Anyone willing to post an eye change tutorial?

JCnine · Post by **JCnine** » Tue May 02, 2017 5:54 am

Just got my first doll a couple weeks ago. A WM 140cm with face #36. Someone pointed out that the eyes seem to be protruding out a little bit too much and I'm in agreement with this. I know that some of the padding can be removed from behind the eyes so they sit a bit deeper in the sockets which will help to remove the "deer in the headlights" look

! Since I have never owned a doll before (and it was a crazy amount of money for a guy in my position) I'm very paranoid that I may damage her face when trying to perform this fix. However, if I can watch how it's done, I would feel much more comfortable doing it myself! Is there anyone out there willing to post a video (or provide a link to one) of how to safely do this?

dullahan · Post by **dullahan** » Tue May 02, 2017 6:33 am

Would this help?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LHr1f8u ... l=48nfg8nm

It's mainly for changing eyes and eyelids for the MannequinFan's eye and eyelash set but it shows him gouging off the eyes off of a WM head.

hollows+fentiman · Post by **hollows+fentiman** » Tue May 02, 2017 7:23 am

If you don't want to change to MannequinFan's eyes just yet it's relatively easy to remove the eye but difficult to keep the eyelashes in place while you're doing it! You may need to reglue them afterwards!

The TPE is pretty stretchy so you won't tear anything if you're careful. WM dolls generally have half round 32mm eyes with cotton wadding behind them to keep them in place. You can get your finger in and remove the eye'ball' and take out some of the wadding behind it or you may find the amount is ok but it's not actually properly inside the cup of the eye so just squash it in again.

Putting the eye back in is the trickiest trying to prevent the eyelashes from coming adrift! A tiny spot of glue that came with the doll can reattach one if necessary. Be careful not to get the glue on anything else, especially the eye itself!

Cheers, Hollows.

JCnine · Post by **JCnine** » Tue May 02, 2017 7:36 am

I'm actually in line to get a set of eyes from MF. I thought the deep blue was really pretty. It sounds simple enough to do with your explanations, maybe I'll work up the courage to take a look at them today!

carver · Post by **carver** » Tue May 02, 2017 7:48 am

I have found it very helpful to lubricate the eye with rubbing alcohol before you do anything. Use a cotton swab soaked with alcohol and get it under both eye lids and the corners. The Tpe will then loosen its grip on the eye and you can do what you want with it.

hollows+fentiman · Post by **hollows+fentiman** » Tue May 02, 2017 8:39 am

I hear what you're saying carver but there is a danger there of loosening the glue on the lashes and also removing permanent makeup! TPE is not really very good with alcohol and it should be used sparingly! Make sure everything dries (especially the wadding) before you put the eye back! It maybe better to use a couple of drops of babyoil if the eye is stuck but again, this can remove glue and makeup if not careful!

Cheers, Hollows.

Tomoe · Post by **Tomoe** » Tue May 02, 2017 9:56 am

Changing eyes on a TPE doll is really very very easy. Those eyeholes stretch a lot, and they don't seem prone to tearing. But, as others have said, be careful with the eyelashes (worst case, just glue them back on).

Starquake · Post by **Starquake** » Tue May 02, 2017 1:18 pm

Have you seen the XSDolls video on this ......

XSDOLLS #HOW TO - Changing Eyes on your WM Doll Tutorial
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l6Bx4q9rc_s

I find a couple of extra large paperclips opened up and the ends bent round a little at the ends can be a handy tool to have for holding the lids open and hooking behind the rim of the eyeballs for adjustment and removal.

JCnine · Post by **JCnine** » Wed May 03, 2017 11:29 am

Starquake wrote:Have you seen the XSDolls video on this ......

XSDOLLS #HOW TO - Changing Eyes on your WM Doll Tutorial
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l6Bx4q9rc_s

I find a couple of extra large paperclips opened up and the ends bent round a little at the ends can be a handy tool to have for holding the lids open and hooking behind the rim of the eyeballs for adjustment and removal.

Ah, perfect! This is exactly what I was looking for, thank you so much!

xsdolls · Post by **xsdolls** » Wed May 03, 2017 12:32 pm

Starquake wrote:Have you seen the XSDolls video on this ......

XSDOLLS #HOW TO - Changing Eyes on your WM Doll Tutorial
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l6Bx4q9rc_s

I find a couple of extra large paperclips opened up and the ends bent round a little at the ends can be a handy tool to have for holding the lids open and hooking behind the rim of the eyeballs for adjustment and removal.

OMG, I was looking at this thread a day ago and thought "I should do a video" and completely forgot that I already published one.

Thanks for reminding me ^^

G

samara78 · Post by **samara78** » Wed May 03, 2017 2:44 pm

hollows+fentiman wrote:I hear what you're saying carver but there is a danger there of loosening the glue on the lashes and also removing permanent makeup! TPE is not really very good with alcohol and it should be used sparingly! Make sure everything dries (especially the wadding) before you put the eye back! It maybe better to use a couple of drops of babyoil if the eye is stuck but again, this can remove glue and makeup if not careful!

Cheers, Hollows.

I powder the eye personally. This way i don't loosen the lash any by that moisture.

Starquake · Post by **Starquake** » Thu May 04, 2017 2:07 am

lol

Is baby oil safe for the eyes btw?
I don't use it to lube the socket out of fear of removing eye lash glue or the oil eating into the lacquer coat and making the eyes dull, but don't know for certain if that actually happens tbh.

hollows+fentiman · Post by **hollows+fentiman** » Thu May 04, 2017 3:37 am

Starquake, unless your doll has round 'eyeballs' there's no point really! As samara said, you can use a little powder to put them back in if you have to remove them but half round eyes have very little movement capabilities once they're in! The wadding at the back is there to keep the eye positioned in place and not to allow much movement, although it is possible to adjust them slightly so they're not cross-eyed for instance!

The eyes that MannequinFan makes are basically round and sort of spring loaded so you can push on them to move them as he demonstrates in his video. Some 'eyeballs' of some makes of dolls are round but with a peg on the back to allow them to pivot. If your doll's eyes are like this then PERHAPS a tiny bit of oil might help them to move more easily. You're right though, the oil on the surface can make the more plastic eyes less bright. The acrylic ones not so much and they can be cleaned more easily too!

Cheers, Hollows.

Starquake · Post by **Starquake** » Thu May 04, 2017 4:38 am

Ah thanks

I'm currently checking my PM's every few hours, right now, crossing my fingers that I've made it to the top of MF's waiting list.

For easier positioning I saw some1 using beads or fake pearls in the cavity of the half rounds (I forget the thread and specific size of the beads I'm afraid), which they said worked well. I'm sure putting wadding in there makes sense to someone somewhere but I'm not seeing it myself

I couldn't believe it when I found the wadding in there tbh .... or the amount of time I spent putting it back in lolol

hollows+fentiman · Post by **hollows+fentiman** » Thu May 04, 2017 5:29 am

I suppose you could use a marble! I think the problem with the half round eyes is that they need the wadding to keep it from 'rocking' and gaps appearing at one side of the eye.