Death to Shiny Dolls: Sand/Abrasive Blasting Silicone

rubyfan · Post by **rubyfan** » Mon Apr 25, 2016 9:13 pm

Some people don't mind it, but I hate the waxy/shiny look of many silicone dolls. Some manufacturers, however, seem to have fixed this problem though mysterious means.

I'm wondering if the silicone gurus here might be able to prove/disprove a speculative theory about those means.

My theory is that it might be possible to take a demolded silicone doll and "roughen" her skin into a more realistic and less waxy/shiny texture using some sort of fine grit sandblaster/abrasive blasting spray tool.

Obviously, you probably don't want to use an industrial paint/rust removing sandblaster that will destroy the fine details of a doll or blow away significant amounts of silicone, but perhaps a very fine grit on a tool on a low setting would achieve the desire effect.

Anyway, if someone could affirm/dismiss this theory that'd be great. Thanks!

More about abrasive blasting: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abrasive_blasting

DarkOne · Post by **DarkOne** » Mon Apr 25, 2016 9:17 pm

The trick is sandblast the *mold* to put the fine detail in, IMO.

Also, powder your doll up nicely to remove some shine.

rubherkitty · Post by **rubherkitty** » Mon Apr 25, 2016 9:32 pm

Doubt they could blast the doll in a uniform method and also avoid getting abrasive embedded in the silicone. Blasting is for hard surfaces, not soft.

Yes, on the mold pre-treatment.

rubyfan · Post by **rubyfan** » Mon Apr 25, 2016 9:39 pm

rubherkitty wrote:Doubt they could blast the doll in a uniform method and also avoid getting abrasive embedded in the silicone. Blasting is for hard surfaces, not soft.

Yes, on the mold pre-treatment.

Makes sense for production, for sure. I'm wondering about existing over-shiny dolls. No one is going to want to guinea pig their $2k love doll to test the theory! Also hadn't considered the possibility of the abrasive becoming embedded in the silicone, that would definitely be bad...

I do wonder why more manufacturers don't treat their molds in this fashion. Sure would be a quick and easy way to add a lot of detail and solve a real problem. It should be easy enough to test various grains/methods on small test molds until a skin-like texture was produced.

:drinking:

samara78 · Post by **samara78** » Mon Apr 25, 2016 9:43 pm

Only cure is cleaning and powdering. And pre treating the mold

DarkOne · Post by **DarkOne** » Mon Apr 25, 2016 9:48 pm

rubyfan wrote:
rubherkitty wrote:Doubt they could blast the doll in a uniform method and also avoid getting abrasive embedded in the silicone. Blasting is for hard surfaces, not soft.

Yes, on the mold pre-treatment.
Makes sense for production, for sure. I'm wondering about existing over-shiny dolls. No one is going to want to guinea pig their $2k love doll to test the theory! Also hadn't considered the possibility of the abrasive becoming embedded in the silicone, that would definitely be bad...

I do wonder why more manufacturers don't treat their molds in this fashion. Sure would be a quick and easy way to add a lot of detail and solve a real problem. It should be easy enough to test various grains/methods on small test molds until a skin-like texture was produced.

Well, Go find your fav manufacture subforum and ask them! That is what I have been doing when I want something, like better skeletons.

rubyfan · Post by **rubyfan** » Mon Apr 25, 2016 10:03 pm

DarkOne wrote:Well, Go find your fav manufacture subforum and ask them! That is what I have been doing when I want something, like better skeletons.

Truth be told I wrote directly to DS and requested they look into textured skin as the shininess of their dolls bugs me. The response I got was along the lines of, "we know about this issue, but don't expect us to do anything about it anytime soon." I got the sense that they really don't know how to fix it and don't care enough to try to figure it out.

I know their new silicone formula is supposed to be better, yet I see photos of new DS Dolls all the time and they often seem nearly as shiny/waxy as ever.

If I went to the forum I'd be mauled by DS fans as a heretic to the one true doll religion.

Really like their dolls, daydream about putting in an order all the time, just wish they'd hold the shiny on my order.

DarkOne · Post by **DarkOne** » Mon Apr 25, 2016 10:14 pm

rubyfan wrote:
DarkOne wrote:Well, Go find your fav manufacture subforum and ask them! That is what I have been doing when I want something, like better skeletons.
Truth be told I wrote directly to DS and requested they look into textured skin as the shininess of their dolls bugs me. The response I got was along the lines of, "we know about this issue, but don't expect us to do anything about it anytime soon." I got the sense that they really don't know how to fix it and don't care enough to try to figure it out.

I know their new silicone formula is supposed to be better, yet I see photos of new DS Dolls all the time and they often seem nearly as shiny/waxy as ever.

If I went to the forum I'd be mauled by DS fans as a heretic to the one true doll religion. Really like their dolls, daydream about putting in an order all the time, just wish they'd hold the shiny on my order.

Maybe you can post some of the DS pics you think are shiny?

Some things like using the camera flash can put immense amounts of shine on a doll, So can not powdering it regularly.

rubyfan · Post by **rubyfan** » Mon Apr 25, 2016 10:22 pm

DarkOne wrote:
Maybe you can post some of the DS pics you think are shiny?

Some things like using the camera flash can put immense amounts of shine on a doll, So can not powdering it regularly.

