Punching in hair and/or removing it?

[persontheguy]

Hey everyone. I know help on this topic exists elsewhere in this forum, but I didn't see it here and I thought I'd ask. A lady modifying her doll to be hairier taught me that you could punch hair into a doll. I searched in hair punching on youtube and found a helpful video, but this doesn't really teach me the tools that I need, nor where to buy them nor where to find suitable hair to put in them.

I half like the pubic hair on my doll, half don't. I would like to punch in more. Because I might not do it well and because I may want to remove what does exist, I'd also like to know how to remove doll hair if possible. Would someone with more experience please provide me the following:

- What tools to buy and where to find them
- Where to find good, soft synthetic hair? Maybe just chop some off a wig?
- The mistake that newbies will make
- How to place the hair such that it will look natural
- Is it possible to safely remove the hair that exists? If so, whats the best way to do it without harming the silicone?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PqwtyqX-jl8

[DG]

I can help, especially since I implanted eyebrows and sideburns on my male doll long ago.
Online you can find various hair punching needle kits, such as this one: https://www.brickintheyard.com/products/needles.
I, however used felting needles similar to these: https://www.weircrafts.com/needle-felti ... edles.html. They were a five pack of large felting needles found at my local Hobby Lobby.
For the synthetic hair, I just went to my local beauty supply wholesaler and picked up a package of hair in the color I wanted. It was super cheap and I got a good amount.
One mistake would be not practicing on a spare chunk of TPE or silicone and another would be trying to rush through and not watch tutorials regarding the matter. This is a process that takes time and mistakes can and will be made if one rushes through.
To make the hair look as natural as possible, proper spacing of the hairs as well as the angle they are implanted is vital. Punching a hair straight in is going to cause it to point straight outward, so it is best to go at a five degree angle or less, give or take, while implanting the hairs, to have them lay as flat as possible.
This is especially true on eyebrows, pubic hair and hair along the sides and back of the head and hairline.
I am unsure of how to remove already implanted hairs, as I do not wish to remove the hairs on my doll.

I hope this helps.

[persontheguy]

Thank you so much, I will check these this weekend! While you're here, you wouldn't know anything about paint would you?

[DG]

I do not know anything regarding paint for silicone dolls. I am glad I was able to help with the hair implanting though.

[seagull]

Silicone adhesives (RTV, etc.) can have the viscosity reduced by adding small amounts of silicone oil to it (does soften the silicone )
Powdered pigment added to the oil should give you a chance of getting a change to the surface coloration

[persontheguy]

Thank you both! For the silicone recoloring, you don't have a tutorial do you?

[seagull]

Sadly, no tutorial
Just a bit of Google research combined with a TPE coloration technique explained by Wheezer
Check out his posts and substitute the silicone stuff where appropriate