I need help with a doll I'm designing,Help?

Question

Ok soo I have this doll that I'm designing and I already have a manufacturer for the doll and everything.The manufacturer told me to send pics of the details and things I want applied to the doll but,the only problem is I don't know how to exactly describe how I want the doll made.I know that I don't want the doll to have any joints and that I want her to be molded with sometype of posable skeleton molded with the skin so I can eliminate joints.I want the doll to be a playdoll and I want her to move like a human.Basically the doll would be similar to the silicone s*x doll but,without the s*x.I don't know how playable silicone would be and I don't know how to describe the way I want the doll to be made sooo any suggestions people?

Answer 1

This is hard to real answer because you left a lot of things unsaid.  Mostly what scale or size are you thinking about.  Simply put, the larger the doll, the more it becomes possible to have it "move like a human".  

What you are thinking about is an armature that has working joints.  An armature can be embedded in the entire molded body or be just in certain areas such as the knees.  The issue here is cost of course . . . the more joints in the armature, the more expensive it will be.

But now size comes into play.  The first Barbies had movement only where the parts assembled.  Then they introduced bendable knees using an armature only in that particular area.  But to give an 11 1/2 inch doll human movement is impossible until you have the budget of NASA.  There just isn't enough room in the fingers, etc. to put an affordable jointed armature.  

Your requirement of no visable jointing also causes problems the smaller you go.  All plastics want to recover shape so if you bend it, it wants to return to its prior shape.  So an armature joint not only has to "bend", it also needs to lock to prevent the covering "skin" from pulling it back to what the skin recognizes as its rest position.  Life size dolls can use an armature that can overcome this but a smaller doll needs to click into a few locked positions that will allow it to "hold its pose".

The reality is there is little you can do in a scale doll to achieve human movement.  Even ball jointing which has fully visable joints and is the current method accepted by most manufacturers to provide movement and posability still can't offer total human movement though it can come awfully close.  But what you need to do is determine where you want each area of flexibility (knees, elbows, etc) and specify those to your manufacturer.  Even then, you may find you have to compromise in areas such as the head, arm and leg area and go with a visable joint (as on most vinyl dolls).

Answer 2

well,you should picture it in your mind,then draw it out on a piece of paper,then send the pic to the manufacturer.