Applying hair to resin?

stopmo

Active Member
I was hoping someone could share some experience in this regard. I am working on a 1:3 scale head and want to add hair to it. I've tried to find tutorials but mostly find things for silicone or latex.

I can't use a wig because of the scale and the character has a receding hairline so I would like to hand lay it. Is there a durable adhesive that could be used that won't show through obviously on the resin? Most of what I find recommends Pros-aide, I have worked with it before on makeup projects and am a bit concerned with durability, this is a piece that might be handled.

I was also curious if a static flocker would work for the baby hairs? Or does the fiber need to be very short to work in a flocker?

Thank you if anyone can advise,
 
I was hoping someone could share some experience in this regard. I am working on a 1:3 scale head and want to add hair to it. I've tried to find tutorials but mostly find things for silicone or latex.

I can't use a wig because of the scale and the character has a receding hairline so I would like to hand lay it. Is there a durable adhesive that could be used that won't show through obviously on the resin? Most of what I find recommends Pros-aide, I have worked with it before on makeup projects and am a bit concerned with durability, this is a piece that might be handled.

I was also curious if a static flocker would work for the baby hairs? Or does the fiber need to be very short to work in a flocker?

Thank you if anyone can advise,
A static flocker will make most of the hair stand straight. Also the choice of glue will make or brake your project. You should try various glue and applying hair (mostly from animals) on a similar piece of resin before jumping and putting it on your 1:3 scale head.
 
There are videos on youtube showing people adding hair to resin castings, but they may be hard to find, as they often don't mention it in the titles. And most of the ones I've seen deal with medium to long hair, but not short. Wish I could remember them. Mostly Japanese or Asian uploaders, as they are usually the ones doing insane realism in small scale.

I'll post a link if I find it again, but the subjects are often 18+ nudes or scantily clad... so unsure if I can link to them here.
 
There are videos on youtube showing people adding hair to resin castings, but they may be hard to find, as they often don't mention it in the titles. And most of the ones I've seen deal with medium to long hair, but not short. Wish I could remember them. Mostly Japanese or Asian uploaders, as they are usually the ones doing insane realism in small scale.

I'll post a link if I find it again, but the subjects are often 18+ nudes or scantily clad... so unsure if I can link to them here.
I'd appreciate it if you happen to find it! I've been searching for days! It seems like something that would be simple to find considering how many videos there are about painting busts/statues/figures there are but strangely not.
 
I agree. Hard to find. Presently attempting to find the best material to use for applying a beard (piece by piece, layering and gluing working up) to a resin casted life size head.
 
I have haired resin a lot. Not great at it but I have tried a few glues. I’ve noticed a lot of the smaller scale people use Fabritac glue, and that works well. You can thin it with a little acetone. Prosaide works too. They both tend to dry glossy but you can go in with some matte setting powder and remove any sheen or tack.
 
I have haired resin a lot. Not great at it but I have tried a few glues. I’ve noticed a lot of the smaller scale people use Fabritac glue, and that works well. You can thin it with a little acetone. Prosaide works too. They both tend to dry glossy but you can go in with some matte setting powder and remove any sheen or tack.
Thank you! I'm going to look for that fabric glue, great advice for thinning it too.

May I ask if you had a preference between that and the prosaide? Would you be satisfied with the durability sending it to a client who may handle or style the hair? I'm already comfortable hairing other materials with prosaide so perhaps I'd try the more delicate work like the hairline with that if so.
 
Thank you! I'm going to look for that fabric glue, great advice for thinning it too.

May I ask if you had a preference between that and the prosaide? Would you be satisfied with the durability sending it to a client who may handle or style the hair? I'm already comfortable hairing other materials with prosaide so perhaps I'd try the more delicate work like the hairline with that if so.


I think my preferred method is using the fabritac for 95% of it, especially where a full head of hair is needed. Prosaide is great for the hairlines and sparse hair. Also eyebrows.

I must qualify this by saying again I’m not great at hair work by any stretch of the imagination, but these pieces below show some hair work and styling I’ve done using the above method.
 

Attachments

  • C703F33D-A786-4D71-A501-82B383B662C9.jpeg
    C703F33D-A786-4D71-A501-82B383B662C9.jpeg
    351.8 KB · Views: 44
  • 0C9DBB2F-5A3E-4C4D-81BA-2E9B829A6870.jpeg
    0C9DBB2F-5A3E-4C4D-81BA-2E9B829A6870.jpeg
    454.7 KB · Views: 47
  • 71AB0177-833C-4B8D-BC99-B69CBDE99BF1.jpeg
    71AB0177-833C-4B8D-BC99-B69CBDE99BF1.jpeg
    180.9 KB · Views: 45
I've tried hairing smaller scale things and use mainly Fabritac and my little bottle of medical adhesive for the scalp. The hairline and facial hair, especially stubble, I've had the damnedest time trying to figure out. I've tried using Fabritac, and it works great on the head, but my issue is when it comes to the hairline and face, thinning it with acetone can sometimes destroy the paint application under it. I've had the hardest time figuring out a way around it. I know on some sculpts the facial hair and a partial hairline is sculpted into the head, and that seems like the best way to approach the next time I try this.
 
