Somewhere in Southern California, nine people spend their days painstakingly sculpting faces, pouring silicone into molds and producing artificial but highly naturalistic nipples to make luxury sex dolls. Each RealDoll has a flexible skeleton and requires approximately 80 hours of work from scratch to completion. However, special requests, which may include multiple heads or elf ears, take additional time.
(Total 10 photos)
Photographer Robert Benson captures the surreal world of the Abyss Creations factory in suburban San Diego, where faceless bodies hang from the ceiling and shelves are densely stocked with dildos. Benson compared the factory to any other workplace, saying: “Everyone is very passionate about what they do and takes the work seriously. I think the excitement wears off after the first week and it becomes like any other job.”
Artist Matthew McMullen, who founded Abyss Creations, says it was a fluke. In 1994, he worked in the production of Halloween masks and sculpted female figure for a personal art project, and she “kind of started living her own life.” He came up with the idea to create a realistic mannequin. Thanks to public demand, the project soon grew into the world's first silicone sex doll capable of achieving certain positions.
Sex dolls started being made in Japan back in the 1980s, but they were made of plastic. McMullen's RealDolls are made from high-quality silicone, which retains heat and provides a more realistic feel along with greater elasticity, according to the company's website.
Thanks to the flexible skeleton of the doll, buyers can bend it however they want. Replaceable persons along with high degree Personalizations add realism to dolls.
Cost of standard dolls with 18 types women's bodies and two types of men's ones start from 6.5 thousand dollars, and more complex orders will cost from 12 thousand dollars. Each doll has the correct anatomy and the genitals, like everything else, can be customized to suit the client's preferences. The dolls are equipped with a movable jaw with soft and elastic lips, very soft tongue and soft silicone teeth.
McMullen isn't satisfied with the success he's already achieved. The company is now developing a model that will respond to its owner and simulate human emotions during sexual intercourse. The ultimate goal is to be able to imitate the feeling of love using silicone doll.
I present to your attention dolls with an internal articulated frame. The dolls are made from silicone platinum compounds from Smooth-On (USA) by casting into plaster molds at home. Scale 1/6 (up to 29 cm).
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The framework looks something like this:
I apologize for the quality of the photo and the condition of the parts: they have already been used twice in plasticine and will be used again. When I make new frames, every time I decide to photograph them as a souvenir, while they are clean and beautiful, but every time, of course, I forget)))
The idea for the frame design is, of course, not mine; steel articulated frames are widely used for puppet animation. In Moscow, master classes on them are taught by Soyuzmultfilm artist Igor Khilov. One of his students showed me the results of her training, when I tried to repeat it, it turned out that I didn’t remember well what was explained to me. When fate brought me personally to Igor, he was very surprised that these fruits of my carelessness also worked quite well.
Personally, my only opinion in all this is the design of the small skeleton of the hands. Previously, of course, I made do with thin copper wire, but then I wanted the dolls’ fingers to bend only in in the right direction, and not tied in a knot. I make looped connections from steel wire with a diameter of 0.5 mm.
Projectiles for pneumatic weapons and crossbows of different diameters, mounted on pins made of steel wire, are used as hinges. I can also consider the method of making steel as my personal invention. hinged frame without the use of exotic equipment such as milling and drilling machines. Drill, vice and pliers - just what was kept in my husband's closet)))
The master model for removing the molds is made from plasticine: 
For some time now, on the advice of the same Igor, I have been using Fuji-Rock dental plaster for molds. It gives a very clear picture of the relief and a good edge that does not break off when removing the castings. Ordinary plaster deteriorates the second or third time, and by the sixth time the mold simply breaks.
Jewelry epoxy eye blanks are cast into a silicone mold, after which a pupil is made into them using beads and acrylic nail design dust. Store-bought ones are not suitable, since I make the dolls' eyes to close. In exactly the same way as they are made on children's dolls, that is, the eyelid is drawn on the eyeball, and eyelashes are inserted into it. There are no mechanisms for closing the eyes; silicone holds the eyes well; they can only be closed manually.
