(All of my lovely faceplates, the eyes, and the wig... )
So, in case you didn't get the memo, this post is NOT SAFE FOR WORK. It contains nekkid dolls and their nekkid parts.
Now that that's over with, allow me to explain. I recently obtained an Unoa Zero by 'trading' my Kurumi (selling, buying). I was really terrified of putting her together, but to be honest, it was a LOT easier than I thought it was going to be. I took pictures of the process and it's really just like stringing any other doll. The only part that takes explanation is the slots and the small part for the knee capsule joint, and that's only because I was being dumb. The arms were assembled for me, by the previous owner, but the strings were too loose and I ended up redoing those (sans picture-taking). The included directions were spot-on, that I could see!
And without further ado... :
Just took some pictures of the parts that I had out.
I started out with eyeing the slots in the capsule joints... hmmm...
By carefully studying the picture in the instructions, I got to this point. I didn't thread the wire through the hole in the small slot piece, I threaded it through the capsule joint itself.
Both wire ends go up through the leg...
... and are twisted together securely using little needle-nosed pliers.
Basically, after that, it's just like stringing a normal doll. This is me using a retarded red twistie-tie to push elastic through instead of some smarter tool....
Fold the elastic until it has four even loops, like a four-leafed-clover... then, make sure to somehow secure them at the midpoint. I used another twistie-tie. Then, thread the ends to the bottom of the leg and hook the foot around the end of the two loops. Bottom half completed!
Here she is standing: as you can see, her knees don't quite fit into the tops of her shins.... :(
After threading the loops through the arms in the same manner as the legs, the top half of the torso is completed. All that is left to do is hook the bottom of the last piece of elastic around this huge hook in her abdomen, and then thread it up through the torso and the neck to secure her headback/headplate.
She's all together now! As you can see, she can stand, but not without some magical trickery... her bottom just wants to throw off her balance due to the lack of strings connecting her legs/torso like on other dolls.
I have already sanded her nipples off. I hate it when doll nipples poke through clothing, so I figured I'd head off the bra-buying problem at the pass....
Her lovely sleeping Latea face. I used it because it looks so tranquil, even without a faceup.
Overall, I like the Unoa Zero body's shape and sculpting aesthetic, but the balance is all off for me. People hail Araki as a genius, but I have seen Fairyland do better with their engineering. He is no doubt talented, and I absolutely adore my Zero! However, the quality is lacking for the price he demands. The knees have the characteristic Zero chipping, the resin is uneven around her arm joints, and the bottom-heavy construction makes it hard to really take advantage of her wonderful capsule joints when she's standing up. The resin also looks very plastic-y compared to my Bluefairy SF May, and my Switch Hahwa head. Also, color-wise, she is paler than my Switch head, which is supposed to be a good match for Volks Pureskin. I know that she's not easy to hybrid due to her neck, but for anyone looking to consider, I do not think it would be a good idea to pair her with a volks head without some light blushing.
I hope this helped anyone that was curious about the Unoa Zero's assembly and construction! I'm going to do her faceup in around a week, so I'll try to post some photos of that, although I think I'll just end up rushing through it so that she feels 'completely here'.
