Dennis descending into despair.

I almost forgot he's the same character who used to cut, because I don't have bandaids on this body (his old body had it on the arms) and I never did make the scars on his lower arms cos I'm just lazy, but when I think of despairing, and just really down thoughts, Dennis seem like the best doll to photograph for such emotions.

Sometimes I wonder how he could have gotten out of that period in his life if he didn't meet Nat. Why is it that often in stories or songs, people need someone else to bring them out of something? To be the first person to finally see who they are? Can't they do it themselves? Is it actually impossible, or are we just used to using another person being our savior that we give ourselves excuses to continue dwelling where we are? I'm inclined to think it's actually near impossible to help ourselves out on some days when I'm down, but I'll also like to think it might be possible to do it ourselves because ...well, maybe I just like to think it's doable. Because to trust someone to bring you out of your state requires, well, trust. Trust that I'd think Dennis won't have much of in anybody other than himself. And yet it's Nat who eventually helps him get out of it. I can't really understand how that works... Or maybe I'm just being overly pessimistic because sometimes, even jaded people take a leap of faith. I just don't really think it'll be so lucky sometimes. Oh well.

And I'm getting rusty with my photography skills. Especially using manual mode which I do for doll photography

Wig making :D

I got some wool/yarn at Spotlight the other day because the blue and purple was so pretty (I really like the green as well but that ball of wool/yarn was more expensive and I didn't want to buy it just for an experimental wig making since I won't have any use for wool/yarn when I can't knit >_<) I combed out a lot of yarn after making the basic wig (see the progress photo on my tumblr here), and of course I had to cut it up, because that's the most fun bit about making your own wigs (not being afraid that cutting them up would mess up the whole thing, since you can always remake it).

The wig is rather imperfect, but I'm happy for my first try, haha. You can't see it in the photos, and also cos I styled the heck out of it, but the wig is kind of bald in some places (I got lazy sewing the "hair" onto the wig cap), and the wig cap I made was a bit too small/short at the back (I had to hold it on his head with some masking tape). I love the colours a lot, and these are crappy nighttime shots cos I was so excited to take photos. I have to say though, the photos can't show the real colours in this wig. Gonna give this same wool another try when I have time...probably on Sion? Haha. And have another photo of Jack.

Leeke Mihael head on Akagidoll 66cm body

Excuse the phone photos, I left my camera in my hostel ._.

Anyway, here's Kristolf, my Mihael on the Akagidoll 66cm body for proportions. I feel like he looks less bobbleheaded in real life. It might be the sloppy shoulders, or maybe Mihael just has features that photograph bigger than they look in real life? I'm not too sure. He looks better with a wig, and the neck looks kind of too thin here (which I guess it is, since it's like 10.5cm?) but it's not that bad in real life. I thought he looks pretty decent but the photos don't seem to show that...also, resin match is pretty good. (Everything is NS.)

It's really just Jack lying on my bay window.

Dennis and Jack are the only dolls I brought to my hostel with me this time, and I realise I can't really photograph them together because 1. they're not from the same story (which is still ok), and 2. Jack has a REALLY small head compared to Dennis. Jack's is like MSD sized (8inch) while Dennis is a large SD sized head (10inch). So they look really strange side by side, especially when they're around the same height.

I didn't want to add this in the last post, since I'll be linking it from dA and doa possibly, but anyway, here's my thoughts on hybrids.

Nearly all my dolls are hybrids (except Gabby since his body is from the same company, just that the Lishe head was meant to go on a girl's body, but still, the resin is from the same company) and the main reason is because each of my character has a different body build and height etc, so very often the company bodies don't suit what I have in mind. So I don't have repeats of any bodies (well, I don't count having both type A and B bodies from Little Monica the same) and this also means I have to keep looking for bodies arghh.

So even though the Akagidoll body fits Joe (my Peroth) and Caillen (my C. Ryu), I still have to look out for other bodies...and while I'm more or less set on getting the Popo 68cm body for my Ryu, I need a shorter body for my Peroth (around 63 to 64 cm that is of a lean but fit built) which is kind of hard to decide on. I thought the Doll Family-A 63cm ver 3 body might work but the neck is only 9.5cm thick, which is too thin for my taste on 63cm bodies. Even the Nobility body has a 10cm neck size. And it's such a thin body already (not counting Doll Chateau cos I don't like that kind of thin bodies :/).

So yes, the search for bodies is always ongoing. I guess it's fun but uh, when you have like 10 dolls who are/are supposed to be hybrids (3 of which are floating heads), it's a bit tedious sometimes...

Also, I noticed that my Mihos have yellowed faster than their Little Monica bodies so currently their heads are darker :( I do hope that the yellowing would match up again so they look less odd but I guess I'm just being a bit picky (and sad, because they matched better last time). Oh well...Here's an unedited (just resized) photo of Hew to show what I mean.



It's not too bad in natural light and in photos, but my room has yellowish lighting, and it makes his face a really unhealthy jaundiced yellow which makes me kind of ...:< At least I realised he still looks mostly fine in natural light.

