Composition Doll Repair

The most time consuming part of composition doll repair is in the sanding. After the paint removal, I sand the doll parts, then spray with a primer. Once the primer is dry, it is easy to see what has been missed and what still needs to be filled. Liquids like primer take the same shape as whatever you spray it on. Many people don’t understand that the paint will not fill all the cracks and dimples. Those all have to be filled and sanded smooth so the final coat of paint will be smooth. I do use a high fill primer, but it doesn’t fill very much. Sometimes I sand, prime, then sand and prime a couple more times. The doll pieces have to be perfectly smooth if I want the final product to be perfectly smooth. Sanding by hand takes many hours on most dolls.

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 Use a Sand-o-Flex for your composition doll repair.

A sand-o-flex sander is what I use to sand my doll parts and it saves me many hours of sanding time. I only do details like the face and fingers by hand. My dad put this together for me about 30 years ago and I have really used it. One place you can get one is: http://www.grithappens.com/products.php?m=meritabrasives&mid=77&cat=604  If you do much sanding, you will love this. I use it for all my composition doll repairs, even the tiny dolls. In the beginning, I used it to sand the latex composition bodies I was making, then I used it to sand my porcelain bisque dolls before china painting them. I still use it on my porcelain, but I also use it to sand the composition dolls before painting them. I love how smooth it gets everything. I have even used it to sand a celluloid doll repair. If I remount this, I will make the shaft longer and raise the motor up off the table a little higher.

Composition doll repair is so rewarding. You can take a doll that is a total basket case and bring it back to life again.SAMSUNG