Reborn Painting Tutorial - Extras - Part I - Shiny Baby Syndrome

You get done painting and put the parts into your oven and bake like you normally do. Timer goes off, parts come out, cool and you see this dreadful shine - Yes has happened many times to me. 

Two causes to this: 

Oven temp is too hot and/or parts were left in a little too long.

This can be fixed and needs to be fixed before any more painting can be done. The limbs, toes and fingers seem to be the problem areas. I never get a shine on the head. But, these pieces need to be tended to or paint will not stick to the shiny areas. You can paint and paint and paint and as soon as you blot...Paint mysteriously disappears. Frustrating.

Here is how you can fix the problem. 

Genesis Heat Set Matte Varnish - Love It!!! :)

I buy it in the Big Jar...Lasts super long. This is the 4 oz. size.

Matte Varnish is very thick. I use an old butter knife to get out of the jar. A small amount is all you need.

I mix the varnish with odorless thinners. I use enough thinner to get a pea soup consistency. I mix and mix until it is totally smooth. No lumps. Some people use it straight out of the jar. Which is fine, but I find it a tad bit harder to blend into creases and such when it isn't thinned. Also Matte Varnish does have a texture to it. Can make the vinyl feel a little rough, especially if you use it straight out of the jar. Another reason why I thin, less of a rough texture feel to the vinyl.

Here it is completely mixed, no lumps. The matte varnish is usually clear, but here it has a tinge of blue. Didn't wash my mixing brush too well. So this is from the blue undertones and veining. Not a problem. As you will see in the following pictures, it did not leave the vinyl with a blue hue.

Mix to a pea soup consistency. 

Here the hand was just shiny. So all I did was just the hand only. Picture is of the varnish already applied, pounced and blended. The hand was this shiny before I applied the varnish. You will need to pounce a lot with your cosmetic wedge and brush. Get into the creases really good. Matte varnish will turn white when dried. Not good to have this powdery white residue in the creases. I pounce until I feel like my arm is gong to fall off. You will be happy you did. If by chance you have a white residue in the creases, take a pointed q-tip dipped in thinner and blend the crease out. 

The foot with matte varnish applied. Again the foot was this shiny before the varnish was applied.

Pounce, Pounce and Pounce until your arm is hurting. lol 

Here are the limbs matte varnish has been applied to the limbs only. I am waiting for the thinner to evaporate and then I am going to bake.

Here are the pieces after they baked. Now here is the trick on baking the heat set matte varnish. You will need to bake twice. Bake 250 degrees F for 7 minutes. Let cool completely. Bake the pieces again at 250 degrees F for 7 minutes. Let cool completely and check to see if the varnish has set. To tell it has cured or set, look over your pieces and if you see any white residue that is an indication the varnish is not set. Take your pointed q-tip dipped in thinner and wipe the creases or where ever the white is, blend with the cosmetic wedge. Let the thinner evaporate and bake again at 250 degrees F for 7 minutes. By this time the varnish should be set. :)

Few tips to keep your babies from shining: Check your temp and watch your time. 

Happy Reborning!! :)