Flocking tutorial

From Kaitan:

Well here it is, as promised, a tutorial on flocking -

You'll Need :-

1. Flocking - Naturally smile I used “Flower Soft” Ultra fine , but there are many different kinds out there.
2. A water colour pencil - Choose a light colour to match your flocking - E.g if your flocking is red, choose a very light pink. The light colour is so if you go wrong, it's easier to remove than a dark colour! I'm using a darker colour in this tutorial so it will show up on the photos.
3. Glue - White PVA of your choice smile
4. Acrylic paints - You need enough colours to be able to mix a batch of paint that is close to the colour of your flocking.
5. Paint Brushes - A thin one for glueing, A similar sized one for painting and, if you have it, a large soft brush for brushing away stray flocking.
6. A tray or large piece of paper (not shown in pic) I use a Ferrero Rocher box

oh and of course, your subject for flocking. Mine was donated to me by the lovely Jo (Poach) from Makielab. She's shown on Kelmaral's body. It's actually easier to do this when the head is attached to a body, makes things easier to handle.

I hereby name her - Vicky.

Vicky Tim.

Before I got going, Vicky got a couple of coats of gloss spray varnish, followed by a coat of matt varnish (Mr Super Clear). You don't have to do this, but I wanted to try several things out, and the varnish helps with cleaning/protects the makie stuff from staining.







First off you need to decide where your hairline is going to go. I work on the theory that the skullcap is going to be flocked completely so my hairline needs to all be drawn on the main face. You can do what ever you want though - Very high forehead, bald spot , weird tufty patches - whatever smile

Draw your hairline on the head, using the watercolour pencil - Draw very lightly, you need to be able to see it, but you don't need a thick dense line (I've drawn mine darker than I would normally , so it will show up in the photos)

Don't forget the back of the head. I try to include the “slot” in the hairline, but again it's up to you.

My hairline is fairly spiky looking, because I wanted to show something different, but you might find it easier to start with a smoother line (Like Garyns)

If things go wrong at this point, it's easy to correct, just use a paintbrush or a cotton bud with some clean water to erase the line, then redraw it!

Next you need to mix your paint . If you are lucky, you might have paint that matches your flock colour pretty closely - More likely you will have to mix up a batch yourself. Make more than you think you need , simply because there is nothing worse than running out and trying to match the colours again!

Then take your smaller brush and start to paint your head. Take your time, and try to paint just over the lines so you won't need to get rid of them later.

Paint the ridge inside too - That will stop any chance of white showing through

When you paint the skullcap, don't forget to paint the tab at the back that fits in the slot - again to stop any white showing in your final result.












Now it's time to actually flock ! smile

Remember using glitter when you were a kid? the basic idea is the same - Glue - sprinkle over flock - tap off excess - leave to dry.

Pour a bit of PVA into a dish and add some water until it resembles REALLY creamy milk. I hold my brush up and if it drips easily but not too fast, it's about right.



Get your tray/large piece of paper ready, and tip your flock into a larger container - It'll be easier to tip your left overs back into a larger container, as well as being easier to sprinkle it out!

Take your glue paintbrush and start painting over your paint, go a little over the edge, as this will help soften the line when you pour on the flock. Try not to get any on the inside edge though, as it causes problems when you come to put your head back together!



Holding your doll over the tray/paper , tip the flock onto the glued area, turning the head so you cover the entire area - Be liberal with the flock! You need to make sure everything gets a good covering.



*THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT* * DO NOT BE TEMPTED TO PAT, POKE, DAB OR OTHERWISE TOUCH YOUR FLOCKED HEAD AT THIS POINT! You need to let it dry completely before you touch it, otherwise the flock could just come off and you'll end up with a mess!

Don't worry if your initial results look a little patchy (like mine) - this is just the first layer!





Sit your doll somewhere to start drying and tip your flock back into your container.

Now to do the same to the skull cap



Hold the cap by the tabs and spread your water/PVA mixture all over, again taking care not to glue the inner edge of the cap or the tabs.



Still holding the cap by the tabs start flocking as before (I know I'm not holding it in the photo, but I needed one hand for the flock and another for the camera!) Keep turning the cap this way and that to make sure you cover every part.



I hate to repeat myself but :- *THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT* * DO NOT BE TEMPTED TO PAT, POKE, DAB OR OTHERWISE TOUCH YOUR FLOCKED SKULLCAP AT THIS POINT! You need to let it dry completely before you touch it, otherwise the flock could just come off and you'll end up with a mess!



Now, you might feel that is enough, and your head is sufficiently covered. If that's the case, brilliant! I suggest a quick light coat of Matt Varnish - like super strong hairspray, just to make things a bit more sturdy, and you are done.

Except it never works that way! I always do at least two coats of flock. Garyn had two coats.

As before, mix up your PVA/water mix and start applying it to your flock. You might find it a bit odd at first - it's difficult to ‘paint’ the glue on, it's more like a ‘dabbing’ motion. Pay special attention to areas you might have missed first time around.

Then exactly as before, sprinkle your flock all over!

Do exactly the same to the skullcap.

You can add as many layers as you think you need, and even use them to create a few special effects.






Leave both parts in a safe place to dry completely, this could take a few hours, so ideally leave them overnight. (You can leave them near a radiator or similar to speed things up a bit)

I leave a blob of glue on a bit of card nearby to test. When the glue on the card is dry, the flocking should be dry!

I'm going to show you how to create a simple ‘parting’

Photo 1 shows Vicky with her head back together - The skullcap only has one layer of flock, the main face has two. BOTH are fully dry



Photo 2 I'm putting on glue, ready for a second layer on the skullcap - get as close to the join as you can.



Photo 3 Sprinkle on the flock - be careful to cover entire the head, it's easy to miss bits!



Photo 4 While the flock is still wet , run the end of a paintbrush or similar along the area you want a parting, flattening the flock (this is the only time I give you permission to touch wet flocking! )



Allow it to dry completely as before!

Photo 5 CAREFULLY Take your skullcap off. Now paint/dab glue around your parting and basically anywhere you think you need a bit more height, and sprinkle it with flock again. You may want to run your paintbrush handle down your parting again.



Let it dry completely again (this is no job for the impatient!)

Photo 6 THE END RESULT!



That's it! Hope you give it a go, any questions, just post here and I'll do my best to answer them. I do have an additional “appendix tutorial” on flocking without painting, I'll post that later on.

Enjoy!

- Kaitan

Okay so here's the ‘appendix’ Flocking without painting - This doesn't give as nice an effect IMHO, but it's easier to clear off if you get bored with it / find you don't like it.

The basic idea is the same, the difference is, instead of painting you just put on a layer of pure, non watered down PVA. This stops the flocking embedding into the makie material.

Photo 1 - 2 layers of flocking, you can still see makie skull smile



Photo 2 - 3 layers of flock and we are done (Notice the skullcap join seems much more visible with this method…)



Photo 3 - Two days later I fancy change! Into a bath of hand-hot water with a good squirt of washing up liquid.



Photo 4 - This is after a couple of minutes soak - you can see the flocking already just rubbing off!



Photo 5 - Ten minutes of soaking and light scrubbing with a nylon dish scourer and Vicky is as good as new!



You COULD always try cleaning your makie in the dishwasher, but I don't have one, so I can't tell you how well it works

Hope you find this useful!

- Kaitan