Hair - natural silk Padiko (Japan), bought at Kuklobase. I tried artificial silk, it’s also good, and it shines better. There are some doubts about natural hair or wool. Natural hair, it seems to me, may not stick well to silicone, however, these are only suspicions, I haven’t actually tried it.
Silicone, unlike some other elastomers, such as latex, is a strong and durable material. So far, it is relatively rarely used in handmade, but, in my opinion, only because this material is relatively new. Silicone play dolls are produced by this moment There is only one company, Tokyo Dollar, which is not surprising: the Japanese are generally quick to navigate new products.
According to my personal feelings, silicone is a very promising material for artistic creativity. Extremely sensitive and capricious, but if found with him mutual language, then its possibilities are almost limitless. Although, of course, if we talk about dolls, they also have disadvantages: for example, if you bend the doll too much and leave it like that for a couple of days, a wrinkle will form at the bend, which is not very beautiful. Therefore, they should be stored in boxes or on stands, although not at attention, but, in any case, not to death. The surface shine is actually easily removed by dusting with baby powder, which I simply did not do at this photo shoot.
But silicone dolls can be bathed. Many of my friends are glad to have the opportunity to wash Professor Snape's hair with their own hands))).
To summarize, I want to say that I have only worked with two-component silicones for nine months and, without a doubt, I cannot yet be considered a great expert, just as my dolls do not yet deserve the title of a great work of art. But for a start, it seems to me that it’s not bad at all.
And a few more photos. All photos are processed for the Web, so the weight is negligible.
On the stand, the dolls are fixed by the hip; they cannot stand without a stand: they have soft feet.
Clothes taken from Barbie's boyfriend look good on boys: 
I like working with them in Photoshop, since I practically don’t know how to draw with my hands, but beautiful pictures sometimes I want))) 
That's all, I hope I didn't abuse your patience too much. If you have any questions, I will be happy to answer them. Thank you for your attention 
Hello! I invite you to follow with me step by step the creation of this doll:
Doll "Fly!" made of paper glue, painted with acrylic. The height of the composition is 27 cm, width is 25 cm.
There are a lot of photographs, so I divided the master class into several parts. In the first part I will show how I sculpted the doll's head, painted it and glued the hair. Many stages of sculpting the head of this doll are similar to those that I showed in MK for a souvenir doll:, but there are some differences.
Paperglue,
Stacks or dental tools for sculpting,
Water to moisten the material,
Medium and fine grit sandpaper for surface treatment,
Brushes for smoothing hard-to-reach places,
Dried wet wipe, nylon tights or polishing paper for final smoothing.
Let's get to work.
1. Roll a ball out of foil. It will be a blank for the doll's head.
2. I compact the ball. You can roll it on the table.
3. I mark the place under the eye sockets. The wooden stick in all subsequent photographs serves to fix the head in the desired position; it does not take part in the work
4. I prepare paper glue - the volume of the material ball is approximately equal in size to the volume of the foil ball.
5. Roll out the Paperglue into a flat cake about 5 mm thick. 
6. I wrap the foil ball tightly in Paperclay. I make sure that no voids form between the clay and the foil. 
7. I select the area of the eyes and the bridge of the nose in the place where I made a notch on the foil ball. I correct the shape of the head, outline the back of the head, the crown, the jaws. 
8. I press the eye sockets with my fingers.
9. Using a toothpick, I outline the mouth.
10. Moving the material over the face, I outline the nose and chin. I just move the clay in the right direction. From the cheeks - to the nose, to the chin.
11.I attach a small “potato” from Paperglue in the nose area.
12. I add a strip of material to form the lower lip under the mouth opening, and apply triangular clay cakes to the bottom of the cheeks around the smile.
13. I smooth it out and apply paper glue.
14. I add material to the cheeks and cheekbones. I shape the nostrils, the wings of the nose, and correct the shape of the lips. I check the symmetry and, if necessary, adjust the volumes.
