so scary, I might have cried D: But it looks like everything went well, and it was a bonding experience.

Also, Kaito looks better than ever before! I love the new eyes!

His new eyes finally got here so I posted a better picture in the style database section for anyone still curious.

 

He looks amazing! I'm a bit late to this thread but I'm glad what happened was nothing that couldn't be fixed.

 

I'm glad he turned out well too! He had me panicking there for a bit!

 

I didnt see this till now but agh that would have been so scary, I might have cried D: But it looks like everything went well, and it was a bonding experience.

Also, Kaito looks better than ever before! I love the new eyes!

 

Normally, I think I would totally be the type to cry about it(I'm usually a huge crybaby, ESPECIALLY when something art-related goes wrong), but I just went straight into panic mode first this time.

 

But it definitely was a good thing in the end. In its own crazy, panic-inducing way.

 

And thank you! His eyes were such a nice surprise too. They were different than I thought they were from the sales picture...but in all the right ways. They're so bright in person. I'm playing a dangerous game here by getting really into custom eyes!

He looks great! He is brimming with confidence and self-assurance.

 

Linda S.

galatia9

He looks great! He is brimming with confidence and self-assurance.

 

Linda S.

galatia9

 

Thank you so much I'm really glad he gives off that kind of vibe!