So recently I got an airbrush and I've been having fun testing it on my dolls for their face ups. What I noticed is that a few months after painting, the faces where I used the airbrush all have cracking. As far as I know the paint was water based and I used the same sealant (MSC) Does anyone know why this is happening and if it can be prevented in the future?
It could be that moisture was trapped under the sealant, that is what happened to some heads I commissioned in the past. Happens when the temperatures were too cold or too humid for MSC.
Hi - it's also possible that the sealer was applied too thickly. This causes stress cracks to form during drying and when the BJD is exposed to large temperature fluctuations. I had the same problem with MSC from the spray can.
Is it possible the airbrushing isn't completely dried before you spray the sealant? Like what Schel said, there could be moisture under the sealant.
It could be possible. I know I let some of my dolls sit overnight before sealing them. I'll have to check them to see if they have cracks. This might be the problem.
@Lei Xing you know what, I’ve been getting this happening too recently and it’s so infuriating. Reading some of the replies you got in my case it’s most likely from temperature fluctuations as I rarely use paint but I have been using sealant in cold conditions. I did have it also crack and lift like that many years ago too and the causes then were most likely too thick a layer of sealant on a badly prepared surface (doll was a very rough home cast by the artist which I now know I didn’t clean properly) and using incompatible materials during the faceup such as an iridescent shimmer powder that was designed for human cosmetics that I didn’t realise at the time had more than just pigment in it.
I have had this happen when I applied too many coats of Mr.Super Clear ( because I loved the way the face-up turned out!) Then it cracked and I had to redo it.
Thanks for the answers everyone! After checking some of my other face ups that sat overnight between painting I believe the cracking is due to the paint not being completely dry before sealing. I'm going to repaint my babies and see if letting it sit overnight to dry will prevent it