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babylover · Veteran Member

Adrie's Noelle - now Annie

Poisonivy14 · Senior Member

Sandy,
i really do love this little Annie. she is very nicely done. to help you with your shine problem, secrist has some new shine remover stuff, here is the link~http://www.secristdolls.com/inc/sdetail/56715, it's called superior shine remover, try that next time, maybe this is what you're looking for. hope i could help you! smile

Dee · Guru

Sandy I love this sculpt you did a beautiful job. smile

Tina W. · Guru

I love this sculpt as well. I think she's beautiful! As for the shine the only other thing I can think of is you oven temp was too hot. When I first started I had that problem, I also tried the air dry matte finish and it did nothing for it at all. I adjusted my temp in the oven a bit and haven't had any problem with shine since.

Play Days Dolls · Guru

Sandy, I think you did a fabulous job on your Annie, and I can't really even spot too much shine in your photos. Excellent rooting also!

I have never applied thick medium mixed with the foundation color as a base coat. I would be afraid the result would be a gaoppy (is that a word) looking paint, chalky look, etc.

Did you talk to any of the people with dolls in the TT Treasures contest about how they accomplished the textured look? The only one I spoke to about it was the one who reborns dolls for DD, but she does not use Genesis paints.

If your want to try adding texture, I would suggest trying the thick medium alone rather than mixing with a color. And I would be really careful to apply it thinly and evenly. One of the things I didn't like about the textured dolls was the feel of the vinyl. Real babies have really smooth skin.

In my experience, my babies seem to have more shine if the temp is too hot.

Will you please let us know how it turns out?

babylover · Veteran Member

Annie does not shine as much in pictures because I used that Mr. Clean magic eraser for her pics. The shine comes back in a few hours. However, I have discovered my oven is too COOL by 15 degrees. I now have 3 thermometers in the oven. I don't know if that could be the cause. I will try the thickening medium on a test part first. Every baby I have touched has skin that is velvety, and that's how I want my babies to feel. Thanks so much for all the compliments, it means a lot to me. Hugs, Sandy p.s. I don't have a clue who DD is/are, but maybe I'll figure it out.

Abby · Senior Member

Wow! She is gorgeous, fantastic rooting :)
Abby x

Tina W. · Guru

I've never tried the magic eraser. I was always afraid of any effects it may have.

-- Edited by Tina W. on Thursday 8th of October 2009 07:54:12 PM

Buffington · Guru

DD is the letters for a competitor of Secrist (we only use initials here in forum hun). Just like AD is Ashton Drake (I can mention them as they don't compete with Secrist on kits, etc). We also have SR, RDK, etc...

I had heard about some reborners using the Mr Clean sponge and they loved it but they never said if the shine came bake like you did. Thanks for letting us know.

Secrist's superior shine remover is the ultimate in shine removal. You may want to give it a go if you continue to have shine issues. http://www.secristdolls.com/inc/sdetail/56715

About the only thing that would happen with the 15 degrees cooler oven temp is that the Genesis and ARP will not cure properly. They must be at 265 degrees for 8 mins. Baking them longer at a lower temp will not work according to Genesis.
It's always best to try new stuff or techniques on test parts first. The thick medium is usually used for skin texture and done "after" all your other work is done and set. Use a brush to lightly pounce the medium on the area and then lightly pounce with a sponge to lessen the rough feeling. Before you use it though make sure it's totally mixed in the container, it makes it go on smoother! :)

babylover · Veteran Member

Thanks for the help. I did figure out who DD is, but the others -? I have used the Superior Shine Remover and Pat Secrist showed me how to use it when I took a class from him at Tiny Treasures. He said it was impossible that it would not work, however, my dolls look like neon lights. I think I'll give it another shot. I always do the test parts-have a bag full of them. I'll test the the thick medium and see if I like it. Thanks so much. Sandy

Play Days Dolls · Guru

Sandy, thanks for doing the "shine-be-gone" testing for us! It will be interesting to learn what works best for you to get rid of the shininess.

I just wanted to tell you that I have to be really careful to put thin coats of the shine remover on the doll. I have seen little cracks in the shine remover coat show up when the vinyl is bent or punctured (especially in rooting). I'm guessing the cause was applying too much shine remover in one coat.

Can hardly wait to see the results of your testing!

babylover · Veteran Member

Results of the "shine-be-gone" testing. I did not like the thickening medium for a base coat before painting. However, for the time being (cross my fingers), I have the drated shine figured out. Not enough Matte Varnish. If the directions say use a thin coat, what I put on is microscopic. What I did was spread a medium coat of GMV on a flat palette. I used the Loew-Cornell 412 Deerfoot and really loaded it (It looks like a small stencil brush with a long handle). Then I stippled it, alot, everywhere on the doll until all the shine was gone and it had a nice texture. AND IT WORKED. The baby skin looks good. I put on 2 coats. I did this on Annie, first removing her head and taking all the stuffing out, but I left the body intact because I weighted her 2/3 times before I liked the way she felt, and I did not want to go thru all that again and it was just fine to cook her whole. By the way, I think Mr. Magic Eraser, not only removed some paint, but also buffed her. But I used it a bunch of times on her. So that's my story, Morning Glory. Thanks for your interest. Sandy

