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mourningwake-press — Hell on Hooves
Published: 2012-02-01 17:33:49 +0000 UTC; Views: 2926; Favourites: 42; Downloads: 33
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Description
"The War Horse."OOAK Steampunk Centaur BJD.
Dollmore Asha hybrided with Bobobie MSD parts, and modded... pretty much beyond recognition into the war machine she is today. Good times.
All mods and paint by me.
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Comments: 21
Can i ask how you made the orginal hooves? I REALLY want to make some but idk what clay to get or how to star ;___; I will credit it to you of course
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They are sculpted out of Apoxie Sculpt, which is the same material I used for all of the additive sculpting on my BJDs. It's a common way to do that kind of mod, and it works pretty well. It's easy to buy online, has a fairly long working time, and once completely set, can be sanded/carved/drilled/painted without a problem. Protect yourself if you have sensitive skin, tho!
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Ok and how much would be enough? I want to make a 2 hooves but was wondering can I use the clay to put ONTO part of the leg that comes with the doll so i wouldn't have to make a whole leg??
How much does this stuff cost?
And last but not least.....can it be air dried?
Thank you for all questions and being so detailed already ^_^ I think your work is just freaking amazing!!!!
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Also, I dug this out for you to see, from a different hoofy mod I did, long ago. You can see the construction a bit better on this, I think.
[link]
I actually took a hack saw to her lower leg and cut off a piece at an angle to make the extra joint in there. And I clipped off the toes with wire cutters to sculpt the toe over the existing feet. Otherwise, this was all done by sculpting right over her existing parts.
Hope you found it helpful!
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Oh also how did you get the seam lines to be so,,,,invisable?
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hmmmmm wow I like it ya I am trying to figure out what I will need to do :/ the leg seems to long to make it look good so idk what modding or how I would need to make it n that knee cap looks just right 
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Well yes, you can sculpt on top of resin/plastic/etc with Apoxie. The *hooves* on this doll, for example, were sculpted from the ground up. The *horse legs* front and back, were modified versions of the existing resin parts. I sculpted on top of them. In the case of the back legs, since they had to bend in a different direction, I also had to modify the knee joints, partially through sculpting and partially with a dremmel.
Apoxie is a 2-part compound, and you just take equal sized chunks of it and knead them together until they are uniform in color. It doesn't have to be baked/fired or anything like that. But it's not actually air dry, either. It actually hardens from a slow chemical reaction that forms once the two parts are mixed together, and you generally have several hours of good working time before it starts to harden. You just leave it to sit, and by the next day, it's totally set up and sandable.
It comes in "natural" or "white" which are just different shades of gray, and it comes in various colors, too. They also make "super white" which is actually white, but a little more expensive and *slightly* harder to work with. I just buy "white" (light gray) because I always end up painting over it anyway. lol.
Apoxie Sculpt is easy to find to buy online. I generally order it from ebay, and if you search it on there, you can compare prices pretty quickly. It's usually around $25-ish, give or take, for a pound, once shipping is figured in. You can also buy smaller packages of it, if you just want to give it a try. I use *lots* of it for all sorts of projects, so I tend to order the 4 lb tubs, which runs me like $40-50 and contain enough stuff to *make* several small dolls from the ground up and do a bunch of mods, besides. How much you need will depend upon the extent of your mod, and the size of doll you're customizing... but let me tell you, it goes a pretty long way.
There are other types of 2-part epoxy-type sculpting compounds, such as Miliput and Amazing Sculpt. Some people prefer them, but I personally don't think they're as easy to work with as regular Apoxie Sculpt. There are many schools of thought on the subject.
Like I said before, though, if you have sensitive skin or resin allergies, you must be careful with it. I am actually allergic to Apoxie. If I have prolonged contact with it on my bare skin, even if I wash it off later, by the next day my skin will be raw, red, swollen, and start cracking open. Also, if I'm careless enough to touch my lips when I have Apoxie residue on my fingers, my mouth gets swollen. Most people I know of who use it don't have this problem, and I'm personally very prone to all sorts of skin allergies and sensitivities in general, but it's important to be careful with that kind of stuff.
Even if you can use your bare hands for it, like most people can, it's important to avoid touching your mouth/eyes/face, and to wash thoroughly when you're done. Use sculpting tools with it and keep a small bowl of water (one that doesn't get used for food) for dunking fingers and tools to keep the material workable and sculpt smoothly (FYI: some other types of sculpting compounds, like Amazing Sculpt, don't respond as well to plain water and tend to require a chemical liquid or other material for smoothing and such...yet another reason I'm not personally wild about Amazing Sculpt.)
Do not EVER use saliva, even a little. Sounds weird to say, but I know of LOTS of sculptors and painters who mindlessly lick their tools and paint brushes just a little bit while they're working, or will lick a fingertip and then smooth out a small area by hand--without even thinking about it-- instead of using water, and I can't stress enough that it's a BAD idea, no matter what material you're using, and it's a REALLY BAD idea when using something uber-chemical like this. If nothing else, it's a way to put yourself on the fast track to developing an allergy or sensitivity to this stuff, even if you didn't have one to begin with.
I learned this the hard way, unfortunately. That's why I make a point of telling people.
