Painting seamless bodies (NSFW?)

Thanks for the thorough breakdown. Very helpful.

Thanks -- that is indeed very good to know. And by 'dish detergent' do you mean the powdered kind you put in a dishwasher, or the liquid soap kind? I presume the latter, but just want to double check.

skywalkersaga wrote:Thanks -- that is indeed very good to know. And by 'dish detergent' do you mean the powdered kind you put in a dishwasher, or the liquid soap kind? I presume the latter, but just want to double check.

You presumed correctly Just a drop of dawn, etc. I believe the brand I had was seventh generation, but the chemistry should all be the same!

Great! Looking forward to trying it out .

Got some pastels in the mail from Dick Blick today, and I tried them out on a previously dyed s12. After experimenting a bit I figured out how to get the color to lay down more evenly and painted the figure's right leg a nice dark brown color. I had already dyed this one a lighter brown with Rit Dye, so I suppose it's not the same as using the oil pastel on a new, pale body. This method seems to offer more control in terms of getting the color you want for very dark skinned bodies than using Rit Dye, but it takes more work to get an even tone throughout.



Also, I didn't see it mentioned anywhere in this thread but there is a way to remove oil pastel from the bodies in case you have need of it. I just brushed on some Gamsol onto the back of this figure and it lifted the pastel off pretty easily. I didn't really try to clean it thoroughly since I was just testing it out, but I think you could remove nearly all of the pastel if you wanted to fix an error or start over again.



The middle portion of her back was originally as dark as her shoulders, but the solvent lifted basically all of the pastel out of the silicone. Thought some people might find that useful.

Nice work. What do you plan to do for the hands and feet?

Paint them with Vallejo acrylics.

gooboo wrote:Paint them with Vallejo acrylics.

Have you tried this? I have not had good luck using paint on hands and feet.

gooboo - Your oil-pastel experiment worked great. And thank you for reporting on the use of Gamsol to remove oil pastel if needed.

ThePhotogsBlog -- Yes, acrylics work on the plastics. Scroll through this thread and look at all the instances where I tried to match the oil pastel on the body with the acrylics on the hard plastic hands and feet. It is a bit of a challenge, and one has only so much patience or skill. Of course, you could scratch them or scrape them off (though not quite as easily as you would be able to rub off the oil pastel with a q-tip) the plastic surface, so you probably would want to coat them. I just got myself some Dullcote for my newest try.

Nice work, gooboo!

And yes, I have painted tbleague hands with acrylics, and have also used powdered soft pastels with a varnish to seal them. For me the key was a) to first prime them in some way, b) to thin either the paint or varnish with airbrush thinner (even when applying manually) —this stuff makes the paint super thin as well as dry very fast, and c) using a small piece of cut up make-up sponge to quickly dab it on in several thin layers. I also have something like a toothpick or needle near by to pop any bubbles that might form between fingers before they dry.

Update on painting silicone seamless bodies (Phicen/TBLeague) with Paint Markers

We already have viable options for painting a silicone body (or sizable parts of it) -- my preference being to use oil pastel. But when it comes to smaller and finer designs on the body, that seems almost impossible to use -- you are unlikely to get the pastel sharp enough, and if you do it will break off immediately, and even if you got past that hurdle, you would end up smudging your design when you try to rub it into the surface. That is why, for painting hair and tattoos, I turned to alternatives. The Uni Pin Fine Line fineliner drawing pen works very well but only when applied directly to the silicone surface (one that is not colored with oil pastel already) -- see Post 192 above. Oil-based ink Pilot drawing pens worked quite well onto the oil-pastel-colored silicone surface, but required multiple and vigorous massages with clean dry paper towels to get the ink to stop transferring -- see Post 205 above. So I was still looking for a better option, as I embarked upon a second custom seamless Darth Maul project.

