"Help Painting PVC clothing" Topic

I'm trying to get a PVC look, like on Selene's outfit from Underworld. I tried black with dark grey highlighting, & then Reaper's gloss over the top. It's come out too shiney as seen here:
link

Should I use mix in a matt paint to cut the shininess?

You might try painting the figure with matt colors but then a light drybrushing with a brush on semi-gloss. Just a guess, I've never tried for that texture/look on a full figure.

It looked like PVC clothing to me. Try looking up the real thing on the web – its pretty dang shiny. Obviously, don't do it at work tho.

On the other hand, you could do that Non-Metallic Metal trick with it by painting on the highlights and then just using a semi-gloss.

Wyatt

As someone who wears, and is with people who wear, alot of pvc, that looks pretty right. What may be confusing you, is Selene's outfit in underworld is leather. Not pvc. When im painting pvc, i'll just get a good, strong black basecoat, and wack gloss over top. No highlights, let the natural "gloss-yness" do the work.

I got a very pvc-ey look by simply painting with Coat d'arms black, whick is quite glossy.

Thanks all. I realize I wasn't completely clear when referencing Selene's outfit. Here's a picture:

picture

So Vampire, are you saying the material covering her shoulders, arms & legs is leather? That's what I was referring to as PVC.

I'm pretty much trying to get the same matt bodice with shiney body suit underneath.

I think I see one thing that's different. Maybe because of the super shininess of the material, it's not completely black, it seems to be more of a very dark silver grey. So maybe mixing some silver into the black might do it.

The problem is, a true high-gloss finish on something as small as a miniature makes it look toy-like. If you look at PVC clothing from across the street (roughly the same as a 28mm mini held at arm's length), it looks much less glossy.

What you want on your mini is a satin finish, a mix of gloss and matt. Experiment with different proportions on a piece of scrap plastic until you get the finish you want. You can then paint that finish over the PVC portions of your mini without having to strip and repaint.

I don't think it's the color or gloss so much as the smooth texture. (The mini has a lot more bumpiness than the movie pic.)

Maybe because of the super shininess of the material, it's not completely black, it seems to be more of a very dark silver grey. So maybe mixing some silver into the black might do it.

You might try experimenting with a very very thinned down silver wash on a piece of scrap painted the same way as the mini. You'd want to brush on just enough to cover the surface, but not set in the recesses. Hope that helps.

*peers at pic*

I had no idea Fobus made…thigh sticky-holsters?

I think her costume is actually polished rubber…pvc doesn't move fluidly enough for stuntwork like that…it tends to crinkle…Trinity in The matrix is PVC, Selene IMHO was more like Latex…Catwoman (Michelle, not Halle)…rubber again…not that I study these things in great detail you understand….;-)
PS spot the mistake…Michelle Pfeiffer cuts up a PVC raincoat and ends up with a rubber catsuit….again, not complaining, just observant…

@cavaliar THAT suit is latex. Not PVC or leather. It's the only stuff that'll cling like that and still let you move.
The costume from the first movie, Where she cuts of Vickor's head, is ment to be leather.

I have a bottle of Folk Art #661 "Metallic Sequin Black" which might work for you. Its similar to the Ral Partha Steel color. But its darker. The other option is to use a semi-gloss spray sealer and then paint over the flat areas with matt sealer. If you ue the spray sealer you can keep adding more layers of spray to build up the gloss to the level you want.

Learn something new everyday.

thanks all. yeah, i realized after thinking about it for a bit that it was latex & not pvc. but either way, i've got some good ideas of how to paint it. i'll report back.