Liquitex Varnish and Scheherazade

I have been using MSC for years to seal my faceups and it's pretty awesome stuff. The one thing that has always been a concern though is how hazardous it is, I make sure to use a proper respirator and spray in well ventilated areas but even after all that, sometimes my lungs still burn a little. Also the area I live in becomes crazy hot and humid for most of the year and so spraying is tricky.
After seeing other people have success using other acrylic varnishes with an airbrush, I decided to try it out myself. I don't have an airbrush but I figured I'd try it out with the sponge brush. After MUCH trial and error and a helpful suggestion from my fiance, I have found a good method and mixture and my results are pleasing.
It seems mixing the Liquitex varnish with a bit of alcohol thins it out so it doesn't have any heavy brush strokes but it still protects. It sort of has a smooth flatness to it compared to MSC and has just enough tooth to hold pastels nicely. Also glossing is much easier, I usually have to apply a few coats to get a nice shine but with this stuff it's only one.

Here is my first complete faceup with this method, my new Shiwoo scar head was my victim.

The only sort of smearing I had with the pastels was on the eyebrows and it's really hard to see on camera. The varnish went on pretty smoothly by dabbing with a sponge brush and didn't pick up any other pastel colors.

Her scar is purple :P

I kind of like the more mellow tone that this sealant gives. Also it's most definitely water-proof, it takes some work to get off with W&N cleaner!

More about my victim; as soon as this head arrived, I knew what she would be and what her name was. It's always nice when it clicks like that. Her name is Scheherazade and she is the human vessel for Saber's sword. I guess it's kind of a weird backstory, something like her father hears the sword calling out to him and it promises him great power if he sacrifices his only daughter. But then the sword pulls a total "j/k" and after her father slashes her in the face, thinking he's killed her, the sword forces him to kill himself and then possesses the girl. Saber later stumbles upon said sword and the two share a strong bond through the battlefield. I dunno, it all makes sense in my head!

Basically, when it's not in sword form, we see Scheherazade and she's forever a cute little girl but the sword's evil has corrupted her and turned her dark. The only person that gets to see her softer side is Saber ;-;

In other news; I'm going to be moving states here in a few weeks so I'll be packing up my dollies soon. I plan to keep a couple of them out for the drive so that I can take pictures of them as we travel. I will have them posted up here when everything is settled :)

Introductions: Saber

This is my most recent arrival and boy was it a breath of relief! I ordered her last year as part of the big Type Moon anniversary event and was really excited about it as Saber Alter (or just Saber in general) is one of my favorite anime characters. Also this time she would come with her sword! I couldn't pass it up! So I preordered her and then waited, and waited, and then I waited some more. It was nearly a year before she arrived and when she did, I didn't even bother with a box opening shoot, I tore into that sucker!

I'm still trying to decide on a name for her, Saber is cool and all but I've decided that she is a slightly different character and therefore needs a different name. I always thought that as a "king", Saber's hair should have been short. I pulled out this older short wig that I had stored away and it was a match made in heaven!

She makes an adorable tomboy :)

Also this is my first Dollfie Dream in general and I have to say, I want more. I always knew that the bodies were nice aesthetically but the new type of DD body poses pretty well also. My Obitsus can out pose her by just a bit but she's good enough for me!

Also the balance is pretty decent, even with heels on I can get her to stand on her own with a little fiddling.

I'm still working on adding some things to her outfit, I looooove the dress she came with but it feels too fancy for everyday wear. I am working on making her a cloak with a bunch of wolf type fur at the top. I'll explain on that more in a another post I think. :)

In other news, I have a head on it's way to me! It was sort of an impulse buy but a cheap one and it'll be fun to play around with. I think I might hijack my 40cm Obitsu body and reshell a character with this combo but I won't know for sure until it gets here...

Introductions: Kaito

Next up we have Kaito, he's an Immortality of Soul Blood. I bought him for my birthday back in 2010 and he arrived at the beginning of last year. He's gone through many changes, including a few different names and something tells me it's not quite settled still. I'd never get rid of him though, he's way too cool!

I mean look, check out that grump face. The only issue I find myself having is that I have no idea how to dress him really. I know what looks cool but it's hard to motivate myself to make him stuff.

I finally got around to making him a shirt the other day, which is nice because I can't have him sitting around with all them muscles hanging out everywhere.

His body is sculpted really well, he holds poses like a dream and is able to stand on carpet!

I haven't hemmed the edge of his shirt but I think I kinda like the wide rough collar it has already.

This wig was commissioned from Spite & Malice, and then trimmed up by myself. Her wigs are really awesome though :)

"Get these blinds outta my face...."

A friend stops by to say hello...

Saber: "Haha! I'll strangle you with these thighs of steel!"
Kaito: "Get off you monkey!"

Kaito: "I swear I'm gonna beat you when I get a hold of you..."

Saber: "Oh don't be like that, we're still friends, right buddy?"
Kaito: *Grumbles*

Kaito is like my ass with a heart of gold. He has an older sister, Tsukiko, which he teases often because she's so much shorter than him. They both come from a long line of magic users and have just started to dabble in it themselves which quickly brings them lots of trouble. His soft spot is animals and adorable girls and he struggles daily to keep his composure.

In other news, this year is going to be a struggle for me! I figured that nothing would catch my fancy for winter events as far as dolls but I was wrong! Luts has to go and bring out the little adorable dragon Zuzu Delfs and I want one so bad! I keep telling myself that if I want a dragon doll, I should go for the Dollzone ones that I've been wanting since the beginning of this year but I shouldn't even buy that! I really want to order something but I'll be moving come January and most companies take longer than that span of time to deliver. How will I survive this winter?!

Introductions: Kyrie

I think I'll start off by showing my group one by one. First off is Kyrie! She is a Soom Dune in cream white and it's sort of a yellowy white color. Her's is the first face-up I did where I felt like I had accomplished something and I don't feel like I'll ever have to change it. She's also the first doll that I was brave enough to do extensive modding and attached her wings to her back. I made a few little errors here and there but I don't plan on ever selling her so these mistakes matter little.
I'm still undecided about her hair color but she just looks so darn cute in everything!

She started off as this...

...and became this! She has little teef! My adorable little mouth-breather.

Just some photoshop experimenting.

These are more recent pictures, I love this wig from Crobidoll, it's a mixture of white, grey, and slate blue. 

Kyrie doesn't have much of a backstory, she's just a cute tsundere little harpy. I need to blush her wings and feet but I'm currently looking for a better alternative to hazardous sprays like MSC and Testors.

In other news, Leeke and their damn special wig color sales, they get me every freakin' time! I'm gonna need something in that Real Red :(

Intro!

The focus of this blog will be my main hobby; Dolls!

I started collecting dolls in 2008 it was slow going as I had no idea where to really find them. When I did find them, it was a matter of their price that held me back. After I finally took the first plunge, it didn't seem too bad and it's been a downhill thing since then. Downhill as in I can't stop, someone save me!

The other motive behind this blog is to get me to take more pictures of them and focus more on projects! I like starting projects but have a hard time finishing things because my focus wanes pretty quickly. Perhaps posting progress will help me get from point A to B a little more easily.

Also I like different kinds of dolls so expect to see everything from Obitsu to Monster High, if it's pretty, I want it!