15. I smooth it out and apply the clay.
16. I place paper glue balls in the eye sockets.
17. I apply it and add thin strips of Paper Glue under the eyes to form the lower eyelid area. 
18. I smooth and smear the material. 
19. Add strips of paper glue to form the upper eyelids. I want my character to have “cartoon” eyes in the shape of a semicircle, so I shape the upper eyelids in the form of a wide and high arc.
20. I straighten and adjust the shape of the upper eyelids. 
21. I add clay above the upper eyelids from the outside. Thin stripes I place paper glue under the eyes, from which the lower eyelids are formed.
22. I apply and smooth the material. 
23. Place a large piece of clay over the eyes to form the forehead. 
24. I apply and smooth the material. 
25. I outline the ears, the lower edge will be located at the level of the tip of the nose, the upper - approximately at the level of the upper border of the eye. 
26. I shape and work on the ears - in this work I highlight only the curl, lobe and tragus of the ear. I smooth it with a brush; it’s uncomfortable for me to work with stacks in the ear area. 
27. I sculpt and smear the neck. 
28. Drying, sanding, polishing the doll’s head. 
I paint the doll's face.
- artistic acrylic,
- thin synthetic brushes (000),
- tea for toning,
- palette (I have a faience plate without a picture),
The head is prepared for painting, sanded and dried.
The whites of the eyes are covered with white acrylic.
1. I tone my hair with tea. To do this, I dip my head in a solution of strong black tea for 5 seconds, take it out, and dry it. The color must first be checked on a sample so that there are no unpleasant surprises.
The workpiece after drying.
2. I cover the whites of the eyes with another layer of acrylic and dry it. You can apply acrylic after tinting with tea, I do this earlier so that the color of the whites of the eyes is not snow-white, but has a light beige tint. 
3. I again tint my hair with tea to get a more saturated color.
4. I outline the iris of the eye with a pencil. This should be done with barely noticeable lines, I drew The lines are bold so that they can be seen in the photo. 
5. For painting I use acrylic in the following colors: burnt umber, FC green, light ocher, medium yellow, black, zinc white, cinnabar.
I mix green paint and light ocher and paint the iris evenly.
6. I add white to the resulting color, paint the lower and middle parts of the iris. The brush moves in an arc, repeating the shape of the iris.
7. I lighten the paint even more and paint the lower left part of the iris.
8. I depict the pupils. You need to make sure that the eyes “look” in one direction, the pupils are the same size and round in shape.
9. I darken the upper part of the iris. To do this, I add a microscopic portion of black and burnt umber to the tone that was originally used to paint the iris.
10. And once again I highlight the lower part of the iris, apply a couple of strokes of almost white color. To obtain it, I strongly dilute the color that I used in step 7 with white.
11. I tint the whites of the eyes - I create a shadow from the upper eyelid. I dilute a small amount of black acrylic with white and apply the resulting tone to the upper quarter of the eyeball. The closer to the upper eyelid, the more intense the shadow; the further away, the less it appears.
12. I paint over the lash line on the upper eyelid. I use black acrylic, whitewash, burnt umber and light ocher.
13. I add highlights. You should try to place them symmetrically and at the same height, the highlights should be the same size.
14. Using a pencil, I outline the position and shape of the eyebrows. The pencil lines should be barely noticeable. I pointed them tightly so that the lines were clearly visible in the photo. I like to place my brows very high, in fact they should be almost twice as close to the eye. 
15. I paint my eyebrows. I use burnt umber, light ocher, and whitewash. I use several tones of different intensities. I paint the eyebrows with short strokes that follow the hair growth lines. After the doll got hair, I had to change the color of the eyebrows. This color did not suit red hair at all.
16. I paint my lips. First I applied an even, fairly intense color, using white, cinnabar, a little ocher and umber.
17. I tint the lower eyelid along the lash line. I use a shade slightly darker than the overall complexion tone. 
18. I create teardrops in the inner corners of the eyes, darken the nostrils and ear cavities, and lighten the inner parts of the upper eyelids. I slightly darken the lower part of the eyeball.
19. I darken the wings of the nose, the area under the corners of the lower lips, under the chin, behind the ears. I lighten the back of the nose.
