ABS Plastic and Winsor & Newton (Crafting Gone Awry)

Hello there,

For those of you who do not know, I have a YouTube channel called SkippyBJD that's updated about as regularly as my blogger (which is to say, somewhat sporatically). Recently, I put up a crafting video documenting my and my friend's BJD alterations with the title "A Faceup and An Unintentional Mod".

The reason for this post is that I wanted to ask (or warn) about ABS plastic reacting to Winsor & Newton brush cleaner. Now, Winsor and Newton is my go-to for faceup cleaning - it's gentle on the resin and doesn't stain or leave residue. That's why, when the following events unfolded, I was a little more than confused.

I was trying to wipe the factory faceup from an Ai Doll Lagrus and she sort of...melted. Now, I don't want to scare anyone or jump to conclusions; I'm not 100% sure that the Ai Doll I had was even made of ABS plastic (the same stuff used to make Blythes). This is what the result was:

My only thought is that I have to sand her now - honestly not too upset because that means I get to try some modding stuff I've been too nervous to try as of yey - but hopefully that gets her into a presentable state.

Concluding Thoughts: You should always test things like this on a small part of a doll you're not sure about ESPECAILLY if you've paid a lot of money for the doll. I'm still not confident this is made of ABS plastic, but if anyone has any advice, I'm open to suggestions! Hahaha....

Wrap Up Questions: Has anyone had something similar happen? How did you fix it? Or, better yet, if you have a doll you know is made of ABS plastic and used W&N cleaner on it, did it work fine or did it melt?

Follow Up: I have a follow up blog post describing the solution to this problem. In short, please only use Winsor & Newton on resin. ABS aparently does much bettter with rubbing alcohol. Please see the corresponding blog post for a little more detail.

Diary Adventure

Dear Diary,

Lati is about to release a new line of limited dolls (they do this around five times a year, then follow it with an order period for normal dolls). They're sweets themed and really darn cute. While I have been mentally assuring myself that I only want boys, in any size, from now on, two girls from this release really caught my eye.

One is Jia. She's a little asian looking, and I love that. She comes in tan and has a red/orange color scheme. I love Lati's tan, too. My favorite tiny-sized doll currently is Lati tan. The other is Sophie. I already have a Sophie, but she's in their old normal-skin, which is basically a mellow yellow. This new one is in pink and has a strawberry themed outfit. I'm so screwed because with all the extras the two of them will run me just over a thousand dollars. That's right. One grand for two dolls smaller than a pencil pouch.

My dilemma is not really whether I am willing to fork over the money. I am. The question is am I willing to sacrifice a potential trip to Japan this summer to visit my friend who will be studying abroad? Five hundred dollars might be the breaking point. I don't know if I will be able to save up enough to pay for my airfare, food, souvenirs and hotel with only a couple of months to go. I'm so screwed.

Love,
Nat

Faceup Adventure (Leekeworld Adolf)

Since this is the first Faceup Adventure, I'll give a brief rundown. A faceup is a cross between make-up and face. It refers to the process of painting a doll's face so that it looks real/in character. There are those that do realistic faceups, fantasy faceups, somewhere in between,or anything above and beyond. I'll just provide some pictures and the company + sculpt name of my faceup victims. I do them for practice. None are commissioned heehee.

Ok, this one is a LeekeWorld Adolf head. This one turned out silly looking because of the red on his cheeks. I think he looks like a cute raccoon though...