Thanks for the compliment on my work! And no prob, I love answering questions about my mods, especially for people who are plotting and planning for projects of their own!
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Figured that how it would dry, well I like the sound of it and way better than me sticking it in the oven lol
LOL was wondering about the coloring I think I will buy white/gray to as well than lol want it to be easy to work with since this would be a first project for me ^_^"
Well I read all of that lol ok I will have a bowl of water next to me for this and not touch my skin, idk if I am alergic to this or not :/
Oh was wondering is it hard to make it even enough so it can STAND? Thats what I am worried of that once I made it she won't be able to stand O_O
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It's not that difficult to make it able to stand. Often times, it takes trial and error. Once you have made the mod, or even during, in between steps, when everything is dry, it's a good idea to do test-stringings and see how well it stands and goes together. It's kind of a pain in the butt, but trust me, it is much easier to do it BEFORE you paint it than have to make corrections after you're done.
I would also recommend sculpting the hooves on a flat surface, like a piece of wax paper on a countertop, or on a piece of glossy cardboard or plastic, so they'll be flat on the bottom. Once it's totally dry, you can also sand away any bits that interfere with its stability.
Secondly, the seam is only that well-blended because I feathered out the sculpting compound when it was wet, and then sanded the whole thing smooth with about 3 grades of progressively smoother sandpaper after it was completely dry. Not difficult at all, just a lot of work.
And, I think you are referring to the ball joint at the ankle? There are several ways to do it. You can sculpt it from scratch (if you make a loop out of Apoxie, I highly recommend sculpting around a wire to prevent breakage, you can sculpt the joint without a loop, and then drill through it with a dremmel and insert/glue in a bit of metal (use something heavy, since it needs to stand up to the tension of the string)
The easiest way, by far, is to just mod the feet that the doll comes with and use the ball/loop that's already on them. You draw the hooves in the right size on a piece of paper, and also draw how you want them to look on the bottom. That way you can use it as a template. Then you hold the foot up against them so you can see where to clip off the toes, and sculpt a flat piece for the bottom and just sort of work your way up once that's dry. That way they'll be perfectly flat on the bottom, you'll have the means of attachment already built right in, and you know that they'll both be the same size and shape.
This might also give you some ideas: [link]
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So to make it stand it just has to be flat on the bottom? Couldn't I just put it on normal paper or do you think the paper would stick to the bottom of the feet than?
Where can I get the sand paper and what brand is it??
That loop/wire thing totally confused me XD Here is a pic of the ankle part I was thinking of SOMEHOW doing the hoof part around it, I am sure I can cut it to make it smaller...[IMG][link]
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weird... I've never seen a BJD foot with an ankle part like that. Even so, same basic idea. Just leave the ankle joint intact and sculpt the hoof around the rest of the foot, removing the toes if necessary, depending upon the size of hooves you want to make. Just don't mess with the joint, sculpt below the joint, and once the sculpting and painting is done, it should look fine and be functional.
It helps a lot to have them flat on the bottom. You can use regular paper, but it WILL stick. That stuff sticks... a lot. Easy enough to sand away, or even remove with water once the apoxie is dry, though. Whether it will be able to stand on its own, as with any BJD, human or not, depends upon the stability of the foot, the stringing, and the joints.
For sandpaper... I use regular 3M sandpaper from the automotive/hardware department at wal mart. It's cheap, and doesn't clog up too badly. I usually buy like... 320 grit on up, if I remember correctly. Just check out your local wal mart or hardware store and see what they've got.
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Ya its a Hujoo Action Doll so its just a different model I guess
hmmm but the foot seems a bit long doesn't it?
Ok so do I have big problems if it gets wet in general??
What do you mean by stability?
Ok will do ^_^ So it doesn't have to be some super uber brand? Do you wet sand it or dry? (I hear there is a diffrence lol)
Damn once again thank you so much I wish I could get started on this right now XP
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If the foot is too long to make a reasonable sized hoof, that is why you may have to cut off the toes. That's why drawing it out in the correct size, from the side view and the bottom view, BEFORE YOU START WORKING, is crucial.
By 'stability' I mean whether it can stand, and how well it can stand.
Wet Sanding is a good idea for resin, because it helps contain the dust, which is not good for your lungs. Hujoos aren't resin, though, if I remember correctly, and I really don't know enough about them to recommend anything to you there. You can easily search google, and here on dA, and find customizers who have posted tutorials. Those are extremely informative, and that was pretty much the way I learned how to mod dolls. If you are a member of a bjd/doll forum or online community, such as denofangels or resinality or anything like that (also easy to find with thru google if you're not on one already 
Good luck with your project!
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Thats the thing i wouldn't know how to do a GOOD size or bottom view lol got any rough sketches roaming about?XD
hmmmm by cut toes would I cut than sand it down to what a round tip for when I put the hoof together?
She can't stand worth crap without shoes O_O
Nope they are ABS plastic
lol funny thing is I am not part of DoA, I tried to join via invitation but for some reason they said no O_O it was pretty sucky
Also I don't want to go all the way up to the knee joint with this mod but just ALMOST there lol
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<3
The time and effort were sooooo worth it! Excellent work!
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that is wicked good sir...i hope you are proud of this, cause it definitely turned out beautifully!
i can't wait to see it in person!!!
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