HOW TO: Make a vinyl dolls inset eyes changeable

How to do "brain surgery" to make a vinyl dolls inset eyes changeable!
this works best on wigged/bald dolls and can be done with the head still attached to the body.

tools needed:
rubber band,
exacto knife with a fresh sharp blade,
graphite pencil,
bowl of really hot water or a hair dryer


Place a rubberband around the head at least 1cm higher than the wigline. You can also just use the circle on the back of the head for a guide, but I wanted my hole to be bigger as I will be makeing the head able to be opened often.

EG brain surgery101 by leopardessmoon, on Flickr

Draw a line around the rubberband with a graphite pencil, do not use a colored pencil or pen of any sort, graphite will not stain and can be rubbed off with an eraser.

EG brain surgery102 by leopardessmoon, on Flickr

Dip the back of the head into the super hot water to soften the vinyl. you can also use a hair dryer on low held at least 8 inched away from the head.

EG brain surgery103 by leopardessmoon, on Flickr

Insert exacto knife straight into head on the pencil line and slowly cut around the head on the line. If it gets difficult to cut rewarm the head with hot water or hair dryer.

EG brain surgery104 by leopardessmoon, on Flickr

EG brain surgery105 by leopardessmoon, on Flickr

There will be a layer of vinyl coating the back of both eyes, you will need to carefully trim the vinyl away from the back of the eyes. go slow and apply heat to make it easier to cut without slipping.

EG brain surgery106 by leopardessmoon, on Flickr

EG brain surgery107 by leopardessmoon, on Flickr

Trim the eye well cups as smooth as you can without cutting too far into the head

EG brain surgery108 by leopardessmoon, on Flickr

Tada!

EG brain surgery109 by leopardessmoon, on Flickr

Soften the vinyl on both the head and the cap and postition the cap into place and tape it together. Allow head to cool and harden while taped like this to insure that your headcap will fit properly.

If you are just changeing the eyes once or fixing wonkey eyes and glueing them into place, then you may wish to glue the head cap back on. if you want to change out the eyes often you will need to make a system to detach the cap easily. That will be covered in another tutorial.


And to show some eye positioning (these are just being held in with my finger).

EG brain surgery110 by leopardessmoon, on Flickr

EG brain surgery111 by leopardessmoon, on Flickr

EG brain surgery112 by leopardessmoon, on Flickr

EG brain surgery113 by leopardessmoon, on Flickr