Dollieh Sanctuary

On some of my vinyl heads that I painted the areas that I glossed over, mainly the painted eyes, are just falling off. Or more like peeling back off of the vinyl head and eventually, they look like they will fall off. I sealed before and after I painted the head. Is this why the paint is peeling/flaking off? The eyebrows and the lips aren't, it's just the eyes. I don't know if it's because that part becomes convex when taking the head off or what. Thanks.

You didn't do anything wrong but stop taking the head on and off, if you're continuing to do that. What you did in a way was create a kind of decal, I've had the same thing happen.

What I did was to use a dab of sealer to "glue" the eye back down. You want just a bit, like on the end of a pin or toothpick so it goes under the eye and hopefully doesn't leak out when you gently put the eye back on. Maybe use the handle end of a small paintbrush to put the eye back on, don't glue the paintbrush to the eye. Let that dry. If the edges need some "gluing" put some sealer under them a bit at a time. I'm actually going to have to do a fix on one of my girls who has an edge lifting up but I'm waiting for another doll to come in first so I only need to get my supplies out one. I'll post pics in my blog and here.

You're basically stressing the paint and separating the bond between the paint and vinyl.


Also, it depends if you're painting in thin multiple layers or thick not-too-many layers since essentially it's not really stuck to the vinyl if it's a thick glob of paint.

The sclera is the only part that I paint thickish because I want it white. I can start painting it thinner though.

Thank you both for your tips! : )