Bonnie Brown Twin B painted with RebornFX Paints

As I have been testing the ready to use paints for the RebornFX paint line, I just finished up painting a Twin B kit by Bonnie Brown.  In the process, I seem to have found a ratio that works well for them in my climate.  You may need to adjust things a bit depending on drying time in your own climate.   I find that a base mix of equal parts- 3 drops RebornFX paint to 3 drops Diluent to 3 drops Open Time medium seems to be a good starting point.  To this mix, I add about 3 drops of water.  You can add more water if you feel you need to but at some point, you will have to add back some Emulsion if you use lots of water.  You will be able to tell the addition of Emulsion is needed when the paints start beading up on your vinyl.

It is important to note that with any air dry acrylic paint system that water color washes can be used to achieve nice color tints as long as these washes are sandwiched between something rich in binders.  this can be layers of paint not so thinned with water or with a sealing medium of some sort such.  If you thin your paints with more water it is also a must to use a good sealer when you finish your doll.

You will find the addition of mediums does increase the sheen of the paints.  That seems to be a factor I have encountered with all artist grade mediums that contain binders in them to increase adhesion.   If you have been a user of the BabyFX line of paints like myself, you will have experienced that those paints are wonderfully matte but when you add in their Sure Bond medium to increase adhesion you can get some sheen there as well.

I do find that the RebornFX matting liquid is awesome at cutting down on the sheen appearance and reducing any tackiness you may feel along the way from the mediums.  I find I got the best results when I pounced or painted it onto the pieces rather than mixing it in with the paint mixes.  I usually end up applying this product after every 3 or so layers of paint.

Here is my baby once I finished painting her and applying a layer of matting liquid.  The next step will be to apply the RebornFX sealer over this which will reduce sheen and lock in the paints.  After that I will let her cure a week or two and then give her a final varnish.  These photos were taken with a flash.

Yes, you can heat set RebornFX paints!

For those who are wondering if you can heat set RebornFX air dry paints, yes you can. Here is baby Rosie after being painted with RebornFX paints and mediums, sealed with their paint sealer, and then varnished with Genesis heat set varnish mix.

Still Working on Perfecting Rosie

Still working on Rosie, trying to get her coloring just right. I gave her a lavender wash to tone down some of the yellow. I think I like this better. She has a lot of preemie coloring going on and I want her to be just right!  I did not have any lavender or purple color RebornFX so I used BabyFX and mixed it with the RebornFX Emulsion, Diluent and Open Time mediums as well as a little distilled water.   Works very well and the 2 brands are very compatible this way. 

Working on perfecting my RebornFX Mixing

So I have painted my test belly plate. Tried to match it as best I could to my preemie skin tone on Rosie.  Rosie has more blue undertones on her belly but oh well.

Anyways, I used 50/50 diluent to the paint and 3-5 drops water in them.  If I added any more water than that for a color I offset it with 2-3 drops of Emulsion.  This time I got much less sheen.  This belly plate has not had any matting liquid applied to it at all and you can see it only has a slight sheen.

I plan to test the sealer liquid on it next but I want to allow it to cure at least 24 hours.  I am going to try the sealers on the test belly before I decide how to seal my Rosie.  

I got a little too much paint on the creases and it was grabbing fast by the time I tried to correct it so this paint does not rub off easily once it starts to set.  That is good!  I think I am going to really like these paints.

RebornFX Painted Baby Rosie Progress Revealed!!!

This is my secret Baby Rosie, in progress with RebornFX paints. I am loving her skin tones! I purposely made her stronger in undertones to give her a preemie coloring. She will be going up for sale at IDTS 2017 when finished.  I have not applied any sealers yet.  I am letting rest for some cure time.