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Dyeing Fixing up a grail: first forray into dyeing. Now complete with final comparison pics

Aug 9, 2020

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      I managed to find my grail second hand, an angell studio limited release mermaid body with clothing from 2018, Head is from the 2019 SP release. but the body def needed some work.
      This is the promo pic for the tail colors that were available at the time:
      https://cn.angell-studio.com/tmp/madeimg/aspic/DL318072/5.jpg
      https://cn.angell-studio.com/tmp/madeimg/aspic/DL318073/1.jpg

      she came to me very faded/yellowed
      [​IMG]
      https://i.imgur.com/5PWd7z1.jpg

      Deconstructed you can really see the yellowing of the first segment.
      [​IMG]
      https://i.imgur.com/QWTMY8M.jpg

      So I decided some dye really wouldn't hurt. any amount of extra color would help.
      I started out by washing the pieces with soap and water under an electric toothbrush with about 2.2L and like 1ml of rit dyemore sapphire blue. later on i transferred over to a bigger pot with like 5L of water and an additional 2ml of blue.
      the first 2 segments have been dyed. the smaller ball at the tip is the undyed last segment of the tail and is used as a color reference.
      [​IMG]
      https://i.imgur.com/3gtJ8yi.jpg

      trucking along one piece at a time.
      [​IMG]
      https://i.imgur.com/WNh6157.jpg

      Final look prior to the final soap and water scrub with the electric toothbrush again. I didn't take another pic afterwards, but the color didn't change after the final scrub.
      [​IMG]
      https://i.imgur.com/fEYFj1X.jpg

      Another thing I wasn't completely satisfied with when I received her was that her chest/torso looked like it was an entirely different resin color from the head. A bit yellower compared to the unblushed/unpainted headcap.
      [​IMG]
      https://i.imgur.com/inwHugR.jpg
      [​IMG]

      So drunk on the success of the tail i went to tackle dyeing the chest/arms to match the headcap. I used the same prep of washing with soap and water under the electric toothbrush and the same smaller pot as before and amount of water. I used like <0.5ml of dye this time of super pink. the bust and the R upper arm already has been dipped in the picture.
      [​IMG]
      https://i.imgur.com/Ox0ScaL.jpg

      bust, upper arm, and elbow peanuts dye compared to the undyed hands, wrists, and forearms
      [​IMG]
      https://i.imgur.com/SGyhjgU.jpg

      After the final scrub and pictured under daylight from a window
      [​IMG]
      https://i.imgur.com/UP6afb7.jpg

      However mistakes were made when I got greedy..... the stomach, which is a clear resin with airbrushed skin felt too white/bright to me, so I gave that a dip in the same super pink dye solution as the arms/chest. Regret.
      [​IMG]
      https://i.imgur.com/i791hyK.jpg

      Quick 20min run to the store and I got daffodil yellow and redipped the stomach in the same pot and like < 1ml of dye again. Better. not perfect, but satisfactory. lol
      [​IMG]
      https://i.imgur.com/tMQcNp5.jpg

      Now all that's left is to give her a coat of UV sealant, do a little body blushing, and wait on silicon/rubber kips to come in from china (@_@) for her shoulder/neck joint and the fixing up with be finally done. Normally I believe angell studio's dolls come with joint kips, but she didn't come with those to me, so her head/shoulders are pretty slippery at holding a pose.
       
      #1 bahboh, Aug 9, 2020
      Last edited: Aug 9, 2020
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    2. Wow! She's gorgeous! Dye jobs are always a little intimidating, but she came out wonderfully!!!
       
      #2 Cainhurst, Aug 9, 2020
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    3. This is awesome! I certainly wouldn't have the courage to do this. I'm just curious, but since the torso is airbrushed why not removed her skin colour blushing and just airbrush the colour match instead of something more irreversible like dyeing?
       
