Two new masks without all that pesky hand-stitching

[TomBanwell]

[lindatt]

Hehe too cool! and having fun... You can wear my masks anytime.

[Myriam]

Man, these are neat!

*moves 'getting an airbrush' higher on the list of priorities*

[leatheroo]

love these masks, what sort of paint are you using....is it acrylic? do you have to water is down?

[TomBanwell]

love these masks, what sort of paint are you using....is it acrylic? do you have to water it down?

Roo, it's straight aniline dye. I use it in my business to color resin. It is very thin, and the solvent is mineral spirits. Makes cleaning the airbrush really easy. I spray it in front of a fan blowing outside so I don't breath it.

[SCOUTER]

Hey Tom, Great colors and fun designs!

[TomBanwell]

love these masks, what sort of paint are you using....is it acrylic? do you have to water is down?

More thoughts on paint versus dyes:

I have never painted leather with acrylic paints, so I may be mistaken about this, but my assumption is that the acrylic sits on the surface of the leather, and diminishes it's capacity to absorb water. Dyes, on the other hand, are absorbed into the veggie tanned, and do not inhibit water absorption. I airbrush the dye through a stencil with the leather flat on a table, after cutting it out and before shaping it. Can you do that with acrylics?

I learned airbrushing many years ago spraying acrylic paints. What a pain. The acrylics dry so quickly that the airbrush needed constant cleaning and I had to work fast so that it kept spraying. Once I switched to solvent based paints I discovered how much easier they were to airbrush due to the slower drying time.

The dyes I use are made by Special-T http://www.specialtycoatingschem.com/

They are the PSTF dyes, and come in many colors. You can buy just the primaries and mix them. I would like to hear others weigh in on this topic. Thanks,