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Wednesday 22 March 2017

Begin with neutralizing and fixing blemishes using ReBornFX paints.

Today I was able to neutralize and fix a few vinyl blemishes. You can see the faults in the pictures below . These had to be fixed before I could begin to paint skin layers on my vinyl doll with the Rebornfx air dry paints.
                          
                         One of the vinyl legs was a little pinker than the other leg.
 
                          
          The finger had a very black spot embedded in the vinyl which I could not remove.
 

Here is how they got fixed:

 
I made a very thin neutralizing wash with the Rebornfx paints Burnt Sienna , Sap Green ,Diluent and water. Applied this wash with a dense cosmetic sponge, pouncing lightly so no line marks are left. The pinker leg got 2 layers of the wash to bring it to the same tone as the other leg.
 
 

The next picture shows you how the wash changed the base color by putting the unpainted arm beside the legs.
After I fix the black spot on the finger I will proceed with applying this same Rebornfx paint mixture as a thin wash over the arms, torso and head. This mixture gives me a nice warm glow that will help add depth to the skin colors I use in the next steps.

Now for fixing up the black spot on the finger. This takes a bit of patience and thin layers of paint.
First I chose an off white paint (opposite to the color black) and put a dot of this on top of the black spot. I then put some Rebornfx Open Time into my damp brush and with a very light touch , blended the outside lines of the white paint dot. The white should look likes it is fading into the pink vinyl with no sharp lines or ridges. See pictures below.

Once the paint was dry, I applied a skin tone mixture similar to the vinyl color. In this case the Rebornfx air dry paint mixture contained Baby Flesh with a touch of Burnt Sienna and Diluent. Again this is applied on with a damp brush and Rebornfx Open Time medium, blending and blending the edges outwards.
As you can see there is a slight difference but that will disappear as I apply the previous neutralizing wash and other layers of skin colors. This is a lot better than seeing a black spot on the finger! If I did not do this process the black dot would have been seen through the proceeding skin layers of paint. For me it is a lot easier to cover/correct a light spot verses a dark spot on vinyl.
 

Monday 20 March 2017

Delay in painting project

Well , I had one of those weekends that everything you planned to do did not get done. But I had a wonderful visit with family members and a bit of recoop time.  So needless to say the large doll painting project is on hold until my next day off work. In the mean time there are a few things I did update on this blog site = I finally got the Rebornfx 3D air dry Medium information sheet wrote up. That is the stuff I used on the hair painting post. The information and product is now on https://www.macphersoncrafts.com/en/online-store/rebornfx/rebornfx-air-dry-mediums for purchase. The 3D medium comes in a one once jar and does go a long way, so use small amounts when starting off. I do recommend practicing a bit with it before adding it onto your finished project. It is permanent once dried!
I also added in a new baby picture in the photo gallery tab. This one I had finished up using the Rebornfx air dry paint tutorial Lil Dumplings had done up. The baby still needs some hair and a better stuffed body, but couldn't wait to show him off for now.
We got in a new shipment of paint in this week. These Rebornfx air dry paints will be more matte than our original Rebornfx air dry paints. No difference in quality. The only difference will be in the dry look. The original paints will need  matting fluid applied to get rid of unwanted sheen and the new paints will have less sheen requiring no or little matting fluid. Every thing else is the same and all the Rebornfx paints/mediums are interchangeable and compatible.

Wednesday 15 March 2017

First steps before painting with ReBornFX Air Paints.

Started in on preparing my large vinyl doll today. Found an old dowel and wood stand that will hold the large pieces for drying (I hope) without tipping over.  The doll is Gabriella by Reva Schick and she is actually a 42 inch doll and not the 38inches I had previously thought. You can see the size comparison with my own hand in the picture below.
 
Will be interesting to see how much time and paint this will take.  I applied one layer of the RebornFx Primer with a damp, dense cosmetic sponge onto all the doll pieces.  I then put the pieces onto the drying rack as they were completed. After about 30 min I then applied a second layer of primer.. That took up about 1/3 or the one oz. bottle of Rebornfx Primer for this 42 inch 5 piece vinyl doll. A second coat  of primer is not necessary for a regular reborn doll but this doll is going to be put into a very sunny window when finished. I felt it needed the best protection against those elements.
I will now let the pieces dry overnight to ensure they are fully cured before starting in on painting. As you can see in my picture below, the drying rack/doll is now taking up all my work area, so I will have to find another small table to put them on before I begin to paint on her this weekend.  
 


