Posing alabaster doll

Topaz is in her final stages of development. I made her some hands and attachments this week. She is unique since she is made of stone and has to be posed differently from the usual jointed dolls. I decided to call her an articulated doll.  What I learned making this doll is that alabaster would be far better for 1/12 and 1/8 scale dolls due to the weight of the stone and the limit on how thin I can possible grind down the pieces. But she is my most favorite doll in the world and she really makes me laugh. 

I had to remove the extra neck joint. I like it because it made her bobble like a bobble head doll. It was just also making it easier for her to fall over. I decided to save the joint for playing around with stop motion ideas. 

Her clothes fit and are currently being washed and sized. This blog is about posing the doll. 

What I ended up doing to attach her hands was stripping the steel wire that comes inside the package wires I was using to string her at first. Then I made tiny coils that would hold a magnet. I made a hook on the other end to crimp onto the doll's stringing cord inside her arm. Then I put magnets in her hands to fit the magnet in her arms. It made it really easy to dress her too. The coils are replaceable. 

I had to hollow out her head cap to make it stay on better. She is still so heavy the bungee cord had to be changed after I finished her arms. I am going to change some more of her cords that wore out during the experiment of making her parts.

I made her hands so they can hold her things. I really liked the craggy old look of her hands. I have enough stone and magnets left to make her a series of hands. That will be fun. I can still see a bit of the coil in her hands but it works out so that there is some room to play with her hands too. 

The elbows have notches that hold the string and position her arms. The only thing about it was when she has on her costume, I had to roll up her sleeves to pose her arms. I will take that into account the next time I make her new costumes.

I signed my crafts signature to the head cap. It is also dated 6-2-18 but just hard to see.

To pose her pull down on the forearm and wrap the cord around the notches.  She has been hardened but still scuffs a bit. I can always polish her more. I plan on putting some moleskin wherever I can to help with the scuffing too. The same goes for her legs and knees. Pull down first before repositioning the joints. They are not ball joints but more peg jointed and tongue and groove.

She does stand but since I took out the extra neck joint, I will probably have to tighten or restring her. She says she's tired and needs a rest now. After all she is millions of years old. I will try to get some photos of her when I redress her.