Finally Making THEE MERMAN (2024 Mermay Doll Collaboration)

crossed this off my list, now what?
collaborators:
‪@faerieman8958‬
‪@ElectricbunnyVT‬
‪@stephoodoll‬
‪@ICOULDDOTHATDIY‬
‪@LadyDynamiteCreates‬
‪@DollyPop‬
‪@BlurredColors‬
hire handoko: www.fiverr.com/handoko_bintoro
instagram: / hisnameisakin
ko-fi: ko-fi.com/hisnameisakin
timestamps
00:00 intro
01:09 preparation
02:43 technical sculpting 1 - torso joint
08:54 cosmetic sculpting 1 - muscles
11:36 tail preface
12:31 technical sculpting 2 - tail
16:54 cosmetic sculpting 2 - fins
18:20 painting the body & tail
21:54 sculpting new ears & painting the head
24:25 face-up
27:05 hair
29:06 finishing
30:02 reveal

[@HeXtian]

AHHHH! soooo good! i am so obsessed with this doll! The colors and overall vibe and tail and abs!!!! omg 👏🏻 🔥

[@brianahawkins8124]

I am still amazed by your Penelope custom doll, but with your costume now I have to do a gorgeous sketch of you in bridgerton costume. See you on your next video Hex.

[@hisnameisAkin]

omg thank you for watching my video hextian! glad you like him. i need to thank enchanterium and handoko for the tail haha

[@johnriddle1849]

I really like him. He got his wish! The tail looks so good and his custom physique is great.

[@carrie4910]

That is one handsome merman! Awesome doll Akin!

[@hisnameisAkin]

thank you! glad you like him!

[@warrennolan6398]

Polo is Amazing! You are too hard on yourself! This doll is so refined and clear and yet he’s soooo identifiably your style. Put him in plastic packaging and I could see him being sold in a toy store! One day I’ll have enough disposable income to purchase a doll at the price they are truly worth from you.

[@hisnameisAkin]

thank you so much! i'm glad you like him and i honestly can't thank you enough for your support haha. i'm actually considering to sell some of my dolls, i just have to be sure how it works cause indonesia's customs aren't exactly the best when it comes to that.

[@warrennolan6398]

Well I’ll keep supporting the kofi for now but like I said one day I’ll splurge and you’re at the top of my list

[@sirdragonmoon7092]

I love him, the tule worked so well as aditional detailing. The sculpting was quite good, and the face is cute and handsome as always

[@hisnameisAkin]

i agree, the tulle was kind of the saving grace of this project. and thank you, glad you like him!

[@kittyvanoosten8578]

Yes, a buff merboy! Ugh, so much work! But he's great. Lovely work!

[@hisnameisAkin]

thank you so much!

[@felinemoonchild]

Dude I really love him. Wow. As always your sculpting ability blows me away. Also regarding the head-shrinking, you might have better luck with the slow-shrinking method? I know Dirili Dolls also has videos on how to do that method, and Catmeleon Studios said she plans to make a video on how she does it too. The problem is that instead of a couple hours, it takes DAYS, so it requires planning. Or just having a bunch of shrunken heads around waiting for projects. But dude even with all the struggles, he's absolutely gorgeous! The end result doesn't show ANY of those struggles at all!

[@AwkwardBirb]

I love his eyes! The gold looks so cool and makes such a nice contrast with his skin tone. 😊

[@hisnameisAkin]

thank you! i like his eyes too, giving him an unnatural skin color was so much fun haha

[@gingerdog8203]

This is so nice. I love the color scheme too! You did a great job working through the different issues you had and I am proud of you!

[@hisnameisAkin]

glad you like him! and thank you for your kind words!

[@sbubbis1]

Oooo the bit of tulle around the waist really brings the tail up to another level. It’s a really nice effect and brings another texture. Looks great!

[@charlie570]

he looks good! and even with the similar colors he ends up being his own unique thing. and i'm blown away by those body modifications, they came out amazing

[@hisnameisAkin]

thank you so much! glad you like him! i think so too, just because two characters share some things in common doesn't mean one is a copy of the other haha

[@haemi5971]

I love how this came out! And how posable he is🎉 Tule under hips is such a smart move, even looks like fins! Try making neckhole bigger on the inside with a dremmel next time you try making a shrinked head fit? Maybe I forgot about a time you already tried and it ended not well and if so I apologize for this suggestion, but if not, give it a try? Maybe even on the discarded shrunken Hunter head and some spare body just to see if the effect is visually acceptable for future reference.

[@warrennolan6398]

Yay!!!!!

[@Dylan-wc2qc]

He turned out great, love the color scheme too. Fits the theme well and even with some struggles along the way you push thru and created something so cool.