Yeah, powder and flash are what I always hear, and perhaps that mantra is at least partially what explains DS not doing anything about fixing this. People use flash bulbs all the time on things like the latest RealDoll 2 dolls and there is no waxiness/shine at all because their "skin" is simply not reflective as Abyss have solved this problem.

Here are a couple of a brand new 160 looking like her face is made of wax:

http://dollforum.com/forum/download/fil ... &mode=view
http://dollforum.com/forum/download/fil ... &mode=view

rubyfan · Post by **rubyfan** » Mon Apr 25, 2016 10:38 pm

Below see a good example of the right way to do this. Note that this scene is lit, and there are reflections of the lights reflecting off the (RealDoll 2) face. Those reflections, however, are where they are supposed to be: her lipgloss and her eyes. Her skin is a matte surface and is not reflective in the way a DS Doll (as one example) is.

: Matte Skin Example; Abyss.jpg (139.84 KiB) Viewed 3676 times

DarkOne · Post by **DarkOne** » Mon Apr 25, 2016 10:39 pm

rubyfan wrote:
DarkOne wrote:
Maybe you can post some of the DS pics you think are shiny?

Some things like using the camera flash can put immense amounts of shine on a doll, So can not powdering it regularly.
Yeah, powder and flash are what I always hear, and perhaps that mantra is at least partially what explains DS not doing anything about fixing this. People use flash bulbs all the time on things like the latest RealDoll 2 dolls and there is no waxiness/shine at all because their "skin" is simply not reflective as Abyss have solved this problem.

Here are a couple of a brand new 160 looking like her face is made of wax:

http://dollforum.com/forum/download/fil ... &mode=view
http://dollforum.com/forum/download/fil ... &mode=view

Note how the shine is on surfaces directly parallel to the camera, and the shirt has so much shine its near bleach white in areas. Also note how the background is so dark. another symptom of flash. it washed out all the other lighting in the picture.

This is all the result of flash. It makes a lot of things just look awful. Please don't judge DS dolls by photos taken with flash as this is not what they will look like in real life.

Do you think that shirt looks remotely as shiny in real life?

DarkOne · Post by **DarkOne** » Mon Apr 25, 2016 10:41 pm

rubyfan wrote:Below see a good example of the right way to do this. Note that this scene is lit, and there are reflections of the lights reflecting off the (RealDoll 2) face. Those reflections, however, are where they are supposed to be: her lipgloss and her eyes. Her skin is a matte surface and is not reflective in the way a DS Doll (as one example) is.

That picture was taken with room lighting. You can tell because the reflections don't point directly at the camera.

Also you can see in the eye the shape of the light, Looks like a fluro tube or similar. The highlights on the pearls indicate the major light source is a little to the left of the camera.

Here is a picture I took from DS doll's website, Just a random face close up. You can see how the lips/eyes have gloss but its more or less absent from the rest of the face. Only a tiny bit of gloss under the eyes. Above the eyes I suspect is from eyeliner.

rubyfan · Post by **rubyfan** » Mon Apr 25, 2016 10:43 pm

DarkOne wrote: This is all the result of flash. It makes a lot of things just look awful. Please don't judge DS dolls by photos taken with flash as this is not what they will look like in real life.

Do you think that shirt looks remotely as shiny in real life?

Yeah, this is the dodge that has gone on for ages about this problem. Anyway, carry on believing nothing is wrong, even though there absolutely, demonstrably, obviously is.

Maybe another way to put it is this: when you use a flash on a real person, unless they just finished running 5 miles, they will not reflect light like that. There are ways to make silicone less reflective and it would be nice if DS would pursue them. 'nuff said.

DarkOne · Post by **DarkOne** » Mon Apr 25, 2016 10:45 pm

rubyfan wrote:
DarkOne wrote: This is all the result of flash. It makes a lot of things just look awful. Please don't judge DS dolls by photos taken with flash as this is not what they will look like in real life.

Do you think that shirt looks remotely as shiny in real life?
Yeah, this is the dodge that has gone on for ages about this problem. Anyway, carry on believing nothing is wrong, even though there absolutely, demonstrably, obviously is.

... Trust me, if you take pictures of a realdoll with flash in a dark room, it will look like crap too. It might be a little better but its still going to be 'wrong'

Comparing a poor photo of a DS doll with flash against a well lit Abyss doll does nothing to prove your point and only does a disservice to doll comparisons.

DarkOne · Post by **DarkOne** » Mon Apr 25, 2016 10:49 pm

rubyfan wrote:
DarkOne wrote: This is all the result of flash. It makes a lot of things just look awful. Please don't judge DS dolls by photos taken with flash as this is not what they will look like in real life.

Do you think that shirt looks remotely as shiny in real life?
Yeah, this is the dodge that has gone on for ages about this problem. Anyway, carry on believing nothing is wrong, even though there absolutely, demonstrably, obviously is.

Maybe another way to put it is this: when you use a flash on a real person, unless they just finished running 5 miles, they will not reflect light like that. There are ways to make silicone less reflective and it would be nice if DS would pursue them. 'nuff said.

When you use a flash on a real person, they do get shiny. These guys look shiny enough to use as make up mirrors.

(Random image found on google image search for flash camera shot)

Bad photography practices can make anything look bad.

A good example of different light sources of the same image showing just how badly built in flash is: