Almighty Hat (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
hat_plays_dolls) wrote2023-03-29 04:53 pm
hat_plays_dolls) wrote2023-03-29 04:53 pm
Entry tags:
Custom Doll-- Monster High Signature Raythe
First of all, let me apologize that somehow these pics just aren't as fun/nice as my process pics. I don't know how that happened. Not the right mood for doll photography that day?
But hey!
So I made myself a custom Raythe.
Click on the link in the paragraph above for a detailed report on how I did it, this post is a close look at his outfit, but.
The Reboot robbed us of boy characters generally-- we got, what, Shriek Wrecked Gil, who was basically just Gil but with opaque-molded hands, Dance the Fright Away Deuce, Winning Werewolves Clawd, and Vampire Kitchen Dracula-- who wasn't even fully articulated.
Robbed!
And the reboot actually gave us not just Raythe but Moanica's horde of Zomboys-- I would've paid for a five pack of Moanica and Zomboys, even with budget articulation.
But-- Raythe. The first boy to express an interest in Clawdeen onscreen, lead singer of Howling Thunder and Frightening (featuring Raythe and Deuce and the Rolling Bones and Woolee), hanger of lampshades-- hey, how come I didn't get an electrified outfit?
I've wanted one for years, I still kinda hope Mattel makes one (there's your Skullector Line, Mattel, do us up some missed dolls-- Pharaoh, Raythe, Mom Wolf, Madame Ptolemy, Mermanta Gil, Andy Beast, Gory, Bram, I could go on!), but I am not going to bet on that.
So I made one.
His outfit is handmade-- literally hand made, I do not know how to use a sewing machine-- and I drafted the patterns myself. I'm not totally pleased with his undershirt, but I have enough of that fabric to make it over again a hundred times if I need to, so. If I get frustrated, I can fix it.
His belt is a repainted InvisiBilly belt, using Ghoul Squad inspiration to help break up the solid expanse of black of his... hoodie? Tunic? Thingy, and also to help disguise any visible waistband showing through the shiny black fabric.
His hair is a yarn weft "wig"-- not a real wig, as it's secured to his head and not a wig cap (because Deuce has a recessed scalp for snake purposes), and although I haven't tested the finish of his repaint against a lot of rough handling (like boiling water or strong cleansers), it has held up to hair gel, cleaning hair gel off the painted surface, and a number of head-first falls off my various work surfaces, and come out no worse for wear.
That wrist cuff was a pain in the butt to sew. Painting his manicure was much easier.
(The belt is supposed to look antiqued/tarnished, it's not a messy paint job, it's on purpose.)
Raythe's shoes are heavily painted BTS shoes-- since I couldn't figure out how to do chains easily, I went with gradient shoelaces. Raythe is very prepared to start conversations about tumblr.
I considered a lot of fabrics for Raythe's tunic, and went with a liquid knit because watching Raythe in motion convinced me this material was supposed to be sheen-y.
For the ragged sleeves, I just snipped little cuts with my scissors, then-- because this is a synthetic fabric-- sealed the edges with my hot knife. Sold for woodburning but I bought it to make synthetic fabrics less awful to work with.
I'd forgotten, when I painted Raythe's nails, that he does have a manicure in Welcome to Monster High-- it's lighter and brighter than this, but I really liked the near-black blue on him so oh well.
His skintone should be brighter, too, but I can paint a head and still have a playable doll; I'm not at the point where I can paint a body and still end up with a doll I can wrangle.
... Yeah another headshot. He's a little wider than his animation model, between hair and face, but Mattel never gives us boy dolls that have faces as narrow as their animation models unless it's Gil, who needed his G1 head to fit inside his big tanky helmet.
And of course, Raythe needed his guitar!
This is made out of reused paperboard, lots of glue, acrylic paint, scraps of metallic paper from a 'please apply for a credit card, look our envelope is very shiny' envelope, six seed beads, black grosgrain ribbon, and a coffin cut out of craft foam.
And time.
A lot of time.
But you know what, I feel like it was time well spent. This is not the sort of thing anyone could make to sell-- hours of work involved here-- but if you've got hours to spend it's also not that difficult.
... If you don't have a dremel tool, however, maybe stick to a less complicated shape at the base of the thing. I could not have done that one without my dremel.
The back is not terribly interesting.
