I wanted to talk about it 2 weeks ago but I wanted to wait for a little bit more to see if there would be more to review. Anyway, I am surprised that I would be interested in the below 2011 Robert Tonner’s items, which are mainly gowns. All my friends know that I am not a gown person, I especial don’t like fish tail or bridal ones. I have no idea why there are always fish tail dresses in every single release. To me asymetric layers and use of mix frabic somehow shows more attitude and personality! . See through style is also one of my favorite! So you can why I would pick the below items…..except for their prices!!! I am happy to see that fashion-wise of Robert Tonner 2011 releases have some nice surprises!
Picture credit: Tonner Robert (www.tonnerdirect.com)
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About a month ago, I read a discussion in Flickr about shrinking doll head with acetone without damaging the face paint and hair. When I first read this story, I thought that it was a myth. Acetone is the chemical that we use to remove the factory paint on dolls. Submerging a doll head into a bottle of acetone without damaging the face paint sounds impossible to me! Shrinking a mold is possible but shrinking a finished product? I doubt it! However, after seeing the experimental pictures of Cholo (previous article on Cholo, please click here), then I realize that we could shrink heads like New Guinea Warrior.
(1) What inspired you to do the head shrink?
---- Never really warmed up to Tonner body and their articulation so I decided to gamble on changing the body into an AG, even though I know for a fact that it will never be a perfect fit.
(2) What dolls have you tried? Are the procedures different?
---- I’ve tried to shrink bigger Barbie heads before and it worked (though I must credit Anj, my fellow doll customizer and artist who gave me the tip before (Gabooche in Flickr)
(3) What would be the attention points before, during and after the “operation”?
---- Always do tests... have practice heads around so you wouldn't ruin the project itself. Get familiar with the process and results.
(4) What equipment, tools, materials, working environment that are needed? Any idea where to get the equipments and measurement? How to judge how long time is needed?
---- Its basically just acetone, a bottle with tight lid and a well ventilated space. I should warn you of the fumes created by acetone, you don't want to inhale much of it.
About the bottle, make sure it is as small as possible so you would easily submerge the head totally in acetone. The acetone is actually just you over the counter nail polish remover. But different brands carry different strengths, so ratio here is the higher the concentration, the faster the results... and faster doesn't really help on zooming in to the size you want. You should check frequently by taking it out of the solution, running or stagnant water to rid of the acetone (don't touch the face if you want to retain the face paint) and letting the fumes evaporate, and when your not satisfied still, do the process again.
(5) What are the procedures?
(6) Doll head materials are vary, some are soft vinyl like Barbie, or harder one like Tonner. How long should it take to shrink each of them?
----- There is no golden numbers to follow actually, while a good 24 hours would make a Bratz head shrink into Barbie size, for Tonner heads to AG size, i suggest just 12 hours or overnight (it worked for mine) or if still uncertain, check every 6 hours or so, then let the fumes evaporate completely... if not satisfied you could do the process over again. Its better to not over do it for the results are irreversible.
(7) After the head is shrunk, if it is not small enough, could we repeat the procedures again?
---- Yes. (refer to #4)
Compare: The two heads are almost the same size, though Joan's chin is prominent compared to AG.
(8) Would the materials (vinyl, plastics) be damaged, like cracks etc.?
----- be careful not to shrink heads too much. The smaller the head gets, the harder it becomes, and the more fragile it becomes too... too hard of a head can crack along the hairline.
(9) What if the shrinkage on the neck hole is too much?
---- About neck holes, have an exacto knife ready for scraping. As for the Tonner head to AG body experiment of mine. I scraped off some around the hole area, just enough to accommodate the knob of the AG body which is bigger than the former body. I did NOT push the knob all the way in actually. As for 1;6 scale bodies, since most of the neck knobs are similar, and the neck holes hard after shrinking, a simple heat application (like a blow dryer or hot water) will soften the hole and simply attach it. So, just observe if there is tightening along the neck ring. If so, just remove it again and scrape some off for movement.
Tonner had a smaller knob and a thicker neck... while AG had a bigger knob and thinner neck. So that’s a lot to deal with.
since the head had shrunk, I could not accommodate the larger knob of the AG body, so I scraped some around the ring just enough to hold the knob, it would shrink more in time as the acetone evaporates and harden it back to its texture (it became soft after the soak, like Barbies) and eventually tightening the grip to the knob. I scraped off some too along the chin and jaw areas for up and down and sideways motion since it fitted like a Ken Doll before.
Not Perfect, but on studio pictures, its tolerable. Not snug, I just placed the AG knob which was bigger compared to Tonner just enough to hold it, Not all the way
(10) Could we enlarge it back again? Or if we could enlarge AG’s head to Tonner’s head size?
