Sculpting a Ball-Jointed Doll Sculpting Guide

by Apryl Jensen

Create the Torso

Materials: Ultralight, ProSculpt Light clay, Xacto knife, hollow tube, wooden tool, beads for hips, drill bit, ball stylus, sandpaper, paints

First, create the inner hollow body.

Wrap Ultra Light clay around an Xacto handle or thick brass rod.

Bake Ultralight Tube and let cool.

Carve with Xacto Knife if necessary. Wrap sheet of ProSculpt clay around the torso tube.

Hollow the hole on both ends to remember where it is. This hole will connect through the leg holes rather than through the pelvis.

Create a rough torso shape. Add the beads and make sure the holes are facing downward.

Keep building up the clay to make a bottom, hips, and ribcage. Add a snake of clay to each side on the back to create the hip and bottom.

(BACK SIDE)

Front Side Add in clay to create the bottom and hip shapes. Add belly and pelvic bone strip.

Side view Keep hips high, starting where my finger points.

Remember the top of the torso is just below the breasts. It will snug into the chest piece we will create. Add a tummy indentation with the wooden tool:

Then smooth with your thumb. Here’s how it’s coming along and where we are headed:

Back comparison. Very rough, but coming along. Create a back indentation as well.

Smooth out to sides with thumb. Flatten the upper torso and let the tummy pooch out a bit.

Press/pinch sides with thumbs to create hip shapes. Check on ball shapes. Keep balls a bit damp so they can be easily removed and replace.

Smooth edge and make sure hip bead is only half way covered with clay so it will pop out easily later. Use a ball stylus for the belly button:

Flatten and drag over the button with your wooden tool. Brush with smoothing gel and smooth with fingers, too. Round edges with fingernail. Cut away lint and smooth with brushwork and smoothing gel. Use a stick to keep top open and to hold by beads and stick to avoid touching clay. Soft bake with heat gun to give it a “skin” and avoid the polyfil sticking to your doll, then bake on a bed of polyfil in the oven for 30 min at 270 F. Let cool completely. Once cool, remove the beads with a ball stylus or other tool that fits in the bead hole. Gently wiggle the bead back and forth and remove.

Sand body with wet/dry sandpaper. Twist and turn sandpaper like a doorknob over butt cheeks to keep them round. Drill pilot holes into legs to connect the center hole to the leg holes. Enlarge the drilled holes with an Xacto knife, carving the holes big enough for the elastic. Carve in small circles, tracing the drill hole until it gets bigger and bigger. Use tweezers to remove clay and the Ultralight when you run into it. Blush the torso with Genesis Heat Set paints or China paints. I like to blush the belly button and up the torso middle, the top of the torso, the leg holes, under the belly, and down the bottom crack and up the back. Heat set the paint and this piece is complete!

For complete BJD sculpting instructions, see MakingFairies.com.

These images come from the Sculpting a Ball-Jointed Doll video set (3 DVDs) that is available at MakingFairies.com. It can be purchased on DVD or as a downloadable eCourse. Find the beads and supplies you need also at MakingFairies.com.