Weight Reduction Process - For TPE dolls

muesky6969 · Post by **muesky6969** » Mon Mar 15, 2021 10:27 pm

**Sigh**
Well, for those of you who don't know, E'agle arrived Thursday, and is a mess.. At some point during shipping he came out of the box and there is a lot of damage. The vendor is going to make sure I get a refund, but I am stuck with the doll. I have been working on cleaning him for three days now. At least that is almost done and the burnt rubber smell is almost gone from my house.

So this doll is huge.. He is almost 5'10 and weighs about 140lbs, without his head. Fortunately his head was sent in a separate box or it probably would not made it home. You all know how with most brand of dolls the chest cavity is not very thick/deep. OMG! E'agles chest is thicker then mine. I will say his body is beautiful and exactly the body type that does it for me.

His body is supposed to be very muscular but with no muscle structure underneath, it is just wobbly jello. This is good though, as this gave me the idea of making his inserts for his calves, thighs, butt, abdomen and arms carved out of dense foam in the shape of actual muscles. As I mentioned on another thread, his chest insert is going to be made a bit differently. I am still working out the details for that in my head, so it may take me a few days to come up with design, but what I have has merit, and should be doable. The good thing about the bigger dolls is you can take our much more material to make them lighter. I think I can get 40lbs or more off his weight. This would put him right around 100lbs which is totally doable with the equipment I have and the lift I will need to make time to put together.

Tomorrow I post some of the "unboxing" pictures, if you can call it that considering the box literally fell apart just getting him in the house. I will begin repairs tomorrow. He has cuts, scraps and gouges all over his body. Thank goodness I have all the tools and supplies I need to repair him. It is just going to take a long time to get everything done. **Sigh**

So stay tune for the saga of E'agle's transformation... It will be interesting to say the least!!

Making the best of a bad situation, I am going to make this doll a true work of art, as I am going for hyper-realistic muscle definition. If this goes how I see it in my head, this is probably how I am going to do all my dolls. The good news is even though the doll is

ShadowFun · Post by **ShadowFun** » Tue Mar 16, 2021 5:59 am

I can only imagine the agony M... and I hope to never feel that pain. My Candi, a Piper Doll Jessica weighing about 80, arrived to me in a frightening state. She had slid all the way down onto her head and neck with them bent sharply over, almost 90 degrees. Fortunately, there doesn't seem to be any damage but I'm sure all she needed was one more drop to be broken forever.

I've got another doll coming to me in a few weeks, a 90 lb one, and I'm trying not to be nervous. I doubt I have the fortitude you do for the hard work needed to bring the dream back to life. Thanks for sharing your journey. You are inspiring.

muesky6969 · Post by **muesky6969** » Tue Mar 16, 2021 3:25 pm

ShadowFun wrote:I can only imagine the agony M... and I hope to never feel that pain. My Candi, a Piper Doll Jessica weighing about 80, arrived to me in a frightening state. She had slid all the way down onto her head and neck with them bent sharply over, almost 90 degrees. Fortunately, there doesn't seem to be any damage but I'm sure all she needed was one more drop to be broken forever.

I've got another doll coming to me in a few weeks, a 90 lb one, and I'm trying not to be nervous. I doubt I have the fortitude you do for the hard work needed to bring the dream back to life. Thanks for sharing your journey. You are inspiring.

Yeah that is how Xiel arrived. The box had been stood up with him upside down and his neck was crinked to the side, just like you described. Prayers and fingers crossed your new doll arrives in tip-top condition.

I heard back from the vendor today. They offered to remake E'agle but in the smaller 170 cm model or refund my money. I just asked for a refund since there is no way to box him back up and the cost to ship him back is more then I paid for him, just so he can be thrown in a dumpster somewhere. For better or worse he is here to stay. I really need to stop saying how I love a challenge, since Fate always kicks me in the gut every time I do.

So I started repairing his feet today and will just work up from there. With all the cuts, scraps and gouges I have to check every inch of him because some of the cuts only show up when you move the TPE. On one of my other threads I will post repair pictures and may end up making some videos to show how to make repairs, for anyone else who goes through this or just needs to fix similar wounds.

Thanks everyone for being so supportive. Sorry to derail the conversation off weight reduction. Here is a cute picture of Xiel having to wear bunny ears. He looks fairly put out by it.. LOL!!

seagull · Post by **seagull** » Tue Mar 16, 2021 4:59 pm

Awww, so cute

muesky6969 · Post by **muesky6969** » Thu Mar 18, 2021 2:34 pm

Good News!!!
The money for E'agle has been refunded!!! So now I can start getting what I need to repair him.

