This project has been a WIP for waaaayyyyy too long, so I'm hoping by sharing progress so far, it will get me motivated to get going on this. you don't see too many out there, and (IMO) the prices when they come up are exorbitant to say the least. So here we go!
Original clown:
I kicked this project off by jumping right into Blender and working up the most definitive part, the head. This kind of project is definitely in my wheelhouse. Ignore the pupils in my model (the original had them painted on), I can use those as stencils for the head.
With a bit of photogrammetry and patience, we got a head! I have 4 prototypes so far, both full heads and halves to just get a literal 'feel' for the look.
Low res proto #1:
...And a 4th gen with a bit higher resolution:
Now optimally, the game plan is to have a head with neck as above, with a twist-lock flange that attaches to an upper torso 'shaper' that also has ring mounts for each arm. My thought is, that setup will allow the doll to be fairly 'rigid' when displayed, perhaps more so not 'slouchy', if that's even a word. The wrists will also have inserts with a wire armature for the fingers. And, although to be honest I am not excited for this idea right now, the flanged twist and release head means I could swap over to creepy clown head:
Not a big fan of that guy, but it's good to have the option I suppose
For the sewing end of things, I have learned and have a greater appreciation for the nuances of particular materials and the care that needs to be taken. It seems most likely that the majority of the fabric is crepe back satin, a bit finicky to work with. I believe I've got the patterning worked out quite well, but I think I will leave the heavy lifting (or teaching) to the best seamstress I know: My mom. She's not a fan of clowns (who is anyways), but she's on board and will at least make sure I do a bang-up job.
Updates will likely be slow on this, but at least if it's on here, you guys can hassle me to get this wrapped up in a reasonable bit of time. Thanks for looking!
Original clown:
I kicked this project off by jumping right into Blender and working up the most definitive part, the head. This kind of project is definitely in my wheelhouse. Ignore the pupils in my model (the original had them painted on), I can use those as stencils for the head.
With a bit of photogrammetry and patience, we got a head! I have 4 prototypes so far, both full heads and halves to just get a literal 'feel' for the look.
Low res proto #1:
...And a 4th gen with a bit higher resolution:
Now optimally, the game plan is to have a head with neck as above, with a twist-lock flange that attaches to an upper torso 'shaper' that also has ring mounts for each arm. My thought is, that setup will allow the doll to be fairly 'rigid' when displayed, perhaps more so not 'slouchy', if that's even a word. The wrists will also have inserts with a wire armature for the fingers. And, although to be honest I am not excited for this idea right now, the flanged twist and release head means I could swap over to creepy clown head:
Not a big fan of that guy, but it's good to have the option I suppose
For the sewing end of things, I have learned and have a greater appreciation for the nuances of particular materials and the care that needs to be taken. It seems most likely that the majority of the fabric is crepe back satin, a bit finicky to work with. I believe I've got the patterning worked out quite well, but I think I will leave the heavy lifting (or teaching) to the best seamstress I know: My mom. She's not a fan of clowns (who is anyways), but she's on board and will at least make sure I do a bang-up job.
Updates will likely be slow on this, but at least if it's on here, you guys can hassle me to get this wrapped up in a reasonable bit of time. Thanks for looking!