I experimented with a variety of Paint Markers, both oil-based and acrylic, but they had a tendency to smudge or rub off or crack and flake off -- see Post 1 above for acrylic. I finally turned to industrial markers, harder to find and often more costly. Repeated testing demonstrated that the Markal Pro-Line XT paint marker (now Xylene free) was the best solution. It does have some drawbacks -- Xylene free or not, you should use it in a well-ventilated area; it dries fairly shiny -- although that is largely offset by the eventual application of protective powder; when you stretch a painted area, the paint from the marker can crack like acrylic does, but generally not as much and it does not flake off or rub off (it did in just a couple of perhaps lightly painted spots, for example where the top of the harder plastic foot kept rubbing onto the bottom of the silicone lower leg -- it is very easy to fix with another spot application); worst of all, the marker's tip is quite wide (and there are no other sizes available in that line), so I had to flood tiny pools of marker paint and dip a toothpick into them to painstakingly paint smaller details. You can see the result below.



Some words of caution: beyond using this in a well-ventillated space, I would say reserve it for smaller areas and details, not for a whole base color (because of the potential for cracking); also, when applying it to the silicone body, make sure the areas you are covering are in a non-stretched position at the time of application -- stupidly thinking that it would preempt cracking, I tried applying the marker to a stretched area of a test subject body, and it caused a bunch of little holes to appear (presumably melting the thinnest silicone areas and releasing air bubbles?) on the surface.

For Maul 2.0 (pictured above with the marker), I used oil pastels for the base color of the body (there is such a thing as going too far/rough with the make-up sponge, so don't get carried away), Markal Pro-Line XT paint marker (or its ink) for the body markings, underlayers of red and black Markal Pro-Line XT paint marker and overlayers of Vallejo acrylics mixed with Liquitex ultra matte medium (thanks for the suggestion) for the harder plastic hands and feet. More photos HERE (Post 39).

I hope this is useful.

That looks pretty good, Guv. How did you manage to get the ink out of the marker to use with a toothpick?

Stryker2011 wrote:That looks pretty good, Guv. How did you manage to get the ink out of the marker to use with a toothpick?

Thank you very much, glad you like it. Like acrylic paint markers and some others, before you can use the Markal Pro-Line XT paint marker, you need to shake it up, open it, then press the tip against some surface, pumping it up and down a few times until you see the paint imbuing it and making a mark. Then you're good to go, and need to repeat this once in a while when you find your marker running dry. But if you overdo the pumping, you end up with so much paint coming out, that it makes a little pool of ink on the surface (strangely, it dries faster on a plastic baggie than on paper). Anyway, that is how I got the ink out to use with the toothpicks.

Absolutely fantastic work and results here ! My Compliments ! Sorry, I don't see all the great stuff in all the other threads, because I only watch the "General Talk". I will look here now often. Please show more.

Edit : Where's Aayla Secura? Is she finished and I just missed the thread like so much other fantastic threads I missed here ?

Ephiane wrote:Absolutely fantastic work and results here ! My Compliments ! Sorry, I don't see all the great stuff in all the other threads, because I only watch the "General Talk". I will look here now often. Please show more.

Edit : Where's Aayla Secura? Is she finished and I just missed the thread like so much other fantastic threads I missed here ?

Thank you very much, Ephiane. The other photos are HERE (post 39), I think you saw them. And if the question was meant for me, I haven't done Aayla Secura, although I recognize her as the lightsaber-wielding Twilek you showed me as inspiration long ago. I'm considering it, now that I know that Kneadatite cures somewhat flexible (lekkus and all -- was that what they were called?). Or maybe you can make Secura, and then we can get her together with Maul for a play date? Or both Mauls? LOL

Ephiane — I’m indeed in process of making Aayla Secura, but still not finished yet. Need to finish the lekku and paint the head. I have been sidetracked by several other projects as well as life being stressful. I’ll definitely post her in her own thread once she is done.

Great News, no one will understand that better than me with my 1000 unfinished Projects

Been reading through this thread a bit again, as I was trying to remember what GubernatorFan had used for the tattoos on his epic Darth Maul repaint. I was more interested in the Uni Pin Fine Line fineliner drawing pens you mentioned as you said they worked better on the unpainted silicon. Looking at them on Amazon, the thing that caught my eye was this from the description:

"Uni's high quality "Super Ink" is not only water and light resistant, but also "Tamper-Resistant", meaning that the ink can not be washed of using chemicals and solutions used by people to fraudulently modify documents."

