# Painting latex masks?



## JohnnyL

So, my brother is working on painting a Michael Myers latex mold. He's using an acrylic paint mixed with latex and wants to know what he should do about getting rid of blemishes after each layer dries. Can he use an ultra-fine sandpaper?

Any tips would greatly be appreciated!


----------



## Joiseygal

What ever you do don't paint it with spray paint. I painted the tiger woods mask for the Mummers Day Parade a week before New Years and I'm still waiting for it to dry. I'm hoping it will dry so I can sell it to someone else that will be able to use it. I wouldn't mind just getting my money back for what I paid for the mask originally. Anyway I can't do anything until it dries. STAY AWAY FROM SPRAY PAINT!


----------



## Devils Chariot

what do these blemishes look like? you could probably sand them, then paint a clear layer of latex over it to blend it back in and restore the sheen.


----------



## goregalore

Joiseygal,
Sorry you had to learn a valuable lesson the hard way. You can never paint latex with spray paint. The latex is petrol based and so is the spray paint. It is kind of the same as putting vaseline on a rubber. It will basically melt it. 
Plus even when it does dry it will completely crack off because the latex is flexible and the spray paint is not. I am sorry to tell you the mask is trashed unless you get the spray paint off. Then you can do something with it. Acetone, or possibly isopropyl alcohol should help get the spray paint off. But then you need to wash the mask to get the acetone off. Acetone can also break the latex down over time.
But after that you can use acrylics with latex to paint the mask again.


----------



## Joiseygal

goregalore said:


> Joiseygal,
> Sorry you had to learn a valuable lesson the hard way. You can never paint latex with spray paint. The latex is petrol based and so is the spray paint. It is kind of the same as putting vaseline on a rubber. It will basically melt it.
> Plus even when it does dry it will completely crack off because the latex is flexible and the spray paint is not. I am sorry to tell you the mask is trashed unless you get the spray paint off. Then you can do something with it. Acetone, or possibly isopropyl alcohol should help get the spray paint off. But then you need to wash the mask to get the acetone off. Acetone can also break the latex down over time.
> But after that you can use acrylics with latex to paint the mask again.


It was the Tiger Woods mask and I got my use out of it. Since I only painted the hat part of the mask with spray paint than maybe I will substitute the latex hat with a real hat and see how it looks. This will be my experimental faze. Anyway thanks goregalore for the info.


----------



## Psyc0 Walrus

why not just buy some latex paint made specifically for masks? http://monstermakers.com/

Thats where i get my supplies


----------



## pennywise

Not sure if this has been answered anywhere else, but a Google search brought to this thread so....

I bought mask paints from Monster Makers, but I forgot to order white. I have grey that needs to be lightened up for the highlights. Can I mix in a little white paint to lightened the grey? I can probably use latex house paint, but anything else work, like the acrylics from Walmart?


----------



## BioHazardCustoms

The thread is two years old, pennywise, but I can tell you that latex house paint will probably not work very well. However, you can mix Wal-mart acrylic craft paint (The .97 cent stuff in the arts and crafts department) with most latex mask paints. I generally paint masks with the stuff, and it lasts a long time.


----------



## pennywise

Thanks BioHazardCustoms. I wasn't sure if the Walmart stuff would work. I'm glad it does.


----------



## fontgeek

The durability of the paint/makeup will depend a lot upon what the mask will be exposed to in the way of flexing, abrasion, sunlight, etc.


----------



## Great Pumpkin

I use FW inks to paint my latex props and masks. i used to use the latex based oaint but the problem with them is that they clog your airbrush! Fw inks can also be mixed with other FW inks.


----------



## fontgeek

One of the things you really need to do when you use these (latex) paints in an airbrush or sprayer is to make sure that the paints are properly reduced, thoroughly mixed, and strained BEFORE you put them into the airbrush or sprayer, and clean them out as soon as possible.


----------



## GhoulishCop

This probably explains a lot of the problems I've had with my airbrushes after the first use or two. Admittedly they were some cheap-o ones from Harbor Freight, but I didn't want to waste too much money on the tools till I had learned a little more how to use them properly. But I figured it was because they were cheap HFT sprayers that I was having problems with them after a few uses.

Perhaps it's not so much the sprayer but the paint I was using, even though it had been diluted. Maybe I'll go back and clean the hell out of the sprayer (or pick up another! At HFT they almost disposable at that price  ) and pick up some craft paints and follow the suggestions here. Thanks!

Rich


----------



## fontgeek

One of the many problems with most cheap (poor quality) paints is that they are inconsistent in their quality control. You can get some nice results, even from the HFT airbrushes (providing they work to start with), but the major problems with them, the airbrushes, is that there is little or not quality control on them in manufacturing, and that you can't get replacement pieces for them. While you may be saying "well, they're cheap enough, I'll just buy another one", the problem is that the quality can change pretty severely between one brush and the next, and that they (harbor freight) buy them from whoever they can get the lowest price from, so the brush you buy this week may very well be a different manufacturer with different specs than the brush you bought a couple of days ago. Ideally, your brush should perform smoothly and consistently every time you go to use it. When it's not, then it becomes a guessing game as to whether your current issues/problems are because of the airbrush itself, the paint or finish you are using, or a combination of the two. The more problems you can eliminate from the start, the less issues you will have while you are painting.

Keep in mind how small the opening is that the paint or finish has to pass through, it doesn't take a whole lot for that tiny opening to get plugged up/clogged. But when an airbrush and paint are in good shape, they are a dream to work with.


----------

