What advice do you all have on re-sculpting a face

[muesky6969]

Hi Everyone!
Okay, so I want to age my doll's face. I am nearly 50 and my doll looks about 25 years old. So far I have used makeup and was able to age it up about 5 years but it still looks really young, to me. I have been looking at pictures of older faces to get the age lines down and practicing using various tools to sculpt TPE, but this is a scary project for me because I don't want to screw my doll up.. Any advice or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance!!

[Grimmiekins]

you might have to buy an extra head as a back up. You can sculpt TPE with heat but you can really mess it up fast if not careful. Problem with tpe it isnt good with lines and details so people that have TPE dolls and dont like that they have no age lines it's just a thing that tpe owners have to just get used to.

[muesky6969]

you might have to buy an extra head as a back up. You can sculpt TPE with heat but you can really mess it up fast if not careful. Problem with tpe it isnt good with lines and details so people that have TPE dolls and dont like that they have no age lines it's just a thing that tpe owners have to just get used to.

Yeah, that doesn't work for me. I purchased some of the 3M primer Wheezer talked about and I am going to practice with that and see if I can use it to add the age lines. Don't want anyone thinking I am a cougar. LOL!!

[Wheezer]

Yeah, that doesn't work for me. I purchased some of the 3M primer Wheezer talked about and I am going to practice with that and see if I can use it to add the age lines. Don't want anyone thinking I am a cougar. LOL!!

From your posts you have indicated you have artistic skills. Use what you are already adept at to start the age experiments.

If you are good at free hand detailed brush painting, then that would be the starting point. Likewise if you are good at pen/pencil work, start with that. Or sculpting, airbrush work, etc.
The MEDIA does not make you good, rather your TECHNIQUE. It does not make sense to start over with something different if you already have an expertise on one of the skills. The techniques and media to age the head can be adjusted to fit what you currently do well.

However, please still experiment and let us know what you have found. Both what works and what doesn't.

Cheers!
... W ...

[muesky6969]

Yeah, that doesn't work for me. I purchased some of the 3M primer Wheezer talked about and I am going to practice with that and see if I can use it to add the age lines. Don't want anyone thinking I am a cougar. LOL!!

From your posts you have indicated you have artistic skills. Use what you are already adept at to start the age experiments.

If you are good at free hand detailed brush painting, then that would be the starting point. Likewise if you are good at pen/pencil work, start with that. Or sculpting, airbrush work, etc.
The MEDIA does not make you good, rather your TECHNIQUE. It does not make sense to start over with something different if you already have an expertise on one of the skills. The techniques and media to age the head can be adjusted to fit what you currently do well.

However, please still experiment and let us know what you have found. Both what works and what doesn't.

Cheers!
... W ...

I am very good at sculpting and painting. I think with the tools I have and have purchased, I can successfully add the age lines to my dolls face, then add color to finish the aging process. Been studying older faces and practicing drawing them. This weekend I am going to practice on the TPE butt/vagina I purchased just to experiment on. I mean its over 2 lbs of TPE, so I don't care what it was originally. LOL! My goal is I well be ready in a couple of weeks.
Promise to share!

[Wheezer]

Was going to post on on the ageing elements of a female face and those areas that could be simulated with with TPE enhancement. But instead just a few bit here.
Probably the only two you can reasonably emulate are the redistribution of fat areas and loss of skin elasticity. You can see that in the sequence below:

(03)_Sequence.jpg (41.83 KiB) Viewed 3188 times

The butt portion to test sounds good. You can try out different methods with no risk.

For the final face you can take a picture of the head and then run it though one of the available age enhancement tools for computer or phone. Find a sweet spot that you like, save it or print it to use as a guide for your final application to the TPE head. Might help to have a road map.

But do let us know how the results turn out.

Cheers!
... W ...

[muesky6969]

Was going to post on on the ageing elements of a female face and those areas that could be simulated with with TPE enhancement. But instead just a few bit here.
Probably the only two you can reasonably emulate are the redistribution of fat areas and loss of skin elasticity. You can see that in the sequence below:

(03)_Sequence.jpg

The butt portion to test sounds good. You can try out different methods with no risk.

For the final face you can take a picture of the head and then run it though one of the available age enhancement tools for computer or phone. Find a sweet spot that you like, save it or print it to use as a guide for your final application to the TPE head. Might help to have a road map.

