Hello, everyone. This is Lomi, and in today's video we're talking about making doll eyes.
I've seen a lot of tutorials about eye making, but none of them answered the questions I
had when I tackled the project myself.
I'll be using a few methods for different steps of the job, and I'll share what I learned.
The first part is making the bases.
The popular method for creating the bases are either rolling the ball by hand or using
a mold for a perfect sphere.
I'm using a mold I created using moldable plastic and different sizes of glass beads.
I begin by warming up some polymer clay and rolling it between my hands to eliminate creases in the clay.
Then I press it into the mold.
After removing it, I use a blade to cut the extra clay off the back.
I make several of each size so I can choose the base that looks the best for my final piece.
I create the well for the iris by gently pressing the back of a paint brush into the clay.
It doesn't have to be a paint brush, you can use marbles, beads, dotting tools, or anything
round you have on hand.
Once all the bases have wells, I bake the clay and move on to sanding out any bumps or irregularities.
Make sure you wear a respirator if you do this, as clay dust is just as bad for you
as paint fumes or resin dust.
After they're sanded smooth, I clean the bases with pure acetone.
This removes any dirt, fingerprints, or sanding marks, leaving a nice, clean, white base.
If you're only making a few eyes, then you can make all your bases this way and then
move right to painting.
I want to make a lot of different styles, so I decide to refine my bases a little more,
filling in a few scratches and dents with Tamiya putty.
I sand that smooth as well, and then it's time to prepare the masters for casting.
I coat the bases with gloss paint to give a smooth, shiny surface.
The shinier it is, the smoother your castings will be, so you might want to use two or three coats.
When it's dry, we'll make our molds.
If getting supplies is difficult for you, mold putties like this one are available at
most major craft supply stores.
If you learn to use them properly, they'll give you great results.
I mix the two parts in equal amounts, then check to see if it's soft enough yet to make a mold.
Once it's ready, I roll the putty down over each of the eye bases.
When it no longer takes imprints from a fingernail, it's ready to demold.
You can see I did a bad job of rolling my putty down evenly, so I ended up with creases in my mold.
That's actually the first time I've had this happen with this putty.
I usually get good results, but this is what happens when you're in a hurry.
Another option is to roll the putty into a ball and then press the bases down into it.
If you don't want to work with putty, or you expect you'll be making lots of castings,
two part silicone molds might be the way to go.
This recording is actually my very first time working with silicone, and I couldn't be happier
with how it turned out.
I anchored my bases in the bottom of a plastic cup, and then mixed the parts according to the directions.
I'm using Oomoo silicone, which I purchased from Amazon.
It's very thick, so pouring it equally can be difficult.
But I've since found it pretty forgiving if my measurements or my mixing are a little off.
Mixing the two colors until there are no streaks takes a long time, but it's important to have
an even color.
When it's time to pour, pour into the lowest part of the mold and let it flow up and over
the masters on its own.
If your mix has a lot of bubbles in it, pouring it in a very thin stream will help them pop
as you pour.
After about six hours, it's time to demold.
Let your mold rest overnight so it will be completely dry before we move on to the next
part, which is casting the resin bases.
I'm using Alumilite Amazing Casting Resin in white, which cures in only a handful of minutes.
Working in big batches makes it cure even faster, so work small.
The resin will turn cloudy when you mix the two parts, then turns clear when it's ready to pour.
I use a transfer pipette like what's used for candy making to draw resin from the bottom
of the cup, then fill the molds by pouring it against the side.
This reduces the number of bubbles in my resin.
Though it cures fast, the resin stays soft for about half an hour after being poured,
so demolding too quick can warp your castings.
They should be firm and not flexible when removed.
Cast as many bases as you want, and let them sit overnight before painting, or you might
end up with bubbles under the paint from the resin outgassing.
You aren't limited to paint, though. You can use glitter and gemstones or pretty papers, too.
Using pearl powder gives beautiful eyes, but instead of dusting it on, try mixing it into your paint.
Otherwise it can spread through the cornea when you pour it.
Here I'm painting bases with blue paint mixed with silver pearl powder.
They'll be so pretty when they're done.
Remember that while dark colors stay about the same when the cornea is added, light colors
tend to get darker.
After the paint is completely dry, I clean the bases with rubbing alcohol.
This removes any paint smudges or places I spilled over the rim of the iris.
Then it's time to add the pupil.
Your first thought might be using regular glue like this, but you might not want to.
Some resins need a completely waterproof surface to cure correctly, and using PVA glue can
cause bubbles and white hazing wherever the glue is in the eye.
If you want to avoid that, consider adding the pupil with gloss or medium as a glue.
If you used paper in your iris, you'll need to seal it with a dab of these anyway.
Whatever you use, dip the gem or bead you're using as pupil into the adhesive and then
drop it into the eye.
You can adjust the placement with a needle or toothpick. Then let it dry completely.
I didn't have anything to use as a pupil because of an order getting lost in the mail, so I
painted some small pearls black and used those for this video.
I don't recommend that, since mine turned out lumpy and don't look very good in the
finished eyes.
After the adhesive is completely dry, we can add the cornea.
I put my bases on a piece of clay to hold them still and for the first batch, I use
two part clear casting resin.
This is thicker than the white resin, but can still be used with a plastic pipette.
One advantage of using clear resin is that if you pour extra into the iris well, it will
flow down over the white of the eye and create an extra shiny finish.
But it's also hard to create a domed cornea, and this resin takes a lot of work to cure properly.
Once it's poured, I use a match to pull any bubbles to the surface and make them pop.
Any heat source will work, but be careful not to burn yourself.
I pop any stubborn bubbles with a pin and then set it to cure, checking every ten or
fifteen minutes to pop more bubbles that rise.
Just wait until you see the pair I didn't watch.
The other resin I tried is Lisa Pavelka Magic Glos, which is popular for eye making.
Since it's a UV gel, it's easy to use it to create a domed cornea, since it holds whatever
shape it's in.
I transfer them to a piece of cardboard with eye putty to hold each eye in place, then
put them in a UV lamp to cure.
They'll also cure in direct outdoor sunlight, but curing time for both the lamp and outdoors
will depend on how thick the gel is.
The instructions recommend ten to fifteen minutes for a full cure.
And here's the end result.
This eye was made with Magic Glos, and I love the depth it gives.
Here are the eyes done with two part casting resin.
The edges are rough because these were done with paper instead of paint.
See the green pair?That's what happens when you don't check on the eyes and pop bubbles
while the resin is curing.
This option is more affordable than the Magic Glos, but much harder to use.
As far as depth, the gray eyes here that were done with Magic Glos appear much more lifelike.
Since I prefer this gel over the two part resin, that's what 'm using for the rest of
my eyes, and I couldn't be happier with how they look in a doll.
As I learn new tricks for creating interesting eyes, I'll be sure to share them in the future.
That's it for this time, so thanks for joining me. Bye!