Seam Sanding a BJD

http://www.bjdcollectasy.com A step-by step demonstration on how to remove seam lines from the casting process on resin ball jointed dolls.

Seam-lines are created in the casting process. Some companies (especially Chinese companies) sand these away. Many do not, or they charge extra for the service. Some dolls should NOT have their seams sanded. When Dolls have an outer coating of a different color resin (many tan/brown dolls, some grey dolls), sanding will remove the outer layer and expose the different color resin below. Sometimes sanded areas will look lighter then the surrounding resin. Sanding the body lightly with the highest grit sandpaper can help even out the coloring. Higher grits of sandpaper than 600 can be used, but too fine a grit will make the surface shiny.

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Howto & Style

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• abjd
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• ball jointed doll
• planetdoll
• tara
• korean bjd
• bjdcollectasy magazine
• diy
• 1/4 size bjd
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[BJDcollectasy]

Sorry, my daughter signed me out again, so the Kawaiitoboe post was from me.

[AnitaThePaypermaster]

I was considering sanding my dollmore boy myself instead of letting them do it to save some money, but I'm concerned the texture of the sanded area wont match with the rest of the body. Does this happen? Can I fix it?

[BJDcollectasy]

You can smooth the surface of the resin further by lightly sanding with the next higher grit number of sandpaper after removing the seams. Dolls that have been sanded by the company can also show slight variations in the surface, so getting the company to do it doesn't guarantee that the seam area will be completely invisible either. If you want to even out the appearance of the surface, you can also spray flat lacquer on the doll body. This can also get rid of excess resin shininess.

[BJDcollectasy]

Dollmore resin quality high, Bobobie's is light. I prefer Dollmore. Most Korean companies (Dollmore) don't usually sand seams except as an option. Chinese companies (like Bobobie) do. Blushing/ sanding aren't necessary at all. They are just extras you can do to your doll. If you want your doll to wear skimpy outfits and don't want seams showing, you may want to remove the seams. If your doll needs both, I suggest sanding over blushing. Blushing is less convincing with seams showing.

[KillerKawaii]

Thanks for the tutorial, it's very clear and useful :3

I'm probably going to give it a go, despite how petrified I am of such intrusive modding (yeah, this is big for me xD), my boy has a few on his limbs.

However, something that bothers me more is the contrast of textures between his stomach and his chest... his stomach is silky smooth, but his chest (particularly the concave areas) is less so - I don't want to do anything to the shape, but... what might you suggest? Thanks again ^-^

[BJDcollectasy]

Glad the tutorial was a help!

There are 2 things you can do about the chest:

i. Sand the torso with very fine (maybe 600 would do it) sandpaper all over. If you are going to seam sand, that would be a good time to do it.

2. You can spray the torso area with flat lacquer (like Mr. Super Clear. If you are thinking of body blushing your doll, you would be doing that anyway.

Doing either 1 or 2 should fix the problem! :D

[sarasan3]

What should you do with the water after its done. Is it safe to pour down drain? Do I just wash the bowl like normal afterwards?

[kawaiitoboe]

I didn't know that, actually. I tried to find some info on how to dispose of it, but no luck so far. If you find out anything, please let me know.

[Carrojii]

Hi I would like to ask a question but first, it's a very helpful tutorial, thank you ! :)

My question is that the resin that gets wet and gets into that bowl of water, what should you do with it when you are done with the sanding ? I have heard that it's not good to just empty it through the sink.

[joreyum]

Thank you for the great video. It was really helpful!

[OMGitsthejokergirl]

I'm thinking about buying my first BJD and I was hoping you could help me. I'm thinking of buying from Dollmore, how is there quality? There is also the option of Bobobie, the had an inexpensive 60 cm doll, how is there quality? Also, is body blushing necessary and is sanding necessary? At this point in my budget I might need to pick between body blushing and sanding. Which is a better choice?