Any advice on how to blush nipples on a DD?

Now that it's getting warmer but the high humidity common during Japanese summers hasn't hit yet, I'm considering blushing the nipples on my DDS.

The doll painting tutorials I found so far are usually for faces. And while these gave me a decent Idea on the proper use of Mr. Super Clear, I presume the painting techniques for body blushing are a bit different.

I really don't have any experience with painting, so it would be great if you could point me to tutorials regarding the matter at hand or leave related advice here.

Would stuff like the Volks pastel colors be a viable option here (even though they are officially intended for SD)?

 

Thanks for helping out!

Edited February 21, 2021 by Tierparkzone

So I'm wondering the same thing, but for the whole doll? I've seen people have body blushing on their dolls here, however there seems to be little to no information regarding the actual process that I can find sadly. I'm very hesitant to try on my own due to the cost of the doll (and that I don't have any spare parts to try on). Would Mr. Super Clear or other sealants not crack due to the softer body? 

I did offer body blushing service when I used to paint DD's

The SD pastels you use for blushing the face work great for the nippies too.

I suggest using Magic eraser to soften/lighten the areola, and the corner of a rubber (common ones are fine) to have a more defined transition between the areola and the actual skin.

The most important thing is that you need to seal the pastel part once it's finished, using MSC super clear or equivalent. 

Sealing the bust will protect the blushed nippies, but please note that treating stains on a sealed head will be 10x times harder, so please mindful of using fully lined bras or protectors in general.

I hope it helps!

(In the spoiler: NSFW pic of the painted nippies)

Spoiler

 

Edited March 25, 2021 by Bellatrix

Thank you! - This helps a lot!

6 hours ago, Bellatrix said:

The SD pastels you use for blushing the face work great for the nippies too.

I suggest using Magic eraser to soften/lighten the areola, and the corner of a rubber (common ones are fine) to have a more defined transition between the areola and the actual skin.

Thanks for confirming that the pastels can be used here - and for the great painting tips. I presume for applying the pastels in the first place, a fine cotton swab does the trick (as they do in the video on the product page)?

 

6 hours ago, Bellatrix said:

The most important thing is that you need to seal the pastel part once it's finished, using MSC super clear or equivalent.

Based on the MSC infos from the faceup threads, I was planning to do three base coats, painting, then one or two coats to seal it up. Reasonable?

 

6 hours ago, Bellatrix said:

 

Sealing the bust will protect the blushed nippies, but please note that treating stains on a sealed head will be 10x times harder, so please mindful of using fully lined bras or protectors in general.

 

Makes sense. I got a spare bust for painting anyway, so the plan is to swap her between painted and unpainted depending on the current clothing.

3 hours ago, Tierparkzone said:

Thanks for confirming that the pastels can be used here - and for the great painting tips. I presume for applying the pastels in the first place, a fine cotton swab does the trick (as they do in the video on the product page)?

I use painting brushes, fine/medium tip is fine. Never used cotton swabs for the purpose. I think you could try both, and see which one you like better

3 hours ago, Tierparkzone said:

Based on the MSC infos from the faceup threads, I was planning to do three base coats, painting, then one or two coats to seal it up. Reasonable?

Correct!  I usually do 2 base coats, not 3. Again, my personal preference.

An advice: I suggest not to use MSC while it's raining, or the humidity level in the air is too high: in my experience, doing that doesn't allow MSC to dry up properly, resulting in a slightly shiny finish (as if the doll was "sweaty").

3 hours ago, Tierparkzone said:

Makes sense. I got a spare bust for painting anyway, so the plan is to swap her between painted and unpainted depending on the current clothing.

Fair enough! Good plan ^_^

12 hours ago, Bellatrix said:

The SD pastels you use for blushing the face work great for the nippies too.

I suggest using Magic eraser to soften/lighten the areola, and the corner of a rubber (common ones are fine) to have a more defined transition between the areola and the actual skin.

Have you tried using the paints when doing so? Would those also work or would they end up staining?

2 hours ago, Bellatrix said:

An advice: I suggest not to use MSC while it's raining, or the humidity level in the air is too high: in my experience, doing that doesn't allow MSC to dry up properly, resulting in a slightly shiny finish (as if the doll was "sweaty").

Yup! - That's why I'm planning to do this right now.

Once the rainy season hits around May, the humidity here in Tokyo will be consistently up around 70+% until around late October.

48 minutes ago, Gweneveryn said:

Have you tried using the paints when doing so? Would those also work or would they end up staining?

What paints are you talking about? The volks set of paints to do the face ups? They are ok for that purpose, but I wouldnt use them for the nips as the effect would be way to neat, and I definitely prefer a softer look. If you are after a neat look, they might work, I think.

 

49 minutes ago, Tierparkzone said:

Yup! - That's why I'm planning to do this right now.

Once the rainy season hits around May, the humidity here in Tokyo will be consistently up around 70+% until around late October.

Good luck! Let us see what you come up with. 

