Silicone Painting

 

- This is for pre-painting pieces (busts, appliances....)

 

- Silicone paints consist of 3/4 elements. 1 is naptha (solvent base). This can be panel wipe (cheapest option), lighter fluid, low odour white spirit (not normal wipe spirit), lighter fluid for small batches or naptha in its purest form. 

 

- The other part of the paint is the silicone. Evo-stick 1 hour shower (much cheaper and sets quickly, Available at wilkos), other silicone sealers, 2 part silicones (the parts A and B - this would then be the same molecular structure as the piece you are painting on so you know it would stick. The other

silicones you would have to experiment and see what sticks). 

 

- There is no particular ratio, but much more naptha than silicone. Stir it until it dissolves. You want it a bit thinner than cap plastic. Naptha breaks down the silicones molecular structre, meaning you have a lot longer working time with the silicone. You can pre-mix silicone paints and freeze them for months at a time. 

 

- Element number 3/4 is the pigments. Silicone pigments (techno-vent or factor 2. Can buy in powder form and add silicone oil, Polymer Systems), oil paints, 

 

- Element number 4 is silicone oil (not always necessary). Helps blend colours, silicone pigments. It binds the silicone and colour together more. 

 

 

Cleaning the Piece

 

- Naptha will cause silicone to swell. 

- SIlicone is porous

- Can't clean with any alcohol if the piece is encapsulated obviously. You shouldn't need to clean it but if its been out for a couple of weeks, it may be dusty, so clean it over with a damp cloth

 

Making up the paints:

- CLean out brushes afterwards with naptha

- You want to create very translucent colours - don't make any opaque shades

- Can use oil paints in exactly the same way but after a few months/a year, the oil paint will leach out of the silicone. So oil paint will work for a prosthetic appliance for short use, but not for a long0term display piece

- Any blacks or whites painted on will destroy the illusion of realistic skin

- REFERENCE IS KEY 

- This is for pre-painting. Can go over with alcohol paints after. Bluebird alcohol paints flex more but will also eventually crack off. Silicone sticks to silicone, so this is the best way to have long lasting colours.

- BUILD UP LAYERS OF TRANSLUCENT COLOUR. Don't load up more pigment if you can't see it, as the illusion of realistic skin, as it will shatter the effect. 

- Paint in blue-tones to create shadows, in the deepest shadows. Then green for secondary shadows, shallower shadows, 

- Ron Mueck palette. Hyper realstic sculptor

- Can dry layers off and powder them in between layers. Not talc, but cab-o-sil to powder or baking powder or icing sugar

- Can sponge areas with colour - DON'T USE A LATEX SPONGE OR THE SILICONE WILL NEVER CURE

- Purple for really deep shadows

- Green is key when mixing skin-tones. Overlap a slight but of green at the tail-end of lines and shadows to tail it off

- Nose, cheeks, brow and lip area are more flushed. DO NOT BRUSH ON COLOUR, you don't want to create brush marks with the silicone. Can stipple it one, can use a small brush and just let it move about randomly to create dabbing red patterns. Reds build up very quickly so keep them very subtle. Add some blue to your reds every now and then to break them up slightly so give a more random, realistic appearance.

- If you add a colour you dont like, try and remove it quickly with tissue and naptha

- For flicking colours, like freckles, make the paint slightly more opaque (Harris brushes from ASDA)

- Thickish purple/red colour for cappiliaries. Can use some thread - put it in the paint and lay it on the silicone piece. Or seperate tiny pieces of silk thread and paint the pieces on

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hair Punching:

 

- Can use pin vices or knife to secure in hair punching needle

- Don't buy the needles, make your own. Felting needles don't work very well. 

- Grind it down with a dremmel or sand-paper

- You can bulk hair punch, but obviously you wouldn't for eyebrows or eyelashes....

- Make sure you don't punch all the way through so that the hair doesn't poke out the other side and irritate your actor

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hair Flocking:

 

- Flocking creates a static field which you pass through glue or adhesive to attatch the flocking. The flocking gun creates the field

- Thats how Sylvannian Families are made

-  Flocking comes in all sorts of colours and various lengths

- If you wanted to flock silicone you'd have to use a silicone adhesive

- Put lids on everthing so that the flocking doesn't fly out

- Use pros-aide if you want

- The glue needs to be wet so that the current can go through it
- To avoid a bald patch, you'd put glue onto the mould and then attatch the flocking clip to that 

- The hairs all stand on end and you can blow them in the direction you want 

- You can tape over the head of the flocking gun to refine the shape and have more control

- Its not recommended to do on the face

- When its done on a person, they only need to hold the clip 

- Can punch hairs over flocking for a realistic effect

- Its very versatile