Victorian Belnickel - Part 9

Head glued to body with hot glue.

Well, I had hoped to have the doll's hands sculpted today, but the weather was not cooperative.  Another winter storm came through and the temperature was not warm enough to open up for ventilation.  The bake in the oven clay is rather odoriferous and needs good ventilation.  I did not want to sculpt the hands before I was ready to bake them.  I decided to wait until a better day.  I still have plenty of work to do on the doll, so I do have something new to add to the blog. 

Muslin collar glued to neck and sewn to body.

Silicone finger covers protect fingers from hot glue.

I have attached the doll head to the body.  That may not seem like such a task, but it took the better part of the morning.  First off, the neck was created hollow to help with inserting the wire stem that is the main support for the head.  The head above the neck is a different story.  Regular readers may remember that the armature for the head is rock solid.  It took quite a bit to bore a hole in it deep enough to insert the wire into the head armature.  I did not use a power tool because I was afraid I might accidentally drill though the head or have the tool skip and damage the neck.  I just used a pair of needle nose and pushed my way through the head.  This has to be done very carefully as well to make sure that I don't wreck the head I spent so many hours creating.  It was a bit nerve racking.  However, I was able to make a deep enough hole for the armature without damaging the head. 
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After making sure that I was able to position the head as I wanted I filled the hole with hot glue and inserted the wire.  I held the head in place until the glue had hardened and the head would not shift.  Once the glue was dry I added another bead of glue all the way around the neck to secure the head to the torso.  At this point it is noticeable that the head is just sitting on the neck.  That will be less obvious when clothing is added to the doll.

The head is secure, but I like to add an extra measure to make sure the head is securely fastened to the doll.  I cut a piece of scrap muslin on the bias and hot glued it to the base of the neck.  Then I sewed the bottom edge of the muslin to the torso of the doll.  Someone could get the doll apart, but they are really going to have to work at it.  I like to add the extra feature because you never know who will get their hands on the doll. Technically, this is an art doll.  It is meant to be looked at, not played with.  However, you never know when a curious child might get hold of it and start pulling on it. 

I found a product at the craft store that was helpful in working with the hot glue.  I cannot tell if they are a brand new product, but the product is new to my local craft store.  I ran across them on my latest trip there.  They are silicone finger protectors.  They were made to protect your fingers from burning them with hot glue.  Regular readers will probably remember that many times over the years I have mentioned that I burned my fingers on hot glue.  The silicone finger covers come three to a package for $4.99.  They are all the size of the largest finger cover in the photo.  I had to cut a couple down because my fingers are short.  The silicone cut easily with a pair of scissors.  If you plan to be working with hot glue, you might find this product worthwhile.

At this point, I will probably go ahead and start adding the hair and beard before I get to work on the hands.  It depends on how much time I have during the next week.  Although it is still winter, I can tell that the days are getting longer and my schedule is getting busier.  Time passes much to quickly. 

Just to end on a funny note: when I was working with the photographs in Windows, it kept asking me if I wanted to tag the photo.  The computer thought it was a human.  Check back Sunday for the next post.