Need some help/opinions

I'm still unsure if abs dolls are technically on-topic, but the head in question is definitely on the anime style side and I feel like people here have more experience with that for obvious reasons.

I purchased a UFdoll and the previous idea I had for it ended up going to a different head. Now I'm considering something else for it: Gear 5 Luffy. Because I'm a dweeb and I love him (I have so much gear 5 merch) but the thing is, this head has a sculpted smile:

So my question is: Is it possible or even feasible to give him anything like either smile below with ONLY paint. I'm not doing any crazy mods

Like has anyone done it without looking strange and can show me pictures? I'm not awesome at visualizing a lot of times.

Or do you think it's best I simply give him a calmer smile a lot of merch has?:

 

OR alternatively: do YOU have another opinion who this head could be?🤔

Mmmh, if you want to paint only, you must at least sand away the lips/mouth.

OP has very extreme facial expressions, so without doing some "crazy mod" I see it difficult to render Luffy's face well starting from an anime head that tends towards realistic proportions. The eyes should also be enlarged.
It depends on the final result you want to achieve, perhaps some tests on photoshop would be necessary.

You can always do the calmer smile first, and then wipe it if you decide to mod it or paint it. It’ll be a lot less effort to remove!

 

P.s I bought these boys too x3

from what i've seen on people's post on rednote, the smile on that head is a lot more subtle than it looks in promo material ! i think once you get the head it will give you a better idea of what you can/can't do in terms of altering it for luffy's face, though i do think sanding is def an option especially if you are going to paint ! excited to see how it turns out though, i also got this doll for a character doll :] 

Hmm so it seems concensus is I cannot do it with just paint. So probably calm smile, it is.

@Testament i see where you're saying "eye enlargment", but I was pooossibly going to lean to a bit more of a "semi-real" style if I decide to use this particular head for him. I can also sort of fake the look of bigger eyes by using small irises, like I did on my tiny version of Luffy

Believe it, or not, this head has a very similar eye shape to the new head. The super round eyes do look a little too goofy (to me) in doll form, and even my Perona doll doesn't have such round eyes. It's all makeup and iris style.

@seth I think this is the way.

@grimmgel that's a bit promising to hear! What character are you making? 👀 I love fan made character dolls.

 

So, with all this, I may do his calm smile, and look for similar heads in the future that don't have sculpted mouths for his grinning face. Then I can swap them out. I may also do some experiments with paint before committing. I'd honestly hate to sand off such a cute mouth.

I'm still open to other suggestions/opinions!

i will be making kusuriuri/the medicine seller from mononoke :] ! 

Oh cool! I've not seen the anime, but I am familiar with it. Please tag me when he's all done!