B-SKIN...translucent skin for your skinless props

[beelce]

OK haunters here is another tutorial by BEELCE......

"B-SKIN" (or you could call it "GLUE SKIN")....

It's the same thing that many of us did as kids when we smeared white school glue on our hands, then peeled the "skin" off after it dried

This is the same process that I used on my Medusa................ http://hauntforum.com/showthread.php?t=10517

It is an easy process that will give you a cool translucent "skin" effect.

The entire skin is made of carpenters glue. I used Elmer's brand carpenters glue it is water based, stainable, and exterior rated.

The idea is to paint out a thin even layer of glue on to a piece of plastic, then peel it off and "skin" whatever you want.

http://i133.photobucket.com/albums/q63/beelce/Madusa57.jpg

http://i133.photobucket.com/albums/q63/beelce/Madusa33.jpg


here is the B-Skin on Medusa's face

http://i133.photobucket.com/albums/q63/beelce/Madusa109.jpg

http://i133.photobucket.com/albums/q63/beelce/Madusa108.jpg

Here you can see that I used a foam brush to paint out the B-Skin on to a plastic container lid and I also used a thick piece of stiff vinyl.

I taped off an area with masking tape, then filled it in with a nice even layer of glue

[beelce]

http://i133.photobucket.com/albums/q63/beelce/Madusa107.jpg

http://i133.photobucket.com/albums/q63/beelce/Madusa102.jpg

You can check the glue for uneven spots with a back light.

http://i133.photobucket.com/albums/q63/beelce/Madusa105.jpg

After it dries, (overnight) you need to carefully peel it away from the plastic.



To apply the skin...

http://i133.photobucket.com/albums/q63/beelce/Madusa100.jpg

http://i133.photobucket.com/albums/q63/beelce/Madusa18.jpg

Paint more glue on the surface to be covered. (I did thin the glue very slightly with water,)

[beelce]

http://i133.photobucket.com/albums/q63/beelce/Madusa99.jpg

http://i133.photobucket.com/albums/q63/beelce/Madusa19.jpg

Paint more glue on the dried B-Skin

http://i133.photobucket.com/albums/q63/beelce/Madusa98.jpg

http://i133.photobucket.com/albums/q63/beelce/Madusa17.jpg

Stick the 2 wet surfaces together, and add another coat of wet glue to the top dry surface of the B-Skin

[beelce]

http://i133.photobucket.com/albums/q63/beelce/Madusa97.jpg

http://i133.photobucket.com/albums/q63/beelce/Madusa16.jpg

Paint on another coat of glue on top of the just applied skin

http://i133.photobucket.com/albums/q63/beelce/Madusa95.jpg

At this point the dried and kinda brittle B-Skin becomes soft and wet and very flexible.

http://i133.photobucket.com/albums/q63/beelce/Madusa96.jpg

[beelce]

http://i133.photobucket.com/albums/q63/beelce/Madusa16.jpg

You can start to have a little fun as you push and pull and slide the B-skin around the surface till you get the look that you want.
You may need to wet you fingers a bit as you work the B-Skin. Water is fine.

http://i133.photobucket.com/albums/q63/beelce/Madusa38.jpg

Now you just need to let the skin dry. Not sure how long this takes, but I let mine sit over night to get good and dry.

FYI: I did notice that the skin got much tighter as it dried, and looked much less dramatic than I had left it to dry.
So if you start with a soft wrinkly look, when it dries the skin will really smooth out much flatter.

http://i133.photobucket.com/albums/q63/beelce/Madusa20.jpg

I did find that it is best to work in sections, and to trim the skin to fit the area your working.

http://i133.photobucket.com/albums/q63/beelce/Madusa104.jpg

I also find that it is nice to have different thickness-es of skin to give you different textures on your sculpt


I think this process has a lot more possibilities (color, texture) than what you see here. I did experiment with adding color dye and glitter into the skin before it dried, and it worked fine.
Please experiment and let us all know what you come up with.

The dried B-Skin is not hard nor overly brittle. In fact, so far Medusa's face has stayed somewhat flexible to the touch.
I think that it could be used on pose-able hands, and should bend somewhat with the new positions on the hands as needed.

OK....that's it
Hope you give it a try sometime...good luck and please post your B-SKIN projects for all of us to see.
Later...B

[Bone Dancer]

First off, good job on the how-to and the photos.

A very interesting method for texturing and a alterative to latex for some jobs.
Thanks for sharing.

[RoxyBlue]

Man, who woulda thunk that the technique of putting glue on your hands that we all did as kids would give such a fantastic effect on a prop? Wow!

Also, for those of us who can't work with latex, a very viable alternative. Thanks, B!

[tot13]

I got the opportunity to see this in person and the effect is unbelievable. I have plans to "skin" some of my corpsed skulls like this.

[fick209]

Excellent how-to. Thanks!

[GrimleeFeindish]

Thats a great idea! Thanks for the tut.

[Bethene]

this is such a cool idea, and easy too

[Dark Angel 27]

thanks! i was wondering how to make skin like this...it gives me alot to think about!

[Lilly]

Good Job B..great idea you came up with..

[Dixie]

Oh man, thats creepy. Decoupaging on some skin - gotta love it!

[Daphne]

That is SO cool and I can tell you with 100% certainty that I would have never thought of it.

What an amazing effect!

[bobzilla]

Great idea...love it :)

[HallowEve]

Love the idea! Thanks for the how to!
:jol:

[jaege]

Excellent idea. The results are great.

[hauntedkimmy]

Very neat idea. I've never used glue this way and the end result does rawk for sure! I might just hafta give it a try! Thanks!

[beelce]

Thanks everyone......
hope you give it a try.......

[MapThePlanet]

Really like the final look! Seems easy enough to try too