You can adapt the age and appearance of your figure by giving them a larger or smaller head than normal for their height. Babies have heads proportionately larger than the heads of adults, and you can create interesting caricatures by adjusting the size and proportion of the head in relation to the size of the rest of the body. If you want dolls that are not all the same height and age range, you need to study proportion. Figures that are different sizes, and proportioned according to age, will lend your scenes, or games much more interest than figures which are all exactly the same height as those cast from molds usually are. There are some slight differences made much easier by particular materials. If you like making heads with soft or ‘plump’ facial features, polymer clays which are highly elastic will work well. If you prefer to sculpt in slow built up stages, you may prefer working with two-part epoxy putties. There are many ways to pad the armature on a miniature doll. If you can make a head and hands, you can create the rest of a full figure or doll by padding out a body over a wire armature. The same techniques work for creating a padded body with traditional porcelain doll parts. You may need a leg, a shapely ankle, or a roughened barefoot for a particular miniature scene. Feet are easier to sculpt than miniature hands, and if you don’t like the idea of trying to sculpt tiny toes, just sculpt a shoe on the bottom of a leg.