I feel like that might be key to why these work so well on the silicone bodies. I was getting ready to order, but unfortunately, these only seem to come in black, grey and sepia, with no color options that I see. And any color fineliner drawing pens seem to brag about how they are washable, which I think is probably the opposite of what I want here. I even have a few color fineliner drawing pens already, and they suck on seemless bodies. Has anyone found any color ones since the above that they've had better luck with?

ReverendSpooky wrote:I feel like that might be key to why these work so well on the silicone bodies.  I was getting ready to order, but unfortunately, these only seem to come in black, grey and sepia, with no color options that I see.  And any color fineliner drawing pens seem to brag about how they are washable, which I think is probably the opposite of what I want here.  I even have a few color fineliner drawing pens already, and they suck on seemless bodies.  Has anyone found any color ones since the above that they've had better luck with?

You could try Markal's Pro-Line XT, which is what I used on the oil-pastel-colored body. It does come in multiple colors, though it does not have a really fine point and for small details you would have to do what I did, which is pump some ink out and dip a toothpick (or something thin) into it to apply.

https://markal.com/products/pro-lineandreg-xt

GubernatorFan wrote:

ReverendSpooky wrote:I feel like that might be key to why these work so well on the silicone bodies.  I was getting ready to order, but unfortunately, these only seem to come in black, grey and sepia, with no color options that I see.  And any color fineliner drawing pens seem to brag about how they are washable, which I think is probably the opposite of what I want here.  I even have a few color fineliner drawing pens already, and they suck on seemless bodies.  Has anyone found any color ones since the above that they've had better luck with?

You could try Markal's Pro-Line XT, which is what I used on the oil-pastel-colored body. It does come in multiple colors, though it does not have a really fine point and for small details you would have to do what I did, which is pump some ink out and dip a toothpick (or something thin) into it to apply.

https://markal.com/products/pro-lineandreg-xt

You did mention above though that it was prone to cracking a bit, which does worry me. A marker or pen type of application just seems like it would be a better bet than anything paint like. But then again, Maul looks like he's held up well. I'll be thinking on this one...

ReverendSpooky wrote:You did mention above though that it was prone to cracking a bit, which does worry me.  A marker or pen type of application just seems like it would be a better bet than anything paint like.  But then again, Maul looks like he's held up well.  I'll be thinking on this one...

If you have a damaged body, or one that you would be keeping permanently covered up forever and ever (like one of my "Death Star Troopers"), you can experiment on that with different options. Cracking is more of a problem/more apparent when you are trying to cover up a more substantial area of the body (for example, if I wanted to paint Maul's red skin with the Markal Pro-Line XT marker instead of with oil pastel) than if you are doing smaller areas or lines. Anyway, if you do stumble upon a better option, do let us know.

I was late to the game collecting a Gamora, but as my ranks of Guardians filled in over time, I went for a head and body being sold loose (didn't want to pay the aftermarket prices for the whole set, or wait for the even pricier second version by HT -- which uses the same sculpt, but repainted). The body was slightly damaged and, more to the point, jointed, so I immediately considered changing it to a TBLeague seamless body. Eventually I did, though painting it was a bit of a challenge -- I had already applied a fairly strong combination of greens before I discovered I had olive green and olive brown oil pastels, and it seems like the silicone's absorption of oil pastel gradually declines/becomes more difficult after a few layers. Anyway, I think I achieved a reasonably close match to the head sculpt in the end (the original body wasn't quite perfect in that respect). And then with the acrylic-painted hands and feet. I hope Ephiane is proud of me... I have finally painted a seamless body green.

Not bad. I wonder if a Rit Dye treatment of green with a bit of yellow would bring it to more of that olive green color of the head sculpt.