But do let us know how the results turn out.

Cheers!
... W ...

Taking a picture and putting in one of the age enhancement apps is a great idea. I have been downloading and studying older faces to find just the right age lines I want. I actually think I am going to use some simple tools to carve in the lines. Heated awl and needles mainly and I have a metal tool used to take off fake nails that will work for the mouth area. The mouth is the area I am actually the most nervous about doing, because those are typically the deepest lines in the face. Then once the lines are carved in I will use the heat gun to smooth and feather out the lines at the ends. The rest of the aging will be using makeup and Chartpak markers.
Oh so I found that Chartpak markers will dye most TPE. I bought a set of skin colors and they worked great to darken up the nipples and lips. You just have to let it set for a while and even with oil very little comes off. I was thinking that your idea of putting in veins you may want to consider these for that. Also would recommend for veins using a color with some green in the blue, depends on the skin color but most veins you can see on the surface of the skin are more bluish-green colored. Just a thought!

[Wheezer]

My proof of concept blue was way too blue. Was referred to a blue eyeliner pencil that is the right light blue for veins. Under a TPE skin it looks very nice. Will post an update of the veins to show how it looks.

Chartpak markers are relatively well known to be a good and permanent coloring tool for TPE. The pens carrier liquid is Xylene, a known TPE solvent which results in a permanent coloration. I had a tough time deciding what color to use, so I went with mixing oil paints to get the color I wanted and then using the 3M primer as a carrier/binder. Could use my existing brushes and tools. You could (in theory) use Xylene as the carrier/binder, but use care. That stuff, when pure, can damage some TPE.

The line experiments sound promising, I can see a well lined butt in the future. However you might consider the line plans on the face. Most doll faces are cute and thin 20 year old or such. Really not much meat there. Were you to line that you might get an version of an older, yet emaciated looking face.

If you look at the sequence images below you will see the progression of lines forming. But notice the facial fat distribution also occurring. The excess and redistribution fat enters into the look of the lines. In some cases the "line" may be due to the additional mass under the skin. For a TPE doll situation you might want to ADD some material before making the lines. Either to give you something to line or to enhance the final effect.

(02)_Sequence.jpg (32.92 KiB) Viewed 3159 times

One easy way to do this is to use cured extruded TPE paste. The post is not done but this is a quickie overview specific to your situation.

Mix TPE paste. Get a shallow plate/bowl. Fill with a thin layer or isopropyl alcohol. Extrude from a syringe or carefully pour a small amount into the liquid. The paste can be brought together in the fluid by manipulation with a toothpick. Below the surface will be a shallow rounded blob, on the liquid surface flat. Cover and let cure for a while. When cured remove from liquid, place flat part down on glass paste and allow cure to finish. Powder when done to remove any stickiness. The amount of TPE paste used and manipulation will give you your final shape. Chin, cheek parts, etc. Attach with 3M and then line away. Below is a test piece made during the extruded blue vein tests. Same concept as making and adding facial fat redistribution. Use flesh TPE paste and shape to requirement.

Blob_sample(1000).jpg (257 KiB) Viewed 3159 times

Just a suggestion, but you might want to add some meat to her to help her age gracefully.
Cheers!
... W ...

[seagull]

What has been going on with my aging body does not match what has been going on in my head.
Don't have a problem with a doll that looks the same age as some of my offspring and should anybody have a negative opinion about that, tough

[Wheezer]

No issue or judgement here .... just that the OP was interested in making the target doll head a little older.

Maybe not quite this level:

Older(04).jpg (18.28 KiB) Viewed 3157 times

But definitely NOT this level (although it could be achieved)

Older(05).jpg (41.48 KiB) Viewed 3157 times

Cheers!
... W ...

[seagull]

Hello mama

[Wheezer]

.... Taking a picture and putting in one of the age enhancement apps is a great idea....

You might look into some of the morphing tools or applications. One end is your target face that you like, the other end is the doll face, composed similar to the target picture. The morph tool will show you the transformation from doll to the target. By looking at points in the transformation you might get ideas or a road map for the detailed items for the age process.
Just a thought.
Cheers!
... W ...

[muesky6969]

No issue or judgement here .... just that the OP was interested in making the target doll head a little older.

