Projects: In Progess or Ideas? What'choo Workin' On?

[Vetinari]

...After accidentally using very nearly the worst glue I could have possibly chosen for the project (accidentally picked up the tube that contained acetone as a solvent... rookie error duh!!!), I've managed to semi-melt a 1/6 neck plug, and rubberize (yes rubberize) two old style Sideshow head sculpts. (As well as give a brilliant glassy perfectly smooth surface to the inside of one of the two heads, since acetone fumes do that to plastic...)

The heads have been left to dry out for a day, and no difference despite the stench of acetone having long since dissipated. Methinks this change is permanent...

Fortunately whatever plastic the heads are made from the sculpts themselves are still solid and stable, but damn the plastic around the necks really has gone a tad squishy for lack of a better term.

Still as a result of that I've decided "sod it" and I'm going to strip the frankly subpar paint jobs completely and attempt to repaint them.

Turns out that underneath the appalling "flesh tone" paint Sideshow used to use the plastic itself is a fairly decent match to the colour Hot Toys use for their caucasian headsculpts.

Now to determine exactly what solvent to risk, and how hard to scrub. I suspect from the horrifying thickness of the paint layers (visibly ~0.5mm worth) that an awful lot of hidden sculpt detail is going to reveal itself as a result of this accident/experiment.

(Gods though I dread having to repaint the eyes... I was always terrible at that on the 1/6 obitsu heads, though hopefully the fact that the eyes are actually sculpted in will help since the obitsus were always blank flatness!)

[Jobee]

Acetone glue? I didn't know that existed! O.O

[Czanne]

Jobee - one of the serious textile adhesives is acetone based. And it comes in a clear squeeze bottle and the back label looks EXACTLY like Liquid Fusion. Just as a ya know... (Serious as in needs to be looked for, but is available at the major craft and textile chains, not serious as in only available to the industry in 55 gal drums.)

My sleep schedule has been getting disrupted, and my reset is pretty miserable - an allnighter. I don't machine sew while spouse is sleeping because my sewing machine beeps and it wakes him, so I did cutting, fitting and handwork. I've got 1/3 scale fall front breeches worked out and a wearable muslin on Quin. I finished two Regency type shirts (think wet Colin Firth) and have two more cut. (Handwork goes so much better when the garment was designed for it.) One chemise, from the same fabric, is cut and ready to sew which used up the last of a really wonderful sheet. I cut 14 pair of socks/stockings, and worked out wide stretch lace panties.

My buttonholes have not improved.

[ShortNCuddlyAm]

Acetone glue? I didn't know that existed! O.O

There's "glue" designed for ABS plastics that can contain acetone - I've put glue in quotes as it works not so much by sticking things together with an extra layer of adhesive, but by dissolving the material slightly and fusing the items together.

[DollyKim]

I've never really stripped any factory heads I've repainted, just given them a bath to make sure there's no release agent. See if some will scrub off with a tooth brush and elbow grease. Thin layers of acrylic will paint them, just watch out for drips, throw on some pastel powder if wanted, then seal.

[Vetinari]

...Urgh yea the glue was one of those "all purpose" types that dries into a flexible PU gel that I normally only use for small non-plastic things... Just so happens the company that produces it changed the branding recently, so it now looks v.similar in the tube to another glue that actually is plastic safe. It was a stupid mistake but no real harm was done! (Other than to the paintwork)

Thanks for the tips! I'll keep that in mind once I've stripped the factory paint off. I've managed to get down to the primer using good old fashioned combo of isopropanol and the magic sponge melamine stuff that I use for bjd heads. Now that the head is just one matte colour the quality of the sculpt is shining through, well that and the horrifying thickness of the paint in places. Turns out underneath the washes the paint in the hair sculpt is very very thick, and full of little bubbles and lumps... The hair is a lot more 3D than the cloggy paint made it look... And there's a bizarre patch of thick paint down one half of the face. It'll be interesting to see how much sharper the sculpt is underneath the primer.

But now I'm down to primer level, I'm a tad weary of beginning to effectively sand the sculpt itself with the sponge, so am looking for more paint dissolving options.

