How Can I Restore a Model Shamisen and Japanese Kimono Doll?

[pboman]

I bought a 2 foot tall Japanese doll that includes a small model shamisen made with real hides and string. It also has a paper drum. The doll’s cloth is soiled from age and mold and the skins are unglued in the shamisen. The doll came from an Estate sale.

Any suggestions on how to clean the doll up and brighten her kimono? Her hair is also a little soiled or dusty…
I will try these dry cleaners on the fabric:

Is there a good way to reskin the small shamisen?

I think something was dropped on the doll’s head before and damaged the neck and that is why the head tilts forward. I will try to find a way to stiffen the neck so it will hold her head up. I may have to remove the head somehow strengthen the neck and then reattach it… Maybe I can also attach a brass rod or wooden peg to help strengthen the neck.

Given that her obi is tied in the front does that mean she is a courtesans or entertainer?

Do I need to repaint her face or is there a way to clean the fabric? Is her face meant to look like a fox to show cunning?

It looks like the model shamisen could actually be played but there is no miniature bachi. Maybe I can make one.

Maybe I can redye her hair black to make it darker; repaint her face after trying to remove the mold; reskin the shamisen; clean the wood. What do I do about the fabric kimono to clean it? I don’t want to take the doll completely apart by undressing it to try to clean the cloth… I would probably never get it put back together well.

The photos of the doll I received look much duller from the photos in the sale… Should I try re-dying any of those fabrics to make them brighter? If so how would I do that?

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[pboman]

I used a vacuum tonight on the lowest setting and tried to clean her hair, kimono and the wood base a little bit.

[Alexey]

This is a huge job you taking on. If it is a natural silk material is would be very difficult to get rid of mold and dirt. The dyes used don’t allow hard cleaning. Stuff used for dry cleaning might work, might not.
Main issue IMHO is the mold.

[pboman]

I tried cleaning with the ForceField Dry cleaning fluid. It seems totally ineffective. It is just a clear fluid which doesn’t appear to clean any of the fabrics…

[Alexey]

From what I see it is not a dirt but mold

[pboman]

I thought the dry cleaning fluid I bought would remove mold, but it had no effect…

[pboman]

I want to reskin the toy shamisen.

I took the skins off and soaked the dao in water and unglued it.

I reglued the dau and tried to clean up the sinks with bleach and later acrylic dye. When the skins dried out they are still wrinkled.

I think I will use new goatskin from Turkey to reskin the toy shamisen. I am thinking I can make a miniature stretching frame with only one or two fingers on each side for a total of 4-8 clamps to grab and stretch the skin.

What kind of mini clamps can I use to stretch and glue on the skin? Any suggestions?

I will need to relacquer the dao. Any suggestions on the lacquer paint?

I will also need to make a mini koma since it is missing. Any suggestions?

[pboman]

I made a mini stretching frame for the small doll shamisen dau.

Not sure the plastic blue clamps will hold well. they seem to slip off the dry skin. Maybe if the skin is damp it will hold better.

I tried added a 2nd or 3rd layer of skin to the clamps but that doesn’t seem to help with the grip. The dry skin is too slippery for the clamps. They are made for gripping canvas tarps, but don’t seem to work well with my leather. I tried using a box cutter knife to roughen up the smooth side of the clamp but that didn’t seem to make any difference.

I am wondering if I should just use contact cement on one or both sides of the leather before adding the clamps. Probably if I was to do that I would need to add the clamps before soaking the leather in warm water for the stretching…

In that case I would have to allow enough leather to cut the clamps off when the glue holding the skin to the top of the dau is dry…

What do you think of this idea? Would it be better to make the Wood Kisen from Kyle’s book and use those instead?

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I purchased some old brown glue (liquid hide glue):

Amazon.com: Old Brown Glue, 5oz : Tools & Home Improvement

I also purchased a candle wax making kit that includes a heater/warmer that I can use to control the temperature of the hide glue:

Amazon.com: Candle Making Kit , Wax Warmer Candle Making Supplies, Non-Stick...

Any suggestions before I try to reskin the dau?

BTW I also purchased the blue plastic clamps on amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B005F2Z50I?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2_dt_b_product_details

I bought them because of this suggestion from Lorraine MacDonald: What kind of glue for shamisen heads?.
I am not sure if they will work well or not…

[pboman]

Instead of using thin slippery goat leather I decided to use imitation leather Naugahyde instead. It is softer and stretches without wetting and the plastic clips grip it firmly…

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BTW- The blue plastic clips are difficult to get apart once fully tightened gripping something. I found these tweezers just the right thickness to pry down the tab and then to pry the two sides of the clamps apart.

I used old brown glue heated up in a candle maker pot.

I used my doll sized frame stretcher that I made. I tied the cord first and then used a small hammer to drive in the wedges to further tighten the Naugahyde.

After removing the clamps and the dau from the frame I used scissors to remove the excess Naugahyde and then used original titebond glue to glue down the sides.

Here is the finished result:

To finish it off I need to make a small bachi and small koma since they were missing from the doll set.

I also need to make a smaller doukake since the one that came with the doll is too wide for the dau…

I am learning some practical skills working with the toy shamisen first before I try to reskin my full sized Tsugaru Shamisen… I love how detailed Kyle’s book is as well as his different videos that tell how to make things…

[Stefanie]

Ok, this is one of the cutest things I´ve seen in a while.
But seriously, it came out very neat looking and I think that for a doll shamisen, it is perfect. I am sorry that there is no solution for the doll itself for now. I will try to ask my friends who work in the museum but I won´t have the answers soon as I am in quarantine at the moment

[pboman]

Thanks Stefanie,

I used some white acrylic fabric paint to help cover up/ hide the mold on the doll. I still have more work to do. I will need to touch up her eyes, eyelids, eyebrows, mouth and neck. Maybe I can mix a lighter flesh tone paint for her face, neck and fingers…

I am afraid I will be inconsistent in mixing the paints. I bought a set of 40 colors of acrylic fabric paints to choose from.

Amazon.com: Fabric Paint Set, 40 Colors (2 oz/Bottle) Textile Paints with 12 Art...

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I need to repair the neck that droops over. I am thinking I can epoxy the back of the neck to the back of the collar of the kimono to help hold the head more straight. But before I do that I would like to dye the hair more black. I think before I add thinned black fabric paint to her hair I will need to add masking tape to the other parts of the doll to avoid spilling and damaging the doll.

Her fingers used to be yellow and brown. Now they are lighter

I sanded the mold off the wood base. I will reglue it and add Waterlux finish.
Her tabi socks used to be yellow and brown. Now they are more white…

[pboman]

Here are some final repairs:
I purchased a Carbon Fiber Sheet 150x125x1.5mm from amazon that I sawed and roughened up to use as a doll neck brace to place under her hairline and under her kimono layers in the back:

I used some 30 min clear epoxy to glue the carbon fiber piece under her hairline and under her clothes.
What I didn’t think about doing was to add some saran wrap under the outer layer of her kimono to prevent the epoxy from soaking through to the outer layer.

Her neck is much better now. I tried to hold her head and neck straight while the epoxy was drying…

!

I also repainted her face:

She now looks down at me when I work at my desk

Mostly complete

[pboman]

I repaired the small Kotsuzumi drum and made a doukake.

[Stefanie]

Good job! The drum is lovely! So cute, makes me want to have a doll just to make a shamisen for her

[pboman]

Thanks Stephanie I would like to get a real drum like that in the future