I turned Dollightfuls 3D dragon tail into a MERMAID! | Mermay Collab

[Music] hi my name is josephine and these are my creatures [Music] it's may and you know what that means mermaids lots and lots of mermaids i was lucky enough to be a part of a collab hosted by the lovely fana from fantasy finder my other collab partners were jackie from jackie o here on youtube and cat from strawberry cat on instagram i will link everyone down below so that you can check out their gorgeous mermaid dolls and maybe give them a like and a follow but now to the doll i created a mood board to help me visualize my ideas lots of pearls gems and found objects like old keys as decorations i hope you are excited so let's get to creating you might know that we recently purchased a 3d printer the biggest reason why i wanted to get a 3d printer was to create complicated ball jointed pieces for my dolls and i wish i could digitally sculpt my very own doll pieces but i'm not there yet and the digital sculpting programs are very complex and expensive so instead of creating my own i decided to download delightful dragon tail 3d files from thingiverse she has so graciously offered the files for free to download so a massive thank you to catherine you might be wondering just about now but wait joe you're not making a dragon you're making a mermaid yes but dragon tails and mermaid tails are not that different right plus i have a plan how to customize the pieces to be able to turn them into a mermaid tail now that i have the files downloaded i can start printing the tail pieces the tail has 17 parts to it and it's very long it also starts out slimmer gets a little bit thicker and then tapers to a point i don't want my tail to be as long because i will be adding a fin to the end of it so i only started to print from the largest piece downwards in the end i only ended up using pieces number 5 to 16. you might have noticed that the scales go upwards instead of downwards on the tail this was not a mistake on my part i specifically chose to have the pieces this way because to have them the right way was creating a gap between the pieces and i did not like how it looked i want my tail to have a nice flow to it so the gaps were really bothering me so i chose to have the scales go the wrong way in exchange for the sleeker less segmented look and for some odd reason the pieces actually feel like they are supposed to fit this way maybe there was a mistake and instead of re-sculpting all the pieces that would have taken them so long to do so i completely understand why they decided to work with the pieces and the more segmented look of the tail works for the edgy dragon doll i don't know if this was the case or am i the one just seeing things that aren't there after cleaning up the pieces i go straight to painting but first primer i used white gesso and then black paint i looked for black gesso but i could not find any it would have saved me a few steps but i think i can manage without it we are going to be using color shifting paints for her tail i was worried i didn't have enough so i grabbed this cool paste from the craft store i mixed the paste with matte medium [Music] i paint the belly side with the green paste the color turned out very different compared to what it looked like in the bottle i end up fixing it later [Music] [Applause] the scaly side gets painted with the color cobalt blue which is a dark blue with a purple shift [Music] to tweak the green belly to be more turquoise i use one layer of the color celestial azure which has turquoise to lavender shift the color shifting paint needs many thin coats to look right the consistency and dry time reminds me more of a varnish than paint [Music] i used total of 7 coats of the color shifting paint my videos usually start with prepping the doll but i knew printing all the tail pieces priming and painting them would take me forever so i decided to start on those first i landed on using a purple create a monster doll i did not like her tentacle fins so i'm removing those [Music] i also don't like her hands they feel oddly small on her and the pose is not what i like either i initially wanted to swap them out for elizabeth's hands they are so delicate and pretty but she is a creator monster doll so her joints are bigger because you can swap out different limbs for her i did have a pair of reboot frankie hands and the reboot dolls have larger joints as well so it is a match good to know i removed the plastic cap from her head because i want to shrink her head in acetone i have used this technique many times but never on a creator monster doll so i was very nervous luckily everything went okay and her head shrinked the same as every other doll had [Music] to summarize the process i used 100 acetone in a large glass container with a tight lid i leave the head in for about two hours then i fish it out fill it with cotton to prevent it from deforming when it dries and after 48 hours it should be done shrinking the only tip that i would give is to not cut out the cap you need to rip it out because if you cut into the vinyl it's more likely to deform at those points i'm gonna harvest her leg fins because i do like those i used super glue to attach them to her upper arms and to further strengthen the bond i used magic sculpt i marked where i want to cut her and where i need to add additional holes for the support rod [Music] sketches help me visualize complicated pieces first i made this version with a ball and an extra chest joint after thinking about it i decided to make a second version that was more simple and only had waist movement instead of both chest and waist i covered my sketch with tape to protect it a nice trick from delightful video the pieces need to be hollow but i can't sculpt on top of air kitchen foil and tape will construct a hollow base for me to add clay to first i need to fill in the inside with clay then i will leave it to dry completely [Music] i come back couple days later and start adding hot glue to bulk out the shape on the piece having a sketch is really helpful this way i know exactly how large the piece needs to be and how the shapes fit together i cover everything with a thin layer of magic sculpt [Music] i covered the first 3d printed tail piece in kitchen wrap to protect it because i need to make the torso fit exactly to it i'm making a x shaped hole for the torso in hopes of