I hope everyone is thawing out nicely. We are here in New England in spite of all the wind last night and today. But uhhh....hummm I don't know....it may be just me, but.....has anyone ordered kits from BB lately?? I ordered a couple Friday and they came today (yay! that's a big plus in the mail) and I'm sorry to say that I was quite disappointed.
In the past I had ordered my kits from them and my AR paints from Secrist (which I LOVE!) and it worked lovely. Then I bought some kits from DD and I really like those as the vinyl was a nice peachy color (often didn't have to do a color correction), soft, and smooth. The kits from BB that I liked were always sold out.
Okay.
So now I decided to buy a couple from BB because I really liked the Kate kit only to find that the vinyl is a weird color, hard, and pretty thick on the head. I think I'm going to break every needle I have trying to root it.
I really don't remember the kits being like that before.....Anyone notice this too or is it just me??
I thought with the big jump in price of the kits that the vinyl would be better. The features seem to be off too? (one ear is lower and toward the back) I mean she's not really a cheap kit. I took advantage of the Kyle kit and he looks a bit better.
Yeah I think a bad batch. When I washed it last night I noticed quite a few smears, black marks. Some came off some didn't. Today is color correction day. I just put the wash on it and it still looks blue to me. The vinyl is a bluish-purple color. Sooo annoying I thought of sending it back but the Kate I'm making as a gift and don't have alot of time so I'm going to see what I can do. Just so sucky sucky
Ohhh.... There is one thing I do like about the kits though, the details are very clear and deep. Make painting so much easier.
I tried to color correct today and she still looks purple. Did a yellow wash to get rid of the blue. Humm Then did a green wash to get rid of the purple. The green washes worked about as good as they are going to get I guess. We'll see what happens tomorrow.
Sometimes when you have swirls or smears it can be caused by the vinyl being pulled out of the mold or the vinyl being too thick or cold when coming out of the mold is my thought. I know when some of the Secrist kits come out they have tool marks on the rim and are funny shaped. I would e-mail her and let her know what is going on at least.
As far as rooting... since you said the vinyl seems thicker and harder, be sure to use a rice sock. It makes even the hard Luca heads easy to root.
OH YES!!!!! on the rice sock! I definately plan to try that thanks! The vinyl is definately thicker. I will email them as well since my kits are not the only ones it seems with the marks on them. Thanks Pat!
Wrinkles sound like a great idea! Can't wait to see if you decide to do that.
Hummmm, IMHO I would use the same color as the creases only slightly lighter. Then I would lightly pounce once and use a clean mop brush to lightly feather it.
For babies that have had wrinkles, I use the creases color but create a more subtle look. One baby I did had a smudge on her pinky finger.....I just made it look like a birth mark. She still sold so I guess it worked. You have a good idea there.
Can't wait to see how her fake wrinkles come out :D What you may want to do is to use a wider stripe of a lighter color, then once you have that feathered out, bake. Then go back and use a narrower band of a darker color. This will give you depth in your fake crease and make it more realistic.
-- Edited by Buffington on Sunday 13th of March 2011 07:30:06 PM