Cross-Company Comparison: Tan Resins

One of the big challenges that I hear about from people who want to hybrid tan dolls is the near-impossibility of finding matching colours without having to resort to custom batches or blushing an entire body to match a head.  With that in mind, here are a couple of references based on my own collection:

1. Illusion Spirit tan (ZhuQing, 2011)
2. Secretdoll tan (Binu, 2008)
3. Dollmore Suntan (Mettaa, 2010)
4. Iplehouse Ebony (Chase, 2009)
5. Iplehouse old Dark tan (Aaron, 2007)
6. Soom Dark Brown (London, 2011)
7. Iplehouse Light Brown (Arvid, 2011)
8. Limhwa tan (Half-Elf, 2011)
9. Dollzone tan (Alpha, 2011)
10. Volks ebony (Irvin, 2008)
11. Island Doll tan (Kevin, 2011)
12. Iplehouse old light tan (Cocori, 2008)
13. ResinSoul coffee/light tan (2010)

Clockwise, starting with the feet:

1. FantasyDoll Dark tan (Charlotte, 2013)
2. Iplehouse ebony (Boris, 2013)
3. Soom dark brown (London, 2011)
4. Dollmore suntan (Mettaa ),
5. Island doll tan (Kevin, 2011)
6. Illusion Spirit tan (ZhuQing, 2011)
7. Souldoll tan (Rouse, 2010), 
8. Iplehouse light brown (Arvid, 2011)
9. Limhwa tan (Half-eld, 2011)
10. Dollzone tan (Alpha, 2011)

Personally, I thought the biggest find was the similarity between Iplehouse's light brown and Island
Doll's tan (although the IS tan does have slightly more red to it).

That's EID Arvid in light brown holding Island doll Kevin in tan on the left.

Out of the box: Nolitye (Secretdoll Binu)

In a Pipos outfit

Secretdoll's Binu is another non-standard size:  technically in high-end of the YoSD range at 31cm, the doll is proportioned in the style of an MSD, so she has the proportions of a 9-12 year old child, rather than the toddler body that most tiny BJDs have, while still not quite qualifying for "mature tiny" status.

My first non-SD sized BJD, I wasn't sure what to expect of this girl, but she's really quite lovely.  The engineering of the body is imperfect (she needs a stand in order to stay upright) and fairly basic (she's single jointed), but in a way that only adds to her charm.

In a Liv doll outfit

Mine is the tan version, and the colour is beautiful - a solid brown, without the orange underlayer that some companies' medium tans tend towards.  And considering the age (the doll was released in 2008) and that Secretdoll is such a small operation, her colour is perfectly even:  none of the marbling that one frequently sees.

The biggest challenge with this doll is finding clothes in the right scale.  YoSD clothes tend to be a little too short and a little too baggy, while fashion doll clothes tend to be slightly too tight (although I had some luck with the now-discontinued Liv doll outfits).  I do enjoy sewing for my dolls, but her size makes that more of a challenge for my limited skill.

She has an adorably detailed face that matches the body in being in that in-between zone of not-quite-child, not-quite mature - although I've seen other Binus that were painted to look more adult, so it's certainly a possibility with this sculpt.

On display, she generally doesn't look in-scale with the standard YoSD/MSD/SD sizes, but she is reasonably in scale with my taller non-standard sized dolls:

In between Souldoll Vito Rouse and Soom ID51 London