[@hisnameisAkin]

thank you so much, glad you like him! i find when it comes to overcoming struggles, you need time more than persistence

[@Formoka]

Omg so cool!! This may be my favorite of your face-ups. Those eyes are perfect! The sculpting is amazing as always and the colors are so much fun! I adore your videos. You’re so extremely talented. I wish you had more fans.

[@hisnameisAkin]

thank you so much! yeah, i like the eyes too and the colors were so much fun to work with. please share my work haha, help me gain more audience

[@forbezilla]

I'm always astounded by your knowledge with anatomy and being able to sculpt muscles in a way that is realistic on these dolls!

[@jacobalexanderhayes]

i literally want him on shelves RIGHT NOW!!!

[@hisnameisAkin]

thanks! but unfortunately i only have two hands haha

[@kristenblack3930]

He looks amazing! You should definitely be proud of him.

[@francklie6568]

He looks great! And I admire your patience with his head!

[@hisnameisAkin]

thank you! good thing i was doing the body modification while waiting for the shrunken head to dry, so when the shrunken head didn't work out i could move on right away. i only wasted a head, not time haha

[@louisebrown3121]

I think you did an amazing job. He took a lot of work but he looks great. I like his color scheme and the fins you added. Putting tulle at the waist was a good idea. His face and hair suit the merman well . Overall an awesome job

[@hisnameisAkin]

thank you so much! glad you like him!

[@superboyjosh]

I'm always AMAZED at what you can do! ❤

[@hisnameisAkin]

thank you!!

[@N1ckelD1me]

the body customizing on this one is next level. this could literally be a master class on technical and cosmetic sculpting, including the benefits of collabing and building off each others' work. epic as always my dude. your creativity and attention to detail come together to make the coolest dolls! the fins are such a cool touch!

[@kerryharburn6538]

Wonderful job! Very nice! 😊

[@hisnameisAkin]

thank you!

[@lonely.doll_]

Great work!! His new articulation is so impressive

[@necroticdemonart]

❤❤❤❤ i always love your male ooak dolls,I love the style of them

[@SirBass15]

I loved the doll... loved the face paint, so handsome...

[@hisnameisAkin]

thank you!!

[@polo6388]

I never thought i would share a name with an OOAK doll! a beautiful one too, Amazing work!

[@dulce.sirena]

I know the failed attempts were materials wasteful, but you have no idea how much that helps perfectionist newbies like me to not give up, knowing even the great creators mess up sometimes. I noticed you don't gloss the eyes, and I think that would add an extra layer of depth to the eyes, especially for when you want eyes to appear to shimmer or sparkle without *adding* anything that shimmers on its own. Love your work!

[@bakayaroonna8]

What a handsome mer-lad! Excellent job with the popping colours!

[@heathermccormick7183]

All that body work is amazing. I love him.

[@hisnameisAkin]

thank you!!

[@ArachneAnathema]

You and Dollightful share one trait that I find really inspiring. Articulation. You always make sure your work is fully posable, which is what drew me to doll art, but I didn’t want to go the expensive resin BJD route. I feel I am really learning a lot from watching you deal with these challenges. Also your style is so unique I feel really inspired to develop my own bold art aesthetic, I think it’s really cool that you create your own characters. Thank you so much for sticking with this, I hear you complain a lot but I feel it is your passion to creating you own vision, and, like me, you always want to be a little bit better. Like Dollightful, too, you are not afraid to try something you have not done before, and keep working at something if it doesn’t work out the first time. Truly inspiring.

[@brianahawkins8124]

He looks fantastic, he is my number five favorite custom doll, I love everyone's Mermay Collab dolls, see you next time.

[@hisnameisAkin]

thank you so much!

[@brianahawkins8124]

@@hisnameisAkin Your welcome. :)

[@joeisonlyaverage1313]

He’s quite charming! You did an excellent job with the painting- face up and the tail especially

[@Koda229]

He looks amazing 🩷

[@hisnameisAkin]

thank you!

[@tinseltina]

i LOVE him! i love the colors, and the fins on his torso i think its so cute and clever. i like his onion hair. and inlike his funny name

[@skaiwalkerz]

He looks really good!! 💕

[@hisnameisAkin]

thank you!

[@consuelomartinez2598]

Dude the color and sculpting turned out so so good the results are so amazing!! Even if this was such a difficult project I think it turned out so cool

[@lachauntiswashington231]

He looks great. I love the color palette, and his tail looks amazing

[@christineingram55]

He looks really cool and I like his hair that way,so I don’t think it looks like an onion.I also like his tidy beard too 🥰

[@hisnameisAkin]

thank you so much! glad you like him!

[@toriaden833]

So excited to see a new video from you pop up. You are so talented. Wow

[@hisnameisAkin]

thank you!!

