Sculpt a Miniature Doll's Hands

Miniature hands are often very poorly sculpted or out of proportion on inferior dolls. Sculpting hands requires patience and attention to sculpture medium you use, but it is not any more difficult than sculpting the head of a miniature doll.

Check the Proportions To get started sculpting miniature hands, check your own hands for reference. Measure your hands against your face, with your wrist at the bottom of your chin. How high up on your face do your fingers reach? How much of your face does one hand cover?

Hands Show Their Age Hands will help determine the age of a doll. Chubby, shortened fingers are found on babies. Smooth hands with few wrinkles indicate youth. Hands with bent or gnarled fingers indicate age.

Choice of Sculpting Materials Before you begin your hand sculpture, determine what age of hand you are sculpting and which pose the hand will be in. Have ready the doll's head you intend to match. The hands can be sculpted from firm polymer clay which tends to get soft and more bent as you sculpt it, so it lends itself to character or older hands. You can use 2 part Epoxy putty which allows you to sand the final shape to produce strong, clean lined fingers. Air drying clays can also be used, but are not as strong for poses where fingers may be prone to breakage.

Note: The book in the photo is by Jean Day