Home made foam doll ............"In progress"

tommy_tucker · Post by **tommy_tucker** » Sat Dec 23, 2006 6:16 pm

Hi, I'm planning to make a doll out of foam, the doll will be made in the doggy style position. My question is what sort of foam is best for my doll, i am thinking that a high density foam that is not limp but firm and flexible and can be sculptured to some detail would be good, I know shaping foam can be a nightmare but i look forward to the challenge.

Sabrina · Post by **Sabrina** » Sat Dec 23, 2006 8:07 pm

Maybe it should be possible in hard foam. Glue it together. But if so, a mannequin is much better and cheaper. You need a skin.

For softer foam (sponge) mould to cast in to get a smooth surface, a skin.
A foamie made of sponge is cheaper and much better.

But if you plan something that do not exist on the doll market and to only make one doll without tools. Maybe hard foam covered by latex foam.
Its the only way I can think of and I am working on it now but ..... I have problems with finding materials in this country, also its too pricy.

Used car seats, sofas, mattress can be a way to get cheap soft foam.
It can be glued with Urethane sealing but its very expensive. And you still have no skin.

Now I try to form foam with heat. I use a hot wire to cut, 24V from car batteries but it was stolen some weeks ago.

Also we have an very old material for making dolls, much older than silicone and latex, its very good and cheap and the easiest to work with but difficult to shape.

Also cloth dolls can be interesting as a material easy to work with.

All this is sculpting and if you havent been doing all your life it will be very difficult. Much easier is a torso without any details.

You can get a Harumi for 400 -500 EUR it will not be cheaper to make your own, maybe in GB as it is easier get materials cheap.

itsme · Post by **itsme** » Sun Dec 24, 2006 4:32 am

Sculpting for is done with a riged foam.
Then a mold could be made, and pored with a soft self skinging foam.

Soft foam is hard to sculpt, But can be done with tool that heats up a wier so it cuts and burns at the same time.

Sabrina · Post by **Sabrina** » Sun Dec 24, 2006 8:30 am

itsme wrote:Sculpting for is done with a riged foam.
Then a mold could be made, and pored with a soft self skinging foam.

Soft foam is hard to sculpt, But can be done with tool that heats up a wier so it cuts and burns at the same time.

What material do you use for making a mold? If full size.

A body is not much details but arms are difficult, hands with fingers too.
Its difficult to keep arms away from body and get a good look at shoulders.
How to do that? Elbows and knees is also very difficult.

Separate limbs can be easier but joints difficult.

Face and vaginal parts with details must be made separate and I dont know how to make the face but I have not been able to sculpt any, I cant do faces, not even make drawings of a face.
I have done good ugly faces, like trolls and other similar for doll theatre.

Even using a latex mold of a real face, it is very difficult to get a good face.

tommy_tucker · Post by **tommy_tucker** » Tue Dec 26, 2006 6:17 am

Well i think i found a suitable foam for the doll, the foam is Zotefoam and comes in 4 varieties, it's a Closed Cell Foam and very durable and apparently easy to cut/shape. I have found countless suppliers in the uk that offer free samples so i can put the foam to the test to see how well i can sculpt it. The supplier im getting the samples from is a family business and they offer foam cut and shaped to the customers needs, they seem very innovtive and say you can send them a drawing and they will put together a 3d image of the drawing and put it to you for you approval, and if you approve they will put it in to production. So if i pluck up the courage i will enquire and see if it's possible they can cut the doll if i give them the information on the dolls dimensions. But it's early days and i have yet to get my hands on any materials so i must be realistic and not fantasize too much, but im fulfilled when my mind is busy been creative.

Sabrina · Post by **Sabrina** » Tue Dec 26, 2006 7:00 am

Closed cells, it means hard, not flexible at all. As air cannot pass in and out.

Are you going to use this as a plug for a mold or do you mean to make the doll that hard?

If so, a mannequin must be much easier and cheaper.

But a cheap and easy way should be to make a torso of it.

greywolf · Post by **greywolf** » Tue Dec 26, 2006 7:47 am

Tommy tucker,

Good luck with your project

greywolf.

tommy_tucker · Post by **tommy_tucker** » Tue Dec 26, 2006 8:43 am

Sabrina wrote:Closed cells, it means hard, not flexible at all. As air cannot pass in and out.

Are you going to use this as a plug for a mold or do you mean to make the doll that hard?

If so, a mannequin must be much easier and cheaper.

But a cheap and easy way should be to make a torso of it.

The foam is closed cell but does not make it hard only waterproof.

Here is what the foam makers say about the foam: Zotefoam retains it's closed cell structure to exceptionally low foam densities). So in other words it's solid but soft at the same time.

The doll will have no mold taken, it will be a case of getting a block of foam and cutting the doll out and sanding it into shape, this will be easy to do as the foam is closed sell so i can sand it smoothe and leave a durable surface. But i will only know for sure when i test the samples.

"For the breasts i will use these strap on breasts Link: http://www.glamourboutique.com/breastforms/ Cool! i won't need to worry about forming the breasts.

But i'm all talk at the moment, i hope i have something to show soon when i receive the samples.

tommy_tucker · Post by **tommy_tucker** » Tue Dec 26, 2006 8:50 am

greywolf wrote:Tommy tucker,

Good luck with your project

greywolf.

"Cheers!

Sabrina · Post by **Sabrina** » Tue Dec 26, 2006 9:34 am

Ok, I am interested so I hope you get any result to show.

But waterproof and soft it should mean that air can pass but not water.

If soft you can press out the air of it else it will be hard.

But this type of foam in rolls used under sleeping bags, thats not soft but it its very flexible. It does not soak water.

But this foam is hard, its flexible in sheets but if you make it to a thickness of a doll body it will be very stiff.

You will also get problems with arms and legs if you want the form as in picture. You need a skeleton for that.

How do you plan to fasten limbs to body?

tommy_tucker · Post by **tommy_tucker** » Tue Dec 26, 2006 7:55 pm

I will connect the arms by a simple joint that allows the arms to move up and down unlike a ball joint that offers more realistic movement.

pictopup · Post by **pictopup** » Fri Jan 12, 2007 5:27 pm

a good tool for cutting foam is an electric carving knife. very controlable. when i was a boy one could buy a piece of balsa with
three views of an object printed on the sides for carving(like paint by numbers for sculpting). any r.d. owners interested in providing photos?

tommy_tucker · Post by **tommy_tucker** » Fri Feb 23, 2007 5:33 am

Well things are moving slowly but i now have my hands on the foam i will be using for my doll. The foam is blue and used for firm seating with a high density. I will order a larger block of the foam on monday to cut the doll from, the size of the block will be 25” x 25” x 35” one solid block of foam. The price of the block of foam is £186.00 inc delivery. I was able to cut and sculpt a pair of feet from the foam sample and i was amazed how easy it is to cut and shape the foam with my mothers electric kitchen knife and my dremel tool to smooth the edges.

tommy_tucker · Post by **tommy_tucker** » Fri Feb 23, 2007 6:08 am

I have had an open mind as to what i will cover the foam/doll with and i really like the comfort appeal of the Teddy-babe, well i do like fluffy women and i may even give the doll whiskers for a real cat woman effect.

I looked on ebay for the head and i found a Hairdressing head that has real human hair and also is realy light as the core is super hard foam.