Project-Journal: Steam-powered girl

I am slowly collecting parts for my first Dollfie. I originally bought her head as a practice head after a friend asked me to paint on of hers.

 

I've been through several concept ideas for this doll, starting with wanting to make her into an MP3 player (inspired by Smart Doll Mirai Suenaga), to making her a glow-in-the-dark homage to mecha anime. But... unfortunately, slick or hard-edged designs do not seem to be my forte. Then my friend showed me a pair of Tron-ish haute couture boots. While doodling those, I realized that a DD, with their internal skeleton, had huge potential for a lot of fun "exposed structure" mods. Around that time I also realized those boots would work really well in steampunk flavor.

 

Concept: Cameo (tentative name) is a Peacekeeper in a small settlement that includes several ranches and lots of farmland. An unfortunate incident with a rampaging dragon (not the friendly sort that likes to talk to people!) leads to the loss of both her legs at the knee. In an effort to reestablish some form of normalcy and so she can return to work, she has steam-powered prosthesis grafted onto her legs. Her new legs are armored in the front, but open in the back, exposing the gears and pistons that allow them to work. (Let's just pretend that's actually a practical design element, OK? )

 

Parts

• DDH-07 head, NS (obtained)
  
• DDdyIII or DDS base body, NS (trying to decide which)
  
• DDdyIII or DDS shapely bust, NS
  
• Sword-holding or gripping hands
  
• Wig
  
• Eyes - wanting a gold/bronze or wine
  
• Bonus: Saber Lily glove hand parts (in transit from Germany)

 

Prosthesis Mods

• Create slopers for the armor pieces
  
• Paint lower leg armature
  
• Cut lower leg vinyl, preserving the knee joint area
  
• Sand outer knee to decrease bulk under armor
  
• Cover "stumps" in fabric
  
• Mod new "feet" using soles of a BJD shoe
  
• Attach gratuitous gears and filigree findings

 

Styling

• Faceup and full body blush
  
• High-necked top
  
• Corset
  
• Short, bustled skirt
  
• Bolero
  
• Wings and harness (jointed, "copper", with bamboo "feathers")
  
• Spear

 

I'm kind of waffling on what body to get her. I've always loved the curves and general squishiness of the DDdy dolls - and that body is just begging to be corseted, but I also think the DDS body is cute and I kind of like the idea of having a shorter doll (though she would still end up taller after her mods are done). It would probably make it easier to create correctly proportioned wings.

Edited April 19, 2014 by Guest

If you don't mind the additional expense, you could buy an additional set of lower legs and use the skeleton as a base for your mod!

I thought of that, too. ^_^ I don't think I would have much use for an extra pair of legs, but I thought it would be nice if, heaven forbid, I had to sell her down the line. The buyer would at least have the option of having her on a normal body. So, that's more of a long-term plan.

 

If it didn't cost more, I would have actually preferred to buy her in pieces, so I wouldn't have to worry about taking her apart.

I thought of that, too. ^_^ I don't think I would have much use for an extra pair of legs, but I thought it would be nice if, heaven forbid, I had to sell her down the line. The buyer would at least have the option of having her on a normal body. So, that's more of a long-term plan.

 

If it didn't cost more, I would have actually preferred to buy her in pieces, so I wouldn't have to worry about taking her apart.

 

Well, you could remove the outer lower part of the legs and use that... And maybe later buy the other leg part if you want to sell her or want to have her with normal legs.

 

You wouldn't even need to unmount it

 

By the way I forgot to tell you before: the project idea is awesome and i'll follow it with much interest

Small update; I ordered a DDdyIII base body and an extra shapely bust part this morning. I feel the DDdyIII body will work better for my concept, since it gives a better impression of an adult character. She's not really meant to be a cute character.

I'm intrigued to see this project progress! I adore Steam mods ^^

How are you planning on mounting the gears inside? Will you be adding to the skeleton or adhering them to the underside of the vinyl?

@ellipses: I expect I'll be doing a little of both. I'm still working on the overall design of the legs - they were originally supposed to be kind of Megaman-style, but I fell in love with her normal legs, so I'm trying to thin down the design and preserve the original shape of her legs.

 

Quick update - Evey has her DDdy body with shapely bust and has gotten a faceup. I'm probably going to redo it, just because it's my first go at an anime-style faceup, but overall, it's not bad.

 

I also opened up the arm holes on her shapely bust because it's the DDdyIII bust with the smaller arm holes, but she also has the third generation torso frame with the larger arm sockets. Opening up the arm holes left her arms sit a little more flush with her torso. (Not that it looked bad to begin with, but I think it looks better now.)

 

Huriferidgerigde huhugfeuegefvwiwiwjwjsh urhfruhuJEBUS/_(:=4(:/;#8;3#8!!!!!!!

(Suitable-esque translation: I really like the idea of a steam powered DD! The backstory is pretty original, and I really, really like how you incorporated steam punk elements. Enjoy your girl Cameo!)

I would love to see a concept picture, mostly because whenever I draw one, my end product always ends up slightly different.