Thoughts on putting tattoos on laytex skin.

[Darian Ordo]

Since this is a skin topic I thought I would put it here, but mods, if you feel it should be somewhere else by all means move it.

I am interested in putting some tattoo work on the forehead of my customer elder pred, the worry I have is I don’t want to just paint them on because they will look exactly like they were painted on. I would like to make it look like the ink is indeed under the skin, but I am not sure where to start.

Would a real tattoo gun work to do this or would it just tear up the latex?

If the gun would not work, what do you all think would?

Thanks.

 

[Guan Thwei]

The only thing I would recommend and I know that you might not want to do it, but you are right the tattoo gun will ruin the mask as it penetrates with the obvious installed needle. You would have to make another mask where there are pigments that are used to change the color of the latex, so as it cures the color will be permanent in the latex after demolding and it will give you that in the skin tattoo effect that you want instead of painted on.
I really don't think there is anything that would help if the mask is already made. That is just from my knowledge

 

[PREDATORWARRIOR]

Since this is a skin topic I thought I would put it here, but mods, if you feel it should be somewhere else by all means move it.

I am interested in putting some tattoo work on the forehead of my customer elder pred, the worry I have is I don’t want to just paint them on because they will look exactly like they were painted on. I would like to make it look like the ink is indeed under the skin, but I am not sure where to start.

Would a real tattoo gun work to do this or would it just tear up the latex?

If the gun would not work, what do you all think would?

Thanks.

I would not use a tattoo gun I think it would tear all so I cant see it working. If it were me I would water my colours down a bit and paint it on giving a transparent look hope this helps

 

[Darian Ordo]

Thanks for the advice, I was afraid that the gun wouldn't work, but since I have yet to even see tha mask I have purchased (It's on it's way) I wasn't sure. I may try the watered down idea paint idea, or another one I came up with would be to paint it on, then lay a thin layer of laytex over top of the lettering, creating a slightly layered effect that would dull out the colors and make it look as if the ink was below the skin.

 

[mothmonty]

The tattoo gun wouldn't work, because of the torn latex, also the healing process of the tattoo is what gives it the under the skin tattoo look. You may try using a dye or an ink and using a pin prick needle method. (i.e. create a pattern and poke an inked pin one prick at a time) You would need to have some type of clear coat over the latex and paint for it to work. I'm just assuming, never tried it., I would look interesting though

 

[SUICIDALRAIDER]

A well done tatt reallly shouldn't look like it has a layer of skin over it ,even though it does or have a cloudy blurry look to it. My suggestion would be to get yourself some createx opaque black (airbrush fabric paint) use that for the tatt itself .If you are going for a really shinny wet skin look just seal everything with permawet. If you want a flat /matte skin finish, then get some flat/matte airbrush medium (liquitex) and some permawet, mix it about 1:1 and then take that and mix it 1:1 with some distilled water if you plan on spraying it through an airbrush and seal everything with it. if you are going to brush on your sealer you don't need to water it down. Just my opinion and how i would give it a shot. Never did it(like the idea though)!!! Be sure to let us all know how it works and what you come up with.

 

[Queen Hunter]

i think this is exactly what every1 else is saying but i'm loosing my mind reading all the big explanations lol... anyways i think you should just make a few fine lines like a tatoo with paint, and then just coat it with latex again so it looks like you have another layer of skin over ite... thats just my thought

 

[Ghostartist]

Sorry I know I'm new here...but as I work in the FX industry the tattoo gun will work on soft thicker latex and silicon skins(dragon skin). I used it to do a tatoo on fake skin and it turned out pretty good I just coated it a second time with some latex and powdered it to give it depth and help make sure I did not create weak spots in that area since I was stretching the skin. If you own a gun then give it a try on a part that would be covered up first to see if it thick enough, then go easy on the depth. once your done brush or spray clear latex over the area and then once dry add a little powder to remove shine and it should pretty good.

No gun like MothMonty said a needle, a pattern and india ink will work too it just more time consuming...