"Hey! Where's my electric outfit?"
Like what I do and want to help me feed my cats, but don't need anything I have for sale on eBay? You can always support me on Patreon or throw some change in my tip jar.
But hey!
So I made myself a custom Raythe.
Click on the link in the paragraph above for a detailed report on how I did it, this post is a close look at his outfit, but.
The Reboot robbed us of boy characters generally-- we got, what, Shriek Wrecked Gil, who was basically just Gil but with opaque-molded hands, Dance the Fright Away Deuce, Winning Werewolves Clawd, and Vampire Kitchen Dracula-- who wasn't even fully articulated.
Robbed!
And the reboot actually gave us not just Raythe but Moanica's horde of Zomboys-- I would've paid for a five pack of Moanica and Zomboys, even with budget articulation.
But-- Raythe. The first boy to express an interest in Clawdeen onscreen, lead singer of Howling Thunder and Frightening (featuring Raythe and Deuce and the Rolling Bones and Woolee), hanger of lampshades-- hey, how come I didn't get an electrified outfit?
I've wanted one for years, I still kinda hope Mattel makes one (there's your Skullector Line, Mattel, do us up some missed dolls-- Pharaoh, Raythe, Mom Wolf, Madame Ptolemy, Mermanta Gil, Andy Beast, Gory, Bram, I could go on!), but I am not going to bet on that.
So I made one.
His outfit is handmade-- literally hand made, I do not know how to use a sewing machine-- and I drafted the patterns myself. I'm not totally pleased with his undershirt, but I have enough of that fabric to make it over again a hundred times if I need to, so. If I get frustrated, I can fix it.
His belt is a repainted InvisiBilly belt, using Ghoul Squad inspiration to help break up the solid expanse of black of his... hoodie? Tunic? Thingy, and also to help disguise any visible waistband showing through the shiny black fabric.
His hair is a yarn weft "wig"-- not a real wig, as it's secured to his head and not a wig cap (because Deuce has a recessed scalp for snake purposes), and although I haven't tested the finish of his repaint against a lot of rough handling (like boiling water or strong cleansers), it has held up to hair gel, cleaning hair gel off the painted surface, and a number of head-first falls off my various work surfaces, and come out no worse for wear.
That wrist cuff was a pain in the butt to sew. Painting his manicure was much easier.
(The belt is supposed to look antiqued/tarnished, it's not a messy paint job, it's on purpose.)
Raythe's shoes are heavily painted BTS shoes-- since I couldn't figure out how to do chains easily, I went with gradient shoelaces. Raythe is very prepared to start conversations about tumblr.
I considered a lot of fabrics for Raythe's tunic, and went with a liquid knit because watching Raythe in motion convinced me this material was supposed to be sheen-y.
For the ragged sleeves, I just snipped little cuts with my scissors, then-- because this is a synthetic fabric-- sealed the edges with my hot knife. Sold for woodburning but I bought it to make synthetic fabrics less awful to work with.
I'd forgotten, when I painted Raythe's nails, that he does have a manicure in Welcome to Monster High-- it's lighter and brighter than this, but I really liked the near-black blue on him so oh well.
His skintone should be brighter, too, but I can paint a head and still have a playable doll; I'm not at the point where I can paint a body and still end up with a doll I can wrangle.
... Yeah another headshot. He's a little wider than his animation model, between hair and face, but Mattel never gives us boy dolls that have faces as narrow as their animation models unless it's Gil, who needed his G1 head to fit inside his big tanky helmet.
And of course, Raythe needed his guitar!
This is made out of reused paperboard, lots of glue, acrylic paint, scraps of metallic paper from a 'please apply for a credit card, look our envelope is very shiny' envelope, six seed beads, black grosgrain ribbon, and a coffin cut out of craft foam.
And time.
A lot of time.
But you know what, I feel like it was time well spent. This is not the sort of thing anyone could make to sell-- hours of work involved here-- but if you've got hours to spend it's also not that difficult.
... If you don't have a dremel tool, however, maybe stick to a less complicated shape at the base of the thing. I could not have done that one without my dremel.
The back is not terribly interesting.
"Hey! Where's my electric outfit?"
Like what I do and want to help me feed my cats, but don't need anything I have for sale on eBay? You can always support me on Patreon or throw some change in my tip jar.