For this third post about BJD thigh modifications, I’m going to share a small mod I made to the existing suwarrico joints on my Volks Yo-SD Hinaichigo.

Broken record alert: One more time, please work in a ventilated area, and wear a mask or respirator to prevent inhalation of resin dust.

Whether suwarrico cuts are included from the manufacturer, or added by a doll’s owner, posing a doll the surwarrico sitting position sometimes takes a little fiddling. It usually takes a second or two to feel that “catch”, when the strings slide from the vertical slot into the horizontal one, allowing the leg to rotate. Depending on the size and smoothness of the cuts, this can be made trickier if the doll is wearing a bulky costume. Last spring, I purchased a Volks Yo-SD Hinaichigo on the secondary market. Modeled after the Rozen Maiden character, Hinaichigo is a BJD of the tooth-achingly cute variety. I’m not usually one to keep full set dolls in the their default costumes, but Hinaichigo just looks so darn right in her pink velvet, and white ruffled ensemble. The only problem I encountered was that the combination of her opaque white tights, and her gathered bloomers, made it difficult to maneuver her legs. Add to this, the fact that her thigh slots and suwarrico cuts were very narrow. The elastic cords in each leg had a habit of getting stuck, side by side, in the slot. This prevented the leg from bending properly, without some gentle wiggling. In simple costumes like short dresses or thin pants, this was no problem. In a more complex outfit, trying to wiggle and adjust each leg every time I wanted her to sit, soon became tedious.

Hinaichigo’s fix was simpler than adding a suwarrico cut from scratch, as I’d done with Maebe, my MSD Hisui. The cuts were already there. They simply needed to be widened. Below is a picture of Hinaichigo’s joints, prior to any work. In the below photo, also note the thickness of the resin surrounding the channel (more clearly seen on the right leg). One of my favorite things about Volks dolls in general is their heavy, thick resin. In this case, that thick resin on the corner of the suwarrico was snagging the cords.

The first thing I did was to use the burr attachment of my rotary tool to follow the walls of the existing slots. Applying gentle pressure to first one side, then the other, I widened the area through which the strings have to travel. After this, I turned my attention to the corner of the suwarrico cut. I first removed the point, creating more of a curved path. I then tilted the rotary tool about 45 degrees, to take off some of the inside thickness of the resin. This part requires some care. You need to take your time, and use caution that you don’t scrape too much of the surrounding plastic. The next photo shows the completed right leg, compared to the left which has not been worked on yet.

Finally, as I didn’t want to have to revisit this project, I took one more measure to insure smooth string movement. I sanded a tiny amount off of the top of the thigh joint. There was originally a sharp corner there, and rounding it slightly helped eliminate one more place where the doll’s strings could get hung up.

This work on her thigh joints has made my Hinaichigo much easier to sit and pose, especially in her default costume!

Thanks for reading, and I hope if you ever have joint issues with one of your resin gang, something here might give you an idea of how to fix the problem!

In my last post, I talked about making a simple modification to a doll’s thigh joint, to prevent them from falling backwards when sitting. This time around, it’s a little different. We’re not fixing a problem, but rather adding another level of poseability. The suwarrico, or “cute sit”. Suwarrico joints are included on many dolls these days, but if a member of your resin gang is feeling left out, adding suwarrico is a simple modification. This can be done on any doll, but tends to work a little better on those with a jointed torso. Note that there is doll nudity ahead!

Once again, I’ll remind you to use care when sanding or drilling your resin doll. Work in a well-ventilated area, and wear a respirator or mask. Your lungs will thank you!

If you’re not sure what suwarrico, or “cute sit”, or “cute sitting” is, it basically means kneeling, with your thighs turned in toward one another, and your lower legs slid out slightly out to either side. On a ball jointed doll, this pose can be achieved in a couple of ways. If you’re taking this on as a do-it-yourself project, making suwarrico cuts into the thigh string slots is by far the simplest option. A suwarrico cut is an extension of the normal string slot, angling it to the outside of the dolls upper thigh. This allows the string to follow course, turning the thighs inward.

On a doll manufactured with suwarrico cuts, they are often done as an arc, or “C” shape. For our suwarrico modification purposes, we’re going to do more of an “L”. It’s an easier cut to make neatly, and works just as well.

The following photos are taken from when I added a suwarrico to my Volks MSD Hisui, Maebe. I apologize that they aren’t the best, but hopefully they get the point across. Like the thigh modification I did to Ari in the previous post, I did not unstring Maebe for this procedure. If you feel fiddly with using an electric rotary tool, or just worried about damaging your doll’s elastic cords, you may wish to unstring them before you work. With this mod in particular, before you unstring the doll, lightly mark an “R” and an “L” in pencil on the doll’s thighs. The leg pieces can look alike once a doll is apart. You don’t want to make a suwarrico cut in the wrong direction, on the wrong leg.

Once you set up your workspace, begin by using a pencil to mark out your cuts. You will be going from the bottom of the thigh string slot, toward the outside of the leg. How far you need to go will depend on the size of the doll. For MSD Maebe, I made cuts which were approximately a centimeter and a half. It doesn’t have to be exact, but you want to go far enough to allow the thigh to rotate about a quarter turn. You also want to make sure that your cuts are wide enough to allow two cords in each leg to slip around, without pinching or sticking.

To begin, I used a drill bit about the width of my intended cut, and placed a hole at the far outside end of the pencil guide. This acts as a “stop cut”, and keeps the edge neat. I then switched to a burr attachment. Inserting the rotary tool into the bottom end of the string slot, I pulled it slowly toward the newly drilled hole, connecting the two. You should now have a neat “L” shape!

Repeat the procedure for the other leg. Once you’re finished, go back with the burr attachment, and smooth that inside corner of the “L”, rounding it off a bit. This allows the strings to slide easily, and prevents them from fraying on the sharp edge. Clean off your excess pencil marks, and try it out!

Now there is another element to suwarrico, which may or may not be worth the effort to you. A stickler will say that in a “true” suwarrico sit, the legs are able to fold closely together, not be merely splayed out to either side. In dolls that have a suwarrico body from the start, this is achieved by sculpting shallow hollows into the backs of the calves, or indenting the backs of the thighs, to allow the calves to nest into them. It’s hard to get this tight a pose through DIY, unless you’re willing to do major modification. However, if your rotary tool includes a small, cylindrical, sanding attachment, you can gently sand a bit of the calf, right below the knee. It won’t be a dramatic improvement, but it does allow a little more of an authenic suwarrico pose.

I hope that helps explain the suwarrico modification!