Making resin eyes for DD

Update time!

I'm currently working on a new batch of eyes, this time with new molds too. I just grabbed a bunch of CoolCat acrylic eyes and cast a mold from that, I think it'll have a better shape than my glass blobs

Downside is that after one year, most of my mold-making and casting supplies have reached the end of their lifespan. Since I couldn't get OoMoo 30 locally, I tried the Alumilite Quick-Set that my hobby shop carries. It's pricey but make a really, really good quality mold. Probably overkill for a one-piece eye mold! I'm also trying Alumilite's Amazing Clear Cast resin, and hopefully it's less finicky than the other stuff. I'd really hoped to sell some custom eyes soon, but seems I'm still in the science experiments phase

I can't wait! I love your website, it has so many good resources!

Depending on the price I might buy right away >W>

 

/being the noob I am it's really helpful okay lol

 

If you ever feel up to it I'd love to see you put out a faceup video!

Your guide on your website is great! I need to try it one day!

Glad it's helpful!

I actually got a bad result with the last batch of materials, most of my eyes using the new resin and mold material failed...

I've got one more lead, a UV set clear resin that's popular in Japan, that's what I'll try next. There was a tutorial in the last Dollybird for resin eyes, so that's the technique I will imitate this time. Their process has a very large number of steps and is very meticulous. I may have to exercise more discipline instead of looking for the 'easy way' to do it

That's so exciting! Can't wait to see how your next batch comes out. I feel your pain on bad results.

Gorgeous work! I have only got so far with making standard bjd eyes myself as to have tested out a silicone eye mold (this one - http://item.taobao.com/item.htm?id=13973334244) by using it as a bake-able press-mold for polymer clay "junk casts" to sand & refine ready for casting and assembling but so far haven't taken it any further than that.

I have a little suggestion for future reference that you might want to try and that I'm considering myself when it comes to printed pupils, just a little something I've observed from other printed eyes out there which I've assessed from my past work in the sign & print industry. The eyes out there with the really great bold irises are actually solvent printed (rather than using your standard home thermal ink-jet printer) onto glossy, metallic, holographic, pearlescent or reflective (like the vinyl that's used for reflective street signs) print media - usually adhesive sign-trade grade vinyl. Solvent printing allows for bold solid stable print on this type of media but it isn't cheap to set up (and smells terrible / isn't terribly good for you to breathe in the fumes - hence why you need a really well ventilated workspace for this kind of work), even for a small roll-to-roll desktop size printer like this one http://www.directcolorsystems.com/flex33-printers.php. However, if you can find a sign print business who are willing to do small short run prints for you to test and experiment with then this might be worth a try...I know it's what I'm looking to do in the future

I'll have to try the solvent printing, I don't have a color printer at home so it's not anymore trouble than showing up at the copy shop with a weird sheet of eyes like usual ^_^

 

The UV resin wasn't as good as I hoped, but I did develop a new process that works pretty well! Lots less bubbles and very few failed eyes. It's a modified version of the Blue Rose Garden technique covered in Dollybird as I mentioned before.

 

Here's the rundown from my website:

http://www.jadepixeldoll.com/advanced-guide-to-making-resin-eyes-for-bjd/

 

Results:

 

Oh, so lovely to see some progess on the eyes! They're really looking good!

I seriously have not been able to forget about this project. And since I had more leftover from my preorder savings than I ended up needing, I was finally able to take the dive to get the stuff I need to try it myself. Not an inexpensive project but it totally makes up for it with the other things I can do with it in addition to playing with eyes. I have wanted to mess with some of these materials for years.

 

The biggest factor that made me finally decide to ignore the cost and just go for it was accidentally finding what seems to be the type of resin I was looking for as I watched RIT dye videos on Youtube. Don't ask me how that happened, I don't understand how YT's suggestion algorithm works. I'm just entirely delighted that it was in my favor at just the right time. I'm not mentioning the name at the moment because I want to play with it first to see if it works the way I'm hoping it will. Once I find out one way or another I'll definitely let you guys know.

 

I'm just floored that I can finally work on my own custom eyes. If the resin works out I can make better replacements for the grainy Parabox eyes I have, and make some custom ones for my Smart Doll boy. Before you ask, I already know that custom eyes or just eyes with a MUCH wider range of colors is often in pretty high demand so I'm already thinking about if it could be something else offered in Naiomi's Closet. I've really missed the time I used to spend making custom eyes for my Sims so it just seems extra amazing that I have a good chance to do it for DD as well.

 

 

I don't know how many people know that Dolly's eyes (the little guy) were done in Adobe Illustrator and printed on a bumper sticker... It was the best material that I could find at the time but I have much better options now. The image for his eyes is very basic because they are so tiny, but I made 13 other colors of the same style. Color options are seriously important. Everytime I go to look at what Volks has I always end up thinking "Is that it?" One of the best parts is compared to most of my projects, making eyes would be fast and super easy!

 

~Sister Kyoya

Ooh, good luck with your project! I'm curious about your resin since that's always the most finicky bit for me. I did experiment more recently with metallic photo prints for the eyes, and the results were promising. It's much more similar to the Volks animetic eyes, and they catch the light nicely. If you want more control over luminance or a more flat style like Dolly I'd stick with less reflective prints.

 

Some of the eyes below were made using a Daiso ice cube tray that's pretty close to 24mm eye size. Unfortunately after I found this one, no more ice cube trays like this have showed up at my local Daiso. On the upside it proves you could make a hard one-piece mold (maybe from resin?) and use that instead of a silicone mold for eyes. It'd probably hold up better in the long run. My silicone molds tend to be kaput after 3 pulls or so, seems the multiple layers of resin create ridges on the surface.

 

Those eyes are so pretty! I would totally buy if you ever decide to sell them.

wow.. that's so cool. your work is great!

 

They’re here! Due to popular demand I’m selling limited quantities of my original design hand-made resin eyes. These eyes work with most DD heads and Smart Doll Mirai.

Available now on my website:

http://www.jadepixeldoll.com/24mm-resin-eyes/

I'm really excited about a new eye options and hope you'll continue to produce new designs, so I already sent my order in!

Now accepting orders for custom eye designs!

 

You can also pre-order some of my existing eye styles. Limited time event, orders close 9/16/2016

 

http://ww.jadepixeldoll.com/custom-24mm-eyes-pre-order/