Painting TBLeague / Phicen Nipples Tutorial (updated with alternatives)

MeMyself&I wrote:For what I’m doing I don’t think I’ll be going the Gundam marker route, though that’s good info to have stored away.

I’ll look into those brands that you and Ephiane have used/found, so thanks for the recommendations! Good advice on the non-water soluble, I would have never thought it if you didn’t say anything! I’ll be seeing if I can pick something up after work today.  

I just mentioned the Gundam thing in case it was relevant -- actually the nipple part of the experiment seems to have been successful, although it is hard to tell, as it is now under layers of whole-body-painting experimentation.

I learned my lesson early on when, in an attempt to get easier blending of oil pastel colors, I had gotten water-soluble oil pastels -- but washing it and ensuring there is no transfer quickly showed me what should have been the obvious problem. I guess one just can't have it all... Good luck, and looking forward to seeing what you end up with.

This is a funny topic and tutorial, but very informative. Great effort on the photos to show-how.

maxman wrote:This is a funny topic and tutorial, but very informative. Great effort on the photos to show-how.

I'm glad you liked it and found it useful. That's what it's here for.

GubernatorFan wrote:

MeMyself&I wrote:For what I’m doing I don’t think I’ll be going the Gundam marker route, though that’s good info to have stored away.

I’ll look into those brands that you and Ephiane have used/found, so thanks for the recommendations! Good advice on the non-water soluble, I would have never thought it if you didn’t say anything! I’ll be seeing if I can pick something up after work today.  

I just mentioned the Gundam thing in case it was relevant -- actually the nipple part of the experiment seems to have been successful, although it is hard to tell, as it is now under layers of whole-body-painting experimentation.

I learned my lesson early on when, in an attempt to get easier blending of oil pastel colors, I had gotten water-soluble oil pastels -- but washing it and ensuring there is no transfer quickly showed me what should have been the obvious problem. I guess one just can't have it all... Good luck, and looking forward to seeing what you end up with.

I did end up ordering the staedtler, what I will call “jumbo pack,” off amazon and it should be to me in the next week or so. I wanted options so go big or go home, right? I do have my clear plastic sheet with holes punched as a key for each size of the punch so I can determine what works best. Once I have them I’ll be experimenting and will post the results!

MeMyself&I wrote:I did end up ordering the staedtler, what I will call “jumbo pack,” off amazon and it should be to me in the next week or so. I wanted options so go big or go home, right? I do have my clear plastic sheet with holes punched as a key for each size of the punch so I can determine what works best. Once I have them I’ll be experimenting and will post the results!

I think that is a good choice -- I didn't find any jumbo versions (I'm assuming you mean individual pastel size, not just a set with many colors) when I was looking, at least not any with enough colors I wanted (browns are not very popular in these sets, except the "Multi-Cultural" set). Should come in useful if painting whole bodies. Remember when painting nipples to keep it to one precise application for each color -- trying to retouch would inevitably involve some minute movement of the stencil and result in a misshapen shape. On the other hand, if you're just doing nipples, some intensive washing with soap ought to allow you to start anew if there was a big mistake.

GubernatorFan wrote:

MeMyself&I wrote:I did end up ordering the staedtler, what I will call “jumbo pack,” off amazon and it should be to me in the next week or so. I wanted options so go big or go home, right? I do have my clear plastic sheet with holes punched as a key for each size of the punch so I can determine what works best. Once I have them I’ll be experimenting and will post the results!

I think that is a good choice -- I didn't find any jumbo versions (I'm assuming you mean individual pastel size, not just a set with many colors) when I was looking, at least not any with enough colors I wanted (browns are not very popular in these sets, except the "Multi-Cultural" set). Should come in useful if painting whole bodies. Remember when painting nipples to keep it to one precise application for each color -- trying to retouch would inevitably involve some minute movement of the stencil and result in a misshapen shape. On the other hand, if you're just doing nipples, some intensive washing with soap ought to allow you to start anew if there was a big mistake.

I should have been much more specific, but I got the 48 count pack, not some huge stick version lol. Jumbo as in the number of colors!

Either way, it is here! Arrived today. I have some other stuff to work on, but will play with them this weekend. I’ll post pics down the line of what I’ve managed.

