Anyone tested a bunch of epoxy resins?

[Dirili]

Thought this belonged here rather than my eye experimentation thread in creations since it's a question about materials and proceedure...

So with these eye experiments, I've been using Envirotex Lite pour on:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001CE ... 06_s00_i00

But it's a tad bit too thin and running for curved surfaces, so holes open up in the coating sometimes, plus with it's level of viscosity, it doesn't dome well at all. I can put a bead on top of the eyeball and it will look like it's going to stay, but I look back 120 seconds later and it's spread all over the place. Plus once I received the product and read the instructions, it turned out that even fully hardened it has a certain amount of elasticity, like if you leave something heavy on it for a long time, it will leave a 3D impression on the surface. I believe the instructions said the shape will rebound... but still I think that probably means it's not a good material for doll eyes since that might make them difficult to remove once set and even if they were easily removed, they may not be able to be used again in a different shaped eye socket.

So I figure a different brand or type of resin would be better. Jeweler's grade Ice resin sounds like it would be better for this purpose, although it's pretty pricey...
http://www.amazon.com/Resin-Jewelers-Gr ... =ice+resin

And there are some others, but it seems like there just isn't enough information to make a good decision about what to use short of buying each kind of trying them...:
http://www.amazon.com/Easy-Cast-Clear-C ... =ice+resin

(I'd have to reasearch this one, but I think the resin is clear, but the item in the pic has a brush finish)
http://www.dickblick.com/products/artmo ... 33564-1006

http://www.amazon.com/Alumilite-922593- ... d_sbs_op_5

[zirconmermaid]

Do not use the Alumilite clear resin - it is VERY caustic and hard to use. This from one of our professional friends.

Try the model railroad products for water, like "Realistic Water" or high gloss acrylic medium. The acrylic medium has to be put on in layers, but is really good.


I also looked up some other methods online:

http://marinasdolls.blogspot.com/2010/1 ... -eyes.html

http://www.dollmakersdream.com/doll-eyes.html

http://laurenbrevner.com/2011/05/20/687/

I would go with the acrylic medium, because it's easy, and very non-toxic.

[Dirili]

Thank you for the info!

I had read the first 2 tutorials before, but had lost the first one.
The 2nd one used liquid FIMO which I could not find. Guess it's discontinued?

I'll look into the acrylics. Thanks again for pointing me in the right direction!
With the last batch of eyes I made, I think I've developed a few good techniques for shaping and painting, so just have to get a good glazing for them and I'll have a process I'm happy with ^_^

[Dirili]

I couldn't find a whole lot in the way of fake water for some reason... I tend to be bad at searching, but this sounds good to me, what do you think?

http://www.qualitysilkplants.com/mc3201 ... 4AodfVwAfw

Then there's Polytranspar Artificial Water, but there is'nt much information on it and all the places I see it don't have a mechanized ordering process which always worries me about transactions.
http://www.taxidermy.com/cat/18/artwater.html

[DollyKim]

Liquid Sculpey and a translucent Sculpey still exist.

[Dirili]

Well I ordered pre-maturely and I'm trying 3 different things hehe:

Quick Water
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002XN ... 01_s00_i00 (takes 1-3 weeks to ship, so wanted to try other things while I'm waiting)

Sakura 3-D Crystal Lacquer
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001F6 ... 00_s01_i00

DecoArt TG01-36 Triple Thick Gloss Glaze
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000WW ... 00_s00_i01

[DollyKim]

Don't worry about trying, that's what I'm doing with different polymer and air dry clays for doll making. I've even been through so many doll making books I wore my fingers out typing reviews at Amazon, can I smack someone who bitched the Yoshida book has nothing about casting?

When I get in to making my own eyes it will help to have real advice from someone who has actually tried things out, which products are better for what situations, which ones are trickier to use than others. Some of us have terrible casting luck no matter what we do.

[Dirili]

I'll be happy to help by letting you know about my experiences Playing with the eyes has been really fun. It's a rather simple thing, so kind of relaxing. You can see the first bad batch I made in the Custom Creations section. I knew that one would probably have problems, so I didn't go into much detail with the painting of them. But the 2nd batch I'll have pictures of tomorrow and they look sooooo much better than the 1st because I learned a lot from the first trial ^_^

I'd be grateful for info about casting too! I know that when I sculpt pieces that I like, I'm going to want more than one of it so if I do various things I don't lose the original. Plus I'm sure if I got around to a finished doll, I'd like to cast several of it so i can paint it differently.

I'd been thinking about casting certain doll parts and can't quite wrap my brain around the mechanics of casting certain pieces...

[magkelly]

Wait a minute. I thought liquid sculpey was just for doing transfers from print to clay and stuff. Can I make a mold of a shoe bottom or doll foot in sculpey, bake that, fill it with liquid sculpey, bake it again and have it harden enough for a doll to wear it as a shoe base? Would I need a mold release? I've been dying to do that but using casting resin I'm just not sure I can do that. I'm rather sensitive to fumes. I've looked at that clear stuff on Amazon about a million times and thought about it. I really, really would love to make my own clear doll pumps (or at least heels) some day. I love transparent shoes, particularly when they are colored. A few of my dolls really could use some custom shoe bases of any kind actually. I have plenty of flats but they all have odd sized fashion feet and I can't afford $15 a pair to give them a shoe wardrobe like the others. I've seen it done online but only with resin.

[Dirili]

You COULD do that, but I think shoe soles would be too thin for sculpey to be a good material for it. It's liable to crack or break easily.

I bookmarked a tutorial somewhere about making doll shoes that weren't resin, but can't remember what they used. I'll look it up for you a bit later.