dollsahoy: dollsahoy: dollsahoy: dollsahoy: Quick pic of some of the dolls @modernwizard brought as
dollsahoy: dollsahoy: dollsahoy: dollsahoy: Quick pic of some of the dolls @modernwizard brought as tribute for me. I think I will try to repair the foreground doll’s head–there’s a big area missing under her wig, so the repair would be to try to hold the head together as much to fix the aesthetics of it. As if she cares. I love her done expression.Background doll has surprisingly nice paint for a souvenir doll. I had to rig up a way to get her legs back on, as the steel bit in her left hip, that was meant to anchor the spring holding the legs on, had deteriorated so much that it fell apart. (I put a bead on the loose end of the spring and forced that into the hip opening, and it seems to be working.)Tribute also included a Kraft mac’n’cheese-themed Barbie, who I will get a picture of eventually.Thanks again so much! Hey, so, nearly three years later, I’m finally trying to repair the porcelain doll up thereAbout two weeks ago I mixed corn starch with super glue to make a fast-cure putty to fill in the chips and build up the completely broken area at the templeand last night I finally started smoothing those patched areas (I’m not worrying about the cracks)I know I should airbrush the entire forehead, once I finally get everything smooth enough–especially since the process of sanding has damaged the paint and revealed a different paint color–but I probably won’t.I also might glue some fabric over the hole in the head (there were lots of pieces of broken porcelain inside the head, but I didn’t want to deal with puzzling out how to fit them back together so they’re gone) and I think I can finagle the wig into looking OK againI am absolutely making this up as I go and not looking at how you’re ~supposed~ to repair porcelain dolls@modernwizard I mixed a quick sorta matching paint and brushed it on, am letting it cure overnight before sanding with a fine grit sandpaper. Also glued black cloth over the hole in the head and painted over the scalp’s thin black paint. If the sanding goes well, I’ll touch up the eyebrows and spot I accidentally buffed off of the eyelid, then satin seal everything I can reach. Then deal with the wig.I also soaked the shirt and skirt in gentle soap and a splash of vinegar for a while (a lot of dye still bled into the water) and will trim threads before dressing the doll again.This is absolutely not a valuable doll, but it’s still fun Not perfect but still so much betterSomething I’ve noticed with a lot of dolls who, at first, seem to have a really harsh expression, is that if I handle them a lot–not even customizing or altering the paint in any way–then I eventually start to see the smile buried under that harshness. This lady is still absolutely judging you, but now she looks far more snarkily amused than disgusted. (please don’t say “she’s happy now that you’ve restored her!” because I don’t anthropomorphize dolls quite like that)When I took the shirt off to clean it, I discovered that there was a thread tack at the neckline, and that was what had been keeping the frog closed there, so I tacked the front closed by every frog when I put the shirt back on.The wig now probably has as much glue in it as it has hair, but it looks, from a reasonable viewing distance, tidy, and that was the goal. The bangs had been on a separate weft and were too brittle and uneven to salvage (as much as her still slightly lumpy forehead would have benefit from having something to obscure it)Thanks again to @modernwizard for deciding I should have this grumpy broken doll–you were right! -- source link