Everything looked good when I painted it on, but spots started appearing like I poured alcohol on those areas. It’s only happening on one leg and the head. The leg is worse than everything else because that’s what I was trying to blend with a sponge at first. Instead of blending, it all wiped right off.
Has anyone seen this before?
Think it’s worth stripping and redoing or is it likely that something is seeping out of the vinyl?
Edited to add that I see it appearing on another limb now. And yes I did scrub the kit before starting
I would either strip and start with a couple of layers of varnish or do a couple of layers of varnish now and carry on but obviously get the patches matched back up again.
The paint is just wiping off when you are trying to blend?
Are you ‘buffing’ or ‘pouncing’ when trying to blend?
Ive kinda had that happen where the paint gets dotty in the paint tray and leaves dots and I rub to blend. Try blending with thinner in a damp sponge by pouncing instead of rubbing?
Yours looked great. I don’t think I could pull it off like you did.
It’s not sticky at all. Just disappearing. When I try to add more paint, that disappears too.
I don’t use sponges very often. I prefer kabuki brushes. I did use a new one so hmmmm.
I had this happen when I was painting veins on a babys head. The thinner in the blue paint took the layers underneath off. I ended up varnishing it, baking it a couple of times, and then touching up the areas that had lost their paint to match the surrounding areas. It didn’t turn out perfect, but to someone who hadn’t known the paint had come off in those areas, they wouldn’t have been able to tell.
Oily spots in the vinyl can cause paint not to adhere well like this. I would strip it, wash it and primer it with a good air dry primer. Let that sit over night and then paint with whatever brand paint you use, even if it is Genesis.
Varnish will not seal off vinyl from oils seeping back through if there are any coming from within the vinyl itself. Primer will. That is why it is best to use primer as an under layer and not varnish. You can use Fluid Matte Medium as a primer or regular Matte Medium. Anything that says it can be used as a translucent ground. But trust me when I say the air dry primers are best.
What brand do you recommend? I have Liquitex Fluid Matte Medium in my stash of supplies. So I just apply it with brush and sponge it smooth and leave overnight? I use GHSP. Sometimes I have disappearing paint and I have a couple new kits that have shiny hands and feet after washing that I think will give me grief so I want to prime first.
I use the Golden brand but I have seen others mention using the Liquitex brand and say it works as well. Dont’ brush it on the vinyl as it can dry in streaks. Apply it to a dense cosmetic wedge and then pounce it on in a light layer. If yours has gotten a little thick with time you can thin it with just a little distilled water so that it goes on smoothly. Don’t over stir if you do though cuz you want to avoid getting air bubbles in it. This product can have some foam factor if over stirred in which case you just need to let it sit til they dissolve. Also, using a very porous wedge like the Swispers sponges can transfer air bubbles onto the vinyl as you pounce so that is why I say use a dense wedge. Letting the product dry over night will give it enough cure time that you can then heat set over it. You will notice it does leave some sheen behind and a slight tack feel as well (I am told the Liquitex leaves more tack feel than the Golden brand but not sure…). The tack feel will go away as you add layers of paint. You should also lose sheen as you paint and definitely it can be matted down at the end of painting with your matte varnish mix.
The other option is you can use clear acrylic gesso to seal off the vinyl first but I found when I tried a clear brand years ago that it has some gritty feel to it. I don’t remember for sure the brand but I was thinking it was Liquitex. There is a spray version of gesso on the market but I have not tried it yet to see if it is smooth. Here is a link to an article about gesso.
And yes I did scrub the kit before starting
Is it sticky?