20. I lighten the lips (I dilute the tone with which I covered them with white). The most convex parts of the lips will be the lightest, the indentations will be darker. I apply blush to the cheeks, cheekbones, earlobes, tip of the nose, chin, forehead. 
21. I make the blush on the cheeks more intense.
The face is painted, now I start gluing the hair.
For work you will need the following materials:
Hair for the doll (tresses, yarn, ribbons, etc.),
Glue Moment Crystal transparent,
Toothpicks or gypsy needle (straighten strands, remove excess glue),
Scissors.
I choose the color, decide on the hairstyle.
I start gluing the hair from the back of the head, moving from bottom to top.
I showed this process in detail in this MK: I will briefly duplicate the gluing steps.
1. Since the boy's hair is short, the lower strands will also be short. In this photo, three rows of hair are glued to the head.
2. The upper strands are a little longer, this is necessary for the hairstyle to be voluminous at the back of the head. The fifth row of hair is glued.
3. I shape the area of the temples, glue thin strands, starting with the lower and shorter ones, gradually moving upward. I ended up with three rows of hair at my temples.
Rear view - the seventh row of hair is glued.
Front view - 7 rows.
4. Now I glue the strands closest to the face, form a hairstyle, parting. Now there is a bald spot behind the facial hair.
5. I fill the entire space behind the bangs, glue the strands of hair tightly and thickly, moving towards the top of the head. The hairstyle is ready. 
As I already wrote, later I changed the color of the eyebrows and highlighted the fold of the upper eyelid, after which the doll’s face began to look like this: 
Now you can begin to form the frame for the doll.
For work we will need the following materials and tools:
- wire (I have a knitting wire with a cross-section of 1.2 mm),
- electrical tape,
- tapeplant,
- paper,
- pliers,
- scissors.
Let's get to work.
1. At the first stage, I prepare five to six pieces of wire; the length of the pieces relative to the size of the head is visible in the photo. Approximately, we will need three pieces of wire about 50 cm long and two about 30 cm long (for arms and legs). If the wire turns out to be longer than needed, it's not a big deal. You can always bite off the excess length with pliers. 
2. I shape a piece of wire about 50 cm long, as in the photo (the letter “P” with a tail on top). The top element will be located inside the doll's neck. 
3. I shape the wire as in the photo. On the left is a blank for the doll's hands. On the right is a large arc for the body, a small arc for the doll’s legs.
This is how they will be located in the frame:
4. For structural rigidity, I intertwine a large arc with the first element (letter P"). 
5. I intertwine a small arc in the same way with the workpiece from step 4. I attach my hands. I fix the workpiece firmly and securely. I use thin wire and electrical tape to secure it. 
6. I fold the remaining workpiece in half in the shape of a narrow arc. The upper element of the arc is attached to the doll's neck, the middle part forms the buttocks, the ends of the wire are still free (on the right in the photo).
7. We wrap the free ends of the wire around the horizontal jumper in the pelvic area. We bring them forward and lift them up. We attach the tails of the wire on the sides of the neck. Thus, the volume of the abdomen and sternum was outlined. 
This is what the frame looks like from the front: 
Now you need to carefully fix the wire in the neck, shoulders and pelvis. You can glue it with epoxy or wrap it with thin wire and insulate it.
After this, you can begin to gain body volume.
To work at this stage, you will only need toilet paper, tape and sewing thread. I tear the paper lengthwise into strips of different widths with my hands. Wider strips can be used to wrap the body, and narrower ones for the limbs.
So, let's get to work.
1. Big lump toilet paper I place it inside the doll's body. I compact the paper tightly. 
2. I wrap strips of paper around the body, grabbing the shoulders one at a time. I fix the winding with thread. When wrapping, I stretch the paper so that it fits as tightly as possible. 
3. I continue to increase the volume of the body, carefully compacting each new layer of paper, pressing it, and wrapping it with thread. 
