Barbie deBarbiefied (continuously updated)

Lynkhart wrote:Yeah, I’m not a big fan of the Sindy dolls themselves, but the clothes and accessories were incredibly detailed and very lifelike! You can usually find job lots of them on eBay for not very much money too which is a bonus. I customised some of the vintage kitchen cabinets and fridge a while back. They’re too short without modification but if you raise them up a bit they’re perfect for 1/6th figs.

Max and Juno's new kitchen by Christine Sutcliffe, on Flickr

That's an absolutely crucial Barbie DeBarbiefied point, right there.  It's not as mathematical as multiplying or dividing everything X 6.  Lots of times something that seems way too underscale becomes surprisingly credible simply by raising the feet.  It works on seating etc as long as the raised seat line falls in a natural place, simililarly with tables. cabinets etc. as long as everything is consistent  That's a great looking kitchen -- natural accumulation of detail totally sells it.

Fantastic shots guys! Love the mini's I have a sindy one too with the Union Jack roof.

It looks to me like Sindy accessories generally need less modification in appearance than Barbie, but sometimes suffer from similar problems of size. Adding height to furniture through the legs seems to work very well.

I’m not going to lie... a week or so back was the FIRST time I recall actually actively browsing the “pink aisle” for clothing and accessories that would work for the TBL figures.

I was kind of surprised that Mattel offers Barbie “clothes” as separate items. Sadly, I didn’t really dig through them to check compatibility.

GubernatorFan wrote:It looks to me like Sindy accessories generally need less modification in appearance than Barbie, but sometimes suffer from similar problems of size. Adding height to furniture through the legs seems to work very well.

That was true for the original Pedigree Sindy but once Barbie went all pink in the 1980s Sindy and every other fashion doll followed. Even re-releasing items in pink colours that previously had been released in more realistic colours.
Also some of the later vehicles don't seem to have been designed with the same realism standards either and were probably outsourced to other manufacturers than before.

This is the Sindy Range Rover MKI. Roof and C-pillars can be removed and if I remember correctly this vehicle can be either left-or right hand drive.

collectorofmany wrote:I’m not going to lie... a week or so back was the FIRST time I recall actually actively browsing the “pink aisle” for clothing and accessories that would work for the TBL figures.

I was kind of surprised that Mattel offers Barbie “clothes” as separate items. Sadly, I didn’t really dig through them to check compatibility.

Most "Barbie" and other fashion doll clothes will only fit the smaller TBLeague figures.
Kenner figures (Jamie Summers, Dusty, ... are larger).
Ken, Action Man, Big Jim, ... clothing will fit larger figures too. I use their shoes for "flatfoot" TBLeague figures.

@DarthJ, Good to know, thanks. Too bad.

@collectorofmany, on the packaging there would be some indication for the body type that clothing would fit -- look for the curvier silhouette, if you want a chance that the clothing will fit on TBLeague bodies. I'm pretty sure DarthJ meant that some Ken items would fit on TBLeague female figures; most won't fit on male figures, though some accessories from other lines do.

This may be a bit of left field comment -- but just for fun, one of the uses of a too-underscale Barbie or Sindy vehicle would be to "Mad Max it up."  Obviously because of the wheels you couldn't just increase the height as you might for a sofa (without drastic surgery).  But the underscale factor kinda recedes if you slap machine guns, ballistas or war drums on them, and paint war stripes in the Mad Max style, and the whole overall effect is kind of tongue in cheek. And cheap enough to do for kicks.

One other use that I can see would be to have these vehicles be props in some kind of superhero fight diorama, where again, the size imprecision deficiency is less important.  I don't think I kept the test pic sadly, but I remember one time I had Superman lifting some Barbie-ish car that was Green (and not otherwise stylistically suitable) in the manner of Action Comics #1, and I thought it looked cool.

These sound like perfectly valid ways of dealing with lemons (make lemonade), MBAM. It's just a shame, since there is so much potential in these pieces. But the Mad Max route in particular sounds tempting.

This "DeBarbieFied" is a great idea!

And here is my first attempt at deBarbieFying: I did a bit of repainting of the bathroom.

This is the original package:




This is how it looks oin original:




And here is my version of it:




(my paint job is not of a very high quality... I might have to add another layer of paint.)

I'm glad I wasn't the only one to find potential in Barbie's bathroom -- sets! Nice work. The repaint makes a world of difference. Personally, I can't possibly accept these toilets as realistic, but there are some options there from various sources. Can you fit anything other than a Barbie in that tub or is it too narrow (hard to tell)?

