Ginny

I can hardly believe it's April already!  Time has taken on a strange new way of passing and I barely know what day it is anymore.  Regardless of the day, spring has sprung here in Maine and it's lifting the spirits of everyone in my little town.  I hope you are all feeling a similar buoyancy amid the new restrictiveness of life.

In keeping with this bright weekend, I have a sunny redhead to share with you today!  Ginny Weasley is the second in a series of four Harry Potter-themed dolls that I'm currently working on.  Hermione can be seen here, while Cho Chang and Luna Lovegood are coming next (in that order).

With Ginny, I knew immediately what My Twinn mold I wanted to use.  Even though I'm trying to stick with the books' descriptions for hair and eye color choices, I can't help but be influenced by the movie actors when I'm choosing a face mold.  Danielle's features (especially her mouth) remind me of a young Bonnie Wright.

Here's the specific Danielle that I chose for this role:

2002 My Twinn doll with the Danielle face.

There were actually two contenders for the Ginny role, though, both with very similar situations.  Both dolls came to me with heads that were a very poor match for their bodies.

This is the first doll I considered:

She has a 2002 body in excellent condition and a fairly nice head:

The head needed new eyes and a new wig (and the eyebrows are a bit wonky) but was in overall decent condition.

Look how different the vinyl in the arm is from the vinyl in the head, though:

This contrast was even more obvious in real life.  The head is a typical medium-pale shade while the arm is much brighter with a lot of orange tones.  Almost like the OOB skin tone, but not quite that bright.  From what I've read, this was a problem with many 2002 dolls.

The second head I was considering had exactly the same type of mismatched body.  With this girl, though, it looked like somebody had tried to repaint the head to match the skin tone of the body, using bright, heavy blush and orange lips:

This head had wide green eyes and a lot of added makeup:

The head had also come loose from the original body, so it was easy to snip the cable tie and inspect the head on its own:

Here are the two Danielle heads side-by-side:

The heads look much less alike in this photo than they did in real life.  Comparing the neck colors in the photo, above, is a better representation of the actual difference.

The trick was to find a body that would match one of these heads. I was worried that the head on the left was too bright to match any of my bodies, but it was hard to tell with all of that makeup.

The body I really wanted to use was from this Wendy doll:

As you can see, Wendy's head is also a terrible match for her body, but in this case it's the skin tone of the body that I like better.

The body is in great shape and is from the Denver era (2001):

But the head looks for all the world like a 2003 head, with its smaller size and strangely pale skin that doesn't match the rest of the doll:

This has to have been a head transplant.  I cannot believe that this head was originally intended for this body.  The 2001 dolls are usually very well made and do not have big vinyl mismatch problems.

This Wendy head also had a patch of yellow discoloration on the forehead that I could not remove.  I think it's damage to the vinyl from exposure to sun or some other substance:

The head had to go.

The only problems with the body were that it had been given some red nail polish:

And it had a few scuffs and marks on the limbs:

The rest of the doll was clean and nearly free of picks and squeaks:

Before I could make a decision between the two Danielle heads, I wanted to clean off the paint on the green-eyed doll's face:

The original eyebrows had been completely covered over (with what looks like pencil) and the eyelashes had been replaced:

I pulled off the large eyelashes to get a better look:

The eyes had some peachy-white eyeshadow painted above them:

You can also see in this picture that the left eye has a defect or some damage in the upper lid.  There's a little flap of vinyl that's come away from the rest of the lid.  I circled it in this picture:

I left this defect alone for fear of making it worse.

The color of the original eyes was a beautiful dark green, but they had been coated with a film of glue that gave the whole eye a dull appearance:

The mouth had been painted with a very bright orange, and there was heavy blush on both cheeks:

I scrubbed away at this face with Mr. Clean Magic Eraser, and had to use acetone to get rid of all of the paint on the lips.  Even after these treatments, the vinyl of the lips still looks a little bit orange.

In addition, under all of that lip paint there was a very small indentation in the upper lip.  This is almost impossible to see, but defects like this can really interfere with the application of new paint:

Here are the two Danielle heads again: 

I switched sides from the first comparison picture of these heads--sorry.  But this time it's easier to see the subtle difference in vinyl colors.  The doll on the right (the one who had all of the makeup) is actually a bit paler and more pink than the doll on the left.

While both heads matched the body fairly well, I felt like the head on the right was a near-perfect match.  I also like that complexion a bit better.  

I had found my Ginny Weasley!

The first thing I did was to remove the gungy green eyes.  I saved them (as always) but I don't think I'll be able to remove the coating of glue.  It looks and feels like super glue.

It took a while to clean the glue residue out of the eye sockets:

But finally I had a clean slate to work with:

I sprayed the head with Mr. Super Clear sealant to reduce the shine and fill in the tiny lip defect.  This allowed me to avoid painting hassles.

In the Harry Potter books, Ginny is described as having bright brown eyes.  I thought that Eyeco's Deep Sable eyes would fit this description nicely:

The eyes are lighter than Hermione's dark brown eyes:

Once the eyes were in place, I did a color-check with the body, just to make sure everything was going to work together:

I'm very happy with this match!

Next I got to work painting Ginny's head.