I've been looking around on the 1/6 scale forums to see what people use, and the suggestions range from acetone and cellulose thinners to other even more noxious solvents. Apparently even acetone doesn't do a huge amount to the old sideshow heads, "only" swells them up before it evaporates off... Yea I'm probably not going to actually try acetone, given that acetone based glue is what started this little adventure in the first place! But it's good to know that v.little seems to hurt the old sideshow heads. I think I'm going to cautiously try a little non-acetone nail polish remover, since that effectively is a watered down cellulose thinner.

[SetsunaKou]

...Urgh yea the glue was one of those "all purpose" types that dries into a flexible PU gel that I normally only use for small non-plastic things... Just so happens the company that produces it changed the branding recently, so it now looks v.similar in the tube to another glue that actually is plastic safe. It was a stupid mistake but no real harm was done! (Other than to the paintwork)

Thanks for the tips! I'll keep that in mind once I've stripped the factory paint off. I've managed to get down to the primer using good old fashioned combo of isopropanol and the magic sponge melamine stuff that I use for bjd heads. Now that the head is just one matte colour the quality of the sculpt is shining through, well that and the horrifying thickness of the paint in places. Turns out underneath the washes the paint in the hair sculpt is very very thick, and full of little bubbles and lumps... The hair is a lot more 3D than the cloggy paint made it look... And there's a bizarre patch of thick paint down one half of the face. It'll be interesting to see how much sharper the sculpt is underneath the primer.

But now I'm down to primer level, I'm a tad weary of beginning to effectively sand the sculpt itself with the sponge, so am looking for more paint dissolving options.

I've been looking around on the 1/6 scale forums to see what people use, and the suggestions range from acetone and cellulose thinners to other even more noxious solvents. Apparently even acetone doesn't do a huge amount to the old sideshow heads, "only" swells them up before it evaporates off... Yea I'm probably not going to actually try acetone, given that acetone based glue is what started this little adventure in the first place! But it's good to know that v.little seems to hurt the old sideshow heads. I think I'm going to cautiously try a little non-acetone nail polish remover, since that effectively is a watered down cellulose thinner.

Are you trying to wipe factory faceups off? (Or any paint?) Try tea tree oil---it works like a charm, pretty quickly and, hundreds of heads later, has no ill side-effects. I use it on vinyl, pvc, abs, metal, even resin without issue. It pretty much can take off any permanent paint/factory or otherwise.

Get q-tips, then douse them thoroughly, and rub on the eyes/paint until it comes off or the q-tip gets too dirty/painty. Get a new one and rub again. Usually about a minute or so. Sometimes a bit longer if the faceup/paint used is really thick/tough or in a crevice.
Then, just wash the head with soap and warm water, and you're good to go. ^^

I use it nonstop and it's always safe, nontoxic and works much easier than alcohol or acetone.

However, it WILL take off ALL paint layers, so be sure you want to remove everything before you use it. ^^

[Vetinari]

Ooooh thanks for the advice! That sounds brilliant/quicker than the elbow grease method I've stuck with on the bjds and obitsus. (Which ironically I'm a tad scared of attempting here, since the sculpt detailing is so fine I'm terrified of sanding off his eyebrows and the newly discovered sticky-out hair strands)

As in the literal plant oil? (Like this? http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/100ml-TEA-TRE ... 25924ebc5f )

[SetsunaKou]

Ooooh thanks for the advice! That sounds brilliant/quicker than the elbow grease method I've stuck with on the bjds and obitsus. (Which ironically I'm a tad scared of attempting here, since the sculpt detailing is so fine I'm terrified of sanding off his eyebrows and the newly discovered sticky-out hair strands)

As in the literal plant oil? (Like this? http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/100ml-TEA-TRE ... 25924ebc5f )

Yup! That's it!! I practically guarantee it will work on any faceup paint! Some a bit easier than others, but in the end, all come off without issues. (Trust me, I've used it on hundreds and hundreds of heads---maybe even into a thousand. I'm not exaggerating. You won't believe how many Sailor Moon/Disney dolls we've redone in our commission lifetime. ^^;; )

[Vetinari]

Thanks! I'll show up the results once the wipe/repaint experiment is complete. I've got a strong feeling there's a lot more sculpt detail still to reveal itself underneath the lumpy primer layer.