So you bought a resin head and you want to paint it. Here’s a Toyfanatic article to get you going. This has lots of painting tips and explains the steps to paint a very basic Mego type head, similar to the vintage Mego figures.
SUPPLIES
Brushes
You need brushes and you need QUALITY brushes to do a quality paint job. This
means, don’t be cheap. Since you are going to use acrylic paint, nylon
or a nylon mix brush is probably best. You will need a very fine liner, a small
spotter, a 3/8-1/2” flat brush or angular flat brush (for doing large
flat areas such as skin), and a smaller angled flat brush ¼” .
A dagger type brush is similar to an angular brush but is slightly tapered and
good for painting clean edges and getting into corners. A 1/8-1/4” size
is good.
For doing details like eyebrows, my favorite liner is La Cornielle 18/0 liner 7350. They are short with a black lacquer handle that is red on the end. I’ve used just about every major brand of brush available in the U.S. and this gives the crispest detail of any brush I’ve found. They also make several sizes of spotters which are good for doing pupils and irises. You can find all of the brushes mentioned here in the LaCornielle line. I think that Silver Brushes also make excellent miniature brushes--the best I believe, although I haven't found a liner that I like as well as the La Cornielle 7350.
Paint
I believe acrylic paint is best for resin heads and it’s also more eco-friendly
and easier to clean up, as you need no solvents. There are a variety of brands
to choose from. Many people use Delta brand craft paints. They’re inexpensive
and come in a zillion colors. The opaque colors cover extremely well and they
are reasonably thin although you may need to add a small amount of water from
time to time.
Craft paints are not as finely ground as artist grade or even student grade paints. And the other down side to them is that they do not mix together very well, due to the abundance of fillers used in them. This makes it harder to find/mix the exact color you want. That said, if you just want to use them from the bottle and don’t care about the longevity of the color, they are fine.
If you want paint that works better for color mixing, try Liquitex or Golden acrylic paints. They both come in different viscocities, and the soft body Liquitex is similar in viscocity to the bottled craft paints. They are more finely ground; have fewer fillers; and are much more colorfast than craft paints.
Primer
If you are able to use a spray primer, this is absolutely the best for resin--specifically,
a sandable auto primer in a can. My favorite brand is Duplicolor,
which comes in several colors including white, gray, brown and black. I like
the version with the squiggly line on the can. It costs about five bucks a can.
It dries very fast but I recommend waiting for one day before applying acrylic
paints over it.
I’ve had a lot of trouble with Krylon primers and don’t recommend any of them.
Spray primers are usually lacquer-based and therefore dry very quickly. One of the nice things about using this type of primer is that it provides a nice tooth for the paint to adhere to. Not only does this make for a nice mechanical bond for your paint layers, but the brush will be much easier to control because of the very slight resistance the tooth provides.
If you are opposed to using aerosols, there are a couple of other options available. Sherwin Williams makes a white primer that is specifically for plastics such as pvc. You can buy a quart of it and if heads are all you’re painting, it should last you a long time. Even though it’s acrylic, I recommend letting it dry for a day before painting on it. It cures pretty hard and is quite durable for a brush on primer. It also is flat and so has a bit of a tooth to it to grab your paint.
There’s a Ceramcoat Sealer by Decorart that can be used on plastics as well as most other materials. It is clear and you can mix a little acrylic pigment in with it, or better yet, mix some of your flesh tone in with it. It has a very slick surface, which is why I’m not fond of it and it’s not as durable as an auto primer. However, if you don’t have a place to spray or it’s snowing, this is a fine alternative. Because it makes a slick surface, you may want to use a more matte paint over it as it will make subsequent layers cover better.
Varnish
After you spend time making your creation, you will want to put a protective
coat on it to help protect the paint. This will also even out the sheen of your
paint so that it has a nice uniform surface.
The craft paint companies all make varnishes, and like the craft paints, they are inexpensive. However, I recommend splurging and buying a better quality varnish because they provide a much better finish.
You can use lacquer based products such as Testors Dull Cote over acrylic once the acrylic is totally dry (let it dry at least one day). This gives a nice dull sheen and it comes in spray or brush on. The brush on will go on thicker and provide more protection.
Cons: you have to wait a day to varnish it and it can be somewhat brittle.
Acrylic varnish is a quicker alternative and is available in matte, satin and gloss varieties. A big advantage to these is that you can apply them as soon as your acrylic paint dries (which can sometimes be minutes, depending on the thickness of paint, humidity, etc). They are also more flexible and resilient than most solvent based varnishes.
Some of the liquitex products can be used both as a medium to add to your acrylic paint AND a varnish. Read the label carefully though because some of their products are recommended only for one or the other. Matte varnish is their most dull varnish and is probably the dullest of any acrylic varnish available. The higher gloss varnishes provide more protection. So you may opt to do a coat of satin, with a coat of matte over it. When using acrylic matte varnish (or even solvent based ones), there is a danger of milking/filming if it us put on too thick. This is especially apparent over dark colors. If you’re going to use multiple layers, keep it thin or try the satin first/matte second technique.
