The Birth of Erica

DG · Post by DG » Sun Jan 22, 2023 6:49 pm

Hey, let me know how you get the silicone hands to stay attached. I have had trouble finding the right method with Lawrence.
I tried velcro, t-pins and tight hair ties, so far. But they eventually tear the silicone in the wrist or just slide off.

55mrradiohead · Post by **55mrradiohead** » Wed Jan 25, 2023 11:36 am

Erica FINALLY grew her skin. She's confined to a chair right now for posing. Otherwise, she sits in a closet in a guest bedroom. I still have to get the feet ordered from Amazon, as well as a few other items. It only took about 1.5 hours to get the silicone body suit in place. I didn't want to rush the installation and end up tearing something. However, the silicone bodysuit material is incredibly stretchy and I think you would have to be like a bull in a china closet to cause damage.

I had a brief scare with her assembly. Before putting the silicone bodysuit on the spandex core, I reversed the bodysuit and super glued a very short piece of 3/4 " pvc tubing (2" length) to the backside of her navel. After it was completely dried, I then took a 1.25" piece of 1" pvc tubing and inserted it around the 3/4" tubing, so that the 3/4" tubing could be pulled back slightly and then the two pieces of pvc tubing could be secured together. The idea was to create a slight dimple in the navel, to make it look more realistic, rather than just the brown shading from the factory. After the bodysuit installation on the spandex, the pvc tubing was NOT cooperating and appeared to be coming detached. I had to put my arm down inside the silicone skin from the neck to see what was going on. I could tell that the silicone and super glue didn't like each other, so I decided to just remove the pvc tubing. Part of the super glue didn't want to release and for a moment I thought it was going to tear a hole in the navel area. It didn't but looks a little thinner than before but there isn't a hole. I don't think I will try that again.

The hands are secure but not connected permanently to the cardboard skeleton. The spandex fabric just pulls up over the wrists, then the silicone bodysuit skin over the spandex. It tends to roll the spandex back on the wrists. When I've decided that I don't want to do anything more with the hands, I will use super glue to secure the spandex to the silicone material on the wrists.

So Erica is just hanging today, seeing how she can't *run* around. It will be fun to try clothes on her. I have clothes for my TPE doll, Jazlyn. She's a smaller body size BUT has large boobs. Her clothes seem to fit a little tight on Erica, so there may be more shopping in the future.

More pics later.

Dastardlydave · Post by **Dastardlydave** » Wed Jan 25, 2023 12:03 pm

I have to say that while the weight can be a bit of a newance for lifting overall I like it it adds to the realism and as long as you concentrate on the legs and shoulders and arms easy to position for posing and dressing.
And for carring once she's on your shoulder its childs play.
The main reason she can be arquard to lift is because she can slip when your pulling her up into a standing position

RevJack · Post by **RevJack** » Wed Jan 25, 2023 12:15 pm

Methinks you have overstuffed the poor girl. I would be reaching down her neck and doing a tummy/thigh tuck to get her back into the actual shape of the silicone suit.

55mrradiohead · Post by **55mrradiohead** » Wed Jan 25, 2023 12:51 pm

RevJack wrote: ↑Wed Jan 25, 2023 12:15 pm Methinks you have overstuffed the poor girl. I would be reaching down her neck and doing a tummy/thigh tuck to get her back into the actual shape of the silicone suit.

Thanks for the observation and comment RevJack. I was trying to get a woman's body that's just a slight bit plump in the middle (not fat or a BBW), but I tend to agree with you. I noticed that getting her legs to bend at the thighs for sitting is a bit tight, suggesting that there is a little too much there. That's the next project for me - too pull some filling out and adjust it to get the look I'm after.

Jim

55mrradiohead · Post by **55mrradiohead** » Fri Feb 03, 2023 4:59 pm

Well Erica went on a diet. I pulled some of the polyester fiber filling out of her waistline. I'm liking it much more. She finally grew feet. I also gave her a new hairstyle. The hands and feet are attached. She's still a work in progress. I've got to do some fine tuning on her. I'm not really crazy about the way that polyfil filler works visually. It's not smooth like TPE or silicone. Erica weighs no more than 50 lbs (23 kg) at most. She is very easy to move around. I think she's not bad for the products I used to build her. It's been a learning lesson. I'm shopping for a TPE doll that's at 5 ft or a little under and between 55 and 65 lbs.

RevJack · Post by **RevJack** » Fri Feb 03, 2023 5:53 pm

Yeah, Much Better!
You did a damn fine job Radiohead. It took some balls to take it on, but you did.
Congratulations.

Reverend Jack

55mrradiohead · Post by **55mrradiohead** » Sat Feb 04, 2023 5:04 pm

I'm still needing to spend some time on tweaks on Erica's arms and legs, also the neck to get them fitted correctly before I can call this project anywhere close to being complete. I had a hard time getting her to wake up today and get out of her sleeping outfit! For a baby doll, she sleeps too much.

