From a Long Haired Beauty to a Video Game Villian!

My girls fell in love with their Rochelle doll that I made them. They had created their own Ellis. But you know what other character they love from the Left 4 Dead 2 video game?  Not one of the heroes. Nope, they love the Witch. In the game, the witch sits alone, crying her heart out. There are a lot of fan-made theories about why, but I'm not even going there. 

She is a pretty simple design. Looks like she used to be a blond before she became a zombie. Hair to her shoulders. Yellow or red eyes. And the only clothes she has is the cropped tank top and... panties? This latest project was mostly being done by my oldest girl though. She found an older doll from their collection that they didn't mind modifying. Here is how we made this beauty into the Witch! 

Meet the original doll

Despite the years of love, her hair was still long and relatively in excellent condition. This makes cutting it into the right shape a lot easier. Her legs were stained red from clothes she had worn.

My daughter thought this was perfect - looks like bruising! Then the earrings had to be removed. She had the studs that were not meant to come out, so I helped pull them out with pliers.

Now she was ready for a haircut and to get the makeover started! 

Let the transformation begin!

The hair cut was super easy. But then her hair didn't want to stay flat. So we attempted to tame it by putting a rubber band around it overnight.  

My daughter studied the rest of the Witch carefully, though getting good game shots is hard to come by. Based on what she was seeing, she started repainting the dolls face. I think creepy is a fitting description, don't you? She even stripped off the original paint. All mom needed to do next was spray it with a clear coat to seal it. 

The Witch also has long claws. Or would you call them talons? Anyhow, my daughter decided to try sculpting them with some molding clay I had on hand. Since they had to dry overnight, this doll stood on my desk. While I worked on my own doll project. It was pretty weird, to say the least. 

Sadly, the claws kept coming off when they played with her. They weren't strong enough to really be used. So my daughter decided to strip off the modeling clay claws and just paint her hands the way it should be.

While the clothes you see in the photo are close enough, I suppose, to what she would wear in the game, my daughters like their undies for their other dolls. And my daughter wanted to try her hand at making some that looked a little closer to the real deal. By this, I mean she would wait for Mom to make some new ones...

I was able to complete the top before sickness took over the house. By that point, I was kinda thinking she needed to stay in those undies or I would have to order some... My daughter did add some black paint to the tip of her hair to give it shadows.

Here is how the Witch as she will remain! Being startled and staying creepy.

Pretty scary looking, am I right? Poor Ellis got knocked down. So Rochelle had to come to his rescue.

Survivors gonna live another day! I'm quite proud of this newest doll creation. Looking forward to starting my next one soon. Perhaps a lady in green who loves plants??