She's sexy, she's silver, guaranteed to make you shiver,
she's badass I tell ya, may I present, my Aurella,
She was once an SM Elf Doll, now resurrected as my…
Cyborg Robot Alien Pixie
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She is just under 25 lbs. or 11kg. including head and everything on her. Yes, that's right, 25 lbs.
She is 5 foot 2 inches. or 158 cm.
Fully articulated, but with a slightly limited range of movement due to design.
Stands completely on her own.
She is not a mechanical robot, she doesn't move on her own, she is an aesthetic full size action figure doll designed as a studio companion.
She is my design, made by me. Aside from the YL doll skeleton, wooden hands and SM elf doll head.
Four pints of Bondo, 8 cans of Minimal expansion spray foam insulation, 12 pints of Form Foam, 4 cans of spray paint.
Short version:
Aurella was my first doll.
After tons of photos and lots of fun, her body failed. I wanted to repurpose her in some way.
So I designed and made her a new body.
Long version:
I had a YL doll that was a special order failure (my fault) that I had stored away with the intent for a future project.
I remembered that I had always wanted a full size robot looking girl and after Aurella's main joints failed, I knew it would be a major ordeal to repair all of them. I didn't want to discard her as she was my first. Her body was intact but was lifeless and could not pose anymore. She went into storage as well.
At this point you might be getting the Frankenstein chill up your spine while the thunder and lightening strike kind of vibe. It was clear that day, but I got the chill of excitement and spark of creativity.
My goal was to not make a better doll, just different. Very different indeed.
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I had almost everything I needed to start making my new doll from the ashes of two. I knew it would take planning and some time and this would end up taking two years to make.
One year to think about how exactly to make her, six months to remove the tpe from the YL doll and clear out a proper space in my shed to work, six months to build. I take my time and work slow. I do something, step away and come back to work with a fresh perspective. So many times with other projects I've rushed and ended up regretting being hasty. BTW, removing tpe takes a long time and is depressing as hell. I could only do a bit, then come back the next day. I suppose one could do it in a day, but not me. Anyway…
After a year and a half, I had lost all my momentum and inspiration, until a few months before Halloween.
I was using some spray foam on fixing some gaps in my shed. This stuff sticks to everything. Had some extra and then the idea of just spraying some foam on the metal skeleton to get some mass on it. The idea was get a crude human form, put some clothes on it and a mask, and then I have a Halloween monster/witch/prop for my front door.
It was at that point I kept refining it and then the ideas started. I could see something really cool starting to form.
The project was back on again. I thought of getting a mannequin and cutting it up, adhering it to the forms. But the sizes, shapes of it might not have worked. 3D printing was too expensive and the time, effort was a big gamble.
There were many technical ways to go about making her, I chose to make her by hand sculpting her.
I have always wanted a full size robot girl. I don't care about mechanical aspects of robots, just the aesthetics. I've seen and been inspired by lots of 2D art on cyborg robot women, but no one seems to be making something like this commercially in 3D and full sized. Frustrated with some of the fragile aspects such as hands, finger wires, I thought of using drawing mannequin hands for replacements.
I wanted a lighter doll. She had to be able to stand on her own. I wanted the robot look, seams and gaps and this worked out as I like the look of her exposed joints, the wooden hands gave her a good mechanical look also.
They might be considered a bit small, but I think it goes with her feminine aesthetic.
She had to have lots of curves yet thin and proportionate to the SM elf doll head.
She had to have a slight anime robot look. I had to be able to look at her and go, WOW!
Once the game plan started and I could see something taking shape.
I kept spraying multiple layers of Minimal expanding household spray insulation foam directly on the frame.
With gloves, I was able to help shape the blobs into better body shapes.
After drying, then carving, sanding and repeating in order to get the desired muscular structure, then started with Cosplay forming foam to refine the body. Since this has a clay consistency, it's easy to form the curves and details.
After drying, sanding and repeating, I got the desired look.
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I used Automotive Bondo over some throw away platform shoes. For weight and durability.
I kept a gap between the feet and ankles in order for some slight movement if needed to help balancing. The gap was filled with a layer of flexible foam. She is now quite stable.
The wooden drawing model hands are attached by screws and Gorilla glue. Four screws in the flat base sticking out an inch making a collar to slide over the wrist pole in order to hold on. Tape was using to make a form to hold layers of Gorilla glue to fill out the wrist and attach the hands. The hands come in three sizes. I chose smaller as I'd rather have a more feminine look.
Rustoleum textured metallic spray paint for the body and Truck bed coating for the boots. Both of these paints are awesome. They're very thick and covered the little and other imperfections that I wasn't able to remove.
Final thoughts.
Bondo was great for making headpieces.
I placed it directly on the tpe head. Once it cured, it released from the tpe.
Making a custom fit that holds lots of details. It could be used to make simple molds on tpe
I don't recommend it, but in my case, I had another head to experiment on.
No staining and no damage.
I am very creative and am known for unorthodox ways of making things. I have lots of art experience, but I would say that almost anyone could build something like this, but will require lots and lots of patience.
If you're into doing something like this, I recommend full face respirators for any work like this.
Little crappy masks don't protect you.
Lots of sand paper needed, various grits. Electric sanders are helpful, gloves and respirators required.
This was the most satisfying project I've ever done. I walked away several times, but not to give up. I went to work on so many other hobbies and projects in order to be able to come back to it with a better fresher outlook.
One thing was different for this project. I never once had the thoughts of (as on some projects before) that I've got so much work to do on this, it will take forever so I should give up.
In the back of my mind, I knew what I wanted and knew that I had to make it if I wanted it.
I know she still needs refinement. She isn't perfect, but I do like her new look.
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I wish you all the best on your projects. Thank you for reading this.
If it doesn't exist or you can't afford it, make it.
