Modification Seeking the grail: Stephen's faceup

First up: dyeing. (Gulp)
Thirty years I've been putting off trying to give this lad 3D substance. This spring, I found the body: Granado's Adagio. But still searched for a face. Magically, the (almost) perfect one showed up on the MP. Soom Lazule. Even more magically, he had a faceup that actually did the sculpt justice, IMO. Only one problem, he was yellow. (I think the color is technically Oriental) Eep! One head in the universe that will do, and it's the wrong color. Once head and body were both in house, this is what he looked like across the room:


Not having done faceups in years and only two then, I decided to practice on my little Granado Guys (who arrived with these two) first. But now, the rainy season is setting in, and if I want to get my Stephen looking proper, it was time to bite the bullet.

First I cleaned the face:


Now, the trick to adjusting this is magenta (as learned in color-correcting photos of him) and warming/darkening the overall tone. So...first the magenta.
Using Rit Dyemore, I first did the skull cap. I ended up with a 30sec dip total, but it tipped from too light to too dark in a couple of seconds. I was able to use a little elbow grease and get the cap to a lovely shade. So, in goes the head.

Less than ten seconds and *bang* he looked like something out of Willy Wonka's factory. Comparison of the head cap and the still-pink interior of his head:

Oh, the horror! Not really wanting to soak him in acetone, I began scrubbing immediately to see how much would come off and he ended up like this: (left hand side.) However, I began to see some real possibilities in this, as details of the sculpt began to pop out. I use a lot of color layering anyway and would be adding pink to the faceup, so I kept working differentially, got rid of some more of the pink, dipped him in sandstone, and began to get a really promising effect.

Still too pink, so I went for the acetone applied with makeup cotton pads, took the pink down, dipped in sandstone for probably 30 seconds total, and actually ended up with a pretty nice base for his faceup!

All the above were taken with flash and white-balance corrected. Flash tends to bounce off that lower layer of resin, making the yellow spots harsher than they are in 'normal' light. Across the room, sans flash, he now looks like this:

I can't tell you how relieved I am, and how interested to try this technique on other faceups. It will be less fragile than anything put on over MSC. Stephen's skin is supposed to be very transparent, so the pink is a good base for the shading. I might just try a quick dip in choco-brown for Wesley!

Anyway...Hoping to get him sprayed today (bit of a break in the rain) and get started on his actual faceup!
Thanks for viewing. I'll be adding to this as time goes on.

 

Thanks! Not sure I'll keep it...will depend on how the faceup works over the top...but it is something new, in my experience!

 

@Rosslyn Thanks for that info! If I can't smooth this out, I'll have to remove the dye and start over. I feel much better trying it now. He really is a rather unique look, as is Lupin. I'm sure they're considered "old fashioned"...more recent sculpts tend toward more extreme features. One thing the dye turned up: whoever did his previous faceup gave him a bit more cheekbone...one thing I liked about this face that does seem missing in the other handful of pics I've been able to find of him.

I'm really thinking of some creative ways to use dye in the "underpainting" if you will. I gave Wesley his "tan" and pulled out some of the dye from highlight areas, took a brush and applied some into the crack of his mouth. I'll probably lift a bit more of the highlight color tomorrow, but I want real light before I start messing with it. I used chocolate brown with just a drop of the magenta. I'm rather diggin' the result. Of course, now I have to do his whole body...

 

@Rosslyn: Thanks@ I think doing the whole body this way, dying and lifting from the highlight, might be the easiest and most stable way to blush a body. I'm kinda excited about it...if not excited about dying that big body!

 

Thank you! I hope the results give folks a bit more confidence to try it.

Dying can be very scary. There's no way to replace Stephen's head if I screw this one up. Lazule hasn't been available since, like, 2013, and I've never seen another. And knowing what color to use is a problem. Prior to dying him, I'd done a fair number of photos where I did color adjustments to just his face so I had a good idea what color I needed to dye him, and I'd really suggest that step to anyone contemplating it. I did a test with the head plate and got a great color. Dipped the head itself..and he went bright pink in half the time. Fortunately, the acetone did lift the color out, but I admit, I was pretty sick at my stomach for a while.

Because of the danger of spotting, I wouldn't want to count on it for a huge change, but for a tonal shift, or the slight darkening like Wesley, I wouldn't hesitate now, esp with these rit plus dyes. I'd done one other dye job and wish the rit plus had been around for it. I had to stand holding the pieces in the dye for what seemed hours! (And even as I realize what I wrote above, that one was a HUGE change, from white to a deep teal blue/green! But it was a kitty, not a several hundred dollar human!

Also, dye can go very splotchy. Stephen has a couple of areas on his face where the previous owner sanded that took the dye differentially. I used that when lifting the color, and will smooth it more with the faceup, but it can be scary when you first see it. I can afford to be fairly cavalier. I've done enough with color, if not faceups, to figure anything I screw up colorwise, I can fix with an airbrush...but even as I say that, I have my fingers crossed, because the gods of art LOVE to put arrogance in its place!

I'm hoping to get back at him this week. He's been in a box since I dyed him, but he's out now on the new bust I ordered for him, staring very accusingly....