I know you can buy completely unfinished dolls, but can't find the links at volks for the unfinished super dollfie. I know they aren't love dolls, but they interest me because they are pretty darned cool. I would never be able to paint the faces, but I could probably contract my cousin to do that part, and i could design the clothes (making them may be another story). I just dont like the idea of how expencive even that stuff gets.
My primary interest is photography. Really not interested in a rubber child-doll to fuck, but the bodies and heads are so realistic looking they would be a way to practice photography with out having to deal with living people, paying people to model, etc.
A lot of the Korean Super dollfies are beautifully painted (better than Volks) but they also sell totally un-painted versions too. (SOOM dolls)
Even if you buy a doll with the basic factory "face-up" you can easily remove all the paint and do your own...
I used to paint my own dolls and do the body thing like nipples, and shadowing, but the eyebrows were always the toughest to paint.