surawhit - geisha girl tutorial

Dollhouse Miniatures

Geisha Girl 1/144 Scale Tutorial

This little tutorial is here for you to use free.

I used plastic price tag holders to make the body for this little geisha girl. I took the long piece showing in the picture (leaving the long tail to use to hold on to the piece until I am done (then I will cut it off so that it is the right height). First print out the little kimono. I printed the color on both sides first so that no white would show. You could also color the back side with a marker in a plain color. Then I poked a hole (very tiny) in the middle to fit the head part through. Once you have the kimono over the head part, fold it in half. Then I slipped it down a little bit so that I could paint the head white. Let that dry for several hours depending on the paint you use. Just make sure it is dry before you work on it again. Then you can start on the hair. I wrapped black sewing thread (leave two long strands for wrapping the bun later) around a toothpick and glued it in place so that it was easier to work with (don't let the glue dry completely or you will have trouble getting it off the toothpick). Then I slip it off and put it on the head with glue, let dry. Then I use the tip of a fancy straight pin for the hair decoration. You can put a tiny bit of glue on the pin and put it next to the hair toward the top. Then put a little more glue on (not to much) and start winding around the pin to form the bun. Leave just a little bit of the thread hanging down and paint it later with a little bit of gold (or color of your choice) finger nail polish to make it look like another decoration that is hanging down from the bun. You will want to form the kimono however you want and glue it in place (remember not to use to much glue...very little is needed). There is excess on the kimono so if you need to trim it you can. Or you can make folds as you form it. I didn't trim very much, I just made a bunch of folds and sort of folded the sleeves in and then back out. Just work with it until it looks right to you. Then you can trim off the bottom plastic tail and glue the little geisha girl into your micro mini room. I didn't add hands, but think it would be easy, just use some of the plastic tail you cut off the bottom. Add a fan in her hand too if you want.