Maybe not quite this level:

Older(04).jpg

But definitely NOT this level (although it could be achieved)

Older(05).jpg

Cheers!
... W ...

Probably not going to go that old but I have been thinking about needing to build up the face. That why I was asking if you could inject the paste like botox, but deeper under the skin. Or do you think that it would just make weird bulges? Like I was saying I think sculpting/carving the lines on the forehead, and around the eyes, will be easy enough, it is the area around the mouth that is worrying me the most. It maybe that I will need to try the paste method, to build the area..
I start carving and sculpting on my TPE booty/vag combo, this weekend.. Let me tell you $18 for 2.2 lbs of TPE is a good bargain. Need to get one a little darker color one next time.

Hey Wheezer what was the brand of the oil paint you have been using for dying the TPE? Didn't you say it was food grade?

[Wheezer]

Probably not going to go that old but I have been thinking about needing to build up the face. That why I was asking if you could inject the paste like botox, but deeper under the skin. Or do you think that it would just make weird bulges? Like I was saying I think sculpting/carving the lines on the forehead, and around the eyes, will be easy enough, it is the area around the mouth that is worrying me the most. It maybe that I will need to try the paste method, to build the area..
I start carving and sculpting on my TPE booty/vag combo, this weekend.. Let me tell you $18 for 2.2 lbs of TPE is a good bargain. Need to get one a little darker color one next time.

Hey Wheezer what was the brand of the oil paint you have been using for dying the TPE? Didn't you say it was food grade?

The botox was the right direction .... only TPE is solid. Consider an ice cube. You want to make a bulge on top of it. You can't inject it with more water. It's solid. However you can freeze a little blob of ice on top to make the bulge. Same thing with TPE. I was a liquid, now a solid. You need to ADD the bulges required. So adding paste or molding and curing some shapes ahead of time them adding with the primer.

As for carving TPE, try some butt practice first. The problem with cutting tools is that the TPE gives too much. It does not cut like people meat. A good scalpel that would slice down to the bone did not work too well in my tests. The only thing I found were some Friskars mini scissors (see them in the paste post) or a Gerber 06 combat knife. Probably easier getting the scissors, they are deadly sharp and cut TPE like butter, just where you want the cut.

Since your carving tools are probably not sharp enough, use the hot pen. I would suggest taking one tool with a sharp point and attaching it to the hot pen with high temp Kapton tape. The goal is to have the sharp V point heated by the hot pen and use that to carve. Actually the pen would heat the V and you would be melting a fine trench in the TPE. If you need fine tip dexterity (some folks carve with their fingers almost at the point) then you can wrap the pen length in insulation to get a closer point grip. You could also use a microfine pen to place the lines. An alternate is a technical pen, very fine points and you can use the ink color or media or your choice.

Don't worry about the source TPE color, that can be adjusted when you make paste. It can easily be made darker, lighter is not as easy. I was working with food grade oil based dye for mist coloring of large areas. For TPE paste coloring or painting use a decent oil paint. Skip the $2 kit with 48 colors in the back to school bin. There are several good grades with well ground pigments and solid colors. You probably have one you prefer. If not a multi tube starter set is good, or even those designed for face or portrait painting.

Two easy ways to tint or color your TPE paste. First is to add a bit of oil paint to a vial with a toothpick. Then add several ml of 3M 94 primer to get your color concentrate. When blended this solution can be slowly added to a paste to adjust its color. You may need to add more TPE to compensate for adding the additional primer/color mix. The result will have the same bonding and curing times as normal paste. Thinner paste self levels well, thicker has a slower cure and some time to texture.

An alternate is to add oil paint to baby oil, then use this as the colorant. When added to TPE paste it has been observed to alter the final composition. It is firmer with a slightly mottled surface with distinct texture. The effective surface cure rate is faster. You might want to experiment with this on test items or on glass plate to see if you want to make "appliance" to add to the face. Smoothing, if required, can be done with the typical tools. It is still TPE.

Good deal with the TPE. But you know that the best way to get what you want is practice and test items. Hopefully some of these tips can help.

Cheers!
... W ...

[Wheezer]

Hello mama

Well ... hmmm ...ain't gonna go there.
But I'm glad I made your day!
Cheers!
... W ....