After some tinkering in MeshMixer the first Dolly Darko head 3D print was faultless. As the print is completely hollow the print time was less than an hour which opens the possibility of printing a full doll in a single day.
The print is also extremely light with the fully painted head weighing in at only 24 grams which means a complete doll should weigh around 200 grams fully clothed. For people worried about the weight and feel of the doll, you'd be surprised it was made of plastic as the material once painted feels more like traditional paper mache. In no way does it feel or look like it was made using cutting edge technology.
The paint finish on the head is slightly over the top but I wanted to see how battered and nasty I could make her. A more toned down, cared for antique look will also be available to the more faint hearted.
The printer is currently churning out the torso so a full doll might feature in next weeks blog.
Dolly Darko has come a long way since I discovered her dusty body in a Parisian antique shop over a decade ago. She's been entombed in silicone and cracked and dropped so many times the original bisque doll is a sorry sight. The moulds used to create the forty or so Dolly Darko dolls are also on their last legs and have begun to fall apart.
In an attempt to immortalise Dolly in the digital realm I have started the task of 3D scanning all of the parts. Not only will this allow me to reproduce Dolly once again without the need of casting and moulding equipment but I will also be able to digitally restore any damage thus making her perfect once again. At some point in the past her right thigh was totally destroyed however, through 3D scanning I've been able to scan the left thigh and mirror it via the software editor to make a brand new right thigh.
Once all of the components are scanned and saved I can print Dolly in any size and colour but more importantly, I can print her with a hollow torso and head. This gives me the opportunity to install servos and other gadgetry that will make Dolly even scarier than her resin counterpart. It will also make her 80% lighter than the original which introduces the possibility of puppetry. A doll version of Losander's floating table anyone? By implementing this amazing new technology it is all possible, although the journey to get this far has been one hell of a steep learning curve!
As well as capturing Dolly Darko digitally I have also started to capture all of my other existing antique doll and vent doll heads for future projects. Even if one should become lost or damaged I'm only a few hours of printing away from a new one. It's a facility that will become invaluable in the studio and I'll never have to endure my collectibles to the rigours of silicone and latex ever again. As strange as it sounds, the ability to scan and reproduce any object leaves you with an almost god like feeling!
Next time I will compare a few test prints with the original parts of Dolly Darko in terms of detail and weight. It finally looks like Dolly Darko MkII could be a chilling reality, only this time she'll be much scarier than before...
After a few years of successful 3D printing the next logical progression was to purchase a 3D scanner. I had been monitoring the market for a while but nothing was available that fitted my criteria at a reasonable price, that was until the Einscan-S came along. This scanner adopts structure white light scanning technology, which features faster scanning speed (3 minutes /circle, much faster than similar desktop 3d scanners), lower noise, better details (accuracy ≤0.1mm) and safer for eyes compared to laser scanning technology. What does this mean to the non-techie? It means I can scan a human face, manipulate and print it at any size. So like me, if you're in the business of making creepy dolls this type of tool creates endless possibilities.
Taking inspiration from Evelyn Poole's collection of voodoo ventriloquist dolls from Penny Dreadful Season 2 I have started a mini project to 'vent' myself. There's something very peculiar about holding an exact copy of your own face in the palm of your hand. The process is quick and significantly less messy than entombing someones head in alginate and creating casts with buckets of plaster. The first scan was printed in white ABS and once the eyes were added my face came alive. Followers on Facebook will have seen me attaching my 'mini me' to various dolls with truly disturbing results.
When you invest money into a piece of kit like this the first thing that crosses your mind from a business perspective if how you're going to recoup that money. Having only played with my new toy for 2 weeks I can see that 3D scanning and printing will become the workhorse of the studio and my mind is overflowing with ideas and possibilities. Personalised ventriloquist dolls are just a start and I already have people lining up to donate their faces and be immortalised in plastic. I'm one step closer to my Braavos 'Temple of Many Faces'. Valar morghulis!
Next week work begins on Dolly Darko MkII...