MeMyself&I wrote:I should have been much more specific, but I got the 48 count pack, not some huge stick version lol. Jumbo as in the number of colors! Either way, it is here! Arrived today. I have some other stuff to work on, but will play with them this weekend. I’ll post pics down the line of what I’ve managed.

I see, well, more colors is always potentially helpful. Looking forward to hearing how it goes. Just remember forum propriety policies, depending on what nipples you are painting.

GubernatorFan wrote:

MeMyself&I wrote:I should have been much more specific, but I got the 48 count pack, not some huge stick version lol. Jumbo as in the number of colors! Either way, it is here! Arrived today. I have some other stuff to work on, but will play with them this weekend. I’ll post pics down the line of what I’ve managed.

I see, well, more colors is always potentially helpful. Looking forward to hearing how it goes. Just remember forum propriety policies, depending on what nipples you are painting.

Of course, I don’t want go against the guidelines, so I’ll be careful for sure. At best it’s a link to Flickr unless it’s just my M34. Pics of him this weekend for sure, as well as any other discoveries I make.

I got a bunch of colors so I could play with blending and do some other stuff, so it’s not just overkill for this

MeMyself&I wrote:Of course, I don’t want go against the guidelines, so I’ll be careful for sure. At best it’s a link to Flickr unless it’s just my M34. Pics of him this weekend for sure, as well as any other discoveries I make. I got a bunch of colors so I could play with blending and do some other stuff, so it’s not just overkill for this

Sweet, looking forward to it. Remember, oil pastel blends with difficulty, and there is a sort of "saturation" limit on how many applications (of whatever colors) will really ensconce. I imagine that with 48 colors you will have one or two that might work well enough by themselves -- for nipples I mean. In general, blending two colors (to the degree to which they can be blended nicely) is probably realistic; blending three or more becomes more difficult, since each separate color is already one application. That, at least, seems to be my experience. Again, with the stencils, get your work done before you let go of pressing it onto the surface, since no matter how careful, except by some cosmic coincidence, you will not be able to align it exactly the same way twice; but again, if it does go on wrong, even after rubbing it in with the cotton tip, you can probably still wash it off with effort, using some warm water and soap. Every time I've gotten ambitious, I've had to do this. And although it has worked, there is always an "Uh-oh" moment where you think it is impossible to remove.

Alrighty, so I am a day late but that isn't anything new. lol

While I have given this treatment to virtually all my TBL bodies, alas only one is a male body (possibly adding another in the coming weeks), so it is what will be modeled here today. It is the good ol' M34.

I kept to browns and pinks/tans depending on the skin tone for the bodies. In this instance, mostly brown. He ended up being one color, but considering that he's a little two dimensional in that area, I actually like it.

I used staedtler oil pastels and Gubernator's tutorial to make this happen. It really is a fast, easy, and effective way to do this!

I am a messy individual however, and got some of the darker pastels on my hands while working with one of my pale female bodies. Nothing like a light skin-tone arm with a nice brown streak on it. I said it before, and I will say it again: mineral oil cleans these bodies like none other. I was able to clean my screw-up in all of 10 seconds. It honestly took longer to open the bottle for the mineral oil than to clean it! Then it is just wipe the body down like any other time cleaning it and reapplying the powder.

That aside, it is time for the pics! (and yes, that is a LEGO Star Destroyer in the background, and yes, it is the original one from forever ago)

MeMyself&I wrote:Alrighty, so I am a day late but that isn't anything new. lol While I have given this treatment to virtually all my TBL bodies, alas only one is a male body (possibly adding another in the coming weeks), so it is what will be modeled here today. It is the good ol' M34. I kept to browns and pinks/tans depending on the skin tone for the bodies. In this instance, mostly brown. He ended up being one color, but considering that he's a little two dimensional in that area, I actually like it. I used staedtler oil pastels and Gubernator's tutorial to make this happen. It really is a fast, easy, and effective way to do this! I am a messy individual however, and got some of the darker pastels on my hands while working with one of my pale female bodies. Nothing like a light skin-tone arm with a nice brown streak on it. I said it before, and I will say it again: mineral oil cleans these bodies like none other. I was able to clean my screw-up in all of 10 seconds. It honestly took longer to open the bottle for the mineral oil than to clean it! Then it is just wipe the body down like any other time cleaning it and reapplying the powder. That aside, it is time for the pics! (and yes, that is a LEGO Star Destroyer in the background, and yes, it is the original one from forever ago)

I'm glad it worked out well and that I did not steer you wrong. Looks good. Let me know if you noticed any damage from using mineral oil to clean the surface -- I haven't dared try that, just a determined wash with soap and water, which usually does it. Too bad the LEGO Star Destroyer was barely noticeable!