      #3 aestellica, Aug 9, 2020
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    4. Since I don't own an air brush. I've only used pastel powder on brushes for my face ups. But it's hard to powder that on evenly as easily across a wide area like that. it was airbrushed by Angell studio. On the stomach portion, it'd be equally reversible since it's the airbrushed portion what was dyed. If you remove the company airbrushed skin, my dye job will also be removed. For the chest/arms, I wanted the base resin to resemble the heads cap since body blushing always rubs off at the joints
      Also on the tutorials I read, dyes can be mostly reversed with wiping the resin down with acetone and alcohol. It's just on the torso I wasn't dying the resin but rather the air brushed paint so I couldn't wipe my mistake off as easily without taking off the paint. So I opted to just redye with yellow.
       
      #4 bahboh, Aug 9, 2020
      Last edited: Aug 9, 2020
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    5. She does look a lot better already though. The yellow back to pink worked really well!
       
      #5 Spuggey, Aug 9, 2020
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    6. Wow, what a beautiful dye job! I'm glad it turned out so well for you~ I'd be to scared, for sure! That blue is stunning, I'm in love~
       
      #6 LonelyArtist, Aug 9, 2020
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    7. Wow you gave her life again! You did an amazing job.
       
      #7 Rurimas, Aug 9, 2020
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    8. You did an amazing job - she looks enchanting! This is making me want to break out my dye again, lol
       
      #8 CaladhielTan, Aug 9, 2020
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    9. I think you did an amazing job dyeing her! Dyeing a doll is so dang tricky but the results you got were very pretty :3nodding:
       
      #9 -T2P-, Aug 9, 2020
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    10. Well done :) and Congratulations on finding your grail. Nothing more exciting
      She looks incredible. Would love to see how she looks after body blushing etc.
       
      #10 darkPrincess23, Aug 9, 2020
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    11. @bahboh Ohh I see, thank you so much for explaining! :3nodding:
       
      #11 aestellica, Aug 9, 2020
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    12. Beautiful dye job!
      Pretty impressed with the color save on the torso piece :) Can’t wait to see your doll when she is complete!
       
      #12 AmariGem, Aug 9, 2020
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    13. Comparison from when I first unboxed and dressed her to after dyeing the the tail and upper body, highlighting the scales, and body blushing.
      lighting isn't exactly the same, but hopefully you get the idea.
      She's not 100% finished as I haven't put a manicure/gloss on the nails, or sprayed the gloss MSC on the tail, but for now due to my indecision on whether or not to keep the blue/green highlights on the tail and being tired of leaving her in pieces, I just went ahead and assembled her with the shoulder and neck kips and displayed her for now. (btw stringing the arms/hands was a huuuuuuuuuuge pain)
      The colors aren't perfect, but def think there's an improvement in the tail, and the upper body/shoulders aren't quite so yellow looking compared to her head.
      [​IMG]

      focusing on shoulders/head comparison
      [​IMG]

      focusing on tail highlights
      [​IMG]

      [​IMG]
      https://i.imgur.com/2WwkYKo.jpg
      [​IMG]
      https://i.imgur.com/WMoJUVF.jpg
      [​IMG]
      The back of the lower torso, i had trouble matching as the airbrushed paint seemed more translucent in the back compared to the front and wasn't quite as opaque, but there's only so much i can do without owning an airbrush myself.
       
      #13 bahboh, Oct 13, 2020
      Last edited: Oct 14, 2020
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    14. She is coming out super well! She almost doesn't even look as the same doll as before.
       
      #14 Rurimas, Oct 13, 2020
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    15. I love the color of the tail and I think the highlights look good when pictured with the whole doll. Th focus isn’t on them and they do add extra glimmer to the tail :)
      The skin looks much more realistic now!
      Looks awesome :chibi
       
      #15 AmariGem, Oct 13, 2020
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    16. The picture of her unstrung tail in the first post is really wild! You can see so much about how it faded in different ways.

      The body blushing is gorgeous.

      As for the paint translucency on the back of the torso, this is a bit of a weird question, but do you think it may be possible to add something to the inside of the torso block the light? The paint is pretty opaque so I don't think it would change the color much, but I'm also not used to the way that painted clear resin scatters light so I have no idea if it's even practical.
       