improving the range of motion and to hopefully prevent the piece from twisting [Music] backwards switching between working with the torso and chest piece helps getting just the right fit for the pieces after magic sculpt has hardened you can use an exacto knife to further shape it now we need to make the connection point i cut out a small piece of very strong wire this is going to be the anchor point for the elastic to attach the elastic i used a smaller gauge wire bent to a s-shaped hook but make sure it's not made out of aluminium that's way too soft so for strong metal wire go to the hardware store instead of the craft store to secure the rod in place i use super glue and later on cover the ends with magic sculpt [Music] while i have the clay out i decided to enhance her chest just a smidge [Music] adding fresh clay and then pressing the pieces together is a great way to make sure they fit nicely together afterwards you can come in with a knife and trim off the excess [Music] luckily i only had to sand just this one piece i wasn't happy with her chest so i added just a little bit more clay [Applause] [Music] i use alcohol to wipe down the pieces to make sure there is no dust left initially i was thinking of only painting the clay parts because i wanted to keep her original purple skin tone so that's why i'm only priming certain areas after the priming i realized i needed to continue the scales to the torso piece as well the sculpting of the scales is so amazing i really like how each one is unique catherine from delightful created the original dragon doll but i do believe her husband did the digital sculpting based on her sketches so all the credit to her husband for the amazing sculpting and a huge thank you to catherine for making it so that anyone can enjoy it after saying all of that i had the task of trying to match the scales it was not easy but i think my scales are okay they are not an eyesore but they don't not identical the digital sculpted ones maybe distant cousins just maybe [Music] a ridiculous amount of time was used to create the perfect lavender-esque periwinkle blue color to match her head now i did mention that i only partially primed her because i was not planning on painting her neck and arms but after the acetone treatment on her vinyl head it lightened ever so slightly so the body doesn't match anymore so i just went ahead and painted everything the same color [Music] the torso piece is a little bit difficult to paint but the back side gets painted black in preparation of the color shift paint i'm planning on doing an ombre in the front from the greenish blue to the lavender color it was a little tricky because the paste is not really paint but i think it looked okay in the end [Music] i also detailed her fins and ears to protect my work i'm adding a layer of matte varnish i spray the whole doll with msc to prep it for the next step i'm adding blushing to her face chest and arms i really like using these pan pastels they are a little bit more expensive but you do get a lot of product and they will last you a long time i like that they come in a pan this way i don't have to scrape the pastels or use like a sandpaper i can just tap my brush in it and apply it straight on she is a mermaid so she must be sparkly after sealing her the second time i was very excited about her face up so i went ahead and started drawing the eyes adding all the colors to her face ah but i was not liking her lip color but at that point i was thinking that i could work with it and maybe adding eyebrows would make me like her face more but i just i just hated it so i had to wipe her face clean and start [Music] over i did not want to mess up a second time so i made a quick sketch and planned out the colors better i made her eyeshadow purple instead of her lips and for her lips i went with something a lot softer i did decide to keep the weird looking orange eyes i think it makes her more creature looking even though she is a monster i wanted her face to look shy and sweet so the angle of the eyebrows was very important and here is where i messed up a second time the eyebrows i was not paying enough attention to my sketch to realize that she looked not shy enough she looked more surprised so there was a problem that i didn't catch early enough because i sealed her face already i had two options at this point start over a second time or very carefully try and remove her eyebrows with acetone i really really liked her eyes at this point so i was trying to very carefully remove her eyebrows but because of the blushing on her forehead i had to wipe that as well i sealed her again and started to work on her but the acetone had left a mark on her cheek that was visible so i went in a third time with acetone this time removing everything else except the eyes and [Music] lips this time i made sure that i liked the eyebrows before i sealed them i did not film all that much of her face up just because i was so frustrated and stressed about it but i have a plenty of other videos where i go in detail about the face up i will link one in the cards above that i think is a good one and i do a similar eye in that video more sparkles i even added two different pearlex powders to her irises to really make them look [Music] magical let's unwrap her she turned out so good i'm so pleased i decided to redo her and to fix her eyebrows last time i like to gloss the eyes as well as the lips to me they don't look finished without it it's a preference thing not all artists do this i forgot to add the catch lights but i'm using acrylic paint so that doesn't need to be sealed so it's fine i have not done 3d lashes in the longest of time and i think she needs a little bit of glamour speaking of glamour she is getting a manicure as well at first i was feeling that she needed to have webbed hands but decided to add the nails instead because she already has the fins on her upper arms then we have some continuity problems so let's go back in time and show you how i did her wig originally i thought i would reboot her but i liked the idea of a bald mermaid like it doesn't make sense for a mermaid to have hair that's like a mammal thing and she's more like a fish so wig it is i stole this magnet from our fridge door and it fits into the hole on her head perfectly i used magic sculpt to hold it in place i covered her head with plastic wrap and used