Help! Delilah's Faceup Is Beating My Arse...

[magkelly]

NOTHING stays on this doll. I tried clear matte spray sealer. Krylon, the only one they had in the store. It just beads then drips off her and makes a mess as it dries. The pastels don't stick. The watercolor pencils don't stick, and FYI, both the pastels and the watercolor are very good ones. The acrylic, same deal. Doesn't stick, won't evenly coat the dolls mouth at all. I've repainted many a doll, Gene doll, Tonner doll, Barbies, and while I'm not the best doll repainter out there I have never run into a doll I literally cannot seem to paint. It's like she has some kind of super repel wax finish on her but that makes no sense after I've wiped her factory paint off already and all. Should I buff her with fine sand paper? I see other Delilah's that have been painted, including this one so I'm not exactly sure of what is going on, but I'm serious. It's like she's repelling all the stuff I am trying to use. I told her she was being a little bitch. Told her she was thisclose to staying a a mannequin forever but I don't think she's too worried. For a girl who came dressed in fluff and pink holding a stuffed ferret she's pretty darned tough, sigh....

[kittyasauras]

I don't know what the doll is made of, but in the resin and vinyl world, krylon is a no-no. You need to use MSC, Zoukeimura/ZM Spray, Testor's Lusterless flat, or Model Masters. You can get Testor's and MM at Hobby Lobby for about $5-$6. Don't forget your coupon!

[magkelly]

Delilah is a vinyl BJD. Those stores don't exist here actually. Micheal's is literally the only place that sells any kind of real art supplies in my town and the Krylon was all that they had in terms of spray sealers. Other than that I can get Modge Podge or Aileen's brush on sealer and that's about it. I guess I'm going to have to just forget it for now. It's not just the sealer. Nothing stays on this doll. Sealer on, sealer off, it just slides right off her like she's made of wax. I've never seen anything like this.

I've had 16" dolls before where the original screening was awful to remove but I've never seen a doll do this. I'm a bit puzzled because I am seeing pics of her being customized, the same doll, and no one mentions she's this difficult to paint. So far I've tried fine (not oil based) chalk pastels, watercolor pencils, and liquitex acrylic and nothing wants to stay on her. When you go to paint or otherwise color her it's like she's got a thick clear coating on her face. Whatever you put on her doesn't lay there and dry like it's supposed to. It beads or flakes off and doesn't stick.

I just gave her another good swipe all over her face with straight acetone and washed her immediately after in clear water. I'm hoping that takes the last of it off, whatever she's fixed with because I am really regretting wiping her face now. I'm going to put her away for now, too frustrated to continue, but I do want to take another shot at it later.

[yarwel]

If I were having this problem I would probably try lightly sanding her face all over as a last-ditch effort.

[cirquemom]

Not sure about mr. clean magic eraser on vinyl but you could try it on a place that doesn't show first. I don't know, it might scratch the vinyl, but maybe it would work. Then make sure she is really cleaned off and rinsed well with water. Then allowed to REALLY dry- any dampness at all will hamper your efforts. And then finally get the right stuff- testor's dullcote (the matte stuff) but best of all of course, Mr. Super Clear, which you can order from Emory at Junky Spot- except oops, looks like he is out of it right now (or at least I didn't see it).

[magkelly]

I think it was the Krylon that was causing all the trouble. I did try to remove all of it before I started in on her but I think some the stuff just clung to her despite my best efforts. The 2nd acetone wash seems to have helped quite a bit. I'm going to try again tomorrow with the chalk pastels, go for a simple natural look and just lightly seal her with the brush on sealer when I am done. If I can just get paint and new lashes on her and get her looking decent again I will be happy.

I was initially going for a very colorful Holograms "Danse" look with her but the 10 o'clock doll came today and fit so well into her Pretty In Pink persona that I ended up swapping them out. I changed out her eyes to green, then swapped out 10's feet to the heeled ones and PIP's to the flat ones. I just put a little fine glitter gel on 10 so the pink wouldn't be quite so flat but when it's dry I'm going to try the Danse wig on her. I have a feeling that with that wig that outfit is just going to be perfect on that doll.

