Sanding the upper torso, continued: the back

Here are some shots of the back, in the process of being reduced and smoothed.

Sanding the upper torso

I now have rough casts in resin of both the upper and lower torso. They're in two pieces, as you can see. The lower torso's resin is really icky, discolored, and bubbled. Odd how two batches of resin can be so different! 

I will post pics later of the casting process... I realize I've only posted the mold-making pics, but I wanted to show the latest progress on the sculpt.

The areas where I've smoothed and sanded on the upper torso are apparent; the area above the clavicle has not been touched and is still very bumpy.

 

I've been sanding and sanding and sanding this upper torso, for days and days. Thank goodness I have artists' OCD. 

The ribcage was too large for her narrow waist... so I've been narrowing it, all the while constantly reshaping the rib elements. I'm also going to increase the waist size, and raise the height of the waist a little, as she's too long-waisted. I'll make these increases in epoxy... actually a plumbers' compound called "Gapoxie", sold by the Black Hills Institute of Geological Research, of all things! I've applied some already... it's the darker gray stuff. Once these adjustments have been remade and the upper shoulders and back are smoothed and shaped, I'll recast.

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Pubdoll
Rebecca
Mini Dork

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and Lynnyb4!

Check out their blogs if you haven't already. We all share a love of miniatures... whether they be furnishings or people!

Making the mold for the upper torso

The moldbox will hold the liquid silicone rubber used to make the mold. It's foamcore, glued with a glue gun at the seams. I filled the bottom with clay--you'll see why later...

Next, one-half of the upper torso is encased in wet clay. I only want to expose half of the body to the silicone.

Now the clay-encased torso is put into the box. Ultimately, only the top half of the torso will be exposed.

Now I'll add "keys", so that I'll be able to match the top and bottom halves of the mold later, when I pour the resin into the cavity. The structure coming out of the neck will become the hole to pour the resin. Remember... anything in clay will be "void" in the final mold. I know... it's all terribly confusing. To me, too!

Now for a lovely bath of liquid rubber. Moldstar 15, from Smooth-On.

The mold box is filled with liquid rubber to about two inches above the highest point of the torso.

The finished mold of the top half of the torso. Note that half of the cavity within the torso is also part of the mold.

Nothin' says lovin'...

Like somethin' from the oven!

Here is the baked polymer clay torso, ready for mold-making. (The lumps and bumps will be sanded once the torso has been cast in resin.)

Some shots of a Kirya from my personal collection

This is a Kirya head in what's called "normal skintone" among collectors of Asian-style BJDs (ball-jointed dolls). Since so far I've only completed the head, she is attached to a body from Volks, a Japanese company. Volks invented this type of doll.

Ready for the oven!

My daughter wishes I would cook actual food more often.

Ready to cast the upper torso

I've removed the supports, and now the upper torso will be removed from the lower (already baked) torso and baked.

Finessing the rib cage, final steps in polymer clay

This was one of the last steps prior to making the mold for the upper torso.

 Much of this will be re-sanded and re-sculpted once the figure has been cast in resin.

Here are some recent body sculpt pics for DollStories' 60cm girl, in progress.