White Resin Vs Normal or Colored Resin

Another point about white skin is that it seems to make it easier to match parts across companies. If you look at resin comparison threads, (of which there are dozens on DoA), you'll find an entire spectrum of "normal" skin tone, ranging from pale "pink normal" to an almost tan "yellow normal". White skins have a much narrower spectrum. There are certainly differences in whites from company to company, but IMO, it'd be a lot easier to blush parts to match when you are beginning with a more neutrally colored surface.

Personally, I don't care for white for human characters, unless they're intended to be sickly or exceptionally pale. Vampires, faeries, and other fantasy creatures are fair game, though.

As for alternative colored resins, like tans, or even grey, blue, or pink, it's (almost) impossible to match across companies, and often, different batches from the same company are different colors. There are plenty of horror stories on DoA about the way odd colors sand down poorly, as well as the weird things that happen when they yellow with time. While I would love an unusually colored doll for a fae character I have in mind, it seems like the yellowing is unpredictable on those colored resins, and that makes me a little wary.

 

I always feel the need to comment on these threads since I have so many WS dolls =_=

1. Does the White Resin not yellow as there is no color in it to begin with?
White resin yellows. ALL resin yellows/greens/changes color or whatever they do with age and exposure. That's the way it is. Some companies dolls yellow faster than others and worse. I've seen a NS doll from Luts so yellowed I was kind of shocked when I looked at it. My very white WS Dollmore doll *points to sig pic* is going to be a year old in a few weeks. I can guarantee that he has not yellowed at all in the year I've had him. I'm not kidding. Eventually he will, thats just life...or resin. It won't matter to me, I loves him anyway.

2. Is it just personal preference?
Totally. I love WS dolls, not everyone does. That just means there's more for me XD

3. Is it in any way more durable?
I don't think so. That would be nice though!

4. Does it stain more easily?
Again, I don't think so. If it's going to stain a WS doll, it's probably going to stain any color. The funny thing is, of my three Kara Klums (again, the boy in my sig) the two Normal Skin dolls get dirtier than the WS one. I don't know how or why (it's a mystery), they all share clothes, and I swear I mess with them all the same amount, but somehow the two NS ones are dirty the second I'm done cleaning them!! It's like they roll in filth D:
But the WS is never dirty...even though he only wears black and has that damn green wig. not one stain...

 

I was wondering this too, thanks! I'm trying to decide between normal and white skin for my first doll... I guess I'll decide mostly based on the character, but I'll have to take yellowing and staining in consideration...

 

1. Does the White Resin not yellow as there is no color in it to begin with?
I've only had my white skin doll for almost a month so I can't say. I've read all skin colours are prone to yellowing over time.

2. Is it just personal preference?
I think it is just personal preference for most people and character dependent. I like white skin dolls because they happen to fit with the characters I have in mind although they are a bugger to photograph without looking washed out.

3. Is it in any way more durable?
I only have the one doll so I can't really compare with any other dolls.

4. Does it stain more easily?
Well, I've had mine for almost a month and there was already a stain on it after two weeks which I am having a hard time getting off. If you're careful, then things won't stain so easily I guess. I have no idea what caused the stain on my doll.

 

1. Answered fully earlier.

2. For me it is a personal preference as I am pretty pale myself, although I have darkened a little as I have aged. I am just pale now rather than lily-white. I tend to go for White Skins or very pale normal skins.

Saying that, if I can get an elf girl doll in the right shade of purple-grey, I would love to do a Drow just because I could.

3. There might be some chemical changes in the resin depending upon what dyes or pigments you put into it, but I am sure that the companies have investigated this and have gone for dyes and pigments that do not weaken the resin. Unless you can get totally chemically inert dyes and pigments then there will always be some form of chemical reaction between the liquid resin and dyes/pigments no matter how slight.

4. I guess it will just be more noticeable. The tomato suace on white t-shirt example above is the best so far.

Phil.

 

1. Does the White Resin not yellow as there is no color in it to begin with?
Well it depends on the type of resin/which company, but yes it does yellow, and more obviously than normalskin, in my experience!

2. Is it just personal preference?
Yep! That's it for the most part, though some dollies may only be offered in white (I'm thinking of Soom limiteds). Sometimes white is just right for the character. I know when I first got into the hobby I was *mad* for white skin, since it was pretty much nonexistent in other modern dolls of the era, and I was crazy for goth and vampire dolls. White skin was a Must for me then!

3. Is it in any way more durable?
See question 1 ^_^

4. Does it stain more easily?
I can't say I've noticed that it stains more easily, but perhaps the stains show up more readily... but then it's dark clothing that tends to stain, and it'll happily stain Normalskin just as much as White. It's part of the joy of black clothes, though, if that's your thing! If you're worried about it, a layer of MSC will protect the resin, though of course the MSC will get stained by the clothes...

Raven

 

For me it would be preference since I have one character who is half vampire I was thinking that he should be pale so white resin would be good for that....but the rest of my dolls will be probably be "normal skin" color.