GubernatorFan wrote:

MeMyself&I wrote:Alrighty, so I am a day late but that isn't anything new. lol While I have given this treatment to virtually all my TBL bodies, alas only one is a male body (possibly adding another in the coming weeks), so it is what will be modeled here today. It is the good ol' M34. I kept to browns and pinks/tans depending on the skin tone for the bodies. In this instance, mostly brown. He ended up being one color, but considering that he's a little two dimensional in that area, I actually like it. I used staedtler oil pastels and Gubernator's tutorial to make this happen. It really is a fast, easy, and effective way to do this! I am a messy individual however, and got some of the darker pastels on my hands while working with one of my pale female bodies. Nothing like a light skin-tone arm with a nice brown streak on it. I said it before, and I will say it again: mineral oil cleans these bodies like none other. I was able to clean my screw-up in all of 10 seconds. It honestly took longer to open the bottle for the mineral oil than to clean it! Then it is just wipe the body down like any other time cleaning it and reapplying the powder. That aside, it is time for the pics! (and yes, that is a LEGO Star Destroyer in the background, and yes, it is the original one from forever ago)

I'm glad it worked out well and that I did not steer you wrong. Looks good. Let me know if you noticed any damage from using mineral oil to clean the surface -- I haven't dared try that, just a determined wash with soap and water, which usually does it. Too bad the LEGO Star Destroyer was barely noticeable!

The mineral oil doesn't seem to hurt the bodies at all from what I've seen, which is good! Almost every TBL I own has been cleaned with it at some point because my stupid self forgot I was using a pencil for something or went too fast with those pastels. I know it works great for removing the pastels because it ran down a chest (i was cleaning a shoulder) and hit a nipple which caused the color to run. You will want to use soap/water after, but it seems to be a good option if one makes a mistake in this process.

MeMyself&I wrote:The mineral oil doesn't seem to hurt the bodies at all from what I've seen, which is good! Almost every TBL I own has been cleaned with it at some point because my stupid self forgot I was using a pencil for something or went too fast with those pastels. I know it works great for removing the pastels because it ran down a chest (i was cleaning a shoulder) and hit a nipple which caused the color to run. You will want to use soap/water after, but it seems to be a good option if one makes a mistake in this process.

Very good to know. Sounds like it cleans up messes faster than just washing.

GubernatorFan wrote:
Several days ago someone asked how to paint nipples and certain other parts on TBLeague female bodies. Both the way the question was posed and the photo illustration were questionably appropriate vis-a-vis our site's regulations, so a moderator removed the post. Nevertheless, since the subject has come up more than once, here is a step-by-step tutorial, using a male figure (thanks to double standards, male nipples are not considered offensive). The process is similar to that for painting seamless bodies with oil pastels (see full thread HERE), but with some more specific techniques. This post will eventually be parked in the Tutorials section.

Note: Human nipples come in different shapes and sizes, and your needs or preferences may vary. I use two colors, usually Staedtler's Rose Wood and Dark Sand.

Note: Because the application of the oil pastel is not as intensive as that possible when painting entire bodies or larger areas, this is largely undoable -- with a bit of determined washing with soap and water.
(More photos in Post 35 below)

Ok so friend, I have to ask you If you've ever had an issue with any of your phicen that have been treated with oil pastels. I am a member of another forum, and all the users, even the forum owner all swear that oil pastels will damage phicen skin and resin parts.

So have you had any damage to any areas that you colored with oil pastels? Any disintegration of the silicone skin? Any melting parts? Any smells, rips, or tears where it was colored?

I find actual experience instead of hearsay is usually a more trustworthy advice source. Thanks for any info

THEDARKMANTA wrote:

Ok so friend, I have to ask you If you've ever had an issue with any of your phicen that have been treated with oil pastels. I am a member of another forum, and all the users, even the forum owner all swear that oil pastels will damage phicen skin and resin parts.

So have you had any damage to any areas that you colored with oil pastels? Any disintegration of the silicone skin? Any melting parts? Any smells, rips, or tears where it was colored?

