Give Your Doll A Head Of Real Human Hair!

kabuki · Post by **kabuki** » Sat Mar 23, 2019 7:42 pm

Happy to answer any questions about how I did this, and more pictures/videos are coming on the final product! See video details for more video resources and links to items I used.

Stewie studmuffin · Post by **Stewie studmuffin** » Sat Mar 23, 2019 10:53 pm

Very impressive!

But how well do the hairs stay in place? Is there any danger of them being pulled out during brushing?

Sodium · Post by **Sodium** » Sat Mar 23, 2019 11:07 pm

Damn...

~Sodium <3

-Ragnar66- · Post by **-Ragnar66-** » Sun Mar 24, 2019 12:21 am

Stunning!

But I agree that realistic hairlines make very much of a difference for realistic looks. Also for individuality of heads or where it can be also more of a racial attribute, i.e african heads with oftenly sloped foreheads and retracted hairline.

I´d also be interested in durability, once the projekt is finished for the various purposes imaginable.

Could the implanting process be probably sped up by combining these needles into a single device to work over larger areas? Maybe a 9 piece device for this case and single needles for detail and outline works.

kklouzal · Post by **kklouzal** » Sun Mar 24, 2019 10:10 am

That looks like it would be a painfully long process however the effect is quite profound. I like the outcome. I too am curious about the durability.

I think a small handheld machine could be rigged up with an actuating needle that automatically 'loaded' itself for each insertion, this way you could have a more uniform amount of hair going into the head on each punch.

kabuki · Post by **kabuki** » Sun Mar 24, 2019 10:51 am

-Ragnar66- wrote:Could the implanting process be probably sped up by combining these needles into a single device to work over larger areas? Maybe a 9 piece device for this case and single needles for detail and outline works.

kklouzal wrote:I think a small handheld machine could be rigged up with an actuating needle that automatically 'loaded' itself for each insertion, this way you could have a more uniform amount of hair going into the head on each punch.

As I was starting out, I thought the same thing about having multiple needles but then quickly realized how fragile the needles are after I started snapping the tips off in the doll's head. This is a VERY intensive project and took me dozens of sessions to complete. Still, the longer you take with something like this, the better the results.

I contemplated some sort of gluing system using permatex on a section of the hair but after some stress tests with implanted hair, I realized this wasn't necessary.

Hair only gets pulled out of the head if:
-it's improperly implanted (multiple hairs in a punch means the hair slides along another hair, smoothly pulling out)
-or if it's too shallow

I will make a follow-up video showing the very final results and an example of how even a small bunch of implanted hair can be held by my hand and support the weight of the doll's head. It's surprisingly strong with a deep implant!

HappyWabbit · Post by **HappyWabbit** » Sun Mar 24, 2019 10:59 am

Great job! Thanks for sharing.

-Ragnar66- · Post by **-Ragnar66-** » Sun Mar 24, 2019 12:25 pm

kabuki wrote: As I was starting out, I thought the same thing about having multiple needles but then quickly realized how fragile the needles are after I started snapping the tips off in the doll's head. This is a VERY intensive project and took me dozens of sessions to complete. Still, the longer you take with something like this, the better the results.

Yes, easing and speeding up the process surely is among the very first ideas coming in mind. It´s the little details then or insufficient material that gets in the way unfortunately. Maybe someday a manufacturer invents something that makes use of some the electro static hair properties then pulled to a half melten heads surface maybe.

kabuki wrote: I contemplated some sort of gluing system using permatex on a section of the hair but after some stress tests with implanted hair, I realized this wasn't necessary.

Hair only gets pulled out of the head if:
-it's improperly implanted (multiple hairs in a punch means the hair slides along another hair, smoothly pulling out)
-or if it's too shallow

I will make a follow-up video showing the very final results and an example of how even a small bunch of implanted hair can be held by my hand and support the weight of the doll's head. It's surprisingly strong with a deep implant!

Sounds promising with regard to probable durability.

One reason more to handle our silicon beauties with even more care at last.

Looking forward to your next video!

Sofos · Post by **Sofos** » Sun Mar 24, 2019 12:59 pm

Impressive work!

Zippy81 · Post by **Zippy81** » Sun Mar 24, 2019 2:02 pm

Nice Job man

They make different size (lengths) needles too that are for the different areas. Helps create variation of thickness by grabbing less hairs for like the front of hair line.

kabuki · Post by **kabuki** » Sun Mar 24, 2019 7:15 pm

Stewie studmuffin wrote:Very impressive! But how well do the hairs stay in place? Is there any danger of them being pulled out during brushing?

Forgot to respond to this earlier. Yes, there is danger of this if you use a tight toothed comb or hard brush, so I would recommend the Tangle Teezer as others have recommended on this board for doll hair maintenance. Wide enough for the hair to slip through but does a great job at detangling without pulling hairs out. If lots of hairs come out, they were not properly implanted to begin with.

Teppo · Post by **Teppo** » Tue Mar 26, 2019 12:04 am

Brilliant video! Thank you for putting it together.

mexdl · Post by **mexdl** » Tue Mar 26, 2019 8:12 pm

I m p r e s s i v e ! ! ! ! hands down Kabuki ! I am so happy that you already made it!

My attempts was a complete fail, I made a custom neddle, so i guess I need a better one an a lot of patience.

I am so glad for you.

I will look forward to see the hair line job.

Regards.

MexDL

Thomas More52 · Post by **Thomas More52** » Fri Jun 07, 2019 11:31 pm

wow, the patience required.

-Ragnar66- · Post by **-Ragnar66-** » Sat Jun 08, 2019 6:46 am

kabuki wrote:Gave her a wash and a trim today, she smells delightful.

think the results are worth any your made efforts! Very nice and real looking!

I might try in future as well, but off course need more than just one head, or at least a second doll for my further uses in photo shooting and the "other things".