@Brixton Brecken wtf Thats just wrong...

@@kgt6776 what did they say?

​@@kgt6776What did they say????

Same I got so confused about what to do and this video was sooooo helpful

Hi! I know I'm not the video poster but I have a lot of the info you're looking for because I'm making my bjd solely out of polymer clay and so far it's going extremely well. However, when making the final doll out of polymer clay it's really important to get the right clay. Imo you really can't skimp on products for it. Not saying you would, it's just something I've seen people do and they end up wasting a lot of materials and money etc. You have to be careful which clay you are going to use because it can't be too brittle or else it will crack under the pressure of stringing them/moving them. It's also not wise to make an air dry clay base for polymer clay to go over because most air dry clay will melt and/or create weird reactions when heated for the polymer. Paper clay has a lot of shrinkage where polymer clay mostly does not (when it does it's extremely minimal). If you do polymer clay you can easily mix up a skin tone or use a premade skin tone, you wouldn't still need a primer. Though be aware that polymer clay with high concentrations of translucent in them will have moonies in them after baking (google can show you that) so my advice is the choose something on the pigmented side. The main downside of using polymer clay is after baking that's it, that's what it's going to be, though you can sand it a bit. The reason so many people choose the paper clay is because you can keep adding and sanding away and drying it until your hearts content. Mine is, like yours, going to be the only one and I don't want to cast her so that's why I went with polymer clay. I've been doing extensive research and have gone with Sculpey Ultralight for the inner base (white) and Sculpey Premo Ecru, Beige, and White with a ratio of 2:2:1 respectively for a slightly light olive/tan skin tone. I chose Premo because when baked right it stays slightly flexible and is hard to break. I recommend checking out PolymerClayTutor here on youtube for her extensive testing and demonstrations for this type of clay and its properties. Also, if you're really at a loss and need specific visual guidance I have seen that Aprylian (also here on youtube) has and in depth tutorail on creating a bjd out of polymer clay. However, you have to pay for it which I have decided not to do so I can't speak on the quality of the course. She does have free short videos though on sculpting various body parts so it's still worth checking out. It's also extremely important to sketch out a 1:1 scale of what your doll is going to be so that while you are sculpting you will have something to refer back to. This comment is already so long and there's so much more to cover which I'd be happy to do so if there's anything else you'd like to know! I hope something in what I've said will help! :)

@@Bella-zd6wb oh. My. Goodness. I’m screenshotting all of this because all of the info here is info I need, thank you so so so much!!!!! For clay I’ve been looking into Fimo professional polymer clay but I’ll take a peek at what you’ve suggested. I’m now wondering about how to go about hollowing the doll out and whether I should hollow it out before or after baking. Good luck with your doll, do you have an art Instagram or something so I can drop a follow in case you post progress and stuff? I’d be super interested in following the process.

@@imadethisemailwheniwas967 Instead of hollowing it out, can you just sculpt around a dowel rod, or straw, or something you can remove after baking? (I have no experience, that's why I'm asking, this just sounds easier to me.)

Yes, just make sure it’s actually ok to be baked and removable after being baked. A chopstick covered in aluminum foil will work!

@@suffrro1448 thank you so much! I’m still doing lots and lots of research and this helps a lot!

I’m making mine w polymer clay but I heard air dry clay is the best option! Minmong on yt has rlly good videos on her sculpting bjds w air dry clay

@@s0boro249 oooo thanks for the recommendation!

I actually didn’t use anything to hollow it out, I just formed it around my fingers, then cut it in half and smoothed out the insides. But I’m sure aluminum foil for polymer clay or foam with Saran Wrap for paper clay would work well!

You need one that can be sanded. Look for a filler primer. She's using upol

Upol is good as a high fill primer ( if your clay has a very textured feeling) but I would actually recommend Mr. Surfacer 1000 (usually used for model kits) since Upol can’t get the same smoothness.

It’s good for finer details, like hands, fingers, and ears. Paper clay isn’t that good for small parts since they tend to crack off before and after they dry. Epoxy sculpt rarely cracks.

Yep, you need it for every clay if you want a smooth finish. It’s basically to see the mistakes on the clay because of the different color of the primer. Polymer clay is more stable(?) than air dry, and you can sculpt into it with greater detail at the first copy, but with air dry, you have to layer with details. Unfortunately, polymer is pretty prone to cracking sometimes in thin layers, and standing the doll is still pretty annoying. I tried using sandable spray paint, but that still peels off instead of sanding with 1 coat, so yeah, primer is mostly needed. (Unless you reach god like levels of sanding, or don’t care about if it is smooth enough.

Ofc it's hers....alibaba is a thieving counterfeit website. None of the dolls there are legit dolls. They're all recasted from either small artists or other doll companies

late reply but the gray stuff is apoxie sculpt

No, nothing I use shrinks while it cures, or at least the shrink is not noticeable. I know that paper clay shrinks a little, but it’s usually easily fixed.

I leave them hollow to start with by wrapping a pencil or paint brush on the inside. It usually doesn't end up smooth, so I add more clay and bake it again. Then, I get a exacto knife or Dremel and hollow out the insides properly.