About Lir

Prince Lir


Company and sculpt: SOOM Lupin
Height: 63cm
Resin colour: NS
Modifications: Shortened neck
Faceup: Me
Eyes: Masterpiece Afghan 13mm
Wig: wool roving, made by Me

Name (and nicknames): Lir (the doll itself is known occasionally as Mister Scruffy)
Age: 23
Birthday: in the Autumn
Family and/or relationships: Father: Gahaeris (dcs.), Mother: Elaine (dcs.), Brother: Cai (dcs.), Sister: Elinore
Pets: A raven named Scratch
Personality: Calm, curious, mild, compassionate, soft spoken, introspective, capable of being brave
Hobbies: wandering, reading, studying histories and records,
Likes: Time alone or with close friends, long journeys, riddles and mysteries, books, his family
Dislikes: shallowness, rudeness, useless noise, flattery, cruelty
Other/misc. facts: Believer in lost causes, likes the Lady Rowena very much.
The scar on one side of his jaw was not given by some sworn enemy's cursed blade- it's the result of a fledgling Scratch the Raven trying to peck at Lir's eye. That's how Scratch got his name.
He calls his sister Elinore the pet name "Linnet Bird".

Short bio: He left his castle home, going out alone as he often did, but this time he stayed away for two years, chasing rumors of a hidden record, an ancient text. He found it, and followed the advice of a blind poet to sail to an island ruled by a cruel lord, where he rescued a slave who could read the words written in the book. Then he journeyed home, hastened on his way by rumors of war in his father's kingdom. Nothing could have prepared him for what he would find on his arrival.

About the Doll:
Lir is a sculpt called Lupin from a company called Soom, based in South Korea. Like most Ball Jointed Dolls, he was handcast in polyurethane resin from molds taken from an original artist's sculpt.

Lir was the very first BJD I ordered, and I found him by hunting through websites for a masculine yet young and handsome face on a sculpt. I didn't want another anime-faced "bishounen". (That's Japan-Fan talk for Pretty Young Man, usually quite androgynous and effeminate) Stylized Beauty has its appeals, but I prefer a certain amount of realism in faces, and manliness in men. I wanted to make dolls that were a bit different.

He's had that extra long Soom Super Gem neck shortened to give him the proportions I wanted him to have. The Super Gem body that Soom makes for their 63 cm male dolls is lean but muscular, a beautiful sculpt if not the very best at posing. He stands very well, even unsupported. I got him with the exquisite jointed hands Soom makes, and they are incredibly gorgeous in expressiveness and engineering. I can't imagine this doll without them, because they do allow him such a great emotive range, and he's an emotional sort of character.

When he arrived he looked like this:

Those incredible eyes of his are Masterpiece Eyes, in the color "Afghan". The faceup (BJD Hobby Talk for his face painting) is the faceup that I ordered him with, because at the time I wasn't sure whether I'd be able to do faceups myself. It was very nice, admittedly, but I decided I wanted eventually to do my own faceups, so later I repainted his face myself.
His wig I made by building a felt wigcap in the shape of the hairline I wanted, then gluing dabs of wool roving onto it a little bit at a time. Eventually he'll get a custom fiber wig that will be in roughly this same style.


This is how his face looks now. I did this faceup myself. Eventually I may redo it yet again, but this is good for now. He's wearing the same eyes as before, but this shot doesn't catch all their colors as well as that other one. The bird there on his shoulder is supposed to be his pet raven, Scratch. He's dressed in his rough traveling clothes.
I haven't done a shoot with him in a while, and I owe him one as soon as I finish his new courtly clothes.