Lisa_F Posted April 11, 2006 Share Posted April 11, 2006 I would like to try my hand at making a doll with polymer clay. I have absolutely no talent (yet) when it comes to working with clay so I would like to find a mold (one that would be good for a beginner) for forming the various doll parts. Making one free-form at this stage is out of the question for me - I haven't even mastered making a dollhouse plate free-hand! :lol: I've been trying to search online for molds that would work for dollhouse dolls for a good portion of the morning, but I'm not having a lot of luck. So I must not be using the right search queries. The only one I've found was House of Caron, and while many of the dolls on that site are amazing, they are a bit pricey (and sophisticated) for something I just want to "play around with" to see if I will even like doing. Can anyone point me in the right direction for looking for molds? Thanks! Lisa Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
havanaholly Posted April 11, 2006 Share Posted April 11, 2006 There are some face (and hand & feet) molds available not expensively at the big craft stores in their polymer clay section, They seem to be 1:12 because I made ancestral masks for my atrium with them. I had so much fun sculpting my first dolls "freehand" and such interesting responses I haven't used the molds. I do refer to James Carrington's book, though, and it is a great help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lisa_F Posted April 11, 2006 Author Share Posted April 11, 2006 Thank you :lol: I believe I've seen those molds in our local craft stores myself - I just didn't realize they would work for dollhouse size dolls. Now I just gotta find arms, legs & body molds Lisa Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
havanaholly Posted April 11, 2006 Share Posted April 11, 2006 arms, legs & body molds No, you use chenille stems/ pipe cleaners for the armatures, wrap them with polyester fiberfill and then with strips of gauze bandaging material for the limbs & bodies to make simple poseable dolls. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hydroped Posted April 11, 2006 Share Posted April 11, 2006 Hi Lisa, Holly is right - for those simple molds that you can find at the craft store just use wire or pipe cleaner and cover with fiberfill to "flesh out" - some of the molds are the right size and some arent - there is one that is sort of rubbery looking that has a variety of faces in it - 2 sets of hands and 2 sets of feet (one set for adults and one for kids). I think the mold with all the faces hands and feet runs about 7$ or so - cheap. If you're looking for a full mold it's going to cost quite a bit more but check out ebay - I've seen a few dollmakers selling molds there. If you know of any ceramic shops that might have the right sized doll molds you can also use those - just use it as a 2 piece press mold - if you can pick up a used ceramic mold the chances of it being less cost goes up - especially if it's at all damaged or washed out - you can build up the features or even replace the faces with faces from the cheap molds so a well used body mold will still give you the shape you want. - just another option. -David Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Minis On The Edge Posted April 11, 2006 Share Posted April 11, 2006 Thanks Holly And David for both of your suggestions! I too am currently shopping for inexpensive molds and I am having a hard time finding some. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lisa_F Posted April 11, 2006 Author Share Posted April 11, 2006 Thank you Holly & David. I guess I have a bit more homework to do before thinking I can just *play* with some clay & molds & build myself a doll! Lisa Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Minis On The Edge Posted April 11, 2006 Share Posted April 11, 2006 I want full body molds I stink at trying to do this myself. I did buy a cople of DVDs but I guess I have a long way to go with sculpting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nuttiwebgal Posted April 11, 2006 Share Posted April 11, 2006 I got my mold off of e-bay it was a fairy doll mold...I was browsing the artis offering listing looking for Halloween miniatures or something like that. now that I will be feeling better I have it in my mind to make my own wizard/knight to live in my Lighthouse. with sunnyrayes OWL! tonight I will work on all my photos for sharing....I have been a bad eyecandy poster er! lol I plead good pain pills. perhaps if I think of it again or reminded I could look through my clay box and find the webpage for ya....but I am not responsible for my actions at this time. so I wont promise. good luck finding them! nutti Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
havanaholly Posted April 12, 2006 Share Posted April 12, 2006 Sue Heaser's book on sculpting & dressing polymer clay dolls has patterns for the full bodies, I traced them off and use them in a general way to make the bodies, I began by laying the clay against the tracing to get the basic proportions and then added or removed clay to get the finshed effect. From there I went back to my figure-drawing art classes to get the proportions more correct with reference to head & face sizes relative to the rest of the body parts. Now I generally try James Carrington's method of copying people I see. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
parisbabe Posted April 13, 2006 Share Posted April 13, 2006 You can get something called alley goop from http://clayalley.com Then you can find different parts of different dolls and cut the parts from the dolls and make a mold out of the alley goop. Wen http://tinyurl.com/m67qn Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gemlady Posted April 13, 2006 Share Posted April 13, 2006 The new DHM has a artical on using the molds. I found mine at Michels used a coupon and got it for $3.00 A hint in the artical was after filling the heads in the mold to put it in the frezzer for a couple of min. and the heads will pop right out Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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