From Amazing Hair to Video Game Character - Barbie Doll Transformation!

My youngest has been learning to play Left 4 Dead 2 (L4D2). She plays with her siblings and with her Dad as often as she can. This is the kid who fell in love with the Jurassic World, and then Jurassic Park movies. Who thought Disney princess movies were scary. Yep, she loves zombie movies and games. This is my kid! But don't worry, she has her girly side too. She still plays with Barbies with her older sister. What I've started noticing, however, is that her Barbie dolls are pretty much all characters from a movie or game she is currently in love with.

So... Rochelle and Ellis from L4D2 are her absolute favorite characters! She loves how Ellis talks, usually rambling in that southern hick accent about some memory he has of pre-zombie life. And Rochelle is the sweetheart healer that looks after the team. She found clothes among her doll collection and turned one of the guys into Ellis. I was so proud of her! But! She didn't have a doll that could be Rochelle. That is where Mama comes to the rescue. I started to look for a doll that could have potential in being her Rochelle. Since it is an intense zombie game, the characters are pretty simple. Rochelle wears a pink tee shirt and jeans, clunky boots and hair is up tight to be outta the way from the reaching dead hands. But I did have one specification that had to be met. She had to have at least one hand bent at the elbow if she couldn't be fully articulated. Rochelle needs this bent arm to better carry her weapons that she uses to fight the hordes. Personally, I prefer the Made to Move dolls. They are just hard to find and SO expensive.

But don't despair! I found this Barbie Amazing Hair doll at our local Walmart on clearance for $9. Quite the deal! I've wanted the accessories for my own dolls for a while. And the fact that she met my requirements to be turned into a Rochelle for the Megabits, made it even better. 

Now for the transformation!

I could show you all the cool things in this set, but I'm sure if you know dolls, you know this set. So let's skip that part and just dive into the doll itself. I hate the hair on this doll! No, seriously. Why did anyone think that tinsel in the hair is cool? It is annoying! So that had to change. Rochelle has these braids (?) that are pulled back into a tight... bun? No... not quite.

I'll let you describe it and just show you what she looks like. This is one tough cookie! I prefer to play her when I play too. Though there is one thing that bothers me about her. Zombie apocalypse and you were those huge hoop earrings?!  Um... Hello?! That would be extremely painful if they get grabbed, don't you think? Besides, the idea is that you don't want more things they can grab onto. But that is just my opinion. I suppose some ladies still wanna hang onto the bling and fabulous even after the world has come to an end as they knew it. 

Enough of my rant on her looks. Let's make this doll look just like her, shall we??

Starting From the Top

I had to cut the dolls hair, pull off the head and the pull out the remainder of hair from the very roots.

Rochelle is not a rainbow-haired kind of gal. So I had to get her down to bald and give her all new hair. From yarn! As you can see in these photos, I also needed to wipe the sparkles from under her eyes. I use 100% acetone nail polish remover on a Q-tip. Then I painted the head where the hair would go, black. This way, even if it shows through, it wouldn't be too noticeable. Something I forgot - you should add a clear coat to seal it. Otherwise you risk the paint rubbing off. Granted, only if you think the hair won't cover it well enough. 

If you can get a re-rooting tool for putting the doll hair in, that would be a great idea. I didn't get one in time. So... I improvised with some floral wire. It was an incredibly difficult task that took long enough to stiffen my neck and give me a headache. But I managed to make a solid line down the middle of her head at least.

Once I had the yarn through the holes, I knotted the end and pulled it taut. From there you trim to the desired length. And, lastly, you have to undo each strand of yarn.

Time consuming, but totally worth the end result and even the reactions of my little one! I then used a clear rubber band from doll packaging to give her hair a pony tail. Afterwards, trim to the right length. Ending up with a look like this!

What to Wear?

Her clothes are a lot simpler. A pink shirt and some dark, maybe black, jeans finished off with some boots. The accessories are something I will have to put a little more effort into, but even with that I'm feeling like it won't be too much trouble. 

I found this top at the local antique shop we frequent. They have a new booth that has baggies of sorted outfits. I knew this was the perfect shirt as soon as I saw it! 

My daughter had some blue jeans to use. I had this Barbie bracelet that just needed a silver paint job to look like her bangles. My youngest told me she didn't like Rochelle's earrings (she hates hoop earrings), so we won't be adding in that detail. 

I noticed that she had a big bruise on her arm. Not like you get into a fight without a single mark, you know? So I gave the doll one too! 

I painted her silver bangles and painted her a shiny pair of boots. I even made her a thin belt!

What will she fight with??

In the game, there are various weapons you can grab to take out the hordes as they come. I decided to give her a couple.

The fire ax is a great melee weapon. And then there is the MP5 which my husband suggested as he thought that was a favorite gun. I found some I could 3D print for her.

Afterwards, I gave them a paint job! I didn't go all out on the paint job. As my husband reminded me, the girls are bit rough on their dolls and accessories. But I did add in some black paint and then a clear coat to make it shiny. It became Ellis' gun. 

What do you think? Leave me a comment below and let me know! I can't wait to get started on the next doll transformation.