The Best Online Reborn Help Forum!

Georgiaga · Senior Member

Using the gel thinner?

Buffington · Guru

The thinner makes the paints more translucent while trying to hold the consistance of the paint. Unlike the liquid thinners which actually make the paint more liquidy (if that makes any sense) lol.

You can use it if you wish in the ARP's but you are really stretching the pigments further than they need be since they already contain thinner and are extremely translucent.

Georgiaga · Senior Member

I have a kit to do down the road from another artist, not Secrist, and the reason I'm thinking I still may need to thin, is that the vinyl head is so thin in areas of the sides of the nostrils and lips, the top of the head, the undereye areas, that when I look inside this head I can see how thin these areas are as the light shines on them! I want to do an internal wash, but with it being such thin vinyl, I thought to be safe, I should have barely there purple wash, so I wanted to thin it more and use the gel versus the liquid thinner for proper placement...What do you think? This kit is so thin that the head collapses with very little pressure and the creator told me not to bake it, but to set the paint with a blow dryer or it would melt...
As a newbie, I thought all kits were of the same animal, so to speak...lesson learned...no thery're not and it just makes me appreciate and love the Secrist company more! I will conquer that doll kit one day , but probably won't be a returning customer of theirs. Was surprissed and a bit sad when I got it as the pictures of this kit all newborned were fabulous! Live and learn.

Buffington · Guru

Too bad about the irregular thin spots in the kit. And so fragile too! Hmmm. That usually means that they might have been skimping on the vinyl to get more kits out of the batch (IMHO). One never knows.

As far as painting the kit, that person should NEVER have told you to use a "blow dryer" with heat-set paints. That is rediculous and I can guarantee you that the paints wiill not cure and be permanent if you do that. They either have to go in an oven or use a "heat gun" not a hair dryer or blow dryer. They do not reach 265 degrees Ferenheit which is what the heat set paints need to be at for 8-10 minutes. I got this right from Genesis themselves.
If they don't want you to bake the kit then you will have to use air-dry paints. There are a few posts on the air dry's. just use the search feature.

Georgiaga · Senior Member

I KNOW..........I specifically emailed her and asked again, a hair blow dryer and she said yes that her kits will melt in too hot of heat!

Buffington · Guru

Then she should tell people to use the air dry paints instead. If her kits will melt in the heat that's bad, so she should definately stress air dry. And bad business to tell people to use a hair dryer with the heat set paints. Is this a new company? Can you pm me with the name of the company and the doll kit you have please? I would like to see what's going on with them. I won't say anything about you, should I happen to e-mail her.