Many people love Krylon spray sealers which come in a variety of finishes, but I have had very bad experiences with them. I’ve had spots appear a couple weeks after varnish dried on resin (or even a couple of months)… And I’ve had plasticizer migration problems with it when used over vinyl. When there isn’t a problem with it, it looks very nice and provides an attractive, even finish. It doesn’t really provide a lot of protection as it is quite thin.
Sandpaper
Often your heads will
have seam lines, flash or other flaws and need some cleanup. Also, if your head
is very smooth and slick, running some fine sandpaper over it will help promote
paint adhesion. Do not use coarse sandpaper, however, as this will leave deep
scratches. 220-320 is good for this. If you want to do major reshaping to a
head, use coarser sandpaper.
Testors makes these great little multi-packs of sanding film, which are usually sold around model kits in hobby stores. They can be used wet, which is great because it eliminates airborn dust. I always have some of these on hand.
Cleaning Agent
Resin heads need to
be washed to assure that there are no residues or releases from the molding
process. These can will interfere with paint adhesion or bleed through your
paint. I recommend one of the following: Dawn dish detergent, isopropyl alcohol.
Fillers/Glues
Vinyl wall spackle, superglue, plumber’s putty, or an artist’s epoxy
sculpt (Aves, Magic Sculpt, Milliput).
Palettes
Buy a plastic artist palette or use cottage cheese tops. White plastic is best
as you can see the color
Paint Jars
If you are mixing your own colors, this is essential as you can store and reuse
what you mix.
PREPARATION
In order to have your paint look good, you need the surface of the head to be defect free BEFORE painting. This is one of the most important parts of the painting process, as any defects that are there, will still show up when you paint, ruining an otherwise good paint job.
Cleaning
Before doing anything else to your head, clean it with Dawn dish detergent or
alcohol and dry it thoroughly.
Filling/sanding
Sand imperfections using successive grits of sandpaper until there are no visible
scratches. If there are deep holes or chunks of resin missing (caused by air
pockets in mold), you will want to repair them with an epoxy putty, as it’s
the most durable. Shape it to desired shape, smooth, and let it dry. If necessary,
sand it flush after drying.
Smaller holes that are not on protruding parts or edges may be filled using small amounts of vinyl wall spackle, which is very cheap and easy to find. It actually works better if you use it after applying a primer because this makes it stick better.
If your resin casting has LOTS of tiny air pockets, you can often fill them by carefully brushing some superglue over it and letting it dry. This will cause some loss of detail, but this may not matter, depending on the intricacy of the design in the head. If the head is really bad, you may want to just send it back to the dealer and ask for a better casting. You shouldn’t have to spend two hours prepping a single head to paint.
Priming
Prime your head. Please! You will find people who say that you don’t need
to, but trust me, you do. It provides better adhesion, a barrier between the
resin and paint, and a better surface for paint to grab onto. This means better
coverage and fewer coats.
For some reason, many customizers say you don’t need it. However, I’ve had people send me heads that had peeling paint because no primer was used, wanting them stripped and fixed. I’ve also heard people say that they rinse their dried paint off with hot water for repainting. However, it shouldn’t come off with only water, if it’s properly prepped and primed. In the resin kit world, it is common knowledge to use a primer. Take my word for it, you need one. And it will make your finished paint look better, if applied properly.
Prime your head using either a spray product or a brush on product (listed under supplies list).
Auto sprays come in several colors. Use white if you intend to use light colors. You can use gray if your head is in the darker range. Use brown or black, depending on your character. A couple of light sprays are best. Do not use too thick of a coat, as it will obscure details and delay drying time. Keep the can moving across the head or heads. If you spray with can stationary, the primer will pool up and run. Let your primer dry for a day before painting (whether you are using spray or acrylic).
PAINTING
Basecoating
Choose your fleshtone and hair color for the head. If you are using it straight from the bottle, it's better to pour it onto the palette so that you don't contaminate the bottle with debris or other paint. You can keep your palette moist with a small water spray with distilled water in it.
Paint your large areas of colors first using either your large broad flat brush or an angular flat brush. The advantage of the angular one is that you can paint into a corner with it. Apply the paint thinly so that you don’t end up with brush marks. It will take several coats of paint to fully cover. Be patient. Work on several heads at one time. That way, as you are finishing up one head, you can apply another coat to the dry one. You don’t have to paint right up to the edges, such as the hairline. You can detail this later on in this process. Just get it covered so that there is no primer showing through.
Detailing
Block in the eyes
with an off white or cream color. Eyes generally aren’t bright white and
using an off white looks more natural. You can use your liner brush for this---
or even the spotter brush. Keep the paint thin enough so it looks smooth and
you can’t see the brush strokes. This will take more than one coat so
be patient.
If you want the lips to be a distinct color, use your base flesh tone and add just a hint of a reddish orange (this is for male dolls). Apply the paint with your liner using smooth confident strokes. Don’t expect them to be perfect the first time. Usually it takes several touch ups to get it right (even for me, after painting several hundred heads). Wait for the paint to dry, and the you can cut back the edge with your flesh basecoat to refine it.
