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QOTW: Your favourite type of eyechip?
Written on January 21, 2013 at 12:00 pm by MichelleFiled under: Question of the Week
I do very minor customizations on my dolls – I’ve definitely posted before that I’m chicken about doing ‘big’ changes to my own dolls. Which means that most of my dolls are stock or mostly stock. However, the little changes that I am willing to do include changing of the eye chips. I’m a big fan of the hot glue stick method, as illustrated here:
I light a candle and use it to melt the end of a hot glue stick. Once the glue is nice and transparent, I stick it to the eyechip (as centered as possible). Once it cools, I will either pull the chip or twist-and-pull. Sometimes it takes many tries before the chip comes out, but when it does, you do need to remember to remove the dried glue in the eye socket.
Tip! If you pull the chips out when the head of the doll is open, you can avoid getting hot glue on the doll’s stock eyelashes (if you’re looking to keep them).
Most of the eyechips that I’ve used so far have been Brainworm or CoolCat – I get the ones that most resemble the look of the stock chips (with the lines). I’ve also gotten a pair or two of handpainted chips (most likely done on the smooth/plain clear chips. I use water soluble white glue (that dries clear) – do not use something like ‘superglue’ or ‘Gorilla glue’ as it’s NOT good for the plastic and you won’t be able to remove the chips afterwards!
What kind of eyechips do you prefer on your Blythes? (Stock, Brainworm, CoolCat, another brand, handpainted, resin with sprinkles/glitter/sequins?)
Liquiriziadolly on etsy makes beautiful eyechips. She’s kind-of on-again, off-again about having them in her shop. BUT if you are lucky you can custom order some from her and she will paint them to your specifications. They are really nice!
I agree I love Lauras chips.
I have only used cool cat so far but I love the results with the foils behind!
A tip for stubborn chips…stick the glue sticks on and then put the doll in the freezer with them attached for 10 minutes or so. Twist and pull once you take her out and the chips should pop right out. I think the freezer makes the glue holding the chips in more brittle…
Great tip, Nancy! I’m usually too impatient to try the freezer, I just retry again 😉
Although I admire hand painted chips on other people’s dolls, but for my own I prefer stock-type chips–they catch the light in subtle and unusual ways, when you photograph them, which is what interests me most. I think if I didn’t place emphasis on what my dolls “do” photographically, I’d definitely go after hand painted chips. There are some very beautiful ones. Actually, I’d probably paint my own to be honest!
I’ve always used Brainworm but sometimes find the colors to be muddy. I want to try CoolCat to see if they are any different!
I have to admit…. my husband is better at getting the chips out of my dollys heads! He wins the prize for helping!
I also love Laura’s (Liquiriziadolly) chips too! Bird has a whole head of them. When I put them in – she totally came alive! It was a magical moment!
I prefer hand painted chips when I am replacing any of my girls stock chips, there are lots of talented people selling hand painted chips on Etsy 🙂