This is probably because the BJD community places such a high value on aesthetics, which means that laboriously sanded and delicately layered works receive more approbation than messy, experimental, jerry-rigged ones. I have learned, however, that, in the end, resin BJDs are no different than plastic action figures. Both types of dolls mod very well with an application of hacksaw, rotary tool, Aves Apoxie Sculpt and hot glue.

Case in point: Yamarrah. I waited for the longest time to splice her Mirodoll bust piece with her Domuya abdomen because I thought that there would be something unduly complex about the process. There wasn’t.

As I started off, the top of the upper abdomen was too wide and thick to fit the bottom of the bust. Thus I sawed down the sides of the abdomen manually with a hacksaw. I could have used my Dremel and done it quicker, but I would have sprayed resin dust everywhere, and that stuff itches.

To reduce the depth of the upper abdomen, I cut it apart lengthwise and removed some depth from the sides. I then hot glued the longer front panel of the abdomen [with navel] to the lower abdomen part below. I then rejoined the back piece of the upper abdomen with the front using Aves Apoxie Sculpt, at the same time fusing it to the lower abdomen part.

Once I let the Aves Apoxie Sculpt dry, forming a single abdomen piece, I jammed the top of it up into the bottom of the bust piece. It wiggled around a bit, so I used hot glue to fill in the gaps. Sure, this whole process sacrificed two points of articulation [one between the upper and lower abdomen, the other between the abdomen and bust], but she was so floppy that the elimination of some extraneous joints could only improve her ability to hold a pose.

The whole mess from the front.

She still needed a little support from behind to keep from flopping, she I thickened the ridge of Aves Apoxie Sculpt at the rear base of her abdomen. This modification wins no aesthetic contests, but I don’t care because no one’s going to see it under her clothes.

Now fully assembled and rewired, Yamarrah may be a bit top-heavy from her weighty new bust piece, but that does not prevent her from posing well. She retains much of the adorable floppiness that prompted me to keep her Domuya body, and her slim, double-ganged limbs allow her to touch her face and fold her legs expressively. She can, unlike my other BJDs, draw her legs to her chest and cross her ankles.

I’m so happy that my adorable little floppy flaming creemee-loving vampire is complete! Her expression, which seems to me wondering and thoughtful [and hungry 😀 ], makes me smile. I’m glad that she turned out to be much easier than expected to modify, once I worked up the nerve.

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