[@mimionoktop]

He is amazing! I love how transformative your dolls are!

[@gin3383]

the attention to detail, the obsession over small mistakes or gaps, the incredible sculpting, i just LOVE watching you do your thing!! i hope you work out whatever it is you're troubled over soon

[@SparDanger]

He looks amazing!!! Great color palette too!!

[@katiewaterrose]

Akin, you never fail to make me laugh my ass off. I'm sorry that things didn't go exactly as you'd hoped for your first merperson but I don't think I could've asked for a more on brand video from you. Thank you for the content you put out in the world. ❤

[@DajuanH.]

Polo is so adorable 🥰 everyone creations look amazing.

[@Kai-jo6yl]

i love your content, this slayed hard ❤❤❤❤❤

[@hisnameisAkin]

thank you! glad you like my work!

[@ashleybaker2764]

This video really makes you appreciate all the hard work that goes into all of these beautiful creations I loved how he turned out I was so excited to watch all the different videos in this collab everyone did such an amazing job but this is for sure one of my favorite merman’s thus far great job Akin he’s perfect!!! 🫶🏾

[@reeniebeenie06]

he’s so handsome omg, i love his color palette and i adore his facial features!! he’s so dashing!!

[@czbaterka]

He is great! I love that u prefer joints movement!!!

[@hisnameisAkin]

thank you! articulations for life!

[@juanediazmendoza8483]

Great job 👏 ❤

[@hisnameisAkin]

thank you!

[@paulapeterson-warnock3030]

Amazing detail!!!!!!

[@hisnameisAkin]

thank you!

[@mostlyghostey]

Super cool doll! The technical sculpting was incredible to watch! If you have time later I would try remaking the head. It didn't seam like you were too happy with the result and I think with a little more love you could really make this design shine! But the doll turned out really great regardless and I totally understand the relief that comes when something gets finished.

[@jadesage09]

Hello, thank you for the video! I think the doll turned out great! I always enjoy seeing your skills in anatomy/musculature, it adds a sense of realism to the doll body. Im sorry that a lot did not go according to plan, but I think you adapted well and still made it work. The color scheme looks good, I like the lighter color you did on the scales to make them stand out. Maybe for the mustache you coukd give him long strands of hair to look like fish whiskers :D I also think the tulle helped with the waist gap. I thought at first it would make the doll look like it was wearing a tutu, but it worked. Once again, excellent work, good job!

[@TealCheetah]

I salute you for all that body mod work!

[@hisnameisAkin]

thank you haha!

[@YoungDymisty]

Catmelion is really good with head shrinking and widens the neck peg and neck with a Dremel. Poppen atelier uses a hair dryer in the head hole to make it easier to put back on. Hopefully this helps.

[@Kunabee]

I love your merman! He's so bright :) And the tulle is lovely, it looks like fins!

[@hisnameisAkin]

thank you so much!!

[@amaeve1950]

I love your body mods! As ever, such great work!

[@shannonraby5547]

😂Oh Akin, I adore you and your doll customs. You have the mouth of sailor, and I like it.

[@mischiefgoblin9102]

He turned out so well despite all the challenges he gave you ^^ the facial hair is just beautiful, more mermen with mustaches are needed 💙 Just a thought of what you can do with all the dead heads but Chaos from the Hades game would be cool and you could use those heads :)

[@petradegroot3578]

He looks great!

[@MrMothCat]

That doll is so amazing! He reminds me of the fish people from the film Luca :D

[@parczxpi2938]

💗💗Me encanta tus muñecas, las adoro muchísimo y este galán ufff... Espero que me lleve hasta el fondo del mar 💗💗

[@hisnameisAkin]

thank you, glad you like him! i'm not sure being taken to the bottom of the sea is a good idea though, haha

[@cirej25]

Love this!!!!

[@montarsisminiatures]

Love your work. 🎉

[@stephoodoll]

He turned out awesome! 💖💖 Love the colours and your sculpting skills are amazing! 🙌 It was lovely collabing with you. 😊

[@marraj3818]

brown-ish gold shining eyes, full eyebrows, goatee, gelled up dark hair.. the face up is giving iron man vibes and i'm living for it

[@morwe_]

Much better thumbnail, good job

[@hisnameisAkin]

i took your advice to heart haha

[@morwe_]

@@hisnameisAkin youve improved!! Great job!! Im very happy to see your channel continue to grow.

[@CorrineFerguson]

Soooo talented❤❤❤

[@joecoloff4247]

Excellent

[@kennethquarles4117]

awesome

[@gerbilnoa2877]

Это такой подробный апгрейд тела. Обожаю ваш канал за инженерный подход и смелые решения❤ Я была так сильно увлечена новой конструкцией, что удивилась появившейся в кадре голове. Точно, работа над ней ещё не закончена😂 Был ли это ваш самый затратный проект? И по времени в том числе.