I also put D&D into 10's goth rocker outfit with a wig that's very similar but longer than her own which worked out very well. I actually want to work on D&D's original outfit a bit. I don't like the pearl buttons at all. I want to make that Victorian dress a bit more period correct. I'm going to swap the pearls for jet buttons which was what that dress likely would have had on it if it was real and made back then. I will then do some extra beading to make it look a bit more upscale. Somewhere I have some small black flat Victorian boots that might fit the outfit better as well.

I like it a lot. It's a very pretty outfit but I'm just not sure if I like it more than I like the rocker goth outfit. She looks about 13 in that outfit, not the 15-18 she is supposed to be. The rocker outfit makes her look quite a bit older. Most of her clothes they make her look rather Lolita-ish and while that's fine for one doll sometimes I don't want my D-dolls to look like a little girl instead of a looking like a teenager. I just don't like that look much.

They say teenager on the Ashton Drake site but it's pretty obvious that they mean more like 17 or 18 because they talk about her sneaking off to go clubbing and to sing in a rock band which is something she wouldn't likely be doing at a much younger age. No way a night club is going to risk their liquor license to let a 14 year old sing there. They'd be throwing her right out of a club if she looked too much like jail bait and makeup and dark clothes can only age you so much...

The PIP doll is going to be my redheaded Delilah I think. But I'm not too sure about Damiana for the 10 doll. She's just way too fluff bunny for that name, I think, particularly with that outfit and in that wig. (It's all I can do not to call her Buffy, lol...) But nah, I just have to find another D name that's less serious and dark. D&D Dahlia totally fits her, but I'm just not quite sure what to call my little Bubble Gum Pop queen as yet. They'll make quite a trio if I ever get Delilah painted up the way I want her. Considering they're all supposed to be the same girl they seem to have very different characters. It's been bit like the 3 Faces of Eve around here.

I am so enjoying them though. I'm really glad my folks didn't actually make me wait for Christmas to play with them all. I'm having way too much fun with this whole BJD thing. I totally get the charm of the type of doll and why people end up spending a lot of $$$ on them now. I just adore my Deliah's, all of them. If I had the $$$ I'd be buying them so much by way of wigs, shoes, and outfits it would be insane probably. There's so much slim MSD stuff out there and all of it's SOOOOO cute. Fortunately I'm too broke most of the time to go there, I already have some stuff that will fit them, and I can sew somewhat, or I'd be in real trouble with these girls...

[Yanagi-sen]

Not sure about mr. clean magic eraser on vinyl but you could try it on a place that doesn't show first. I don't know, it might scratch the vinyl, but maybe it would work. Then make sure she is really cleaned off and rinsed well with water. Then allowed to REALLY dry- any dampness at all will hamper your efforts. And then finally get the right stuff- testor's dullcote (the matte stuff) but best of all of course, Mr. Super Clear, which you can order from Emory at Junky Spot- except oops, looks like he is out of it right now (or at least I didn't see it).

Kiki-chan78 uses the magic eraser on her vinyls... and you KNOW how she is about Omi. ^_~ Magic eraser and the highest percentage isopropyl alcohol you can find, 90% or higher is the best.

[mica]

I had luck with a bottle of pure isopropyl alcohol on my Delilah. I wipe with clear water immediately just in case.
I haven't got the balls to do a full faceup on her though because i dont have MSC.
So I have only done her lips.
I found some flat feet on ebay which dont match skin-wise, but she always has shoes on so it doesn't matter.
I personally feel she is 20yr.

[magkelly]

I've got to at least make the attempt even sans the MSC otherwise it's a blank face, but I must admit I'm kind of sad now that I made the attempt. If I'd known it was going to go like this I don't think I'd have touched her. The odd thing is that 10 looks more like PIP in than PIP does. Wait till you see her. The pastel rainbow wig is just too fun! I'll take pics as soon as I am done with PIP's faceup and they're a proper trio.

[kiki-chan78]

I should probably point out the reason that Krylon isn't a recommended sealer... it has been known to chemically interact with some types of vinyl, causing it to become unstable and melt.

<3

-Kiki-chan78.