Stryker2011 wrote:Not bad. I wonder if a Rit Dye treatment of green with a bit of yellow would bring it to more of that olive green color of the head sculpt.

Thank you. I'm not comfortable enough with Rit Dye to try, but I suspect getting the right color with that would be considerably harder. It is not 100% now, but I think if I had started with the olive green and olive brown pastels it might have been even more of a match.

Nice job! I like her, even if I do think she'd look even better as a Twi'lek. ;'D

skywalkersaga wrote:Nice job! I like her, even if I do think she'd look even better as a Twi'lek. ;'D

Thank you very much! Actually I was originally toying with the idea of a Twi'lek, but I will have to sculpt lekkus (or whatever they're called) and I'm not there yet. Perhaps one day I will, and this body can be used for either figure.

GubernatorFan wrote:

skywalkersaga wrote:Nice job! I like her, even if I do think she'd look even better as a Twi'lek. ;'D

Thank you very much! Actually I was originally toying with the idea of a Twi'lek, but I will have to sculpt lekkus (or whatever they're called) and I'm not there yet. Perhaps one day I will, and this body can be used for either figure.

It's totally fine, I feel you! I'm not 'there' yet either, tbh! :'D

Forgot about this thread. Some more updates on various painting experiments I've done-

Earlier I tried using the oil pastel method and while I had some success at first, I ran into some problems trying to make a realistic, sub-Saharan African skin tone on one of my s28s. The problem I had with the oil pastel method making black skin was that, in my attempts to cover the body completely with various dark brown tones, I would end up tearing the skin of the figure sooner or later. Rubbing the pastel onto the figure and repeatedly rubbing the sponge would eventually cause a little hole or tear on some part of the body. This might not be an issue if you're just applying one layer or color to the figure, but if you want to make a really dark skinned color like I was, and have it cover the body completely, you might run into these issues. I stopped trying to color my s28 dark brown after I tore a few holes.

I read elsewhere about using oil paint on the body in a similar way, and so far it seems to hold a lot of promise. Instead of painting the oils onto the figure with a brush you rub them in like you do with oil pastels, but it's easier on the figure because they're liquid and spread more easily. I'm still figuring out the optimal process with this method, but I'll post a more thorough report when I'm done.



I think I got a realistic mid-brown skin tone on this figure, but I want to try to get a much darker brown color to match the African looking head I made. The one problem I've run into so far with the oil paint method is it's rather difficult to get a really dark brown color on the skin since some oil paint colors are more transparent than others- specifically, just about every brown color is either semi transparent or transparent. For the picture above I mixed black with cadmium yellow and cadmium red along with some titanium white, which were more opaque than any of my browns out of the tube. It's still not the dark brown color I wanted, so I'll have to see if I can apply another layer of paint once it's dry.

On the other hand, I found that lightening a figure with titanium white works wonderfully. I remember reading somewhere on this thread about white oil pastel not working very well, but that is absolutely not the case with white oil paints. It goes on the figure very well, and since titanium white is very opaque, might only require one or two coats to cover the figure fully.



This figure was earlier died brown with rit dye, so in theory it should work even better on a pale body if you want to make a white colored figure. Turns out I didn't need to buy that Sinful Suzi body at all.

If you mess up, you can remove the paint from the figure with some solvent. As far as I can tell it's basically the same as oil pastels in regards to permanency. It won't come off with regular handling or a rinse under the sink, but it will start to come off if you rub with soap and water or use any solvent on it. Anyways, that's all I've done for now. When I've tried painting a full figure with this method I'll post again and let everyone know how it went.

Thanks for the update, gooboo. Given that oil paints are much easier to mix than oil pastels, this is a significant discovery. What do you use to rub the paint in? I haven't had a problem tearing the TPE surface of a TBLeague figure (although I have rubbed it raw on occasion), but I have on Jiaou figures. Perhaps it is a matter of how much rubbing you do with the sponge, how much pressure you use, and how rough the sponge? Also, there are "CRAY-PAS expressionist multi-cultural oil pastel color assortment" packs of 12 colors that may work for your purposes.