4. In the area of the buttocks and tummy I increase the volume.
5. I move on to gaining volume of the limbs. Using narrow strips of paper, I tightly wrap the doll’s legs and arms. I move from the body to the free part of the limb and back, placing the coils diagonally. I fix and compact each layer with thread. I repeat this procedure several times. It is imperative to ensure that the arms and legs flow smoothly into the body. To do this, each time you wind your hand at the top, you need to grab your shoulder. And when wrapping the thigh, grab the area of the buttocks and lower abdomen. And be sure to secure each new layer of paper with thread. 
When the preliminary volume has already been collected, you can play with the workpiece. It’s also better to finally decide on the pose now; it will be more difficult to do later.
6. I give the workpiece the selected shape. I’m finishing up gaining body volume. I no longer work with legs below the knee and forearms at this stage. These body parts will be sculpted from Paperclay. 
7. When the volume of the workpiece is completely filled, I wrap the body with tape, leveling and compacting the surface. I wash my hands and area first chest, then the lumbar region. I wrap my legs last.
That's all, next we will work with the sculpted part of the arms and legs.
Paperglue,
Dental instruments or sculpting stacks,
High quality instant glue
Dried damp cloth for ironing,
Water for moistening the workpieces,
Tea for toniroki,
Medium and fine grain skins,
Taplenta.
I start by sculpting the doll's hands. You can see the process of sculpting a pen in detail here; in short, it looks like this: First, I sculpt four sausage fingers and outline the nails. 
I sculpt my palm into a rectangle. 
I sculpt and attach a carrot thumb. I will correct all unevenness and inaccuracies after the pen has dried, but now I need to give my fingers the intended position. 
I also outline the lines on the palm and phalanges in a raw way. 
These are the handles after drying, they still need to be sanded and the shape adjusted. 
It is more convenient and easier to work on sculpting both handles at the same time, then they will turn out to be equal in size. The size of the handle relative to the doll's head. 
While my hands are drying, I move on to working on the doll’s body. I gradually gain volume in the legs, drying the intermediate layers of material. I outline the feet. 
I'm trying on my hands. On the wrist side there are holes in the handles into which the forearm wire enters. 
I clean my forearms from excess paper and tape. If necessary, I adjust the arm length. 
I glue the wire into my hands using instant glue. 
Gradually, in thin layers, I gain volume in my arms and legs. To ensure that your hands adhere well to the forearms, I first moisten them. I dry each layer of paper glue. 
Now you need to gain the missing volume in the upper parts of the arms using tape.
I'm working on shoes. 
I skin the legs and arms, first using medium-grained skin, then fine-grained. I polish lightly with a dried damp cloth.
After this, I tint the completely dried, sanded body blank with tea. I put it in the solution strong tea for 5 seconds, take it out and dry thoroughly. 
After the body blank has dried, I repeat this procedure again so that the tone becomes more saturated and equals the tone of the doll’s head. 
The photograph gives the impression that the doll's arms and legs are colored unevenly. This is not true; when the body dries, the color will even out. But when tinting a doll in this way, you need to ensure that there are no tea drops or streaks left on the wet blanks after dipping into tea. Otherwise, when drying, these areas will become darker. I use this feature to darken certain areas of the skin - areas around the elbows, elbow crease, behind and under the knees, wrists, base of the thumb, etc. I also used acrylic (umber + whitewash + tea solution) to darken and tint the body. Using a thin, semi-dry brush, I worked on the areas between the fingers, the phalanges of the fingers, and outlined the elbow bend, popliteal area, ankle bones, kneecaps, etc. more clearly. On the contrary, the protruding muscles of the arms and legs were slightly lightened, and the doll’s fingertips and palms were given a slight pinkish tint.
After the body has completely dried, we move on to making clothes.
First of all, I sew a cover for a doll from flesh-colored knitwear. It will not be visible after the doll is dressed, but I will know that under the suit the boy looks decent and neat). If this point is not so important for you, you can skip all the points that relate to the knitted cover and go directly to creating the doll’s costume. I’ll tell you how I dressed this doll in the final, fourth part of MK.
For work we will need the following materials and tools:
Sewing threads, scissors, sewing needles,
Hot glue,
Monofilament,
Nude knitwear,
Acrylic for coloring shoes.