stretchy mesh fabric and pva glue for the wig cap i glued in a piece of metal so that the magnet would grab hold of it and the wick would stay put [Music] i still want to use nylon hair specifically this color oxford blue because it was one of the first colors of doll hair i purchased and i felt it was the time and the doll to use it to add something to the hair i mixed in a little bit of peacock but at last minute i switch out the back for this into the woods nylon from the doll hair emporium making wigs out of nylon hair is a little bit annoying but if you are patient you can make it work i start by turning the loose hair into glued wefts [Music] i start applying the wefts at the neck and work my way up [Music] i'm saving the accent colors to the edges because you can't see them if they are in the middle [Music] when you are making the wig you need to keep in mind how you want to style it and where the parting will be i'm placing mine on her left side and on the crown of her head [Music] because i used glue to make the wefts and the wig cap i can't use water to tame the hair and make it lay flat so instead i'm using my hair dryer now that i see her hair all straight again i'm a little bit torn on the fact that i curled it partially because of how the curls turn out but i guess the hair looks good both straight and curled so it's just a different [Music] style [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] so i used boiling water to set the style to really making sure it holds you can use ice water after the boil wash i let the hair completely dry before i remove the curlers some of the curls turn out too tight and some of them too loose i was like goldilocks wanting that perfect in between now i can always go back and restyle her hair if i want to but i was running out of time so i decided not to re-curl it to create her clothes and her accessories i used different sizes of pearls and beads fishnet stockings that i got on sale for 1.95 jump rings chain real amber from a broken keychain a key charm doll sized belt buckle old broken earrings seashells gems in different colors random jewelry bits i've had these starfishes for when i was a child i would not purchase them new but i have them already so i'm putting them to good use and this is what i created out of them [Music] and this is her wig all styled and decorated [Music] we still have one more thing to do and i think this is what's going to transform this tale from a dragon one to a mermaid one it's her tail finn again i made a blueprint for it the fin will be constructed from wire magic sculpt and angelina film i'm starting by cutting and shaping the wire this time i'm using aluminium because it's very soft and it's easy to bend and shape i made some mistakes on the thing so i'm gonna tell you what not to do and the first thing is not to use super glue my idea was to tack the wires down so that they would not move when i ironed over the fin to get the angelina film to melt and stick together the super glue just turned into dust because of the heat and left some nasty looking residue also i'm one of those people who needs to do things wrong even though i know it won't work like that from other people's experience my solution was to just use a heat gun to get the film tight around the wire even though it was too big and the gaps were too small to get it to melt together in the first place so i decided to just pull out the wires and glue them on top of the film instead [Music] i paint the wires black and then i used a heated tool meant for wood burning to seal the edges and create some texture i don't know what it is but i really like doing tiny holes on the angelino fill [Music] to create the middle part that will house the bar and the hook for the elastic and that connects the two sides of the fin i use a plastic straw this will make sure the piece remains hollow i insert the rod and catch the hook inside the straw i bend the ends of the wire so that it can't slip off i use magic sculpt to fill in the pieces and to encase the raw edges of the fin kind of like a cherry on top we are going to be glazing the tailpieces and the fin with resin i have never used resin but i was super excited now this product is specifically made for glazing stuff you can use really thin coats of it i read the instructions very carefully wore a mask and gloves the entire time but boy was this fun and the end result is amazing i absolutely love it [Music] i used a torch to pop any air bubbles and you do need to keep coming back after you have coated the pieces to wipe off the excess that drips off a little goes a long way i mixed a little too much i think i would have been fine mixing only half of the volume i did so five plus five instead of ten plus ten [Music] [Applause] so [Music] [Music] some last minute finishing touches on the fin and now we can start assembling her i created a loop with the elastic so that i can hook it to the chest piece and then start stringing all the other pieces the elastic was too thick to fit inside the fin so i added a thinner piece of elastic at the end and now she's done [Music] i really really like how she turned out i think my favorite part has to be the tail it's just it's just so so cool looking and i absolutely love the color shifting paint it makes her look so magical [Music] [Laughter] [Music] [Music] thank you to my collab partners it was so fun sharing my process and the excitement with someone i will leave jackie's and fana's videos are linked down below so that you can go watch how they made their dolls i hope you enjoyed this video thank you for watching subscribe if you haven't yet done that like this video and leave a comment i would love to know what you think about my mermaid is she too scary for you or do you like more spookier dolls let me know until next time bye

Channel: Josephine's Creatures

Views: 38,767

Rating: 4.970696 out of 5

Keywords: mermay, mermay collab, monster high, monster high doll, doll repaint, how to repaint dolls, ooak, ooak doll, dollightful, dollightful dragon, dollightful 3D, dollightful 3D dragon tail, 3D printed doll, art collab, collab, deep sea creature, josephines creatures, Monster high repaint, custom monster high, custom doll, customizing dolls, custom, jackyohhh, fanstyfinder, doll collab, art, mermaid doll

Id: HhHL3fo3Dh4

Length: 35min 52sec (2152 seconds)

Published: Fri May 21 2021