On 3/26/2021 at 8:09 AM, Bellatrix said:

Good luck! Let us see what you come up with. 

And here we are - mission successful - I dare to say...

 

So first, let me give a brief rundown of what I ended up doing (sorry, I didn't take any WIP photos). Final photos at the end of the post.

The bust I was planning to paint was a DDS S-bust (where the nipples' shape is hinted at but not overly prominent). So before starting the painting process, I wanted to try and give these a slightly more prominent shape. While looking for tutorials on how to paint doll busts, I stumbled upon a Japanese blog entry where the author used a Dremel to carve out the area around the nipples - so the nipples themselves would stand out a bit more. But getting a Dremel just for this, seemed a bit overkill. - Then I remembered seeing a Youtube video, where someone used UV-resin to modify (partially close) the eye holes of a doll. - And I decided to try that.

So after testing the UV-resin on some scrap vinyl, I was confident that

• any misplaced dabs of resin can be wiped off cleanly with a tissue before curing
• the resin would stick well to the vinyl after curing
• the pastel paint would work at least to some degree on the cured resin surface (requires a bit of sanding with fine sand paper)

Now I could start with the actual bust. - After a few tries, I had two small dabs of UV-resin in the right positions (I pulled the blob of resin with a Needle for minimal adjustments). First curing with an LED - then an afternoon on the windowsill. After curing, i roughed up the resin surface with fine sand paper.

A few days later (on a day with low humidity), I applied three coats of MSC - each about one hour apart. Then letting it dry over night.

Now the actual painting: Cotton swabs worked really well for applying the pastels. A clean one also worked well for softening/lightening the paint, as my magic erasers had a slightly too strong effect. The rubber for the more defined transition was also a great tip.

After painting I applied a final coat of MSC and again let it dry over night. Finally I checked with a rubber if the paint is properly sealed or if I need another layer of MSC. As nothing rubbed off, I declared the project finished.

 

Today, I had time for a small photoshoot, so here is Kyrie with her newly painted bits:

Thanks again for the painting tips!

Perfect!

You are more than welcome for the tips, and I must say the outcome exceeded my expectations!

The 3D cured resin gives the nippies an amazing look, and I shall try that on one of my girls as well!

Great job!!! 😄😄 

On 3/25/2021 at 5:30 AM, Bellatrix said:

I did offer body blushing service when I used to paint DD's

oooh!  This is something I need for Karin.  I only knew about custom faceups, but her face i just fine to me!  Is there anyone you know still offering these services that you know of?  >_<

I really hadn't thought of using uv resin on vinyl before. And not a bad idea at all! Will definitely be trying this out,  for sure!

2 hours ago, That_Dollfie_Dude said:

oooh!  This is something I need for Karin.  I only knew about custom faceups, but her face i just fine to me!  Is there anyone you know still offering these services that you know of?  >_<

I still do ^_^ but I am located in the EU, so shipping may be expensive... >_<

Fantastic thread.  I appreciate everyone's time to post this.  The link to the pastel on Volks is out of stock.  Any suggestions on paints I can by from amazon?  Also, would this same process work only without the resin on the vinyl?

3 hours ago, kaptinbadruck said:

Also, would this same process work only without the resin on the vinyl?

The UV resin was an additional step I added, to adapt the shape of the nipples. If you just want to paint the doll, it is definitely not required.

 

Mister Super Clear (MSC) or a similar spray-on sealant is still required for keeping the paints from rubbing off and/or staining the vinyl. (Use a respirator while spraying!)

 

3 hours ago, kaptinbadruck said:

The link to the pastel on Volks is out of stock.  Any suggestions on paints I can by from amazon?

Volks has a couple of pastel sets with different color combinations available. The leftmost color of the set linked in the opening post produces the more pink-ish hue you see in the pictures above. If you want something more towards red, you'd want to pick up a different set anyway (e.g. this one).

As the Volks pastels do work, I'd presume most pastel chalks will. - But if someone with a bit more experience in that regard could chime in to corroborate, it'd be great.

Thank you so much for the reply.  It makes sense now 😄

 

Did you just use Pastel Chalks or did you also use Acrylic paints?  I promise I read this entire thread, but I might not understand all the terms. 😉

6 minutes ago, kaptinbadruck said:

Did you just use Pastel Chalks or did you also use Acrylic paints? 

Just the pastel - roughly the same way as in the Volks video at the linked timestamp:

 

Fantastic, and many thanks for the replies.

 

Love the photo stores and cannot wait for more!!!

Thanks Tierparkzone for starting this thread, the updates, and before and after results.  I used to paint the pewter miniatures about 25 years ago (not that old, I was a teenager! 😄) but have not picked up a brush since.  Your thread made me realize it's actually something I could probably do.  Got myself all the supplies and gave it a try.  I did two coats of Mr Super Clear and I used the soft pastels as a way to drybrush to bring out the highlights.  I then used some Acrylics.  Then sealed with one quick coat.  Came out very nice!  Unfortunately - I am not sure why - my hands are not very steady anymore, the harder I try to old the brush still, the more my hand shakes.  So my details are not very precise.  Also, my upclose vision is not great anymore (Damn, is this what 40 is like? everything falls apart!) so I was having trouble seeing small spots.  Maybe a magnifying glass/mirror would help.  I am thinking of trying again with a foam brush which might be more forgiving.

