Eyes Best/cheapest resin for eye making?

UV resin all the way

 

I've used this brand. It take a day to set but it takes colors very well. Castin' Craft Easycast Clear Casting Epoxy 8 ounce kit

 

I use Alumilite Amazing Casting Resin for the whites of the eyes. It sets in like 10 minutes which satisfies my impatient nature and the 1:1 ratio is also good because I hate math.

But I haven't found a good alternative to UV resin for the clear parts.

Also don't bother with Ice Resin. It's total garbage. It claims it is "self doming" but whoever wrote that has never seen a dome in their life... I thought I dripped enough resin for a nice dome and by the time it set, it was concave...

 

i've been using Miraclekoo UV Resin !

I actually prefer using the epoxy resins that take a day or so to set for my bases, but this has been working out pretty well for doing the clear parts. depending on how much i put in at once it will either dome or go concave (usually the deeper the eye the more likely itll concave) but i prefer to do layers anyway for effects so this isn't much of a problem since the top layer always ends up nice and domed.

I also tried mixing various pigments to get white to try it for bases and it takes acrylic paint in very small amounts well, and if you use dyes meant for coloring uv it should probably be fine. once it hardens enough in the mold i take it out and hit it with the lamp again on both sides just to make sure it's all good!

 

I'm not sure if it's by batch or if it's other peoples lamps or what, but mine worked out well with my lamp & has worked out very well with translucent and opaque, but you'll have to experiment with the ratio for opaque pigments since it does block the uv rays or won't cure properly if it's too much! i actually reviewed those same bottles

I've heard that Let's Resin! UV Resin is good but I can't find singular bottles, just the multi packs (at least on amazon), and people seem to have luck with a little bit of alcohol based ink in their UV resin since the alcohol should evaporate from what I understand. Another option is UV Gel Nail polishes, I think those would need to be used in layers though if you use white polish for the base!

So far from what I've tried just a bit of acrylic craft paint (i used matte but it'd work with either, i just happened to only have matte white on hand lol) was my favorite outcome

 

That's awesome to hear! I want to try out Sophie and Toffee resin myself since it's the nicer stuff and i wanted to practice with the cheaper stuff, so I'm glad acrylic works out with that too!

 

I came across this forum and I’m super curious as a newbie making eyes. I’ve practiced a little using art resin with cast and craft pigment, but it takes like a week and a day and it’s not cheap. Alumilite Amazing Casting Resin, does that have a shiny finish or is it more matte? I remember working with some cheap resin in college that cured white and was rough to the touch and matte, but it cured in like 30 minutes.

 

It depends on the mold for me. The eye molds from KissRose on Etsy seem to give me the glossiest straight-out-of-the-mold look with Aluminate Amazing Casting Resin while this one from VelvetWay comes out of the mold with a very dull gloss and this one from QPetite comes out less glossy than KissRose's molds, but more glossy than VelvetWay's.

 

Thank you. It sounds like it depends on the mold then. I wonder what the difference between the molds are? Maybe the silicon used? Hmmm...

 

from what i remember when mold making, it's what's used to cast the initial mold. The finish of the object casted is captured in the final mold - so if you cast something super polished, the mold will make something glossier/smoother when used to cast vs something that has a rougher finish... but also it depends on the resin or clay or whatever you're using to cast if that makes sense? like a resin can cure matte or glossy and whatnot?

basically a lot of factors combined but mostly the texture of the master copy that was used to make the molds LOL

 

okay, this makes sense! Thank you!

 

Some mold making supplies will always make matte molds and others will always make shiny molds. I've used mold making putty to make a mold of a shiny crystal and all of my casts from it were matte. It really depends on the material of the mold and not the piece that was originally molded in my experience.

Sophie and Toffee does sell opaque dye.
Opaque Solid Pigment Dye

I know this has been brought up, but I love the amazing casting white resin. I use it for all my eye bases. It's opaque and cures in under 15 minutes. I really think the choice of which resin to use comes down to whether you value price or convenience more. Epoxy resin will always be cheaper than uv resin, but it does have limited work time and the clear resin can take days to cure. I'd also like to note that sophie and toffee says it's non toxic. I know that's important to some people. Here's a link for the white epoxy resin if anyone is interested. https://www.amazon.com/Alumilite-Amazing-Casting-Resin-16-Ounce/dp/B0058V9KMK

 

I have tried three difference UV resins to make eye bases with (Miraclekoo UV Resin, QIAO QIAO UV Resin, and JDiction UV Resin) and all three resins never fully cure. There's always a sticky coating on the outside. I've even tried two different UV LED lamps. One that is 54W and another that claims to be 168W. Any advice on what could be wrong?

@Karra What lamp are you using to cure your UV resins?

 

Literally just this:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07K2R24KS/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glt_fabc_FJDVPS7N7TFHBB4N9ZG8?psc=1

Which is 54W and if i make UV eye bases I leave it under for about a minute, flip the mold over and leave it in for another minute, then take them out and hit them again for another 30ish seconds. overkill? maybe, but because opaque UV resin doesn’t cure as easily as transparent UV does i rather just bake it a lot if i feel like it feels weird. Another thing could be that they’re still just degassing, meaning the tackiness might go away after letting them sit for a bit (my final gloss that I like to use is like that, after curing it still looks a bit “wet” or “sweaty” but it just needs to sit for a few hours and that goes away.)

I scrolled up to see what I said before LOL So i still use the same resin (Miraclekoo), and if i’m doing UV bases which i don’t do as much anymore since I finally found some of Alumilites 10 minute casting resin. I love it so much. But anyway! I did also manage to finally nab a box of the Let’s Resin! translucent pigments and White is one of the colors, which will always come out opaque, so I use 2-3 drops of that depending on how big the eyes are and then do my cure from every single angle move.

Since i moved to mainly epoxy for the bases though I only make the UV bases if i just need like, one pair of a very specific size or something (but i use UV for the rest of the coloring the iris and doming process)

 

@Karra Thanks for the update. After reading your answer I'm not sure what's going on then. I've been doing about the same as you. I usually have them go through a 90-120 second cycle, try to carefully remove them from the mold before having them go though another 90-120 cycle with them right side up now to remove the tackiness. Sadly, it hasn't worked. I've even been doing tests with just the UV resin and no other additives, and they'll still come out tacky/sticky. So, of course when I touch them I end up leaving finger prints.

 

That might be an oxygen inhibition layer. It happens for some UV curing nail polishes as well. 'Wash' the resin pieces in isopropyl alcohol, which should remove the tacky layer if this is the case.

 

hello there, do you use a uv light to cure your resin? it cures fast if you have but then as for me, i still dry them out to fully cure them.

 

yes, it seems to be like that, same with me. they still come out sticky and sometimes a bit soft below the base after being cured in uv light. so what i do is put them outside for drying. the hot sun really helps a lot.

 

What wattage are you thinking of going down to? I have one that's 54W and I still have the same problem.

I have tried using the sun, and yes it takes longer, but was less sticky, but still a little sticky all the same.

 

hahaha! glad to know.
btw, why do they yellow? is it because of the heat?
better for the resin eyes to cure in the sun and it's safe too, without the yellowing.

 

probably that's the case. curing resin is such a bummer sometimes. now I'm working on some eyes and it just keeps raining. =( well, uv resin is better than using epoxy resin, it takes longer than uv to cure. hehe