Head Help! - Brand new to 1/6

Update! I wanted to share with everyone that I actually made the doll! I posted him here

Hi OSF forum, nice to meet you all! I decided to make an account here because I really want to try my hand at putting together my very own 1/6 figure of a character I like. I love making figures and dolls of all kinds, I've done OOAK repaints of kids' dolls, done lots of plushies, that sort of thing. Generally I love creative things so I figured making my own little guy would be a fun project to do. And possibly a gateway drug, lol!

Anyhow, I need some help from those more experienced in the hobby. I'm planning making a male character who's still a pretty young looking guy, and most of my favorite characters I'd plan to make in the future tend to be of that variety - more "anime-esque," so to speak - less defined masculine features, bit bigger eyes, etcetera. I think I've found the perfect body mold in Jiaou Doll's JOK-17A in Pale (WS). My problem now is his head! A lot of male heads I've seen are either existing characters or very, very masculine fellas. I've tossed around the idea of using a female headsculpt and simply repainting it and cutting and styling the hair, possibly doing a reroot or making a wig.

Which head sculpts would match that skin tone best? Whereabouts would I find one? And, is it possible to dye/repaint those heads to match the character/body skin tone? Does anyone have any experience in that? Also, out of curiousity, are the heads commonly the same TPE-like material as the bodies or are they typically a harder plastic ..?

Thanks for the help you guys!!

Hi there! Welcome to the forum!  

I completely feel your frustration, there's definitely a lack of 'generic pretty boy' heads in comparison to the endless supply of generic female heads.  

That being said, there are a few stylised/pretty/anime-esque male heads out there, but finding them is sometimes a matter of trial and error with the search engines.

Here are some I found (sorry for the weirdly long links):

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/175236916917

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/385128068119?hash=item59ab6bf417:g:nGUAAOSwgdZjKxVq

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/384900421346?hash=item599dda56e2:g:2W4AAOSwLd9iFJAi&amdata=enc%3AAQAIAAAA8E4Pijf63k4n0ulQ5qdcEmPR8Xlm6RWjGky1LqtOYTRwGYh4usvBP4nlDpSqaycCsFPTTqyKHli33Hywc%2BW8Seht%2B%2BEGRwm%2BUyb1ipgh89DybKXOUOKjE5hvz5zA4QfkzPsim6VGT2eS0YmZcdKfKsZmX4DvVLqi6Gfxi%2BMGzVcPzDwQR9uSg%2FvuMwM1adiFf%2BhC0JFisOXl99yP5DD2CptYMi5N6vbGUWtZh%2F%2FwqvZzAYM9gbDhOr1W8aiSAgtdmfG7UhJgy%2Fyoa40a%2F4DEYMZLGUw7z3t7DGDguYhU2r2r8tz9AtWE9dXiE7f%2Fiu%2F8Rw%3D%3D%7Ctkp%3ABk9SR66Q2OXPYg

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005003151945397.html?spm=a2g0o.productlist.main.11.5ba3698b8dlq89&algo_pvid=6621c286-c7b5-4766-b508-83bbbd198286&algo_exp_id=6621c286-c7b5-4766-b508-83bbbd198286-5&pdp_npi=4%40dis%21GBP%2116.09%2110.94%21%21%2119.52%21%21%4021038edf16943362990535517e98f5%2112000024378080188%21sea%21UK%211918864459%21S&curPageLogUid=SRqyCkjHBueA


Keywords and/or combinations I have used to search for these heads and others like them on both ebay and aliexpress:


- 1/6 unpainted male head

- 1/6 blank male head

- 1/6 bald male head

-1/6 Final Fantasy head

- 1/6 Sephiroth head

- 1/6 Devil May Cry head

- 1/6 DIY male head

- 1/6 bald monk head


There are probably a lot of more possible search words and combinations I'm forgetting at this time, but hopefully this gives you something to start with...

Hello and welcome to the board! Nice of you to join! 

From Canada, ey? I spent 3.5 years in Vancouver and my best friend lives there. (She wants out though. Doesn't seem to be the place it was 12 years ago...)

Aaanyway, you may want to check out our tutorial section if you haven't already. Here is a table of contents, which doesn't include every topic ever, but it's a good start: https://onesixthfigures.forumotion.com/t6383-how-to-table-of-contents

Many here customise figures and share their knowledge/experience here, including the painting/modifying of heads. Have fun!

skywalkersaga wrote:Here are some I found (sorry for the weirdly long links):

Slightly off-topic, but here's a handy hint for dealing with those weirdly long links: you can delete everything from the question mark and after that follows the item number and the link will continue to work.

