WIP - Coloring continued.....

Looking at what I had done so far, I wasn’t pleased with the colors. It was too “orangish” overall. So out came the sandpaper and stains. I sanded off some of the body color, and used a couple of different colored stains to make it browner. Touched up some of the other areas making them a little redder.

Making any wood “white” without painting it is difficult. I have some white leather dye I’ve used. Most leather dyes are pretty easy to use and mix together. Then there is the white! For some reason the white dye is totally different – which I found out the hard way.
The first time I was using the dyes I would pour them in small plastic disposable cups to mix and use. So I did the same with the white dye. The fact that the white dye is in a glass bottle where the others are in plastic bottles didn’t set off any red flags. But the flags went off when the white dye was all over the paper bag and the cup had melted!

So I use either a glass or aluminum foil to hold the dye now. This project I put all the little teeth in the aluminum foil and used a q-tip to dab white dye on the pieces. I left them to soak overnight.

Once I’m satisfied with the colors, it’s time to get the finish out – I use a tung oil (that’s what it says on the can anyway). The dyes will bleed a little with the addition of the oil, so you have to be careful in handling the pieces. You don’t want the blue to rub off on the white teeth!

The wood is dry, and the dyes make them even drier, so they will really soak up the oil. Let them sit about 15 minutes, then wipe the excess off.

Let these pieces dry overnight. Tomorrow we start gluing!

Segmentation - adding color.

Now it’s time to add color!
I gather together my stains and leather dyes, q-tips, containers for mixing, and a couple of paper bags to work on. Dyes and Stains do exactly that – so wear old clothing when using them, and I suggest rubber gloves (do as I say, not as I do!! Lol)

After painting for years, it was difficult to get used to layering the dyes – With dyes, you put down your darkest color first, then sand, and layer a lighter color dye.

You can see the progression in the next few pictures – in the flame areas, I start with Red dye. Let it dry, and sand some. Layer of Orange dye is added. Again, let it dry, then sand. Last of all I add a layer of Yellow dye.

And with the dragon’s head, I started out with purple, then a layer of diluted blue.

Since I have only a few colors of dye, I tend to mix them to get the colors I need, so even using the same basic colors for a project later on, the colors won’t ever be the same. And I’ve found that the dyes can be diluted with rubbing alcohol, adding even more options to color with.

More tomorrow....