GubernatorFan wrote:. Can you fit anything other than a Barbie in that tub or is it too narrow (hard to tell)?

Actually The S09C fits well into the tub! Here she is trying it out, before the deBarbification took place...

Very good, happy to hear it. One reason I went for the other Barbie bathroom set (in the first post) was that I figured the bathtub was big enough. But glad this one works too.

These Barbie and Gloria shelves and tables started out hot pink, blue, and orange. I primed and spray painted them all the same shade of dark brown, then used acrylic paint to highlight any handles and raised trim in metallic gold.

I didn't have the heart to add a dark background (like stone walls) behind the shelves - I like how the white background makes the potion ingredients and other magical supplies more visible. So she's a fashion-conscious mid-century witch helping her daughter with her homework instead of a medieval hag lurking in a dark dungeon environment.

Nice job - looks great!

Beautiful job on the shelves, and very nice scene.

Nice upgrades to the cabinets. (Welcome to the board!)

Here is another deBarbiefication project!

I got the bedroom set.

 

And here are the first results of some removing of the pink. The bedsheets I could not dye, so they remain.

But I placed a mattress (styrofoam sheet), a real white bedsheets (I cut one of my own old A-shirts into a small piece...) and I filled the pink blanket with a thin foam to plump it up a bit.

Nice job. It looks much better.

My contribution to this thread:

The above-shown (very) cheap bicycle painted in blue:




The Barbie wheelchair (in this case the TBLeague figure really needs it because of a broken ankle). The T-Shirt belongs to Ken:



I think there is no other way to get a modern active wheelchair in 1/6.

Great job on the bike -- and the diorama. Poor Paul! But yes, the Barbie wheelchairs are a rare modern wheelchair option. I see you did the same type of repaint there I did.

GubernatorFan wrote:Nice job. It looks much better.

Here is an update: some black paint on those two additional dresser stands. Maybe another color would look better, but black was all I had a available.

The black chair does not belong to the set, but fits well.

ElBundy wrote:My contribution to this thread:

The above-shown (very) cheap bicycle painted in blue:

...

The Barbie wheelchair (in this case the TBLeague figure really needs it because of a broken ankle). The T-Shirt belongs to Ken:

...


I think there is no other way to get a modern active wheelchair in 1/6.

Wheelchair and bicycle look great!

I also like the black cat in the first picture

one/sixth-uals wrote:Here is an update: some black paint on those two additional dresser stands. Maybe another color would look better, but black was all I had a available. The black chair does not belong to the set, but fits well.

Well, anything to obscure the pink helps. It does look much better. Functionally, the chair to the left is likely to be made of wood in real life, so its framing could be painted in a brown; the framing of the two pieces on the right would seem to be wrought iron or metal, so black might also work here. The framing around the mirror itself could be either metal or wood in real life, so you have yet another choice there. But even as it is now, I think it looks less like a toy, and more like a miniature.

You can also add pushing handles to the wheelchair.



More photos and information here: https://onesixthfigures.forumotion.com/t127p45-barbie-debarbiefied-continuously-updated#54785

GubernatorFan wrote:You can also add pushing handles to the wheelchair.

More photos and information here: https://onesixthfigures.forumotion.com/t127p45-barbie-debarbiefied-continuously-updated#54785

Sorry for the redundancy, I haven't noticed those posts. Cool pictures of the lady and the wheelchair with attached handles.

ElBundy wrote:Sorry for the redundancy, I haven't noticed those posts. Cool pictures of the lady and the wheelchair with attached handles.

It's not a problem -- we solved the issue the same way, and ended up with a more realistic wheelchair. The handles are an idea. Another idea might be arm rests (although perhaps those would be getting in the way of the occupant's mobility).

GubernatorFan wrote:
Another idea might be armrests (although perhaps those would be getting in the way of the occupant's mobility).

Yes, you are right: armrests are usually not parts of so-called 'active wheelchairs' (translated from German). Believe me, I have a lot of professional and familiar experience with wheelchairs.

ElBundy wrote:Yes, you are right: armrests are usually not parts of so-called 'active wheelchairs' (translated from German). Believe me, I have a lot of professional and private experience with wheelchairs.

Thank for confirming. I have very little, but tried to do a bit of basic visual research before making my modifications.