So this:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/384900421346?hash=item599dda56e2:g:2W4AAOSwLd9iFJAi&amdata=enc%3AAQAIAAAA8E4Pijf63k4n0ulQ5qdcEmPR8Xlm6RWjGky1LqtOYTRwGYh4usvBP4nlDpSqaycCsFPTTqyKHli33Hywc%2BW8Seht%2B%2BEGRwm%2BUyb1ipgh89DybKXOUOKjE5hvz5zA4QfkzPsim6VGT2eS0YmZcdKfKsZmX4DvVLqi6Gfxi%2BMGzVcPzDwQR9uSg%2FvuMwM1adiFf%2BhC0JFisOXl99yP5DD2CptYMi5N6vbGUWtZh%2F%2FwqvZzAYM9gbDhOr1W8aiSAgtdmfG7UhJgy%2Fyoa40a%2F4DEYMZLGUw7z3t7DGDguYhU2r2r8tz9AtWE9dXiE7f%2Fiu%2F8Rw%3D%3D%7Ctkp%3ABk9SR66Q2OXPYg

Can be simplified to this:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/384900421346

And this:

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005003151945397.html?spm=a2g0o.productlist.main.11.5ba3698b8dlq89&algo_pvid=6621c286-c7b5-4766-b508-83bbbd198286&algo_exp_id=6621c286-c7b5-4766-b508-83bbbd198286-5&pdp_npi=4%40dis%21GBP%2116.09%2110.94%21%21%2119.52%21%21%4021038edf16943362990535517e98f5%2112000024378080188%21sea%21UK%211918864459%21S&curPageLogUid=SRqyCkjHBueA

Should work like this:

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005003151945397.html

skywalkersaga wrote:Hi there! Welcome to the forum!  

I completely feel your frustration, there's definitely a lack of 'generic pretty boy' heads in comparison to the endless supply of generic female heads.  

That being said, there are a few stylised/pretty/anime-esque male heads out there, but finding them is sometimes a matter of trial and error with the search engines.

Here are some I found (sorry for the weirdly long links):

Tysm for the welcome and for all these links! I'll try those search terms too. Even the unpainted ones could be a fun project!

Diana wrote:Aaanyway, you may want to check out our tutorial section if you haven't already. Here is a table of contents, which doesn't include every topic ever, but it's a good start: https://onesixthfigures.forumotion.com/t6383-how-to-table-of-contents

Hihi! Yeah, Vancouver isn't what she used to be! I live in a little town a few hours away, but that's where I was born!

Thanks for pointing me in the right direction for the tutorials! I actually found the forum from that post about painting the seamless bodies when I was researching for a different project and totally went down the rabbit hole. Seeing other people experiment makes me less wary to try it myself! Thank you !!

Wanted to say thank you all again for your help!! I just placed my orders, and am now waiting at the window for the delivery truck XD If I remember, I hope to share my journey customizing my first doll here! Especially the costume, I love designing and sewing doll clothes.

n0vellette wrote:Wanted to say thank you all again for your help!! I just placed my orders, and am now waiting at the window for the delivery truck XD If I remember, I hope to share my journey customizing my first doll here! Especially the costume, I love designing and sewing doll clothes.

Oh, awesome! You're most welcome! I hope your orders work out for you, and I'm excited to see what you create.

I also love doll clothing, it's fantastic that you design and sew your own!

Hi again everyone! I'm not sure if I should make a new topic or not but I need some help again.

I have my Jiaou Doll body with all his clothes made (I'm really happy with how they've turned out) and the head I ordered on Ebay just arrived. It said for 1/6 or 12" dolls but when it came, it was COMICALLY SMALL!! Am I missing something on the listings? I'm going to try to return it. Really sad and disappointed after waiting a month for shipping!

n0vellette wrote:Am I missing something on the listings?

No, you're not missing anything (although if you share a link to the listing, some of the members here might be able to offer more specific tips).
Matching heads to bodies, both size and color, is extremely hit and miss... usually miss, at least in my experience.
Heads from certain companies tend to run on the small side (but not always), while others tend to work better on larger bodies (again, not always).

Forum members are often helpful, from direct experience, if you post a query about matching a specific head to a body or if you ask about heads that will match a specific body. If you post links to the bits and pieces you are considering, you will usually receive some helpful feedback and suggestions.

davidd wrote:No, you're not missing anything (although if you share a link to the listing, some of the members here might be able to offer more specific tips).
Matching heads to bodies, both size and color, is extremely hit and miss... usually miss, at least in my experience.
Heads from certain companies tend to run on the small side (but not always), while others tend to work better on larger bodies (again, not always).

Forum members are often helpful, from direct experience, if you post a query about matching a specific head to a body or if you ask about heads that will match a specific body. If you post links to the bits and pieces you are considering, you will usually receive some helpful feedback and suggestions.

Thanks for the feedback, both good and bad to know I'm not the only one who's had this experience. I hope the seller accepts returns and I'll keep trying different listings. The body in particular I have is in my initial post iirc, so if anyone happens upon this I'd appreciate any pointers towards brands/styles that fit that body!! <3

Edit: I'll share again the body I have is Jiaou Doll's JOK-17A in Pale (WS) The head I purchased was about 3.5cm in length with a ~9 circumference, far too little! thank you again everyone who's helped and for any leads