I must warn you, I have poor command of sewing terminology, if I name any operation incorrectly, please correct me.
Working on the case:
1. I prepare suitable knitwear. I liked this color. I will sew the cover without creating a pattern, applying the fabric directly to the doll’s body. 
I cut a rectangle of fabric, the width of which is approximately equal to the circumference of the body at its widest point, the height is a couple of centimeters greater than the distance from the knees to the doll’s neck. I cut the fabric from bottom to top in the middle to a height equal to the distance from the knees to the doll’s crotch (pants). 
I cut the fabric from top to bottom in the places where the doll's arms will be located. I determine the height of the cut by trying the fabric on the doll’s body, slightly stretching the knitwear. Average top part the canvas will be located on the doll's chest, and the narrow left and right parts will be on the back. There will be a seam running down the middle of the back. You can see from the photo what I mean. I hemmed the bottom of the future panties with a basting stitch. I didn’t have to do this, they weren’t useful to me) 
This is how the cover will be located on the doll’s body: 
I turn the body over, pull on the knitwear, wrapping it around the doll’s body, and sweep away the details of the cover in the middle of the back. I pull the fabric down from the back and stomach, and temporarily fasten it between the doll’s legs to correctly determine the location of the shoulder seams. While stretching the knitwear, I baste the shoulder seams. I make sure that the fabric is positioned evenly, without folds, sagging or excessive tension. I cut the stitches between the doll's legs; at the moment I no longer need them. 
I cut off the excess material and finish the shoulder seams.
I do the same with the seam on the back. I cut off the excess material close to the seams and rip them out. I use a hidden seam to connect the parts of the cover.
Now I'm working with bottom cover. The pants turn out to be very wide, you need to make darts and remove excess material. At the back I collect the excess fabric into two darts and lay basting seams. I also connect the parts of the panties between the doll’s legs with basting seams, stretching the material. I cut off the extra length of my pants.
I cut out the sleeves, determine the length and width of the sleeves by applying a piece of knitwear to the doll’s body. The width is approximately equal to the circumference of the arm, the length is slightly greater than the distance from the edge of the shoulder to the expected length of the sleeve. 
I sew the sleeves into “tubes” and put the dolls on my hands. I'm working on the seams on my pants. 
I cut out the trouser legs in a similar way. 
I sew the sleeves and legs to the cover. 
I try on the head and determine its exact position. 
I cover the shoes with acrylic. For now I’m using green FC + light ocher, I’ll adjust the shade later. 
I glue the doll's head using hot glue, trying to work carefully so as not to stain the knitted cover. I immediately remove protruding excess glue using a thin knitting needle. 
I decorate the neck of the cover using a two-layer strip of knitwear. I sew it on with a hidden seam.
The doll's underwear is ready, you can move on to creating a suit. 
All more masters They want to try their hand at working with this relatively new material, but from the very first steps they encounter difficulties, not knowing where to start, what kind of silicone to use and how to handle it. Here I will try to summarize the main points, based on my own experience and information obtained from the Internet. I’ll say right away that I won’t tell you anything fundamentally new - everything that will be discussed is well known to professionals working with silicone, but I hope that the information collected in one place will help beginners overcome their first difficulties.
What silicones are needed for casting?
So, first of all, the silicone itself. When creating dolls, I use platinum-based compounds (two-component silicones) from Smooth-On made in the USA, so we will talk about them. To work, you will need two types of silicones: for casting the dolls themselves and for making the mold. There are not many of the first, primarily the Dragon Skin Series and Ecoflex Series. They have a high degree of elasticity and allow you to most realistically convey the effect of human flesh.
The silicones of each of these series have different specifications: softness, pot life (length of time when silicone remains fluid), hardening time, viscosity, etc. What kind of silicone is best to use when creating dolls? I can’t say anything specific here - it all depends on ultimate goal masters In my opinion, it is best to follow the path of experiment, trying different series, in order to find in practice the one and only one that allows you to achieve desired effect material.
Silicones from the Dragon Skin Series and Ecoflex Series are colorless and translucent, so to obtain a realistic doll color they must be colored using special Silc Pig pigments.