I actually bought some test dolls on amazon ($10) to practice on for next time. 

Thanks again!

With the humidity levels in Japan finally down, Mister Super Clear is usable again. - So time to set upon my my next project:

While I do have a couple painted SmD busts from back when they were a thing, the girls had to share. And with Kanata usually being on an S-bust, it always felt a bit off for her to go bigger, whenever she wanted to go topless. So with a bit more resin-application and painting practice under my belt, this time I set off to modify one of my spare SmD S-busts. As these are completely smooth, this time I had to apply about four thin layers of resin to sculpt the nipples. Otherwise I proceeded roughly the same way as described above.

And again I'm decently satisfied with the result:

Not bad! I wouldn't have guessed that this was a smooth bust. Which makes me wonder just how far you can take the resin technique to make good looking nipples. 🤔

Where did you get that outfit she is wearing?

I’m also curious how you worked with the resin to apply it. I’ve always hated the way the SmD S-bust is completely smooth, and this looks like a good fix. 

5 hours ago, BeyondTime said:

Where did you get that outfit she is wearing?

The outfit Kanata is wearing is honestly a pretty wild combination:

The open bustier is from Tc-Doll. It's advertised to fit any DD bust size but only SmD S bust. - For good reason as for the larger ones, it tends to slide into the gap between torso and bust, which does hamper the look. That's why it's been worn mostly by Kyrie until now (see further above). The arm sleeves are from the same set as well.

The skirt, Kanata nabbed from Iori, as it's from the Volks MDD/DDP open shoulder parka set. To my surprise, the skirt can (without the use of excessive force) be persuaded to fit over the butt of an SmD as a tight miniskirt. I'd be careful not to leave it on too long though, as the skirt would likely stretch and crease over time.

The stockings are from Dollmore, although I bought mine from DOLK. As a nice bonus, these don't stain.

The collar is again from Tc-Doll. But the current versions seem to use a slightly different pendant.

The lab coat is from the Volks school nurse set.

And finally the shoes are fairly generic black high-heels I bought from SEN (not listed anymore).

 

6 hours ago, BeyondTime said:

I’m also curious how you worked with the resin to apply it. I’ve always hated the way the SmD S-bust is completely smooth, and this looks like a good fix.

I guess it depends quite a bit on the properties of the resin you are using.

For Kyrie, I used a fairly viscous resin and the bust already had vaguely shaped nipples. So a single dab in the correct spot was all:

The only issue with this resin was, it doesn't take on the pastel paint all that well. - So bigger resin structures (as in sculpted areolae and nipples) would appear more and more translucent.

 

For Kanata, I found a resin that works better with afterwards pastel painting, but it was runnier. I would have needed at least two separate layers anyways (one for areolae and one for nipples), so here I went with four:

I applied each resin layer directly from the bottle (with small nozzle) it came in. Tiny corrections can be made with the tip of a needle. If you're not content with the shape, wipe the resin away with a soft paper tissue. If you're happy, get the UV lamp. - Repeat for each layer.

For the completely smooth SmD bust, I also made some "test nipples" out of polymer clay beforehand. To test where the nipples should go, so it looks good.

 

Advantage of the SmD S bust is (apart from the lack of nipples) it looks fairly natural even without supporting clothing. The M and L smooth busts are more shaped as if they were supported by e.g. a bra. - Which is great when clothed, but may look off when nude (even if you added nipples).

 

On 12/7/2021 at 12:58 AM, ChrisFhey said:

Not bad! I wouldn't have guessed that this was a smooth bust. Which makes me wonder just how far you can take the resin technique to make good looking nipples.

I'd guess, there's quite a lot you can do. A few limiting issues I can think of are:

Vinyl is squishy and flexes. If you have wide (stiff) resin structures on top, the resin might eventually crack or peel off.

If your resin sculpt stretches beyond the areolae (outside the area you want to paint pink/red), you may need to paint the whole bust, to hide the seam between resin and vinyl.

7 hours ago, Tierparkzone said:

Advantage of the SmD S bust is (apart from the lack of nipples) it looks fairly natural even without supporting clothing.

That’s why I never sought out upgrade busts, painted or otherwise. 

 

7 hours ago, Tierparkzone said:

The only issue with this resin was, it doesn't take on the pastel paint all that well.

I wonder if a very thin base coat of flesh colored paint would solve that problem.

I know you can dye UV Resin, but most purpose made dyes seem to be in gemstone colors. 
 

7 hours ago, Tierparkzone said:

The open bustier is from Tc-Doll.

Ah ok, I have seen their site before, but it looks like shipping is Japan only.