Akagi 66cm body with Nobility rerelease Peroth and Migi Cynical Ryu heads

I don't think I would be switch heads onto the Akagi body any time soon because it took me so much pulling to get Zeke's head back on after I took this photos... >_> (Maybe I shouldn't use twine to help me pull the S hook >_<)

But anyway, here's some proportions and resin comparison.
Body: Akagidoll 66cm boy body (NS, 2014)
Heads: Nobility rerelease Peroth (NS, 2013), Migidoll Cynical Ryu with nose mod (NS-B, 2013)

Peroth head first. These bunch of photos are for proportions, the resin match ones (more accurate on my screen) will come later :) I kind of only had the head on the body without pulling the S hook on properly because my hands would have died...so I don't know about head mobility and such.

He looks quite good actually.

And with a wig. Definitely do-able for proportions.


Just a closer photo of head to shoulders proportion.


Okay, now for resin match. My Peroth is blushed with a lot of pinks, so he seems to match, but the actual Nobility resin doesn't really. You can see it in the photo below. The back of his head is clearly paler, and he is also a tinge yellower than Akagi NS, but as I said, my Peroth has A LOT of blushing (mostly in pink and brown tones), so he looks okay on the Akagi body.


Just to show that my Peroth looks rather okay on the body because of his blushing, but there are areas on his face with less blush (Oh really? Is there? Trust me there is, like the shiny part of his nose bridge) that can be seen to be paler.


So my conclusion is, it's definitely a good body proportion wise, but resin match wise Peroth would need quite a bit of blushing to match the Akagi body. Too bad I need my Peroth on a shorter body...

Next is my Migidoll Cynical Ryu. His nose is modded but that shouldn't affect things too much. Anyway, I thought he looks good on the body too. Definitely nice proportions.


And a wig. Not his usual lol, cos I was lazy to get that from my room.


And for resin comparison, I think the 2 are quite close in real life, but Migi NS-B is a tinge yellower. I don't really see that in real life though it might also be because he has a faceup.


Because his neck does appear a bit yellower and uhh, slightly greyer? But I don't think it's too big an issue especially with a normal faceup that has reds/pinks/beige in it.


And I do like how he looks on it. It's a close enough match :)


So yay, the Migidoll NS-B works too.

Hope that helps someone decide on their hybrids.

[edit: here's the headcap comparison from my box opening, where you can see all the resin mentioned together, plus Leeke.

Akagidoll 66cm boy box opening

Well technically it's Akagidoll You Yue, but I'm not keeping the head (even though it's quite pretty, but I already have so many floating heads), so I'm focusing on the body :D It's Zeke's body by the way.

I ordered the body from Fumiyo so that I can get it straight from taobao. I don't remember the exact date but I ordered it in late December, and I was so surprised to see the postman this morning. It's something like 2-3 weeks since I ordered! Fastest arrival I've had so far, haha. This is the Akagidoll 66cm body.

This is how the box arrived. There's no outer box, just a few layers of pretty thick bubblewrap.


Cutting apart the bubblewrap...(I didn't have the box upside down. So yeah. Usually the lid is bigger but I guess the bottom of this box is larger than the lid)


Close up of the extra wrapped thing around the box.


Inside the box, there's a brown carrier bag of sorts. The straps are not attached and I've not figured out how to put them on yet, but since I already have my own carrier bag, I didn't care too much and just put the straps aside to continue opening cos I wanted to see the body, haha.


Sorry for the blurry photo but it's a bunch of "manuals" and supposedly certificate of ownership but it's not really a certificate, since it wasn't specific to the doll I ordered (Youyue).


Opened the bag, and the doll is inside :) It's just wrapped in some thin foamy sheet.


And apparently they decided the knees need extra bubblewrap, haha. This is the full doll. Standing straight out of the box :D He's super tightly strung though.


And I figured since Akagi doesn't have blank doll head photos, here's some blank Akagidoll You Yue. I'm not keeping the head though. It kind of reminds me of a Swd Sch A, MSdoll Drayton and Switch Rusi all in one...It's quite a nice head actually. The company photos have him in so much eyelashes and whatnot...






And his hands have nails...not really my taste :/ But anyway I swapped them out for some Little Monica hands I have lying around, though the LM hands don't appear in this set of photos cos I only did that after I kept my camera, haha.

And a rough comparison of headsize of You Yue with the actual owner of the head (my Leeke Khal). Their lips kind of look alike here (but it's cos of Zeke's faceup. Lol. I was surprised that Khals have smiley mouths when they're blank o.O)


And cos the body was SOOOOO tightly strung, it took me a lot of effort to switch the heads. Yay, now Zeke has his own body.


And to show resin match. Leeke is slightly paler and slightly pinker than Akagi NS (which suits my hybrid fine). My yellower toned NS, the Nobilitydoll NS and Migidoll NS-B are yellower than Akagi, with the Nobility being a bit paler than Akagi, and Migidoll NS-B being a rather close (though slightly yellower) match.


And halfway, I discovered that his right hands (left in photo) has longer nails than his left hand (right in the photo).

And here's Zeke beside Kristolf :) Zeke is a Leeke Khal on the 66cm Akagidoll body, and Kristolf (red hair) is a Leeke Mihael borrowing a Little Monica body.


More photos of Zeke soon, when the light is better!

[edit: Okay, the lighting is still too dark, but I took photos of Zeke anyway. Haha. Here's him with the Akagidoll body and Little Monica hands