The second type of silicones is used to make the mold. Be careful - Platinum-based silicones can only be cast into molds made from platinum-containing silicone. Silicones with a tin catalyst cannot be used. Otherwise, the casting will not harden. Silicones intended for mold removal have to a lesser extent elasticity, greater hardness, usually painted in bright colors or transparent. The bright color of one of the components allows you to evenly mix components A and B before pouring, and the transparent ones allow you to see the model in the mold (this is convenient if the mold is cast as a whole and then cut into parts). Silicones intended for mold removal include such series as: E-Series, Mold Star Series, Equinox Series, Rebound Series, etc.
The mold can be made by pouring, or by gradually applying layers of silicone with a brush. The first method is simpler and faster, but requires more silicone consumption. The second one is more labor-intensive, and it also requires various Additional materials. You can clearly see the process of creating a “spread” form on the official video of the company:
A little about forms
The finished silicone mold remains elastic, this is its absolute advantage, but we must not forget that it can be easily deformed, so it must be placed in a special protective casing cast from ordinary plaster.
Before pouring silicone into a silicone mold, you must use a special release agent, Ease Release, otherwise the mold and the casting will stick tightly together. The separator layer must be thoroughly dried, since in some cases it prevents the silicone cast from completely hardening.
Molds for casting dolls can be made not only from silicone, but also from plaster. It is advisable to use special dental plaster for this purpose, such as Fuji Rock, which has increased strength, perfectly conveys small relief details and dries fairly quickly. Compared to silicone molds, gypsum molds do not require the use of a release agent and absorb excess silicone oil during the casting process. However, plaster molds also have significant drawbacks - the master model is almost impossible to remove from the plaster without damage, the molds open with great difficulty and quite quickly become loose, losing the accuracy of the alignment of the halves. Also, in comparison with silicone, a plaster mold has to be made from more parts, which increases the number of seams on the finished casting.
Basic rules for working with silicone
So, we’ve sorted out the materials for casting, now let’s talk about the process itself. To avoid defects and failures when working with silicone, you must follow two golden rules that make the life of the master much easier:
- 1. Always strictly and pedantically follow instructions, avoiding any amateur activities.
- 2. Always test new materials that come into contact with silicone for compatibility.
For work, it is advisable to purchase a vacuum chamber with a pump that pumps out air from the mixture before pouring. Some types of silicones can be used without prior degassing, however, the risk that air bubbles will remain in the frozen mass is quite high.
It’s also a good idea to have an oven or drying cabinet for post-curing finished products. Silicone that has undergone heat treatment quickly acquires the properties declared by the manufacturer. physicochemical characteristics. Heat the product in an oven designed for food products I wouldn't risk it, despite the fact that platinum-based silicones are considered non-toxic materials.
I would like to note that making silicone dolls requires significant financial expenses, but you cannot save on materials and equipment by looking for cheap analogues and doing amateur work - the result of such experiments is usually disastrous and leads to inevitable damage to castings and molds.
When working with silicone, you should only wear vinyl gloves; latex gloves cannot be used.
The casting room must be heated; the temperature in it should not fall below 22-23 degrees. Necessary temperature regime one of the most important factors- at temperatures below 18 degrees, silicone may simply not harden, but more heat air slightly reduces the life time of the finished silicone mixture.
But you can’t store silicone in the heat. The material has a limited shelf life, which is reduced by increasing temperature. Opened jar must be used quickly, since contact with environment may also affect its properties. The algorithm of actions when working with silicone should be as follows: we take out jars of silicone from a cool place, wait for it to warm up to the required 23 degrees, thoroughly mix the contents of each of the jars, combine components A and B in exact proportions, and subject ready mixture degassing, pour into the mold and return the remaining silicone to the cold room.
In general, it should be remembered that silicone is a very capricious material that does not allow liberties in handling.