      #16 VanishedEra, Oct 14, 2020
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    17. oh wow she's absolutely gorgeous
       
      #17 lukita, Oct 14, 2020
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    18. Grail indeed. I’m speechless. Well done! I’m glad you got her and she turned out beautiful. And I’m sure she’s as happy as a clam under your love and care. :)
       
      #18 AdamJScott79, Oct 15, 2020
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    19. She is so stunning! You really transformed her into a brand new doll.
      I'm amazed at how well the dye worked to take out the yellowing. And the body blushing is so beautifully done too. Congrats on finally bringing home your grail doll, and really making her perfect!
       
      #19 CptGoose, Oct 16, 2020
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    20. She's so beautiful! Nice work.
       
      #20 shadow_takatori, Oct 16, 2020
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    21. Wow, I'm so impressed. She looks so much better, like just pulling a contrast option in Photoshop, but in real life :lol: BTW it's a quite young doll, like 1-2 years. But fading and yellowing looks pretty... Bad. Is it normal for dolls to change that fast or is just a rare case? *_*
       
      #21 forged_in_mess, Oct 17, 2020
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    22. I don't think it's normal, but being the second owner, I don't know how the first person handled it. I don't think heat is good for it, but I suspect that it may have experienced since heat due to tail pieces sticking together when I first got it. Original owner was also from Malaysia.
      Also rather than the chest and arms having gone particularly yellow, I suspect that the upper body resin isn't originally the same resin color as the head since the head and body are from different releases. But it's hard for me to verify that as I don't have any other AS dolls in butter or milk or whatever and communication was a little iffy in some parts of the transaction due to the seller's proficiency with English.
      Anyway since I knew about the option of and also now have had success in dyeing, I don't worry about yellowing too much. It's one of the reasons my first couple dolls have been white skin dolls. I figure that it'll get yellow with time and then when it needs a little tlc, I'll add a touch of pink to it and then it'll look like a normal skin doll.
       
      #22 bahboh, Oct 17, 2020
      Last edited: Oct 17, 2020
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    23. So clever! My first doll is also white, because I thought similar, that it will be easily to cover with another color if yellowing happens. You did amazing job with this one
       
      #23 forged_in_mess, Oct 21, 2020
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    24. Totally late to the party here, but you did a phenomenal job! :D The pinky matching for the torso parts is pretty much perfectly spot on in my opinion! :dance
       
      #24 AirimirOfGondor, Oct 22, 2020
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    25. Good grief!! For your first time dyeing, this is AMAZING!!!! I thing she looks marvelous and I love how when the chest didn't turn out quite like you had hoped you just used your understanding of color to correct it as best you could. Great job!! :D :D
       
      #25 lishelove, Oct 24, 2020
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    26. Translucent and transparent materials will typically age faster, since the light can penetrate deeper.
      But there is of course no way to know what colour the pieces really were when new. Company pictures are sometimes edited and sometimes the company pictures show a first cast or prototype and the final casting may differ a little bit. Because of the transparency, very small variations in pigment will make a difference.
      But reagdless of all that, the dye job turned out beatuiful! :)
       
      #26 Lillith, Oct 28, 2020
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    27. Oh wow! You did an amazing job with her! Seriously, she looks way better now than she did when you first got her. :abow: I've always thought of that particular mermaid doll as beautiful, but what you've done with her has really made her amazing features stand out even more. So glad that you are her new owner because you have done her justice.