Here is the thing, E'agle has a very muscular body, and my boy is thick so this means, I can take a lot more weight off of him then I initial thought. His calves alone I can get 3lbs off each. His thighs are huge and since I am planning on removing front and back material there is about 8-10 lbs to be removed on each legs and there is at least 20-30lbs to be removed from his chest and abdomen, with another 2-3lbs from his arms. This would put him under 100lbs, which hot damn I am good with that, especially after the lift is done..

Since there is so much damage all over I am just going to work my way up. There are cuts, gouges and scraps all over his body and some of them you can't see until you start moving the TPE around. I will finish repairing his feet tonight and then re-sculpt them because they are kind of funky shaped.

The foam will be in tomorrow but it needs to be opened and let set for a couple of days, so beginning of the week I will sculpt his calf muscles and then start removing material from his calves. I will just move up from there.

As for the chest insert, for the male dolls I am just going to make a mold of their chest and back. Cut the mold down, add the ribcage and muscle definition, connect the two and insert it. This of course is not going to work for female dolls but I will just make a front mold off the insert I have. With Cleo she has solid breast so I am going to hollow those out and fill them with... I don't know yet.

When I start working on E'agle's calves I will post pictures. I am making videos as I go of the repairs and will of weight reduction process, when I start working on that. I will post links to the videos as I get them made and posted on YouTube.

seagull · Post by **seagull** » Thu Mar 18, 2021 4:09 pm

Post subject: Gel breasts "deflating" over time?? has a warning/advice for gel use

ShadowFun · Post by **ShadowFun** » Thu Mar 18, 2021 6:09 pm

Great to hear you got your refund! I can just imagine how satisfied you're gonna feel in a few years when you're hanging out with E'agle and reminiscing about the journey the two of you took for him to come live with you... of his own free will!

muesky6969 · Post by **muesky6969** » Thu Mar 18, 2021 11:38 pm

ShadowFun wrote:Great to hear you got your refund! I can just imagine how satisfied you're gonna feel in a few years when you're hanging out with E'agle and reminiscing about the journey the two of you took for him to come live with you... of his own free will!

I cannot begin to tell you all how relieved I am that they refunded my money and didn't make a big stink about it, in a timely manner, as well. If any of you are looking for a vendor who will work with you, and if crap goes sideways will work to fix it, Rosemary Doll is the place to go. Plus their prices are really good and if you are a TDR member they give an additional discount. Rose, the agent I have been communicating with has been super nice and helpful. I am just grateful that part is behind me so I can move on to getting E'agle back in shape.

From your mouth to the goddess' ears ShawdowFun. Because you are right he could have totally not ended up here. I will finish fixing the bottoms of his feet this weekend. Also plan to re-sculpt his toes a bit more, they look a bit funky to me. The slowly work my way up, repairing and reducing his weight. When I need to take a break from that I will work on modifying his head. When I am done he will be fantastic, one-of-a-kind and all mine.. **Sigh** I really like that idea.. JS

seagull · Post by **seagull** » Fri Mar 19, 2021 12:35 am

muesky6969 · Post by **muesky6969** » Mon Mar 22, 2021 10:12 pm

Okay, so the high-density foam arrived yesterday. It needs to sit open for a couple of days to fluff out. Tomorrow I will take a picture and post it of the foam. It is they type used to make boat and furniture seats. The foam is about 5" thick, that way most of the muscles can be carved out of one piece, no layers... Good thing is, I can use the scraps to stuff the abdomen area.. So nothing will go to waste.

I did some shopping around and found an online store that sells just different kinds of foam, but their prices were really high with shipping. Checked eBay and found the same company selling the same foam for half the price. The sheet is 24" x 84" x 5" which I think will be enough to do at least two dolls. The cost was $76 which isn't bad when you break down the cost between two dolls or more dolls.

Been researching muscle structures, and my plan is to actually carve the foam into the shape of the muscles in the area I am removing TPE. Right now I am trying to figure out how thick, is thick enough to leave the TPE skin. Also, still working out how to anchor the foam to the skeleton. Any suggestions or ideas would be appreciated, on this...