I find actual experience instead of hearsay is usually a more trustworthy advice source. Thanks for any info

I personally have not had any issues with it. So long as it is cleaned properly first, applied correctly, and then protected again with baby powder/corn starch etc, it should be just fine.

You probably run more risk ripping a nipple with the plastic you used the hole punch on than the oil pastel doing any damage. I had that very thing happen to one of my S38s. Not easy to do, as every other body survived the process prior.

MeMyself&I wrote:

THEDARKMANTA wrote:

Ok so friend, I have to ask you If you've ever had an issue with any of your phicen that have been treated with oil pastels. I am a member of another forum, and all the users, even the forum owner all swear that oil pastels will damage phicen skin and resin parts.

So have you had any damage to any areas that you colored with oil pastels? Any disintegration of the silicone skin? Any melting parts? Any smells, rips, or tears where it was colored?

I find actual experience instead of hearsay is usually a more trustworthy advice source. Thanks for any info

I personally have not had any issues with it. So long as it is cleaned properly first, applied correctly, and then protected again with baby powder/corn starch etc, it should be just fine.

You probably run more risk ripping a nipple with the plastic you used the hole punch on than the oil pastel doing any damage. I had that very thing happen to one of my S38s. Not easy to do, as every other body survived the process prior.

I've actually done it before with a stencil. The key to not having a sharp edge is doing some light sanding on the edges of the stencil. Roll up a small piece of sandpaper that is medium grit and do a few light spins. Make sure to wet the sandpaper too to help with the texture and the dust.

I used soft pastel dust on my first try with a stencil, and then applied a layer of silicone adhesive called SILPOXY from the SmoothOn company. It didn't work lol. Even after 48 hours the silicone glue did not adhere to the phicen body. So I just peeled em off and ordered some oil pastels because I know from the post here they work.

The Smooth On products won’t work on TBLeague bodies. Smooth-On is silicone based, TBLeague are TPE.

THEDARKMANTA wrote:Ok so friend, I have to ask you If you've ever had an issue with any of your phicen that have been treated with oil pastels. I am a member of another forum, and all the users, even the forum owner all swear that oil pastels will damage phicen skin and resin parts.

So have you had any damage to any areas that you colored with oil pastels? Any disintegration of the silicone skin? Any melting parts? Any smells, rips, or tears where it was colored?

I find actual experience instead of hearsay is usually a more trustworthy advice source. Thanks for any info

Hi, you already have some responses from others that I agree with completely, but I'll just confirm it. No, I have never had any problems with these bodies due to the application of oil pastels. According to the member who introduced us to this technique, Ephiane (see the painting seamless bodies topic, which may be more pertinent anyway), it is possible the oil pastel even protects the TPE surface.

The problems I have encountered are in sometimes possibly tearing some of the top layer of TPE, which is probably not enough to cause any major damage, but might leave a "scar" or discoloration by comparison with the areas around it. This is more of an issue with Jiaou bodies than TBLeague ones.

I do not know what else was at play for those who have had a problem with figures colored this way. It may be that they cleaned the body with some sort of very corrosive substance before coloring and then trapped it under. It could be very bad heat and humidity conditions where the body is stored. It could even be the type oil pastel -- although the worst I've seen was water-soluble oil pastel that simply washed right off, no damage done. I've had trouble with some of the markers I've tried, though even there it was mostly curing and not smearing or transferring.

If you clean the figure with a gentle wash with warm (no need to be hot) water and maybe soap, apply the oil pastel gently (it can be heated to be softened if needed), take some care with the make up sponge (although you need to ensconce the oil pastel particles, so you really can't be very gentle with that), rinse off the extra pastel with soap and water (reapply and repeat as needed), and then reapply protective powder at the end (just in case), you ought to be ok.

Love how you used the figures to explain the process, very clever and makes it a lot more interesting than me just babbling on about how to do something. Great results too!

shovelchop81 wrote:Love how you used the figures to explain the process, very clever and makes it a lot more interesting than me just babbling on about how to do something. Great results too!

Thank you very much, Alex, I'm delighted you liked it. Being a big goof myself, I couldn't resist goofing around with them, while getting the job done. Your builds are infinitely more complex and not exactly tutorials, although they can very much inform one on how to get there, or how to achieve something similar for something else.