Esthetics Spray painting a doll

Unfortunately, dying isn't everlasting - it can be wiped.

I suspect that spray painting would wear off around the joints fairly fast and start looking bad.

Teddy

 

{SIGH} Yeah - Best of luck making the decision.

Teddy

 

Yup, sure have. I used acrylic paint and an airbrush. I am pleased with the results, except for the fact that this was supposed to be a peach skin tone, but she turned out very ORANGE.

Alchemic Labo x Resinsoul x Doll Chateau

I completely unstrung the body and did multiple coats. Over brown resin, I really should have done an additional coat, but I was lazy, and you can't see it under her clothes anyways.

Alchemic Labo x Resinsoul x Doll Chateau

The paint added a nice bit of "tooth" and made her a little better at posing.
The paint is stable, and I haven't had problems with it flaking off.

Highly recommend!

 

I would recommend you check out "Debris Dreams" on YouTube. She spray paints her dolls. Unfortunately she doesn't post videos anymore, but I think that's a good place to start.

 

The chipping potential will depend on how much you'll be posing and playing with your dolls - the more parts move, the faster an extra layer will rub off. Less of a problem if you mainly display your dolls, more of a problem if you play with them a lot. Paint might be less fiddly to remove than dye, but it might still stain - you'll want to seal well underneath and use paints that are safe to use for faceups (like acrylics) if you want it to be as non-permanent as possible. Sealing afterwards will make the paint layers a little tougher - just paint tends to chip more easily than sealants and varnishes (ymmv depending on what you use of course). Always test the materials on an inconspicuous spot if you're not sure how they'll behave on resin.

Some other things to consider: adding layers on top of the resin can make very tightly engineered parts harder to fit together (really depends on the doll/maker though). Also the surface of the doll will look different - resin is usually ever so slightly translucent that has a certain lifelike appeal, a layer of paint on top will make it look opaque and a kind of more... papery? Not a bad thing, but depends on what you prefer! This will also influence the look of the faceup on top a little.

All in all, it really depends on how you handle the doll and what you prefer about the optics: dye, paint and darker resin will all look different, and come with different risks/maintenance needed.

 

Thank you!

I sealed before (3 layers) and after (1 layer). I used lots of barbecue skewers (wood ones) and eye putty to hold parts in place, and I did a light coat for each layer. Drying time was 15-30 minutes per layer. I spray color the same way as MSC - enough to put down color, but not enough to look "wet." If it looks wet, or paint beads up, you'll end up with bubbles or streaks.

The airbrush nozzle is about 4-6 inches (8-15 cm) away from the part being sprayed, and I spray in slow, sweeping motions. Great airbrush practice, too.

 

I used some Rustoleum white on my Iplehouse EID. I didn't seal him because I felt his original color was a lost cause. After a few years I took it off with acetone without much issue other than the crevices that don't show. One thing I did notice was any tightly engineering joints were affected by the paint closing the tolerance gap (chiefly his knee and elbow peanuts, and the C covers for the wrist joints, which didn't fit at all with the paint.). That's where I found the most wear and tear because the rate of contact/friction was much higher there. It did take away the translucence of the resin but when your Rose white doll turns the color of margarine, it's a moot point. One odd effect of the spray paint was that it made him cold to the touch compared to the other dolls.
I had considered Tamiya model paint because it's better for details, but the Rustoleum proved to have better durability. Since you want to go darker, I strongly advise going with dye.

 

Spray painting wears off very quickly around the joints, like what everybody else is saying. Dyeing would probably be your best bet for the color that you want.

 

Do you think sweding the joints could help reduce the chipping?

 

Possibly, but it's more around the joints rather than inside them that the problem is visible - if you suede out too far, the suede spoils the lok by being visible, and if you suede only where it won't show the bits that aren't sueded can still get the paint rubbed away.

Teddy