Cosma's dying experience - From Pokfil

Pokfil says:

I've taken the plunge- Cosma is done and I am really pleased with the results. I settled on using #453 brown Idye poly after doing experiments with other dyes, inks and natural organic methods.

My aim was to have a nice even coating and a lovely rich color which Jacquard dye certainly achieved. The brilliant thing was that I was able to just use small amounts of the packaging to achieve the results. Because it is a premix powder that is added to water, it is possible in future to do mix powders and create a whole range of hues and colors. We used a previously dyed sample piece as a comparison color. Using the dye enhancer is optional too!

Duckiemonster and the Welsh lab contingency were on hand to help!

So first of all, Cosma was put into a unconscious state so she could be disassembled






The team is assembled, ready to help - Lab coats on!



Equipment is gathered






Gloves ON!
NOT like that Ted!







Parts are Washed in warm soapy Water and rinsed






Strawberry Twizzer anyone? Staple to any Scientist.



The dyeing process commences, preparing the dye.






Dye is added to the simmered water



Millie stays WELL AWAY from the hot pot!



Timer is set, We've decided a range of one and a half minutes to two for pieces should give the effect we want




Head goes in first- the results, we are VERY pleased!!!



The body is done!- We've decided to speed up the drying process with a cool, slow dryer so we can see the if the dry results are what we want as wet finish looks a bit darker.




Tea anyone?



The hairdryer accidently moves course - Oh Ted, you SEXY Scientist!!!




The Makie Cage is PERFECT for dyeing hands and small bits! (Monkfish note: Sadly we don't seem to be able to buy this any longer. Perhaps a small sieve would work instead?)



Parts are done!



Quality Control Inspects



Ready to assemble and re animate



Back together again!

http://www.mogwog.com/images/dyejob24.jpg

The results are IN!

I can say that Idye is the PERFECT medium for dyeing your makie parts at home. You need to use the poly/nylon version which has a limited color range, but I am sure you can play around with mixing powders to create different shades and hues!
















Few things:

1 min 30 was the average time per piece. Most of Cosma needed just this and came out fab.

That said, the legs needed about 2 min 30 altogether. The legs were a recently-purchased replacement set. They felt much smoother than the Makie skin I'm used to. I think I remember reading somewhere that the print layer depth is thinner now, which would explain this.

Essentially, your mileage may vary when dyeing a newer Makie, so I would recommend dipping in 30 second increments until you get the colour you want. I'd also recommend taking a hairdryer to a piece as the colour is considerably lighter when dry.

There were some darker specks on the face and torso. I think this was due to the dye getting a little cold. We brought it just to the boil before doing the other bits, they are un-spotty.

Sioux says:

Here's the ‘before’ photos of Poklfil's Cosma (left - and beautiful) and my faulty ‘Ziggy’ head (right) who has had a faceup removed (lacquer and all), had his/her eyebrows and lumpy bits shaved off (ooer..ouch!) and then been dyed by 'Fils fair hand to see what would happen.

I have to say I was surprised that the dye actually took! I had expected a lot of the lacquer to have soaked in, so-to-speak, but really, the main issues are where I have scalpelled off some of his features. It smooths the texture of the makie flesh so there is a noticeable change where untouched meets modded.

Anyway. Ziggy (and some dyed bits) will get experimented on first and then I will be giving Cosma a makeover. Just thought I should post the ‘before’ pics first.



Oh and as a note, the first two pics are with a flash on and the last 3 aren't. Just for reference of tonal qualities.



As a little extra note, I decided to lightly sand the Ziggy head to see how it would effect the colour and, as you can see, most of it is unaffected except the brows where I carved and the ridge above the nose where there was a fold-like fault in the print.

It was with a 3way nail buffer - so about 1200/800 grade. I went a bit harder on the ridgey bit as I'd already exposed the white… thought I may as well try to smoothe it… but where I cut the brows (not too difficult with a scalpel) it kind of changed the surface structure. It smoothed and sealed to a shine. Something I'd associate more with heat, if that makes sense. Sanding doesn't do that.
I'll do a bit more rigorous sanding on the back of the neck where it won't show (and where there's no carving and not much previous lacquer application) and see if it's dyed all the way through there.
So on the whole I think coloured makies and modding don't mix very well. It showed a lot before he was dyed to be honest but with the intention of further faceup layers white ones could probably get away with the abuse, hehe.


I was simply slicing them off with a scalpel. Nothing fast or friction-inducing. Just carefully slicing away. Compressing is probably a good term for what probably happens. Even though it slices easily, the resulting area loses its paper-like, matt quality.
I guess it's a snow effect. On the surface it stays fine and powdery, but as soon as you cut in it behaves like ice. Where the plastic powder fuses in the printing process, disguised by the top few layers of more virgin powder.

And I think, in talking that through, I've figured out that it won't be properly dying all the way through the plastic regardless of previous treatments.
I did some further sanding tonight (although no pictures yet) on the back of the head where both the face and skull caps meet.
(For ref, the skull cap had no lacquer spray applied & removed before or after dying.)
And again, the face plate has started showing signs of original white (like the outer edges of the eyebrows above) but the skull cap has only paled to a lighter brown.
So I would surmise that the previous paints, lacquers, removers and clean-ups had a slight effect on dye take-up and modifying the plastic exacerbated that.
Unmodified Makie flesh has a deeper dye take-up but only on the exposed areas (which includes inside cavities making it appear a solid colour).

I know this all seems a bit boring and obvious, but Liquorizia modded her Makie's lips on arrival http://www.flickr.com/photos/57150435%40N05/8388044144/in/photostream (to great effect btw - on a white Makie), and I think any owners coming from a modding (eg Blythe) background would also consider ‘what else can be done?…’, so now that coloured dolls are available it might be useful to know this stuff in advance either to avoid pitfalls with dyed makies or use the knowledge as a mod in itself. I think having a brown Makie and then lightly sanding highlights across the cheeks would be very effective!
But (don't panic Fil) I won't be doing that to Cosma! Lol!

Kaitan says:

I've just finished dyeing “New Girl” Higi using iDye poly and its all gone really well

I too experienced dark spots on her face and torso, but it couldn't be lack of heat because I re-heated the dye before each batch, following on from Pokfil and Duckmonster's experience.

I used a mixture of Yellow and Green dye to achieve the colour I was looking for and I'm very happy with the results!

As far as timings went, from my initial experiments I realised that the pieces could only take so much dye before they just stayed the same colour no matter how much longer I left them in. For me it was around the 8min mark. So everything got 8 mins in batches - head then arms then legs then feet and hands altogether. The only exception (isn't there always one?) to this rule seems to be the grip hand and the pointy hand that both seem to have come out a tad darker, but it's no biggie. smile

All in all I'm a happy bunny

Now, off to work out her faceup and hair…