---- I have no idea. But I don’t think its possible.
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Tips:
1. if you can handle the acetone fumes after soaking, this is the best time to re-root a Tonner head (which is hard and thick than usual heads)... the head is actually soft and manageable after the soaking and rinsing process. Re-rooting needles bore in effortlessly to the scalp, and as the fumes evaporate, the head comes back to a harder form, sealing all the re-rooted hair in place.
2. Practice makes perfect. Practice with thrift store heads, and try on different strengths of acetone that you feel you are comfortable with.
3. Be familiar with what your working with. There are tones of comparison pictures online like in this pagehttp://materielceleste.forumactif.com/t18180-comparaisons-corps-fashion-dolls-images-liens . Remember, not all heads would work with just any body.
4. And most of all... have FUN! (While wearing a gas mask of course) LOLs.
===========================================================Cholo’s Contacts:
To learn more about Cholo, please visit Cholo's personal blog and Cholo's Flickr Link.
Cholo’s email: mailto: d_jeweler@yahoo.com
Picture credit: Cholo
All rights reserved. Please do NOT reuse any materials or write-up without prior writing for permission.
*** Doll Nudity, please view at your own discretion”
2010 is drawing to the end. It has been a year with great surprises by getting to know three really talented Asian artists, which are lesser known in the doll community – Cholo, Chan Sama, Chaiyan. They may not be active in doll boards but relatively popular in other places. They may not have every single doll that are highly sought after, but their OOAK ability and creativeness impressed me without doubt! I am lucky to have their creation to enrich my collections!
Here I would like to introduce one of them, Cholo Ayuyao, a 31-year-old Filipino artist who lives in Angeles City, Philippines. (20 pictures here, so please scroll all the way down for more information of Cholo!)
An unusual OOAK Item to Me : Salam
This year, I have added an unusual OOAK Antoinette – Salam, in my collection. Yes, you remember it right, I am not an Antoinette fan at all! However, this OOAK one reminds me of my tribal love and Bollywood at the same time that I decided to give Antoinette another chance. :-P
I came across Salam’s pictures on flickr.com one day, and I could not stop seeing its pictures and decided to contact the artist for more information. After a few posts, we have built up good friendships and, eventually, Salam immigrated to Hong Kong.
That Salam has elaborated hand-painted tattoos all over her body and face, the highly detailed hand made metal headpieces decorated with real fresh water pearls and color beans shows great 3 dimensions.
The shoes, “the high heel without heels”, as Cholo described it, is a wonderful idea. The beans that used as the heels are actually hanging and swinging there, only by putting the shoes on a surface could it become a heel. And, Salam could stand on her own without a stand. 
Something about Cholo Ayuyao (with his cool pic.):
Ever since Cholo was a child, he was fascinated with dolls already. He was from an average family in the Philippines, he could not afford any dolls. So, his love for dolls was stagnated but never seized all these years. This frustration led him to more innovative and inventive in making his toys. Since he couldn’t afford Lego blocks, he made gasoline station dioramas out of cardboards and old boxes, paper dolls in place of vinyl ones. But not until this year, had his fascination with dolls was awakened. He finally realized he could afford the dolls he has longed for, specially Fashion Royalty dolls, that perfectly suits his dolly taste.
Cholo’s Professional & Inspiration:
Cholo’s repainting skills actually came from years as a part time make up artist years ago during his college days. He just though that repainting a doll’s face is the same except that it would all be in a smaller scale and a different type of face paint... about accessories and doing doll couture: Actually, Cholo have been an accessory designer for 10 years now, and also work as a couture finisher for local designers for 7 years (this work actually is more like Lesage in Paris where couture houses get their services for embroidery and intricate beadworks). He just used his skills on human couture and scale it down to one sixth for dolls, with special attention to what type of materials to use, since everything has to work in that scale.
How He Created Salam:
This tan skin Antoinette was an appreciation gift from a friend whom he lend his accessories to for a photo shooting session.
Handling a 16" doll is a challenge to Cholo as most of his collections are 12” Fashion Royalty and Barbie. But the size did not stopped his inspiration. Cholo commented that his creation was inspired by the Middle East, India, enchantments. : “… that’s how Salam came into being... very organic, nothing was planned, it was ideas came consecutively after the other... and then she was born...”
Cholo’s Contacts:
To learn more about Cholo, please visit his blog choloisms.blogspot.com,
Flickr account “ Choloisms “
Email: d_jeweler@yahoo.com
Picture credits: Cliff CHAN
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