[jdubbya]

I got 5 skulls from Mr. Chicken a while back and am in the process of finishing them. They have a coat of white latex primer. I want the look of old bone so gave a couple of them a base coat of dark greenish/brown, followed by a dry brushing of light tan. They came out pretty fair. Opinions?

 

[Pumpkin5]

They look great Jerry! (and just think they are one of a kind, not bought off the shelf, which makes them extra cool) Had you thought about using some Tandy Leather gel, just to give it some depth? I love the stuff when I am painting or corpsing skulls.

 

[jdubbya]

I hadn't heard of this stuff but might try it. I have two skulls yet unfinished so want to try some different staining techniques. Is this available in any store?

 

[Pumpkin5]

I bought it from Amazon....but a better craft store may have it.

 

[Mr_Chicken]

Cool! Normally, I'd recommend doing a sort of sand colored base after the primer, then doing darker washes on top. But I like the dry, excavated look yours has.

One thing I'll sometimes do (which I think would be similar to the leather gel) is to mix a bit of dark paint with Minwax Polycrylic satin. Lets you do a bit of a glaze, rather than a solid color, but it stays in place better than if you watered it down.

 

[Grey Lady]

I like the look you've got but if you want to do more...
If you want to try the tandy products but can't find them, there is a Tandy store online but you could also try colored wood gel stain from the hardware store. I've also used spray paint and you simply wipe off the excess, quickly!

 

[jdubbya]

Thanks for the replies ands info. I used a stain on my last one and am not as pleased as with the painted ones. It still needs to dry some and then I'll try to highlight it a bit. The painted ones look very nice. Even my wife and son commented on how they look like ancient bone. I'll post a pic of it when I'm done.

 

[Pumpkin5]

Thanks for the replies ands info. I used a stain on my last one and am not as pleased as with the painted ones. It still needs to dry some and then I'll try to highlight it a bit. The painted ones look very nice. Even my wife and son commented on how they look like ancient bone. I'll post a pic of it when I'm done.

Uh-oh....you should know better than to monkey with perfection. (..and you're thinking....now she tells me, ha, ha)

 

[jdubbya]

Uh-oh....you should know better than to monkey with perfection. (..and you're thinking....now she tells me, ha, ha)

That thought crossed my mind. Figured I really liked the first 4 I did with the paint/dry brushing, so hey, why not booger up the process and try something totally different that I may or may not like!! Live and learn!!

 

[Hilda]

Ohhhh they look great!!

 

[jdubbya]

Cool! Normally, I'd recommend doing a sort of sand colored base after the primer, then doing darker washes on top. But I like the dry, excavated look yours has.

One thing I'll sometimes do (which I think would be similar to the leather gel) is to mix a bit of dark paint with Minwax Polycrylic satin. Lets you do a bit of a glaze, rather than a solid color, but it stays in place better than if you watered it down.

Thanks Jasper. I actually did a light tan base on one and then put some dark over it. It didn't look as good (IMO) as the dark base with lighter dry brushing. You nailed it with your description of old dry excavated look.

Ohhhh they look great!!

Thanks Angel. So many ways I could have gone with these. The one I stained is finally dry (after 3 days) so I want to try and highlight it a bit and see what it looks like.

 

[jdubbya]

So here is the one I stained using Minwax red oak (it's what I had on hand). I dry brushed a bit of the dark base color used on the other skulls, just to dirty it up a bit and knock down some of the sheen. It came out OK. I'm not going to fuss with it much more. It will look good in haunt lighting and like many things we sweat over, the detail is lost on the average visitor.

The two side by side

 

[thenightmarefamily]

They all look really cool.

 

[oaklawn Crematory]

I like the first set of pictures. The first set looks really good. If I wanted to mix it up...... I would then wash one or two in a coat of black mixed with water with 20:1 ratio and let air dry. I would then reassess them and see if they need a light coat of the greenish mixture you had at a 20:1 ratio to tone the black down just a bit if its too much.


They look PDG!

 

[matrixmom]

I think the minwax gel stain looks good- for a skull in a voodoo scene. The other looks great too. Remember too where you will be having them and the lighting there - you might like the tan one after all.....

 

[jdubbya]

I like the first set of pictures. The first set looks really good. If I wanted to mix it up...... I would then wash one or two in a coat of black mixed with water with 20:1 ratio and let air dry. I would then reassess them and see if they need a light coat of the greenish mixture you had at a 20:1 ratio to tone the black down just a bit if its too much.


They look PDG!

I almost used a watered down black wash on one of them but changed my mind. I plan to order a couple/few more to try some different finishes. Again, the detail is for ME, as every other person who comes to the haunt just sees a skull. I might dry brush a bit of black on one to see how it looks.

 

[oaklawn Crematory]

Well I figured the detail was for you JW. I was merely trying to be helpful.

 

[jdubbya]

Well I figured the detail was for you JW. I was merely trying to be helpful.

It was helpful. Didn't mean to sound sarcastic, so hopefully it wasn't taken that way. I do want to try some black on one of them. I think the darker hues look better than the usual white. The issue of detail is one a lot of us struggle with. I'm a detail freak, but then when I see everyone going through a haunt full tilt and realizing very few folks even bother to pay attention to it, I sometimes wonder how much I really need to fuss over details. Last year's haunt was insanely detailed and we loved it; doubtful much of it was noticed as people ran through hoping to get out in one piece!

 

[Mr_Chicken]

Adding two more cents: I've found that actual black is often a bit jarring, and looks better with a bit of another color mixed in with it. Probably what you meant, but worth mentioning.

 

[Pumpkin5]

This is a good thread, I like to hear how other people refinish props. You can learn a lot. Sometimes I go with a black or very dark base and then layer lighter colors in succession over the black. Seems you get a lot of depth with each added coat. It's time consuming though, so it's not for everyone. (Bobzilla is a master at this technique) Like I said, I like to hear how other people paint and then see the finished product. And each time I paint a prop, I try different techniques from things I've read about others trying. Every little tip and trick that I read about goes into my arsenal of paint application know-how, so thank you everyone for your posts. (I really think you are making me a better artist.)