In Thurston James' Molding & Casting Handbook (an excellent book for anyone looking for a more than basic guide to many casting and molding processes) he mentions a recipe for producing flexible paints for use on latex models (pg. 155).

The recipe consists of:

Rubber Cement

Universal Tinting Colours

Naphtha

However he gives no detail of the quantities used or how best to proceed with the mixing. I am unsure exactly what type of glue he is referring to but could hazard a guess at its general nature. My initial experiments have lead to naught (other than producing harmful and corrosive goo's) so I was wondering whether anyone has come across this or another similar recipe and whether they could shed any light on the procedure?

One of the only problems with his book is that it is US based so many listed products have different names or are not as easily available.

-H

PS Anyone looking for a recipe for a poisonous corrosive goo please let me know.

rubber cement = copydex which is basicaly latex

tints, are just pigments, so you can use paint you just need more paint than you would pigment

and the napatha is a solvent i think which is used to make the copydex thinner

so i would go with the post above and just mix paint and latex

www.mandalastudios.co.uk www.kangena.co.uk

RL - Mark (Coventry)
CP - Urtsi (Ael) [Ex Head Weapons Checker/ Ref]
Mandala - Wookie (Ref/ Props)
PD - Wookie (Ref)
GF - Organiser
Dark Secrets - Philip Stanley (Tech Assistant)

Naphtha is a solvent and in use although perhaps not chemically is similar to White Spirit, it is  a paint cleaner/thinner. I don't believe that copydex is the rubber cement mentioned as it is not a solvent based glue and would not therefore require a solvent (Naphtha) as a mixer.

I can see what you mean though Mark that it might be usable as such so I shall experiment and see what results I get.

Thanks for your input though if anyone knows anything else please let me know.

My initial experiments with copydex show some promise although the result is not the paint that I have been looking for it should have uses in other areas.

I would agree with you Tree that a strong Latex biased mix can have its uses but fact that it has latex in will still cause it to clog fine brushes and prevent it form being truly useful for detailed work. James' book describes the resulting paint being used with an airbrush, something I wouldn't want to try with any latex based paint.

The aim of my work is to develop a paint that can be used either with an airbrush or fine standard brush to achieve fine detail and blends when producing prosthetics. I have had some luck in the past doing fine work onto wet latex which can bond well but it still does not produce the level of control that would be truly desirable.

My initial work was to improve my processes for colouring prosthetics, having unearthed this recipie I was more than a little interested in getting it working, from the examples given it would be a strong new tool for my workshop.