Once the whites of your eyes are established, you can begin detailing the irises, eye outline, eyebrows and hairline, if it is the same color. I usually use the liner for all of these. Irises are essentially circles that are bisected by our eyelids on top and bottom. So in most cases, you will not want white showing on the bottom or the top of iris. It will help to first draw the irises with a pencil to establish the location and shape. Make sure it is sharp. Watercolor pencils work great for this as they will bleed back into the paint.
Once the circles are drawn, you can block them in with black paint. Don’t worry if you go outside the line as you can touch it up with the cream eye color later.
It also helps to establish your eyebrow location with a pencil and this ensures they are symmetrical (if that is what you want). Use your liner brush and make a confident smooth brush stroke where you want to place the eyebrow. If you make small hesitant starts and stops, this will show up as a wriggly edge. Just have faith in yourself and lay the paint down. A confident but slightly misplaced line almost always looks better than a jagged, nervous one. Plus, you can go back over the eye brown with your flesh base to refine it. Depending on the thickness of the eyebrow, you may make two adjacent strokes that taper at one end.
A big key to painting these details is getting the viscosity of the paint right for it to flow evenly onto the substrate. It’s good to practice on a piece of paper to test the paint flow before applying it to the head. Dip your brush into the paint, but don’t glob it on, getting it in the ferrule of the brush. Lightly twirl your brush onto your paper or plastic palette to establish a nice point. This is a very important technique for getting a nice line that tapers at the end. If the paint is thick and wants to glob, add a very small amount of water to the paint and try it again. You should be able to paint a smooth stroke that is not too runny. If the paint is pooling up, you have too much water in it or your brush is too wet.
It’s important to keep your brushes damp as you work but not too wet as it will make the paint pool and run. This will help the paint flow and extend the life of your brushes. Do not leave your brushes, brush side down in water or store them this way as it ruins the bristles. A detail brush can be immediately ruined by abusing it this way. The brushes last much longer when you wash them immediately after use and dry/store them either flat or in an upright position. The detail brushes especially are easily damaged so you may even want to keep tubing over the ends. Brushes wear out so expect to buy more. If you find one your really like, buy multiples as you may not find it again and they are constantly coming out with new lines.
Once you’ve established your iris shape and have it reasonably finished, you may paint a line to represent the eyelashes. Using your liner brush, use clean, confident strokes in a direction that is comfortable to your hand. Don’t expect it to be perfect, as it seldom is the first time. Expect to go back over it with flesh tone and cream eye color to refine it.
When this dries, you are ready to add the whites to the eyes. Notice that in normal lighting situations, the light is above our heads, making reflections in the upper portion of the eye. It looks best to highlight the upper part of the eye, rather than sticking in the center. However, in more complex painting, multiple locations of reflections including center or lower parts of eye may be highlighted. This is often used in Anime type eyes, for example.
Highlight your eye with a spotter or a liner using white paint. An alternative method is to make a straight cut on the end of a toothpick and lightly sand it. Where you place the cut determines the size of the circle. Dip it in paint and practice making dots before you place it in your eye. Generally, it looks more natural to place both reflections to either the slight left or slight right upper portion of the eyes. If you place one on the right and one on the left, it looks unnatural and makes the eyes look out of focus.
If you are using a brush, test the viscocity and make a deliberate, confident dot on both eyes in the same location. If you made a mistake, it’s not an emergency. Carefully blot the dot with paper towel so that it doesn’t leave a raised edge. Let it dry. Touch up with black (your iris), and redo the whites.
Touch up any areas that look unfinished or questionable and let your paint dry for the next step.
Varnishing
Varnish unifies your paint surface and provides some protection from damage.
If you use a UV inhibiting varnish it will also help protect it from fading.
There are a lot of choices for finishing your piece. Please view the MATERIALS
section above for more information.
I prefer using acrylic over acrylic paints. If you want a matte finish, use matte acrylic varnish by either Liquitex or Golden. Use a broad flat brush for this for more even coverage and if you see pooling around the details, quickly work them out with the brush before they begin to dry. Brush wet into wet. Acrylic dries quickly so if you see spots you missed, you can use another coat after the first one dries.
For better protection, use a harder satin or gloss varnish FIRST and then apply matte on top of that when it dries. This won’t be quite as matte as using matte alone but the colors will appear more vibrant and it will be better protected.
Too thick of a matte can cause milkiness in finish--- especially on dark colors. And also, know that Matte varnish will dull your colors a bit.
Okay. You’re done. Pat yourself on the back as you admire your completed dolly head.
Where to Buy:
Brushes:
Dickblick.com
Jerrysartarama.com
Silverbrush.com (not
retail but you can see all of their brushes here)
These two are usually the cheapest online for fine art supplies
Craft Acrylics, Paint Bottles,
Palettes
Michaels
Hobby Lobby
Dickblick.com
Sanding Film, Dull Cote
Testors.com
Epoxy Putty
AvesStudio.com
MagicSculp.com
Vinyl Spackle
Any hardware store