Re-bodying Tutorial.

Ever had a doll that you absolutely love but hate that she is not fully articulated? Well I have had a few. Another scenario is that the doll you have is articulated but the articulation is flawed.

This was the case for my Disney Store dolls. I hated the articulation that the Disney Store gave their dolls in 2012 (some still have it in the 2013 releases). When I received my 2012 Ariel I immediately re-bodied her on a Liv doll. I recently re-bodied my Merida on a Liv doll too and I was asked how I did it. So I made a little tutorial so that those who want to re-body their dolls can know how to. It is very easy really. I admit when I first started doing this it was nerve wracking but after a few be-headings it became second nature.

First off lets look at the head pegs of the different dolls that I have:

Barbie, Disney Store, Liv

As you can see each one is different. The Barbie neck peg is long and the side hooks are very wide. This makes it a lot more difficult to get the head off. As you can see in the picture the peg has stress marks (the white bits). This was doll was my very first beheading. As you practice it gets easier. I suggest trying on the cheap barbies first if you want to re-body a Barbie.

The Disney Store dolls have a shorter neck peg and it's hooks are not so wide. If you can get a Barbie head off with no problem getting a Disney Store head off is a breeze. To get a Liv head off is even easier. The peg doesn't have any hooks so it is super simple to pop the head off.

So now that you know how the pegs look like lets move on to the method of popping them off. This is what you will need: Hairdryer, rubber bands or hair bands, toilet paper or kitchen towel and a small flat top screw driver. My one says 3x75 on the side (if that means anything- I really don't know tools, this ones top is chipped, so I stole it from my fiance since he won't be using it any more). You will also need your victims.

What you need

First you will take your toilet paper and wrap it around the hair of your doll. Secure it with a rubber band. This will protect The hair from getting burnt by the hairdryer.

It should look like this.

Next you are going to take your hairdryer and aim it at the neck of the doll so that the plastic gets soft. This is only for a few seconds. Please don't leave it there for ages you will melt your doll. For a Liv doll you could always just dunk her head in hot water.

Remember only a few seconds!!

Now grab you screw driver a push it in like this (this is why you soften the plastic):

Don't worry it is not sore.

You will need to move the screw driver so that the head goes over the peg. Like so:

Up and over.

Now you have a headless Liv doll. Do the same with the Disney doll and you will have this:

Now just pop the Disney head on the Liv body and enjoy the wonders of awesome articulation!!

Yay for articulation!!!

If you have any question feel free to ask :)

The Liv doll I beheaded here is a Liv Sophie dolls from the My Nature line. Sophie's skin tone doesn't match any of the Disney Store dolls that I have. The Schools Out Hayden matches very well. I swapped the heads of my Ariels. I wanted the 2013 doll to have the Liv body. My 2012 doll is now on a Disney Store body that has rubber legs. 

TTFN