Monday 13 March 2017

Next ReBornFX air dry paint project

Thought I'd let you know what my next project will be using the Rebornfx air dry paint system.
I was given a 38 inch vinyl doll to reborn for the MacPherson Crafts Store window. I have been reborning dolls for many years but nothing bigger than 23 inches. This size restriction was mostly because I was painting with heat set paints and the vinyl parts would not fit into my nu-wave oven to set them. Now with air dry paints, I can paint any size of vinyl doll with no limits! I originally wasn't planning on such a large 38" doll to start with but we came into a situation where a lady walked into the store a few days ago and wanted  to buy the large display doll we had used in our windows for years. Yes, the doll was sold to that lady who fell in love with her.  Now we truly miss that doll  in the window and realized we needed to replace her - after all we had all these child size # 6 cloths left over from the sold doll.
Today I finished washing up the large vinyl limbs, torso and head with warm soapy water then rinsed and dried them. Now I'm just pondering  on what to use for a drying rack. I believe the rack I have is way to small and will more than likely tip over with the weight of the limb(s). Will have to think about what other type of rack I can substitute. On the other hand (pun) perhaps I don't need a drying rack as the paint might be dry by the time I get to the end of that long arm any ways! Definitely will be painting this one in sections.

Saturday 11 March 2017

ReBornFX final finish great for durability and sealing

I just wanted to tell you a bit about the new product that was just released today for sale at www.macphersoncrafts.com. It is called  the Rebornfx 2 n 1 Final Coat. 
We already had a sealer product and a varnish product for finishing the reborn dolls, but we had a request for a final coat that would not come off with routine cleaning done in institutions. Well we listened to our customers and brought in this product for those requesting this feature.  The Rebornfx 2n1 Final Coat is a  liquid air dry plastic coat made to adhere and flex with vinyls and plastics.  It is a permanent coat once dried.  Basic cleaning products and disinfectants will not remove or effect it. It is great to apply on reborns used for playdolls, in hospital programs or institutions where cleaning and disinfecting is a routine.  I have been testing this product out for a while and love it's  matte finish! It can be used on air dry acrylics and on top of heat set paints. Enjoy!

Thursday 9 March 2017

RebornFX 3D Medium Uses

Well I have to say this RebornFX air dry 3D medium sure is versatile. Other than using it for 3D painted hair as shown in my previous posts, it can also be used for applying milia bumps, nail tips , eyebrows and tear ducts. It adheres well onto vinyl, Genesis paints and Acrylics. It should be available for sale at www.macphersoncrafts.com next week. I now need to work on writing out the instructions for this product before it can be sent out!
 Here are a few pics;  It would be interesting to know what else this product can be used for.





Rebornfx 3D medium used for milia bumps




Wednesday 8 March 2017

RebornFX 3D Medium Hair

So I finally got the opportunity to finish up the testing project using the RebornFx 3D medium with the heat set/Genesis paints. See the previous posts for test beginning.

First I finished blending in the hair colors set in with Genesis paints, heat set for 8 minutes and cooled to room temperature.
I decided I really didn't like the top part of the hair , so I applied another layer of the RebornFX 3D medium on top. This time I kept the raised hair a bit back to achieve that 3D hair layer look. I then let the 3D medium dry for about 1/2 hour.  My studio was in a dry environment so I had fast dry results.

After drying I finished applying the Genesis paint hair colors onto the newly raised hair. I then heat set the paint for another 8 minutes then let cool.

The picture below was taken with a flash to show the 3D hair dimensions more. The highlighted white hair from the flash is actually a light ash brown as shown in the next picture below.


 I am quite pleased with the results. The medium is still flexible and soft even after all the heat set baking I did. It actually feels like part of the vinyl mold!  I won't be adding in any more detail to the hair as this head was a test piece only. I am now confident that the air dry RebornFX 3D medium can be used with the heat set paints as well as with the RebornFX air dry paints.