It's a follow-up with results to this post. Here is also the post with the arrival that I didn't cross-post here because I wasn't sure it was related to this comm. I think this one is also a bit on the off-topic side (the hair and clothes don't resemble the original character), but assume some of you wondered whether the project succeed 🙂
Recently, I rerooted a Barbie head that already had factory rooting holes. For this new project, however, I used a head from AliExpress that came without any holes (original post here). On the plus side, it had a molded groove marking the hairline, and most of the scalp was pre-painted in the correct color.
The doll owner chose the hair color. The hair is saran.
First, I covered the factory part lines and marked a new one. I used good-quality acrylic paint for this. I also inserted sewing pins along the back hairline. This is useful for several reasons:
- The rerooting needle breaks much faster when used to make the holes.
- It makes it easier to keep the spacing consistent.
After that, everything is pretty much the same as in my previous post.
The next steps followed a simple pattern: I marked the holes with pins, removed the pins, and filled the holes with hair. It's important not to leave the pins in for too long. Larger holes hold the hair less securely. I used one of my factory-rooted dolls as a reference to keep the hole spacing and density consistent.
Once I had finished the back of the head, I continued rooting along the hairline up to the part. After that, I started filling the inner area of the scalp, saving the part for later.
I also pre-marked the part with pins, but never more than four holes at a time. When only one hole was left, I inserted the next set of pins. For the part, I inserted hair into each hole four times. The part needs much thicker plugs than the rest of the head, but making larger holes is not a good idea. That's why I prefer using a smaller rerooting needle multiple times instead of switching to a larger one.
The head was fully rooted. At that point, I filled it with glue (in my case, Fabri-Tac) and left it for 24 hours.
The next day, I poured boiling water over the hair, washed it, trimmed it, and styled it. The doll was finally finished.
Fully agreed - I'd be afraid for my sanity if I tried. Amazing work!