Mila

Happy Kidz Mila (2022) by Elisabeth Lindner* arrived 2nd May, 2022, and was my first dolly purchase for 2022. She is 50cm/19.5" tall, has blonde rooted hair which is worn loose, but with two plaits pulled together and decorated with her best cat hair slide, fixed stone grey eyes, freckles and nine points of articulation.

Mila has an interesting face sculpt, not the prettiest of the Gotz Happy Kidz sculpts, but a face with character. Her face paint is very natural just like a little girl and she even has an upper eyelid of real fibre eyelashes. Mila wears a strawberry pink pleated dress with sequin sleeves and her pretty ballet style shoes have long ties which Mila ties into bows around her ankles to keep them on her feet just like ballerinas do.

The Happy Kidz body is modelled on a typical 10-11 year old girl and Mila's high quality, real looking hair is durable enough for washing, combing and styling.

I have wanted a doll with this face for years as her face sculpt is very different to those I have by Hildegard Günzel, but in the past she's been snapped up before I've had a chance to buy her. To be very honest, I wasn't that keen on her when she arrived, but as I tend to give my dolls their own character, I didn't see that as a problem.

Firstly I removed the factory makeup and the acrylic eyes. The eyes were quite nice, though I felt they were slightly too large for her eye opening.  As I also prefer more realistic eyes, they had to go, along with the eyelashes. 

To remove her head I soaked it in boiled water until the vinyl was soft, then pull it off. The eyes are set in pockets with an open back inside her head so you can easily remove the eyes through the neck hole.

Her rooted hair was covered to protect it from the chalk and the sealant. Then after using two coats of Mr Super Clear Flat, I began laying down colour using watercolour pencils and artist grade chalk pastels. A layer of sealant was applied between each layer of colour.

I prefer to use my pastels for blushing and my pencils for more detailed work such as eyebrows, eyelashes and freckles.

*Elisabeth Lindner was born in Detmold, Germany in1951. She is self taught in the art of doll making and has become very successful. Elisabeth has attended exhibitions in Europe and has won several prizes. She made the Coca Cola ™ dolls for Franklin Mint and made casts for the Lison company until 1997. Her designs are also made at the famous Götz doll factory.