Sharpie on Obitsu on purpose?

[iron_dog]

One of my characters, Moswen, is demanding to have a little kid version of himself. Because he's my favourite, I'm finding it reeeeealy hard to resist the demand. One of the possibilities is the fairy head on the 23cm Obitsu male body. I have already asked the face-up artist who did the MSD version if she'd be willing to face-up the head to be a younger version and she said yes (yea!). However....

Moswen has tiger-like striping over his entire body and she isn't willing to attempt painting the Obitsu body because she has concerns about how well the paint would stay on the body. Because he is my favourite doll (and character), I handle him a lot and even my being careful and several layers of MSC, the stripes on his MSD version are pretty much at the point where they need to be re-done (I knew of this before asking the artist to do the work and accepted that he'd need to be re-painted at some point) due to wear and chipping.

I worked a little google-fu and saw that somebody had done tattoos on an Obitsu with a fine point Sharpie, which lead me to this idea. The body is only $30 and the Sharpie would only be used on the body of the doll. I fully realize using a Sharpie on a doll (horror of horrors!) is a permanent thing and I'm okay with that. I'd either be using the yellow and brown together or the gold for the stripes. Despite my woeful lack of drawing ability, I think this is something that I could actually do myself following what has been done on my MSD. I'd likely draw in pencil first on the body to get everything placed right and then trace over/fill with the Sharpie.

What I have concerns/questions about is the application of the Sharpie and the... look of it after the fact. Does it smear after it's dry? Does it bleed or do lines stay sharp/crisp? Does it degrade the plastic in anyway (assuming the non-oil based variety of Sharpie)? Has anyone here tried something similar and could you share your experiences?

Depending on answers, I'll either stick with the idea of the Obitsu or have to regretfully set aside the idea as unworkable because the striping is a non-negotiable part of his character and he just wouldn't be Moswen without the stripes. Just for reference, this is Moswen (click for bigger image).

[magkelly]

Sharpies will smear on plastic but only if you touch them within a short time. If you do it and let them dry you'll probably be fine though you'll want to cover the pen with sealer because skin oils can bleed Sharpie no matter what and unless you plan on never touching the doll after that ever again it will rub off onto your hands unless you seal it. Also even with sealer Sharpie can fade and get fuzzy like an old tattoo over a long period of time. A paint pen is actually a better idea for this. Sharpie makes them, but the PrismaColor ones are far better and worth the extra $$$. Get one of those and a good sealer and it will likely come out a lot better than with a Sharpie.

[thisstrangeforest]

mag basically said what I was going to suggest. Thats two votes for paint pens! I've seen many tattoos done on dolls using them and they turn out great where sharpies tend to look a bit green if you know what I mean.

[OkamiKodomo]

Also keep in mind that sharpie ink has that odd sort of shine to it, even with some of the other colors. I agree with magkelly, a paint pen might be a better option. EDIT: lol three votes for paint pens

In theory, I would think that using a darker brown paint on an unsealed body, and leaving it for a few weeks, would leech the color into the plastic like a stain. I've never attempted this though, so don't take my word for it. Anyone out there more experienced with deliberately staining an obitsu?

[iron_dog]

You guys are made of awesome sauce! I had heard of the Prismacolour pens but it was for something totally unrelated to dolls and it never even crossed my little brain to think of them. I also hadn't know of the Sharpies... greening. Green is definitely not a colour that would work for this.

Does anyone have sealer suggestions? MSC can sometimes be tricky to get here in Canada. I'd read somewhere during my google search that somebody used clear nailpolish to seal a tattoo on an Obitsu but I don't know if that'd be safe or not. I'd be pretty cheesed if I did all the work of the stripes only to have what I was using to seal it kybosh the whole thing.

[thisstrangeforest]

I know that unsealed paint over time will stain reisn for sure and abs but no clue on an obitsu. I think the only time I tried to used unsealed paint and nailpolish on my grettle it just chipped off. I wonder if the dull drying clear coat would work? Rather than the shiny? I believe Volks also has a spray I've heard good things about ZM. I've never tried it but others swear by it. I don't know how it works on vinyl. Testors Dull Coat is pretty good and although I prefer Mr. Super clear I have used it on occasion it tends to pick up dirt a bit faster. Some think Mr. Super clear lightens your doll a bit. so they all kinda have a draw back really. There is something else on the junky spot site but I don't know anything about it.

[iron_dog]

I'm in Canada and JS can't ship MSC to us. Sometimes MFD has MSC in stock but its a catch as you can thing. The Testors may be easier to get due to its use in hobby models. I have no idea where to buy Volks ZM and I'm certainly not going to fork over the cash for what I'm fairly certain is obscene shipping. And it's a personal quirk of mine to not have/use anything Volks.

And holy acronyms, Batman! I think I just used up my months supply of them in the above sentences.

[thisstrangeforest]

*giggle* Yeah Testors is usally the way to go it can be found in most hobby shops sometimes even Walmarts. If I'm just buying 1 can of MSC I usually buy from evil bay from a shop called gogobargain so far it's the best price after shipping and I get it really fast. Not sure if they do Cannananananada tho. ^_^

[OkamiKodomo]

Only problem is, I've heard of Testor's not drying properly on vinyl. Also, don't quote me on that. I just know the warning label on the Testor's said 'not for use on vinyl' so I didn't try it. I myself prefer ZM spray, but that's just a personal preference. To me, it seems to give more "tooth" to the surface to hold the pastels for blushing.

[thisstrangeforest]

oh! Now that I think back I've only used the testors on a 60 cm grettle head. Never attempted it on a vinyl body. the 23 cms are that harder type too so that is probably a bad Idea then.