Shrinking DDH-33 Head with Acetone

I recently got my DDH-33 heads in the mail from Volks Japan, but was disappointed with how huge the heads were in person! I had no idea they would be so large from the few pictures that were available during the ordering period.

 

DDH-33 head next to a DDH-06 head. Based on the size, I would say it is similar to the DDH-09 head. Additionally, the cheeks and jaw are very prominent/chubby, which I'm not sure I love either.

 

I decided to try to shrink the head using a method described by user elianti here back in 2017. The method involves using acetone to shrink vinyl by soaking it for a period of time.

I purchased a gallon of pure acetone from Sally Beauty as well as a glass jar to soak the head in (I made the mistake of thinking acetone wouldn't melt a plastic container...it did within about five seconds).

I mixed approximately three parts acetone to one part water in the jar, then put in the head and head cap. I separated the head cap from the head. I didn't measure the acetone or water precisely since I didn't want to pour the acetone into any other containers.

DDH-33 head in the jar of acetone/water. The head looked strangely pale during soaking, but the final color doesn't look noticeably different from the original.

 

I removed just the head cap after four hours, and placed it on a paper towel in the bathroom to start drying.  It was very large and squishy after the soak.

I left the main part of the head to soak for 48 hours. I left the head cap for a much shorter amount of time than the rest of the head as the previous post here mentioned that the head cap shrinks faster due to the softer material.

After removing the DDH-33 head from the acetone - it was huge and very floppy/squishy compared to the normal DDH-33 head on the right!

 

After a night of drying, I put the head onto a body with some plastic wrap around the neck because I was worried the neck hole in the head would shrink so much that I wouldn't be able to get it back onto a body. I'm not sure if it actually mattered or not, but the final head is able to go onto the neck with no issue! This is the head compared to the DDH-06 head after about two days of drying.

 

After two and a half weeks of drying, I think the head is done shrinking and finally back to normal vinyl consistency.

Shrunken DDH-33 head on the left and original sized DDH-33 head on the right.

 

The head cap looks a little funny, but it does seem to be about the right size. I think the part at the top of the main part of the head dried weirdly, so it isn't flat. However, it looks fine with a wig over it.

 

After drying, here are the measurements of the head:

Head circumference: 21.8 cm

Forehead to chin: 7.1 cm

 

Original measurements:

Head circumference: 22.6 cm

Forehead to chin: 7.5 cm

 

Overall, I would say the experiment was a success! Maybe it would shrink even more if I had left it longer, but I'm happy with the amount it shrunk, and that the head cap seems to fit well considering I completely guessed on the times.

 

Now if only Volks would provide some sort of measurements of their heads moving forward ^^;

Edited Sunday at 08:52 PM by dollyaong

Oh my gosh I had no idea those heads were that big. I'm glad the shrinking worked out for you!

Wow, what a project! I don't have the nerve to do something like this lol. The result looks good, though! The ddh-33 sculpt looks promising, I'd love to see what kind of face-ups people give it. 

22 hours ago, Gallye said:

Oh my gosh I had no idea those heads were that big. I'm glad the shrinking worked out for you!

I really wish they had more pictures or something before closing the orders as I had no idea either! Thank you ^.^

 

21 hours ago, Yukamina said:

Wow, what a project! I don't have the nerve to do something like this lol. The result looks good, though! The ddh-33 sculpt looks promising, I'd love to see what kind of face-ups people give it. 

It was definitely nerve-wracking, but I guess I had stronger hope that it would work out than fear something would go horribly wrong ^^; I'm excited to see what faceups people give them too!