Aviva · Senior Member

Annie is wonderfully cute. I just love her. Don't feel alone. My babies at frist are just perfect, and then as I put clothing on and off for pictures...there will be little areas where there is shine. Now what I want to know about the shine remover is that Mr Secrist says to just put it on and rub it lightly until the shine is gone...well I do that and it does take the shine off, but then it comes back again. He didn't say you should heat it, so I wasn't sure of that. Sometimes I get little white patchy stuff and I've really worked hard to do it just right. It just gets me so upset

and then I think I'm not good enough and what am I going to do.????????? I tried one of those needles with 3 barbs and it felt like I made hundreds of holes and blankstare

couldn't hardly see any hair. I know I get too many hairs per hole....*sigh* using the forked, but I guess I get to impatient. I just need to relax and just do a section at a time. This last baby I'm doing is the BB Ben baby and geeezz he's a lot bigger than I thought.
I have a UTI (bladder/kidney) infection so I need to go to Max's office and of course it's raining and cold out. I'm making so many typo's..so I'm gone~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~poof~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~hehe
guess I should have done another thread for this:
Sera...Sera's nice boots. I love them. Then a really bad picture of mom and me..I hope you can figure out which is the mother..lol Then I have a picture of two Sera's. There was stuff here and there that I had to change..like eye lashes etc. AND little white spots. confuse

-- Edited by Aviva on Friday 16th of October 2009 03:27:33 PM

Play Days Dolls · Guru

Sandy, thanks for testing different ways to get rid of too much shine.

To sum up....
Thick Medium: NOT pleased with using the thick medium as a base coat before painting.

Genesis Matte Varnish: Worked well when 2 medium coats were applied. Tried previously but discovered your "thin" coats were not thick enough.

It's great to have a solution to the pesky shine that we all deal with.

babylover · Veteran Member

The thickening gel was shiney, so not an option. One reason the matte varnish worked was that I stippled it. Bye now, Sandy

Aviva · Senior Member

HEY...I'M PASSING ON SOMETHING THAT MIGHT DO IT.

Hey you all!! I might have found out what to do with the shine. Has any of you watched Denise Pratt's BB DVD???? All the way to the end. I might have posted this..I remember writing it before, but I wished people would pass on the info...anyhoo Denise said to put a thin layer of matte varnish...she did it straight..no paint thinner used. She played with it a bit to warm it so that it would go on easier. Sometimes I put it on my hands and rub it really good and then pick up the pieces and just work them over good. Then she said....put the baby in the oven...bake...8 to 10 min (depended on prev. test to see what works the best. Okay....take the baby out and let it cool down to room temp..check it over for missed spots...I paid a lot of attention to the toes and the finger tips...the under side of the arms...you all know...it must be spots that get touched a lot..picking the babies up and changing their clothes. Shoot before they got their clothes on they looked so good and then by the time I got done doing 2-3 hours of photos...the shine starts up...*^%^*(*&^%$$%^^^&*
OKAY.... IHAD THE TEMPER TANTRUM....
BUT BACK TO THE DENISE DVD. SHE SAID TO PUT IT BACK IN THE OVEN AND TURN THEM SOME SO THAT EACH PART OF THE DOLL IS EXPOSED TO THE HEAT DIRECTLY. COOL IT DOWN AGAIN....CHECK FOR ANY LITTLE PARTS THAT FEEL REAL SMOOTH......PUT SOME MORE OF THE GMV ON IT AND PUT THE DARN THING BACK IN THE OVEN. I HAVE TRIED IT AND I WILL LET YOU KNOW. I FIGURED IF DP DOES IT THAT WAY....IT MUST BE GOOD OR SHE WOULDN'T BE WHERE SHE'S AT. okay???????? I'M TRYING TO PASS INFO ON. THERE IS SOMETHING ELSE I'VE HEARD ABOUT AND IT'S IN AN EMAIL. I HAVE ELLY K.'S DAFNA AND I'M HAVING THE EXACT SAME PROBLEM AS I HAVE WITH POOKY. AND YES I WASHED REAL GOOD..I'VE STARTED OVER AGAIN AND AGAIN...THESE DOLLS ARE GOING TO BE RIGHT ..I'M NOT GIVING UP. OH..THE S.SUPER SHINE REMOVER...IT SAYS REMOVER..WELL IT'S PRETTY MUCH A COVER AND YOU HAVE TO BE CARFUL OR IT GETS LITTLE THICK AREAS. PAT DIDN'T SAY TO BAKE IT DID HE..JUST USE IT?

Play Days Dolls · Guru

Thanks for the tips, Aviva.

I think the Superior Shine Remover must be heat set, but I'm going to double check because I don't want to give wrong information.

I'll get back on this...

Buffington · Guru

Unless it's an air-dry or an acrylic or oil (which we don't use) you will always bake your products that you put on your babies (not the baby tears). Always 8-10 mins at 265 degrees F.

Also, never use your thick medium as a base coat, always use it as a last item. If its used as a base or even in between any layers it will catch the paint in between all the little microscopic points and make your paint uneven.
Never use any thinner (liquid or Genesis thinning medium) with your matte varnish, shine remover, or thick medium as it defeats the purpose of that item. Use it straight, full strength and mix well in the container first so it goes on smoother (and you'll use less too!).

Always bake the thick medium, superior shine remover, matte varnish, paints, etc. Not the baby tears or acrylic airdry varnish.
Sorry you didn't remember if Pat S. said to bake or not but he probably did as that's the way to use it and make it permanent.

I'm passing this on lol! :)
Hope this helps