Inspired by the concept art of Bioshock
When I was introduced to the Bioshock series, I hadn't played videogames since the era of games like Spyro and Crash Bandicoot. The care and attention that went into crafting the worlds of Bioshock was my wake-up call to just how much the industry had grown in just a few years. When the official merchandise began rolling out, I couldn't help feeling disappointed with the Big Daddy Dolls. To me the dolls felt incredibly cheap and didn't do justice to the original concepts. I wanted a doll that captured the twisted, ominous weight of the Little Sisters and their tragic relationships with the Big Daddies. So, of course, I decided to make my own.
I approached my interpretation of these as if I were a Little Sister rummaging around Rapture (the sprawling underwater city featured in the game). I couldn't avoid purchasing certain things, but as best I could, I used what I had lying around my own home.
I exhibited these at Designer Con 2015 in Pasadena, CA.
The heads
- Hanger wire
- Aluminum push pins
- Leather cording
- Dirty baseball
- Tempura paint
- Clear nail polish
I used a screw to bore holes into the baseball and jammed the hanger wire into them. I painted the heads of the pins with red tempura paint. I chose tempura because of the way it cracks when dry.
After getting all the pins into the baseballs I threw them in a bag and rolled them around so they would rub together and chip the paint. Once that was done I sealed the paint with a coat of clear nail polish. This photo was pre-chipping but you can see the chipping in a photo below.
Hop-Up Cola bottlecaps
- Tempura paint
- Clear nail polish
- Bottlecaps
I painted the graphics myself. Not ideal, but contributed to the overall handmade feel of the dolls.
Fishing reels
I purchased a bunch of vintage fishing reels. They were perfect, covered in patina and heavy. I wanted the dolls to have weight to them, adding to the menacing feel. Some still had fishing line inside, others didn't. I didn't modify them much aside from removing the cranks and drilling a hole for the nails.
The drills
- Old, metal, corkscrews
- Vintage aluminum thimbles
- JB weld
The legs and bodies
- Fabric from old clothes
- Red thread
- Tempura paint
- Doll stuffing
I am not a seamstress but was able to design my own pattern for the legs and bodies. Luckily the dolls are made by little girls so the stitching didn't need to be perfect. I chose a contrasting color to stand out against the fabric and did the best I could with my basic sewing knowledge.
Remaining materials
- Syssal rope
- Nails
- Large paperclips
- Wooden beads
- Blue yarn
- Screws
- Cardboard
Attaching the heads to the bodies
The biggest engineering problem was keeping the head and body together. I wanted the baseball head to be secure, yet able to flop around as it naturally should. I solved this by designing the body pattern to include a small hole at the top. This allowed a screw to be inserted from the inside of the body and screwed into the head. I cut a small circle of cardboard to act as a washer between the fabric and the screw, thus preventing the hole from opening up from the stress of movement.
Looking back
I realized while writing this that of the 8 dolls I made, I never kept one for myself. They all sold (one even went to the Netherlands)! I still have the materials to make a couple more and there are definitely some things I'd like to fix/add in the next go around.
More details and images can be seen in my original write-up.