IF you're contemplating trying a silicone full body bodysuit as a lower cost, home made doll, this is one concept of what she can look like. Aside of the tweaks or adjustments that I would still like to make, she's coming along pretty good. The sky is the limit on what you can do. The idea is to be creative but just think the core body completely through. That's what the skin will become.

Floop · Post by **Floop** » Sat Feb 04, 2023 5:37 pm

As a wise man once said (okay, it was actually Mr. Bean): "Not baaad."

Joe 90 · Post by **Joe 90** » Sun Feb 05, 2023 12:07 pm

Well done, myself and others have contemplated the possibility of doing this and you have achieved it.

55mrradiohead · Post by **55mrradiohead** » Sun Feb 05, 2023 1:41 pm

Joe 90 wrote: ↑Sun Feb 05, 2023 12:07 pm Well done, myself and others have contemplated the possibility of doing this and you have achieved it.

Thank you Joe 90. I appreciate the positive comments. I'm a bit of a perfectionist, so I can see where I can do things better.

Over all, I think she came out pretty good. Many years ago I started out trying to build a plush doll (realistic as possible), just using a full body spandex suit. It would work, BUT the caution is that you can get over aggressive with the poly filling and the detail just goes out the window. But that also will allow you to build a curvy or BBW woman, IF that's what you're hoping to achieve.

A couple times I tried using high density foam (cushion foam) from old sofas. 5" foam works best. I had to wash and sterilize the foam. Older foam from seating can have some funky smells, if you're not careful with where it came from. NEW 5" high density urethane foam is not cheap. And washing high density urethane foam does NOT dry out very quickly. Once completely dried, I would make a paper template of the body and attached the template to the foam with headliner spray adhesive and then cut out the body core (shape from paper template). After that, I made slits in each section of the body with a snap blade knife (best brand is Olfa) so that I could put 1" PVC tubing to represent the bones and stiffing up the body. The joints are free to move and won't hold a pose like a metal skeleton, so she is just an upgrade of a plush doll. I really like how the urethane body base comes out, when finished off with polyfil stuffing in places where you need curves. Obviously, the spandex bodysuit fits over the foam body base. Then you lightly use polyfil stuffing to give the body more shape. Once you're happy with the overall shape, then you can put it inside of a full body silicone body suit.

IF anyone is looking to do this themselves, being a graphic designer, I have access to high resolution body templates that anyone could use for this purpose. I've included a few samples here. I can provide front, rear, and side landscape views of the model's body. I can scale the images to be the height of the doll. It's up to you to get the pages printed, stitched together, and make the paper template, as discussed on earlier posts in this thread. Feel free to PM me IF you feel adventurous and want to try this out. You have to be creative and good with your imagination and hands. IF you're just wanting a quick fix for a love doll, just stick with the air dolls or buy a *no guarantee* cheap TPE doll.

stratzilla setz · Post by **stratzilla setz** » Wed Feb 08, 2023 9:04 am

I was thinking about this, and if you could get the exact dimensions/measurements of the silicone suit (and if that suit is well proportioned to begin with), you could create a core that fits it exactly. I've done cloth dolls that keep their shape very well, but the concern is that it doesn't push on the outside suit well enough to appear firm. Adding polyfil between the cloth doll and the skin, it helps a little, but it's too easy for the fil to move around.

Maybe it's possible to make a slightly bigger core, but made out of a soft material like the sprayable expanding foam over a skeleton so it keeps its general shape, but also pushes enough on the skin that it adds firmness.

RevJack · Post by **RevJack** » Wed Feb 08, 2023 9:57 am

Stratzilla,
I think that is a fantastic idea. I have experience with expanding foams, and the ones that are most applicable to this idea are (unfortunately) hard and crunchy.
So, if you apply the canned foam to a slightly undersized cardboard cutout you can build an effective and lightweight skeleton/core. Careful application can result in the correct figure (curves and such) that is 1 inch (3mm) thinner than the silicone suit. Wrap that foam core in a nice, dense, 3mm latex foam that feels like muscle and your "filler body" is mostly done. Slip it in a zentai suit to cover and protect the foam from friction.
If you want bones and joints, zip tie a PVC skeleton to your cardboard cutout before you lay in your spray foam. Loose pvc joints are easy to make or buy from the Halloween Prop makers groups.
Damn, now I'm all charged up to make one.
Reverend Jack

stratzilla setz · Post by **stratzilla setz** » Wed Feb 08, 2023 2:56 pm

RevJack wrote: ↑Wed Feb 08, 2023 9:57 am Wrap that foam core in a nice, dense, 3mm latex foam that feels like muscle and your "filler body" is mostly done. Slip it in a zentai suit to cover and protect the foam from friction.

I like where you’re going with that, you can literally cut and carve the softer foam pieces and strategically place them in anatomically correct ways.