I started with some new lip paint and blush:

I didn't mix any orange into the paint for the lips, but they still have a slightly peachy color because of the residual staining in the vinyl:

Next I gave Ginny some red eyebrows and a lot of freckles!

I like to re-attach the head to the body before I apply eyelashes or a wig, so the next thing I did was to remove the Wendy head from Ginny's body.  I was looking for evidence that the head had been swapped by another collector in the past.

I didn't find much in the way of evidence on the body, but there was a startlingly small amount of glue on the neck flange:

Also, the glue didn't feel as hard as most of the My Twinn glue that I've encountered.

The biggest clue I found was on the head.  It was marked with pencil in three places:

These markings tell the artists who are assembling the dolls what eyes and hair they should use.  I've only seen markings like this on non-Denver dolls.  Also, the head smelled like crayons when I heated it, and this is something I've only ever smelled on a 2003 head.

So, I can't be positive, but I strongly suspect that this was a 2003 head transplant onto a 2001 body.  Why anyone would do that, I can't say.  It seems like an odd choice.

Once Ginny's head was attached to her new body, I glued on some auburn eyelashes and gave her a red Monique wig:

Here's a look a Ginny without her outfit:

I was able to clean away all of the old nail polish and all of the major scuff marks:

Both the body and the head have found much better matches than what they started with!

I don't typically do a lot of body and head swapping, but in this case it was absolutely the right choice.

I dressed Ginny in a simplified version of the Hogwarts uniform.  

Ginny is sporting a shirt, tie, and skirt from Doll Clothes by Carole.  I also gave her new black tights, new black shoes, and a hand-knitted sweater vest.  She does not have a robe or a wand:

Ginny's vest might have turned out slightly better than Hermione's.  I'm starting to get the hang of knitting again, although the fit of this vest is a little loose around the neck.

The straps on Ginny's shoes are also loose, but the shoes themselves are very cute:

Here are a few more pictures of Ginny in her full outfit from a few different angles:

The vest slips off over Ginny's head.  I thought about putting buttons on the shoulders for easier dressing and undressing, but the shoulder seams looked too bulky.  Besides, the sweater is loose enough to maneuver as it is.

Here's Ginny in just her shirt and tie:

The tie sticks out a bit in front without the vest to hold it down:

I like how the white shirt sets off Ginny's bright red hair:

I put Ginny back in her vest and also pulled her hair back with two clips.  I think that this hairstyle really suits her.  It makes her look more like a child:

The wig (a carrot-colored Marie wig by Monique) is a bit curlier than what I picture for Ginny, but it was the least curly red wig I had on hand.

The curls are very pretty and easy to manage:

The wig has a few short strands that can peek out near the hairline when the hair is swept back, but overall it's a nice wig:

I decided to use this hairstyle for Ginny's portrait:

And for her comparison GIF:

I think this is one of my more dramatic transformations.  The huge eyelashes and extra face paint on the original doll were very distinct!  It looks like she was extremely startled about something and now she's calmed down.

Here are a few more shots of Ginny with her hair pulled back:

I took the clips out for a few last pictures that show off the length and curl in Ginny's wig:

The Ginny Weasley character is not completely consistent between the Harry Potter books and movies.  In the books, Ginny is feisty and independent, while in the movies she seems more shy and quiet--especially in the early movies.  

I like this doll because she can appear playful at times...

But she also has a quiet, vulnerable side:

I'm just happy that JK Rowling included a freckled redhead in her books so that I could make this doll!

I'm having a great time working on these Harry Potter dolls.  I tend to get the movie theme song stuck in my head for days at a time as a result, but I can't complain about that!

It was interesting for me to explore some of the options for mixing and matching different My Twinn bodies and heads.  I'm always disappointed when I get a used doll in the mail and see that her limbs and head don't match.  However, this was a really great outcome.  I was able to pair a Denver head with a Denver body and make a lovely doll out of two disappointing ones.  Now I just need to bide my time and wait for another body to come along for that second Danielle head!

Once she had a body, most of the work with Ginny was focused on cleaning off her old face paint and giving her a new look.   Here's a summary of the work that was done on Ginny:

-her head was scrubbed with Mr. Clean Magic eraser to remove all factory paint and new makeup

-her factory lip paint was removed with acetone

- her old eyes were removed

-her face was given a light coating of sealant to reduce the shine and coat a small lip defect

-she was given new Eyeco acrylic eyes in Deep Sable brown

-her face was completely repainted, including lips, eyebrows, blush, and freckles

-her head was attached to a cleaned, de-stained 2001 body with matching vinyl

-she was given new eyelashes

-she was given a Monique Marie wig in a bright carrot red color

-she is wearing a shirt, tie, and skirt from Doll Clothes by Carole.  These items are paired with new black tights, new black shoes, and a hand-knitted Hogwarts sweater vest

Ginny has some small imperfections in her face. She has a nick in the upper lid of her left eye and a small indented line in the vinyl of her upper lip.  The eye defect is covered by lashes and the lip defect is extremely hard to see.  She also still has a hint of orange in her lips from the old paint.  In addition, Ginny's wig, which is brand new, has some shorter strands of hair that can stick out when the hair is styled.  These short hairs are typical of all regular Monique wigs.

I hope Ginny can bring a little brightness and magic to all of you who are stuck at home, waiting for this storm to pass.  Ginny has sold.  Thank you!