I have haired resin a lot. Not great at it but I have tried a few glues. I’ve noticed a lot of the smaller scale people use Fabritac glue, and that works well. You can thin it with a little acetone. Prosaide works too. They both tend to dry glossy but you can go in with some matte setting powder and remove any sheen or tack.
Sounds good. We've been using Permatex Spray Adhesive to apply to larger areas, and it seems to work very well so far. The piece we're working on now will be a "hang on the wall" type product so the beard won't be handled a lot.
 
I've tried hairing smaller scale things and use mainly Fabritac and my little bottle of medical adhesive for the scalp. The hairline and facial hair, especially stubble, I've had the damnedest time trying to figure out. I've tried using Fabritac, and it works great on the head, but my issue is when it comes to the hairline and face, thinning it with acetone can sometimes destroy the paint application under it. I've had the hardest time figuring out a way around it. I know on some sculpts the facial hair and a partial hairline is sculpted into the head, and that seems like the best way to approach the next time I try this.
Yes, that's how it is with the head we are working on. Hairline is a bit tricky. Still working on finding out the best technique as well.
 
I've tried hairing smaller scale things and use mainly Fabritac and my little bottle of medical adhesive for the scalp. The hairline and facial hair, especially stubble, I've had the damnedest time trying to figure out. I've tried using Fabritac, and it works great on the head, but my issue is when it comes to the hairline and face, thinning it with acetone can sometimes destroy the paint application under it. I've had the hardest time figuring out a way around it. I know on some sculpts the facial hair and a partial hairline is sculpted into the head, and that seems like the best way to approach the next time I try this.
Thank you for the advice!

Obviously I have no experience with resin but considering you use medical adhesive have you considered flocking for the stubble? I've only done this on human skin but the with the same prosaide adhesive.

I found this video on youtube showing the process really quickly if you're not familiar:

Very quick and consistent.
 
I think my preferred method is using the fabritac for 95% of it, especially where a full head of hair is needed. Prosaide is great for the hairlines and sparse hair. Also eyebrows.

I must qualify this by saying again I’m not great at hair work by any stretch of the imagination, but these pieces below show some hair work and styling I’ve done using the above method.
Thank you again! You have been incredibly helpful. I think your hair work is quite nice, that eyebrow is particularly impressive. I feel confident enough to give it a go now :)
 
I couldn't find the channel I was talking about previously, but I found a channel called "Steven Richter" you could check out.
Thank you! Wow, a lot of cool stuff on that channel.

If anyone else ends up stumbling on this thread because they had a similar question: there actually are a lot of videos of hairing resin heads. It was bit hard to find as the action figure/small scale crowd call it "Rooting" even though the process of hand laying with adhesive is very different than what traditional hand-rooting hair is.

Fabri Tac glue (As Mr. Mold Maker kindly contributed) seems to be the go-to adhesive. It was a bit hard to find in my country but luckily I got my hands on a bottle. Tibetan Lamb hair is the standard fibre for 1/6 and 1/4 projects as the strands are very fine and look correct at scale. I used a different fibre as my head is somewhere between 1/3 and 1/2.
The fabri tac is quite nice as it tacks up very quickly so you can move on faster, I tried a few other fabric glues that were suggested alternatives and most of them had drying times that made the process very difficult.
 
Thank you! Wow, a lot of cool stuff on that channel.

If anyone else ends up stumbling on this thread because they had a similar question: there actually are a lot of videos of hairing resin heads. It was bit hard to find as the action figure/small scale crowd call it "Rooting" even though the process of hand laying with adhesive is very different than what traditional hand-rooting hair is.

Fabri Tac glue (As Mr. Mold Maker kindly contributed) seems to be the go-to adhesive. It was a bit hard to find in my country but luckily I got my hands on a bottle. Tibetan Lamb hair is the standard fibre for 1/6 and 1/4 projects as the strands are very fine and look correct at scale. I used a different fibre as my head is somewhere between 1/3 and 1/2.
The fabri tac is quite nice as it tacks up very quickly so you can move on faster, I tried a few other fabric glues that were suggested alternatives and most of them had drying times that made the process very difficult.
Great! Will have to check out the Fabri Tac glue.
 
Back
Top