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Use your Xacto to remove the seam lines from the
arm portions of the casting in the same manner as you removed them from the
head. Don't do the fingers at this
point. |
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Check the opening in the
arm. Is it clear of jagged edges, and is the opening large enough to
accept a chenille stem when you assemble your doll??? Remember, that hole
will be 20% smaller after firing.... |
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Use your nylon bristled
brush to sand the seam areas smooth. |
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Smooth the arm areas with a
nylon stocking over your finger. |
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Have an area that is
difficult to reach? Hold one end of the stocking between the thumb and
middle finger, and extend the index finger out with the nylon stretched over
it, pulling the nylon out to a thin flat edge, and sand. |
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Use your finger tool to
clean seamlines from fingers, and to deepen and define, or even separate the
fingers. This step requires a steady hand, a light touch, and lots of
patience. Don't rush, it takes much longer to re-attach a broken
finger than it does to take care in cleaning your hands. |
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You may also choose to
define the fingernails with the finger tool. Don't do harsh outlines
of the nails, as they tend to look harsh when painted. |
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Dip your 10/0 spotter brush
in water, blot on a paper towel and gently smooth between and around the
fingers. Don't use too much water, or you will quickly find you have a
fingerless hand. |
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Don't forget to detail the
underside of the hand too. Clean between fingers, inscribe joints in
fingers, even deepen palm lines if you wish. |
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Smooth the palm and back of
hand with a small flat nylon bristled brush. |
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Dip your 10/0 spotter brush
into water, and smooth between and around all fingers. |
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Use your china mop to
remove any loose dust from the |

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Use scalpel to remove seam
lines. When cleaning a leg with stockings, the seam will
probably run right over the socks. Remove the line without
disturbing the lines that indicate the ribbing. If some of the
ribbing is removed, you can replace it later. |
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Sand seams with nylon bristle
brush. Don't over clean on stockings or details such as
buttons, bows, etc that might be on your shoes. |
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If you need to replace ribbing
in a stocking, use a ball stylus tool, It will make a much
softer cut than a finger tool or X-Acto knife. |
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Check the end of the casting and
make sure that the opening is adequate for the insertion of a
chenille stem after firing. Use a damp cat's tongue to smooth
the inside of the opening to prevent cracking in the firing. |
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Give your legs a final
inspection and polishing with your nylon stocking. |
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Gently remove all loose dust
from casting with your china mop. |

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Tools and Materials
Duncan
EZ Stroke Underglaze
Ceramic
Tile
Food
Coloring
Palette
Knife
Clean
Water
10/0
Spotter Brush |
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Place a small amount of one
stroke underglaze on a ceramic tile. Add a small amount of
water, and even smaller amount of blue food coloring to the tile. |
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Use your palette knife to mix
the glaze, water and food coloring thoroughly.
The food coloring will make it much easier
to see where you have applied the glaze, since uncolored, it tends
to blend right in with the white greenware. |
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Use a 10/0 spotter. Dip
the brush in plain water, then blot excess water from brush onto a
paper towel. Moisten the eye area with this brush. The
application of the water will help prevent the greenware from
"grabbing" the underglaze too quickly, which would prevent
you from applying it smoothly and thinly. |
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Place a small amount of
underglaze mixture on your brush and very carefully apply to your
eye area. If you make a mistake and get some of the glaze
outside the desired area, let it set up, and gently remove with your
scalpel, then re-smooth that area.
The underglaze should be applied in a
single coat, as smoothly and evenly as possible. During the
firing, your greenware shrinks 20%. The underglaze really has
no place to go, and will shrink up too, but if applied too heavily,
will become very rough in the firing. |
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Teeth can be underglazed in the
same manner. Dampen first, then apply underglaze
Note: If you want a gloss finish on
your teeth, or even your eyes, you should substitute Seeley's
Perfect Pearls for the Duncan underglaze product, thinning, tinting
and applying in the same manner. Perfect Pearls is a
combination of white underglaze and clear high gloss glaze. |
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If you are going to china paint
socks or even shoes in a pale color, and have cast your legs in a
flesh tone porcelain slip, you can apply the underglaze mixture
(matte finish) to these areas as well. It will mask the pink
color, and give you a white background to apply your china paints
to. |
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Application of underglaze to
Dorothy's ankle socks. Notice that the underglaze is applied
thinly so that the ribbing in the socks is not filled in. |
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One last time, dust off ALL of
your castings immediately before placing on the kiln shelf. |
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Cleaned castings on kiln
shelf. I use a thin layer of firing sand under my pieces in my
cone 6 firings. I keep one shelf with sand ready for firings,
and use a clean shelf with no sand or kiln wash for my china paint
firings.
Note, this picture is just for illustration
purposes. I promise you that when I fire my kiln, I make sure
that all of the shelves are completely loaded, and schedule my
firings to run full loads to conserve energy!!! |
Well, that's all
there is to it! I hope that you have found this
tutorial helpful, and will visit again for new tutorials
which are being added regularly. For instructions on
assembly, china painting, costuming and even hat making,
visit the tutorial index. Happy Doll Making! |

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