Priming LaDoll Premier: Primer and Base Colouring methods/brands

First decide...

You'll need to decide if you are going to cast the parts or if the clay will be the final product. If you're casting then clay coloring is an unnecessary step.
If the clay is the final product then decide if you want to sculpt in color OR paint afterwards. There would be no reason to color the clay if you're just going to prime and paint anyway....unless you're just muting the clay color so you can see detail better which usually isn't an issue with an opaque white material.

 

I've used colored primers before, and it doesn't much affect the quality of the primer. I prefer painting on primer (colored or not) over painting on a porous surface because porous surfaces makes paint hard to spread, and if you prime first, you use less paint...

I guess, what I'm trying to say is, I think if you plan to do a solid flesh tone, coloring the primer will be just fine (someone please conform, I don't have the education), but if you want to achieve a subtle effect with the colors, priming first and painting second may be better? Also, if you want to spray paint or airbrush, definitely prime first.

 

Okay, first thing is to understand the purpose of a primer...
A primer serves the following purposes, some primers achieve all of the purposes and others just some so choosing the correct primer is important. Sometimes you need to layer different primer to get the surface you want.

Primer generally:

1 Seal surfaces
2 Provide an optimal surface for paint
3 Even the objects hue so paint appears consistent
4 Intermediates between incompatible surfaces
5 Fills small imperfections by filling or being sanded
6 Bites into impenetrable surfaces so paint can adhere

So basically you again need to know what the purpose is.
It never really makes sense to add paint to primer.
Let the primer do it's job then paint over it. Adding paint to primer dilutes the primer.
The reason manufacturers add pigment to primer is twofold.
First and foremost to provide the appropriate background for paint.
Secondly to allow multiple layers of contrasting colors of primer to be used as a visual guide for standing a surface smooth...the idea is to sand away one color completely....any area showing that top color after standing is a low spot.

Some primer can be used to protect one surface FROM paint as in applying automotive paints on plastic. Most auto paints will melt plastic so a compatible primer can be applied to the plastic then the paint but sometimes a different primer must be used on top of the protective primer to provide an ideal surface for the paint.

Did I confuse you or help?

 

BTW doing something new should never be considered suicidal.... If we only did stuff we've done before we'd never have done anything!

 

s_yuki_s, I hadn't really worked with clay much either before I started my doll. It's a big learning experience and it may take longer to get the hang of it if you haven't done it before, but anyone can do anything as long as they're persistent!

I've been using primer on Premier and it works fine - I just use a flat grey auto primer, but I'm also planning on casting my doll. The one thing ya have to bear in mind with Premier (but probably any paperclay) is that it is SUPER POROUS so it will drink up the primer and then beg for more. You'll probably have to do at least three primer coats to fill up the porosity before you even begin sanding and finishing - you definitely wouldn't want to mix paint with primer if only for that reason - no sense in just having your paint sink in over and over - wait until the piece stops drinking your primer before you paint.

 

I think it's great that you're going to dive right into using clay. How else are you going to figure it out, right?

To answer your questions, yes, you can mix acrylic or watercolor into the clay. However, since the clay starts to get squishy (like snot!) if you add too much water, you might want to use the paint straight from the tube.

Regarding primer, you can use gesso, thinned-down modeling paste, Mr. Surfacer, or even spray auto primer-- basically anything that's OK to use on paper. (I use gesso-- makes a nice dent-proof surface.) But all of those are opaque and would cover up your clay color. You don't necessarily need to prime, but you should seal it with something. Clear spray varnish (Krylon for example) works great. Then you can spray the insides too, and make your doll completely weather-resistant.

 

Acrylic will probably be your best bet - it's going to stick the best to the primer. Get yourself some acrylic thinner too (a clear gel) so you can blend things easier. IMO, start with a base coat of a particular flesh-like colour, let that fully dry, and then start adding detail - acrylic dries FAST but a flow extender/thinner will help some with that.

I usually sand a little before priming, and then a whole lot after, and then more priming, and then more sanding, and more priming, on until infinity. Primer doesn't just provide a nice surface to paint on - it also makes your piece all one colour so you can see imperfections a lot easier. A piece that looks perfect unprimed will probably look a mess after the first time you prime it - lots of stuff to fix.

And then once you're done and spray it one last time with primer and are happy with how that looks, then you have a BIG drink and either cast your piece or paint it.

I believe folks have had good luck with Testors brand primers and clear coats. I'd imagine a flat (matte) primer in a colour close to your flesh tone would be good. If you're using acrylics on your sculpt and not casting, it's really not going to matter too much the exact type you use - a generic auto/hobby type primer is probably not going to react with the clay or acrylics.

 

Be sure to post your project in the WIP subforum!

 

Styrofoam

Why buy it? I don't know where you live but in the US you can go to any apartment complex and get styrofoam from the dumpsters. For some reason apartment dwellers are always buying big screen TV's and they come packed in a LOT of foam. Often it's higher density than that of the appliance foam packing. Forget what shape the foam is and learn to see hidden rectangles. Each piece only has to be big enough for each body part and not big enough to carve an entire doll out of.

 

You can also try going to shops that sell items that are transported in styrofoam, such as electrical goods. I'm sure they throw out a lot of that stuff for the display models and such. Go in the store and ask if they have any, rather than just going through their dumpsters first though.

And if you can't find styrofoam, there are other alternatives for what can be used as cores and which have been mentioned here at the Joint before.

 

I guess my point was that you can get vast amounts of EPS foam for free with a little creativity. So apartments are out....think about other sources as Twigling mentioned.

 

That sounds like "Styrofoam" brand styrofoam. I guess the other stuff is polystyrene. You might actually find the grainy styrofoam easier to carve. It doesn't come off in chunks the way the bead stuff does.

BTW you can glue smaller pieces of foam together if you need a bigger chunk. Just white glue though. Superglue dissolves the foam! :p

 

hot knife

Why not use the foam knife I showed in the Interesting tools thread? no more mess...well, less mess.