Eyes Making eyes is hard; Tips please?

Try using a two-part epoxy clay, like Milliput or Apoxie Sculpt, for your sculpted irises. That's what I did when I tried the sculpted irises, and it worked well.

You might also like to try skipping the sculpted iris altogether--- I tried it both ways and I honestly kind of prefer just painting the irises without adding the sculpted part in the base. I like to do a couple layers of little lines and details with acrylic paint, then use a brush to paint in a couple thin layers of tinted UV resin over that, curing under the lamp with each layer, maybe add another painted in layer of UV resin with a little pearl ex or mica powder mixed in if I want some sparkle, and then put the pupil bead in and fill with clear UV resin for the dome. (If you do decide to stick with sculpted irises, you can still use those painting methods on those too!)

 

Some resin is just better than others, I use art resin for my eyes and the bubbles never end up as too big of an issues as long as you hit it with the lighter. Be careful when you're mixing your resin as well because mixing too quickly will create a lot of bubbles you can't get rid of unless you have an air vacuum chamber (which lets be honest are incredibly expensive).

I also personally make my bases with resin as well! You can find eye molds in different sizes and shapes on etsy and they're usually very high quality and come out great! When in doubt, practice makes perfect! It takes some trial and error at first to find out what works for you but you can always look at other tutorials online and try out some different things.

 

I've seen people use UV resin as well but I've been using two part art resin which hasn't been giving me too many bubbles as long as you just mix it carefully! The brand I use is just called art resin, the only downside is that it takes 24 hours to cure but besides that it works quite well for me!

As for trying out apoxie clay I do own some apoxie clay but boy is it expensive! I have tried using a polymer clay which worked out for me. I'm no scientist so this is just a theory I don't know for sure, but since apoxie clay cures via chemical reaction it might be reacting poorly to the resin which might be what's causing your issues. Not too sure 100%, but from the sounds of it just trying out different things might be the best route!

Edit, I got replies mixed up with your original post, but I do think your issue might still rely in your materials. There's loads of good tutorials online most of which include their materials, so it might be worth investing in what they're using as well!

 

Im going of the "blurry" description here, is it possible that your base material might react with the resin in some way?
Maybe you could show pics of your bases prior and after adding the resin so we can get a better picture of what you mean. Like, perhaps the dome is wobbly and warps the details. Or the sculpting isn't in focus through the way you shape the dome. There's quite a few possibilities.

 

I tried to do some eyes with UV resin and with the irises I found out that it’s better to go by layers and not pour a huge drop from the start, so I can reach the bubbles easily with a needle and pop them all. I mean, pour some clear resin, pop the bubbles, then put the eye under the lamp, and repeat until you like the size of the dome.
Other good eye makers suggested me to not use a lighter but a heat gun! That works much better with bubbles (and you don’t risk to burn the resin for mistake. I did that too lol).
I tried both UV resin and 2part resin, I found out that UV resin is much easier to work with cause you have time to fix mistakes, while normal with 2part resin you don’t.

 

I can think of two things. First, if you are doing the lens with UV resin, try to 'paint' a thin layer over the iris before doming. Pipettes are the way to go, IMHO because you can suck a bubble back up and let it rise to the bulb in the pipette before applying more. I always use pipettes with UV resin. I do not have an issue with bubbles unless I am being careless and not paying attention. I'll catch a few bubbles if I'm casting a few dozen bases, but that's because I'm working fast. I hope this is helpful.

 

Hello there, I've been making resin eyes and it takes so much practice from the start. If you wanna try UV resin as eye base, it would be better to put it by layer so it will fully cook in the uv/led light you have. What I do is that after cooking it in the UV, I always dry them outside to fully cure them.