Repainting a resin figure

I have been working on a display piece for the last month or so. More about that in a later blog post.

Today I thought I would talk about a portion of the project. For the scene I am making I needed an elderly gentleman that could sit in a chair. I also needed him to be wearing a suit. I found a doll that was very close at Miniatures.com (Charles #43020 ) he was practically perfect except for one thing. Charles is a causal kind of guy. He is dressed in a dark blue sport coat and beige slacks. I tried to convince myself that this would work for my scene. The more I thought about it and looked at him in my partially completed scene the more I knew that he had to have a suit. I talked it over with some friends online and they concurred that for this scene the sport coat had to go.

I have painted (and re-painted) many dolls and resin figures over the years. I have my system down and it works really well for me. So I thought you might like to see how I do it in case you want to try to attempt this yourself.

Now, I do have to say the dolls that I have painted have held up but they really aren't played with. I simply use them in scenes. So if you are going to handle your doll I am not sure how well this will hold up to constant handling.

My first step to wipe down the doll with some rubbing alcohol on a cotton ball. This removes surface dirt and oils that may be on it. Don't skip this step because if you paint over the surface dirt and oil your paint will come off very easily. I find the alcohol also dries almost instantly so I can get right to work.

I use good quality craft paint from the craft store. My preferred brand is Delta Ceramcoat, but any good quality acrylic paint will work. As important as any other step is choosing the right brush. Get some tiny brushes in the best quality you can afford and take care of them They will last a long time if you take care of them. Pick the right size brush for the area you are painting. I used 3 brushes for Charles (a #6 flat sable brush and a small round brush and a tiny round brush- sorry the numbers have worn off the handles so I don't know what size they are) Paint the doll in small areas and allow the paint to dry thoroughly before you come back to do more. Just be sure to wash those brushes.

Depending on the type of doll and how it will be used, you may need to seal it with a matte or satin finish brush on sealer. Since I am not going to be handling Charles once he is glued into the scene and I only painted the clothing I am not going to seal him this time. If I was going to handle him I would have found some matte sealer for the fabric areas.

Here are some before, during and after pictures of Charles.

before

first coat of white

 

 

 

first coat of dark blue

Finished

I also recently re-painted the arms only on the doll I use to display my mini foods. Since I wanted the skin of her arms to match the rest of her I sealed her with a satin sealer. Here is a before and after of her: 

notice the marks on her arm

much better now