      In regards to yellowing and fading, it all depends on the quality of the resin/materials used by each company, age, experimentation of resin/materials by doll companies, exposure to direct and even indirect sunlight, and humidity. My first doll people are surprised how much she hasn't yellowed but that's because she's pretty much covered up in a bonnet with long sleeves, stockings, and boots and she doesn't get direct or even indirect sunlight. I also live in an area where there is no to little humidity even though we have extreme whether over here. However, I've read one horror story of an owner that hadn't checked on her doll in a while that was mint in box underneath her bed with no exposure to light but the doll had turned green due to the high humidity the owner lived in (somewhere in Asia). I don't remember what company that doll was from, but it goes to show that there is a range even when trying to avoid yellowing/fading. :aeyepop:
       
      #27 Ligaya24, Oct 29, 2020
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    28. I don't know much about dyeing, but I think she looks fantastic! Especially seeing the before and after, I think you should be very proud! She's a beautiful doll
       
      #28 Bexalex, Oct 30, 2020
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    29. I think I'm finally done with fixing her up.
      I finally decided that yes i would highlight the scales on the inside of the joint for the most seamless looking tail and then finished it off with spraying all the pieces with MSC UV cut gloss.
      This is how she was for several months while I waffled in making the decisions. outer scales highlighted, no highlights on the inside of the joints. the comparison pic is after highlighting, but no gloss sealant.
      https://media.discordapp.net/attach...94/20210213_121947.jpg?width=1116&height=1116
      [​IMG]
      This is the tail after the dye job, but no highlights vs highlights on outside and inside scales sealed with a full can of MSC uvc cut gloss sealant. I do wish the sealant was a higher gloss/mirror finish, but oh well it's good enough.
      https://media.discordapp.net/attach...hlight_comparisonc.png?width=1674&height=1116
      [​IMG]
      I think the tail now truly looks seamless. I'm quite pleased with how it looks in bent positions!

      I also ended up switching out her upper torso since I wasn't pleased with realizing that the previous owner had sanded the neck shorter and smaller even though i'd already deyellow-dyed and body blushed the original upper torso. I had wondered why the head wobbled so much on the neck.....
      Now I feel like she looks more mature with a longer neck. To me the stumpier neck made her seem more child-like which i wasn't particularly fond of.

      The follow pics are comparison pics from the first day i unboxed her to pics from today (post dye job, scale highlights, body blushing, and exchanged upper torso).
      https://media.discordapp.net/attach...portrait_comparison.png?width=837&height=1115
      [​IMG]

      https://media.discordapp.net/attach...0/torso_comparison.png?width=1488&height=1116
      [​IMG]

      https://media.discordapp.net/attach...y_angle_comparison.png?width=1488&height=1116
      [​IMG]

      Thank you for following along with me in this journey of fixing in her up!
      (Lol now that i don't see myself doing anymore work on her, I almost wonder If I will sell her >_>;; )
       
      #29 bahboh, Feb 22, 2021
      Last edited: Feb 22, 2021
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    30. Wow.... she looks like a totally new doll! She came out totally stunning. You did a good job painting the scales! I ike the seamless look. And I think it’s better with a longer neck too, before it was too short.
       
      #30 Rurimas, Feb 22, 2021
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    31. ah you did great, i love her tail, and she now looks better with her non-sanded down neck
       
      #31 lukita, Feb 27, 2021
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    32. Oh you did an amazing job. It's feel so good to see someone love AS mermaid and do this much for her. She really look 'Alive' again!
       
      #32 xxxsaturnxxx, Feb 27, 2021
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    33. Wow, this is incredible! Thanks for sharing your process, you really brought her to life!
       
      #33 Riverboat, Feb 27, 2021
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    34. Your work looks absolutely perfect to me. I had no idea doll bodies could be dyed, it sounds terrifying. I've dyed spinning and weaving fiber and know that some dyes and colors are pretty permanent in a practical manner. If you have 25 years or so, you could wait for them to fade. Lol! So the thought of dying a grail doll... wow! Bravo, your work is masterful.
       
      #34 Rubytinker, Feb 28, 2021
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    35. Your doll is so beautiful! Thank you for sharing this process with us. I am in awe at her transformation. <3
       
      #35 Dolly Wink, Mar 8, 2021
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    36. Absolutely incredible :D you did such a good job! I love the highlights you added, she's so stunning now!
       
      #36 Strawberrybria, Mar 16, 2021
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