So that is where I am right now. Tomorrow or Wednesday, I will start cutting the foam and sculpting the calve muscles. Thank goodness I already have all the foam cutting and carving tools, I will need. I was kind of kicking my self if the butt for buying those tools, now I am just grateful I did.. Yeah for pre-planning, even when you don't know what you are planning for. LOL!!!

seagull · Post by **seagull** » Mon Mar 22, 2021 11:23 pm

Rough up the metal with abrasion, apply a thin coat of 2 part epoxy and wrap matting or cloth tightly around the tubing and let it cure solid
Use an adhesive to join the foam to the cloth
If you think the epoxy will eventually loosen or rotate on the smooth tubing, hammer a couple of dents in the tubing before applying the epoxy
Testing this method on some similar tubing outside the doll is probably advisable

ShadowFun · Post by **ShadowFun** » Tue Mar 23, 2021 6:25 am

muesky6969 wrote:So that is where I am right now. Tomorrow or Wednesday, I will start cutting the foam and sculpting the calve muscles. Thank goodness I already have all the foam cutting and carving tools, I will need. I was kind of kicking my self if the butt for buying those tools, now I am just grateful I did.. Yeah for pre-planning, even when you don't know what you are planning for. LOL!!!

I often feel like my unconscious will is driving my actions. I frequently stumble upon things I aquired, sometimes years before, whose true purpose is only now revealed.

Wish I had some constructive ideas for you but you're in uncharted waters for me... but I can sure as hell cheer you on.

RAH, RAH! GO TEAM GO!

seagull · Post by **seagull** » Tue Mar 23, 2021 6:12 pm

Well said ShadowFun

muesky6969 · Post by **muesky6969** » Tue Mar 23, 2021 6:54 pm

First off thank you all for the moral support, I greatly appreciate it!! This is so uncharted, I feel like I am totally lost, sometimes...

Okay, I think I found another favorite tool!! The hot knife is the tits for cutting foam. The best thing about it, aside the fact it cuts foam like butter, it is only hot when you are holding the activation trigger. Otherwise it stays cool so you don't have to worry about where you have it sitting once you take your finger off the trigger. You all don't know how many scars I have from accidently brushing up against a hot soldering iron.

I figured the foam has been sitting for two days and is not going to get any fluffier, so I cut pieces off to do the calves and the thighs. Took less then half the time to cut the foam as it did to measure and mark. It is AMAZING!!!

Ended up ordering another 6" and an additional 8" blade for the hot knife because I am going to use it to cut E'agle open. The cuts will be straighter and cleaner, plus I can make them much faster. It was a bit of a shock though when I started looking for blades though, because holy crap these blades are crazy expensive considering they are just thin strips of metal. For both blades on Amazon was $35, which was the absolute cheapest place I could find them. Everyplace else was like $20 for the 6" and $45 for the 8".

This hot knife also has a scoop blade, which is literally just a metal ribbon in a loop shape, attached to a heating plate, attached to the knife. When I put the loop cutter back on I will take a picture of it, so you will have some reference. Using the loop will cut my time down in hollowing out the chest cavity for sure, but I think it will work for the thighs as well.

So now I get out the small foam carving kit and start shaping the muscles, while I am waiting for the new blades to get here. I decided it would be better to not use the same blades to cut the foam as I use to cut the TPE. As I get parts carved, etc. I will take pictures. Keep in mind this is being done to a male doll so the muscle structure is different then a females. And honestly you might now need to go to the detail I am, I just know how I want him to look, and am of the opinion that starting from the inside and working out is going to be the best option.

My plan is once all the inserts are installed I will sculpt the TPE, to give him more body detailing. Is this necessary?? No but I want to know if it can be done.

Oh and I broke down an bought a new massage table. Found one on eBay for $90. The reason is the height can be adjusted and as much time as I am going to be working on my dolls I am going to need to be able to sit. Getting to old to be on my feet for hours on end. LOL!!

I am posting pictures of the foam and hot knife. Later I will post the foam carving tools, which for those of you who don't know, I used to re-sculpt Xiel's face. If and when anyone wants to try this themselves. I will have a list of tools and supplies, as well as the vendors I purchased the items from.

seagull · Post by **seagull** » Tue Mar 23, 2021 11:23 pm

muesky
This is so uncharted, I feel like I am totally lost, sometimes

Feeling lost is a common feeling for new owners when they look for guidance on this site, you just happened to have taken this to manufacturing prototyping levels

And we love it!
Might never feel the need to do similar work but knowing someone has is very reassuring for those who choose to follow