Painting Dragon Skin

[jeffpinto]

I've read that to paint dragon skin you need to originally mix the paint in with it. I also know people airbrush them though. Does anyone know what type of paint I could use for touch ups. I don't have a compressor, I just want to paint it on by hand but I need to make sure the paint will bond w/ the silicone.
Thanks everyone!

[26494926bdgqifkwb]

If you buy a sample size of the silicone (around $30) and mix a powder pigment with part b (such as pearl-ex or there are some other brands) you can paint it on. Most people recommend using some sort of paint thinner so it's not too gloopy when painting.

[Dancing Fish]

smooth on makes a thinner you can add to the dragon skin to thin it down. I've been using that to do my painting with a brush. You have to let it cure longer, because it's really gummy for a longer time and will get dull easily if it's touched (a day or two at least) but it does eventually cure. :) I have no idea what airbrushers use (it's probably in the tailmaking threads somewhere...)

[Mermaid Kate Silverfin]

I use naptha (known in some countries as Shellite) to thin down the silicone to go through my airbrush. In one of Jazz's threads she lists a few other solvents if you can't find naptha. Just be very careful with the fumes, do your painting in a well ventilated area! The cure time for the silicone is only extended by about an hour or so for me.

[Mermaid Riia]

If the silicone has been cured for a long time, painting with pigments and more dragon skin (thinned or not, or psycho paint which is almost the same) might not work. The layer of paint stays on but can rub off. I painted my tail recently and it wasn't too big of a success. When I asked smooth on they recommended sil-poxy for touch ups/painting old silicone.

[Yulia]

I think Pearlie said that if you wash the cured silicone with alcohol it attaches better.

[Mermaid Kate Silverfin]

Yeah, I believe Yulia is right, Pearlie mentioned rubbing alcohol and blue fairy dish soap will help the silicone bond. I'll be doing some touch ups on my tail soon, hoping this works!

[Mermaid Lorelei]

Having tried it, alcohol does help. It's not full proof, but it's worth doing.

[Mermaid Riia]

Yeah sure you have to _always_ clean the surface from grease, dirt and such -> helps the paint stick to silicone. But you can't paint old dragon skin that has been cured for a long time with more dragon skin cause eventually under stress/use the paint will peel off (it won't bond). Painting with dragon skin only works when it's used to freshly cured silicone. Speaking from personal experience here. Only thing that I have found that adheres with old silicone is sil-poxy if you are careful with contamination

[Yulia]

I know I read somewhere that there is no such thing as "old silicone" and if you treat the silicone with rubbing (?) alcohol you "refresh" it and the new dragonskin will adhere as if it were new. Smooth-on says otherwise I know.

I tried reading through Pearliemaes posts, but I couldn't look that far back.

[PearlieMae]

I can't speak to painting over older silicone, but adhering new to old - like a seam or, in my case, adding scales - if you clean the surfaces with rubbing (isopropyl) alcohol, it bonds perfectly.

(Yulia, I tried trimming down my tailmaking thread some, but I have to go back and work on it some more...it's SO long!)