[@hisnameisAkin]

thank you so much! glad you like him. what can i say, doll joints fascinate me so i try to make them from time to time haha. actually no, this project wasn't that expensive. i only spent money for hiring someone to edit the 3d files and printing them, that cost me around $25

[@jameskpt8878]

HII I LOVE YOUR VIDEOS!!

[@hisnameisAkin]

thank you!

[@jennglow4647]

Cool 😀

[@juanrcaballero207]

He is the cutest

[@sofsof1572]

The colour scheme reminded me of mlm flag. It's a nice colour scheme!

[@MrMothCat]

Me too! It's so pretty

[@TealCheetah]

merman time!

[@ConfusedSoup]

💙💙💙💙

[@blairterry2]

Hello from Australia, Your Merman turned out amazing. I always admire people who can sculpt, that is one of the thing I struggle with. You asked for some feedback and the only thing I can say is I would have liked a longer tail to balance his proportions ( which is only my preference ) otherwise an EXTREMELY good looking Merman. Best Wishes Terry

[@MrMothCat]

heya fellow aussie dude who watched this video :D

[@nelanhtariley2254]

I think he's great😊

[@AndyMasakie]

Handsome Polo ❤

[@jefbowles7745]

So handsome

[@leilarandall9518]

He looks like he would be fun to hang out with

[@Fawkes_the_phoenix]

Don't be so hard on yourself Akin!

[@hisnameisAkin]

i'll try haha

[@rpharr5253]

Like your style

[@Kubricize342]

I love him

[@officialprimepuppyrose149]

Next time you make a movement of body parts you should use a ball joint method

[@Fruityloops1517]

So cool! I love this doll, but I gotta say, I really hated the "lid" something about it really fucked with me lol.😂

[@mtb1015]

Damn those pecs! 🫣 Very nice doll btw

[@hisnameisAkin]

thank you!

[@deborahlepage1789]

...Catleon does head-shrinking in her art projects, and I think her videos state sje does a 9 to 10 on the asotone....sorry, but maybe you can get her asotone with - i don't remember. But I think as an artist to artist consult she'll share her successful head-shrinking process. Sorry if this suggestion came off as rude. The musculature and added torso articulation you did looks attractive. The added fins were interesting. I'll pass on the ears -lol, sorry. The additions on the arms and torso were interesting, looking like he's got some added speed and movement for the sharp turns some fish can do when they turn. The dorsal fin, which for me immediately signals shark before All the Other Fish Species which have dorsal fins - as well as mammals, such as dolphins and whales...sorry, dorsal fin means shark to me first, must be phobia for ocean predators, lol. This just means your merman is an omnivore right? Lol. That was a lot of physical adjustment for both articulation and aesthetic. Sorry the dying didn't work out, but was you said, you're learning more with every doll you do, because Art is a growing process. Imagine how bored you'd be if it was all the same. You did a lot of really good work, and if you're not entirely happy, well, don't forget your art can grow too. Thank you for sharing. It takes more courage than I have to share your creative journey with so many strangers. Good work. And amazing to get an articulated tail too. Are you making your "dolls" for someone to play with or for something more permanent. Again, if it doesn't bother you, check out Catleon for her formula of head shrinking. Artist to artist, it may be an enjoyable conversation. Thank you for sharing. I like the added musculature on your merman.

[@Bonkpunktexe]

i feel like he would be the older brother or idk the uncle to dollightful's sirena doll

[@andrerossetto7759]

The thumbnail got me here because he... looks SO much like me 🧐

[@CharaViolet]

What's the white clay you use?

[@AsmodeousBean]

gawdddd he looks so familiar but I don’t rmb to who lmaoooo maybe Genie 🧞😂😂😂

[@ksglitch6463]

Might need a bigger Jar for head shrinking, the opening looks like it might be just that bit too tight a squeeze to get them out

[@ksglitch6463]

For more head shrinking tips, maybe check out Catmeleon studios, almost all of her dolls have shrunken heads. BUT!! Oh my god your doll looks flippin amazing. The nipple fins make me giggle, but oh he's so cool, I love how you fixed the gap with tule, wouldn't have thought of that.

[@jonnaelmore7604]

May I post your videos on my Pinterest board?😊

[@carrie4910]

Cap instead of lid perhaps?

[@rhonilake]

❤😂🎉😢😮😅😊

[@rhonilake]

❤🎉😢🎉😮😅😊

[@Angelina_Davis25]

Widen the neck hole.

[@PxsDD]

Diaphragm