The vagaries of silicone
In principle, the process of making silicone castings is elementary, but this simplicity is deceptive. Silicone constantly presents unpleasant surprises, preventing the master from relaxing and making mistakes. The main danger for uncured silicone is inhibition (poisoning) by various substances incompatible with it. The most formidable and at the same time the most common “enemy” of silicone is plasticine containing sulfur. To work, you need to buy only plasticines marked Sulfur Free, such as Monster Clay or Chavant. It is better not to keep questionable plasticines in the workshop at all - even accidentally touching a sulfur-containing material with your hand can “infect” the silicone mold.
The second “enemy” of silicone is latex. Do not use latex gloves, syringes with rubber nozzles on pistons, or any other instruments that have latex parts in their design.
Use wooden sticks with great care to stir the mixture. Some types of silicone do not tolerate contact with wood and may be inhibited. To protect yourself from unpleasant surprises, it is advisable to mix the silicone with metal stirrers.
Freshly cured polyesters, epoxy and polyurethane rubbers are also dangerous. As I already wrote above, before using any new material, you need to test it by filling it with a small portion of silicone. If the mixture completely hardens in the usual time allotted for complete polymerization, and the surface of the silicone is not sticky, we can assume that the new material has successfully passed the exam and can be used in further work.
That's basically all I wanted to tell you about the techniques of working with silicone. I myself have often made mistakes, experienced many unpleasant moments, and I hope that this hard-won experience will help novice craftsmen not step on the painfully familiar old rake, and save nerves, time and money. Good luck with your creativity!
Modern children do not choose ordinary toys. Traditional barbies and toy soldiers no longer fascinate the current generation. The most popular is silicone reborn, which every girl dreams of owning. They appeared in the late 80s in the large company Dolls by Berengeur. Many adults collect entire collections of these dolls, which look exactly like life. The expression "reborn" translated from English means "born again." You can even order a doll that is a copy of a real child. Famous masters are able to carry out this process simply by looking at a photograph of the baby.
What are reborn dolls made from?
Upon closer inspection, you just want to know what these amazing baby dolls are made of. Silicone reborns are made from special materials:
- eyes: glass blank, acrylic;
- hair: mohair (Canadian or American premium);
- eyelashes: mohair;
- body and head: glass or plastic granulate.
Necessary equipment for creating a silicone baby
Reboarding is the science of making realistic dolls. To create a toy, the master must have:
- Mold. This is a blank of the doll's face and body. Silicone reborn contains parts that must be ordered from abroad.
- Acrylic and oil paints. They draw small details. Talented creators can give maximum real view doll by painting images of rashes, wrinkles and bruises on the baby’s body.
- Solvent.
- Gel, sponges and brushes.
Design work
One silicone reborn cannot be similar to another. Even the products of one author are individual. The creators of “living” toys are exclusively women. Probably men are not able to withstand such intense and painstaking work. If you think about why there is a desire to have or create such realistic babies, you can find several opinions on this matter. Perhaps this is a desire to give childless couples the opportunity to have a baby doll, or the loss own child. To create a special feeling of the baby’s presence, designers scent their products with a special scented composition baby soap. The fact is obvious: a kind of happiness for people is reborn dolls. Boys, silicone girls, twins - it doesn't matter. They look realistic, smell like real babies and give you the feeling of motherhood.
What can a reborn do?
You can answer this question in one word: please your owner. His body parts are identical to human ones, his nails are made of gel, his lips and tongue look as natural as possible. This baby is perfect, he is not capricious, and if you get tired of playing with him, you can simply leave him without attention. You need to buy him nice clothes and enjoy the game. It looks so realistic that strangers may seriously mistake him for a real child. But it is important to remember that, despite all the advantages, this is just a doll that can never replace a real baby.
How much does a reborn baby cost?
It takes a large number of time and a lot of expensive materials. For this reason, the price ranges from $700 to $1,000 per baby. If a person is willing to pay that amount of money, then he will receive a doll highest quality. Some people buy reborns as a family member and have them commissioned from famous artists for thousands of dollars.
Silicone reborn in Lately is under attack by underground craftsmen who make an analogue of the original brand from cheap materials. Naturally, fakes have significant differences, but they also have affordable prices.
