I've seen videos on how the threading on the iris of glass eyes are made, like this: [video=youtube;IbkXFAXUY-w]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IbkXFAXUY-w[/video] And acrylic eyes are made with custom printed/painted irises (flat), like this: View attachment 468 But how are threading patterns on urethane eyes made? Are they bumped ridges on the whites or bottom of the clear parts? Has anyone got a good tutorial? I'm talking about theses effects: View attachment 469 vings eyes View attachment 470 dollflower Are urethane eyes painted before being put together...? With acrylic? Oil?
The eye you show looks like the color is textured, not painted to appear textured. I believe most urethane eyes (like Dollflower, Enchanted, and Dollshe) are made like glass eyes would be; with a layer (or layers) of colored resin instead of painting or printing. The texture could be stamped into the colored resin before it fully cures, or it could be part of the mold that the colored resin is poured into.
What about the dark ring around the irises of mystics? Are they painted after the iris is taken out of the mold?
Can you post a picture? It could be that the ring is a thicker layer of colored material, producing a richer color. Or, like the glass technique above, colors can be layered by hand when the resin is still is a liquid or viscous state. (In resin's case, before it is cured, as opposed to melting by fire like glass) I am actually considering experimenting with making eyes. If I do, I will be certain to post my results, since there is interest in the topic.
Mystic eyes have this dark ring around them : The ring color is sometimes an option when ordering urethane eyes. Sometimes it is a contrasting color. Also, I wonder about this gradient like effect: View attachment 474 Do you achieve this by using different layers of different colors? Do you have a picture/video/tutorial of modifying the resin when it's still tacky? I've seen marbling pours, but not viscous-state techniques.
There is a member on Den of Angels that makes and sells her own urethane eyes, her username is Jean. She might be willing to answer your questions more accurately. I'm really just making educated guesses on technique based on what I see and what I know about the basic properties of resin.
I don't actually have any urethane eyes but I've been making a doll recently with unusual iris and thinking it may be necessary to try my hand at urethanes, and have been sort of planning in my mind and collecting high res urethane photos to study. Looking at the closeup photos, to me most of them look painted, including the rims on those Mystics. Seems like your could apply a thin line of diluted paint around the rim and it would naturally fill in along the sculpted iris valleys like so. Light refraction (?) from the high domes could also create the illusion of a darker rim or gradiant effect in some cases, depending on how the iris was sculpted. Vings on flickr has a photoset showing some of their early attempts at urethanes, might be somewhat helpful: http://www.flickr.com/photos/dollvings/sets/72157630181448180/ Just brainstorming it seems possibly one could sculpt the eyeball part with textured iris, cast and paint that, then glue on a pupil and set this face down into a new mold with the lense shape and eyeball shape in full. This may not be crystal clear when demolding though, so maybe dipping the completed eye some more clear resin would remove any blemishes or surface texture after that? I'm not really clear on how the molding process goes either. Alternately one could mold separate pieces for the eyeball and iris parts if you wanted the pupil to be inset more like a real eye, then I'd layer the iris on the pupil on top of the eyeball and then continue with the same procedure as above. Anyway, I'm quite interested in this too, especially if anyone has a better idea of how the casting is done to produce a clear eye.
I don't know if you guys have seen this or not, but there is a really great detailed tutorial on making resin eyes on deviantart: http://niuky.deviantart.com/art/The-Eye-Making-Tutorial-collection-of-parts-416076164 It makes me want to give it a try!
I've found trying to get tips from people that make urethane eyes is like trying to get trade secrets from a magician. That acrylic tutorial is amazing, though! I'm not certain I even care about urethane anymore, if I can get results like that with practice.
