Basecoating a pre-painted latex mask? Repainting Questions

[Coz]

Hiya folks!
I'm looking to work on my airbrushing skills, and wanna start on a coupla latex masks I have laying around, but all the repainting info I have found leaves me scratching my head.

I'm looking to use acrylic inks, probably FW, and liquitex to seal (no perm-wet here in the UK).

Can I just do the 50/50 latex/acrylic paint basecoat, or will I need to mix up some rubber adhesive/oil paint base due to the mask already being painted?

Would I need to rub down the mask with alcohol or something to open the pores of the latex (read that Jordu Schell uses a lemon juice stuff? Huh?!).

Any help appreciated!

Yours confusedly,
Coz.

 

[Coz]

50+ views bump!

Basically, will the latex/acrylic 50/50 stick to the original mask paint, or will it require something more heavy duty like rubber adhesive/oil paint?
I'd rather not have the paint peel off after a few days!

C.

 

[claymore61]

Dunno about the preprint but I'm using latex mixed with cheap acrylic paint from Tescoand pound land.
I ve been practicing with the same straight acrylic paint airbrushed on top of the base coat which seems to stick no problem.
I've messed it about as a test and it seems ok, but haven't really tried longevity testing on it.
I also haven't over sprayed with lacquer or anything, because I can't seem to find a stretchy gloss lacquer .

I don't use acrylic inks at all - just cheap paints, mixed with water to thin it down.

 

[Coz]

Thanks for the info, Claymore! And hey, Poundland paint sounds good to me!
Think I'll just jump in and take a crack at it!

I found the Liquitex sealer on eBay (as used by Steve Wang in the Stan Winston School Mask Painting video):
Liquitex Varnishes Gloss, Satin, Matt | eBay
(There are other sellers - link only for reference)

Also, my googling found reference to using regular ol' polyurethane varnish as a sealer, such as:
RUSTINS CLEAR POLYURETHANE GLOSS VARNISH EXTRA TOUGH FOR WOODWORK 500ml | eBay
(Again, link for reference)

Someone over on the Predator costuming forum recommended PVA 'white' glue as a topcoat, though with the drawback that if it gets wet, it turns cloudy until it dries again.

Thanks again, man.
C.

 

[claymore61]

thanks Cox, I'm gonna order some liquitex for me Davy Jones mask.
I think PVA coud be problematic as it can also peel off when wet.

the thing i like about the acrylic paint is, you only need 3 colours, with black and white to get any colour.
i also buy the wee travel set of bottles from poundland for storing the final mixed colours. Theyre about a quid for 4.

i thin the paint to the thickness of cream, for airbrushing.

 

[zuexeus]

if the mask is prepainted and sealed, i would wipe it down with lacquer thinner to get whatever sealant off. then wipe it down with mineral spirits and then ammonia. alcohol might work. i have a spray bottle full of ammonia i that i spray all my masks prior to base coat to remove any oil, plaster dust and clay residue. it does "open up" the "pores"so to speak and makes the base coat adhere well.

i have heard of people using citric acid to wipe down unpainted masks that have been sitting around a while to aid with paint adhesion, but i have never tried it and don't know where to get the stuff.

many people swear by aleene's fabric glue as a substitue for permawet. you can also water it down to 50% to get a matte finish.