 

1. Does the White Resin not yellow as there is no color in it to begin with?
All resin will yellow to some degree over time, some more quickly than others. Some French Resin is notorious for yellowing a lot and quickly, for instance. And some people will have dolls that seem to yellow more than others of the same manufacture. Heat and light seem to affect the yellowing process.

It is possible that yellowing may seem more obvious in a WS doll than in a NS, but I've heard of people who had badly yellowed NS dolls, as well, so it's not totally a problem with WS. Also--there are some threads about people doing certain things (cleaning/bleaching methods) that sometimes seem to work on making yellowed dolls less yellow--so it may be that yellowing can be altered a bit.

I have WS dolls, the oldest from 2004 (I've got about 7 WS dolls). They do seem to change color slightly (some more than others) over time, but I don't mind it so far. The oldest is somewhat yellow-y, but he didn't come blindingly white to begin with, so it doesn't seem so bad to me. Dolls from the 2005 seem fine so far. Slight color change, but not really noticeable.

2. Is it just personal preference?
Yes. Usually. WS may fit a character idea, or some may just like the look (I just like the look--it seems a bit more different and I like different colors--I've got grey and blue-skinned dolls, too). Some dolls only come in certain skin-tones, also, so that may be a reason to have one other than personal preference.

3. Is it in any way more durable?
Same as any resin, usually. Tanned or colored resins that are not solid (just a coating) are more fragile--mostly when it comes to sanding and modding. Some tanned skin also is more sensitive to sunlight than other colors. WS is about the same as NS, but as I said, may be more noticeable when yellowing... and may be a bit more sensitive to sunlight than NS, but more because you'd see it more than on a NS, not necessarily because of being less durable.

4. Does it stain more easily?
Probably not. But stains may show up a little more against the lighter skin than on NS.

 

I preffer normal skin or darker skined dolls, I fear that white skin bjds could stain more easily..

 

I think it depends on the doll you are making. For me, I prefer all of the resin colors, no personal bias. But because my girl doll is half albino and of mixed Japanese and Romani culture, I will go with normal resin because that suits her best in terms of personality and her dress. My boy doll's character is tan because of his mixed Native American and Persian culture. Plus, Normal resin tends to yellow way less faster than White resin based on my extensive research on resin colors.

 

I don't really prefer one color over another -- it really depends on what I need for a particular character. I have a lot of NS dolls, a BW, a blue, a dark skin, and an AR Crystal Rose (which is somewhere in between NS and BW).

1. Does the White Resin not yellow as there is no color in it to begin with?

All resin changes colors over time, period. BW can be more suseptible to color change, or at least color change can be more noticeable. However, different companies use different resin formulas, and people's dolls get exposed to varying amounts of light so when it comes to how much how fast it really depends.

Colored resins can change color too, and the red pigment used to make the dark tan dolls can react with sunlight, however, it really does seem to depend. My dark tan, blue, and BW from BBB are all several years old by now and still look great. My BW is the one that's noticeably changed -- rather than being paper white (BBB white skin is as white as white can be new), she is ivory colored which still looks quite nice.

2. Is it just personal preference?

I think in many cases it is, as there is nothing that really makes BW better or worse than any other color.

3. Is it in any way more durable?

Not that I know of.

4. Does it stain more easily?

Stains can show up more easily on a pale doll, but they also come out of resin without too much trouble -- some soap and water or a magic eraser will take care of fabric stains. If you're really concerned about it, you can always buy a body stocking or use some vinegar water to help set the dye in the clothing.

 

1. Does the White Resin not yellow as there is no color in it to begin with?

They do yellow, the yellowing is an oxidisation process sped up with light and heat exposure, all dolls will yellow, no matter their colour. Generally on a WS doll the worst this gets is a creamier tone not a jaundiced yellow. The amount of visability of yellowing can change with skin colour of course

2. Is it just personal preference?

Yes, colour really is a personal preference, no colour is better for hiding yellowing, and most people do not easily spot yellowing. In Japan it is even considered a natural and beautiful part of owning a doll

3. Is it in any way more durable?

WS is more durable in one way, it shows sanding lines less, if you sand on coloured dolls the sanded area generally looks paler, tan dolls you really cannot sand which meand you have to live with seam lines. WS is more durable in that the sanded areas are almost impossible to spot. NS ones are not too bad for this in general however, just the coloured and tan dolls are bad

4. Does it stain more easily?

Resin stains because it is porous, so no colour actually stains more easily, WS may show some stains more because it is white, so there can be higher contrast.

 

All three of my dolls are 'white skinned', but all three of them are yellowed slightly, so they all turned out looking more yellow-skinned then pale.

This is actually a good thing for me, because all three of them are Asian characters, so I think it gives them a more Asian look.

However, in terms of preference... the reason I have all white-skinned dolls is because the characters they are based on are pale. One of them is a doll (literally), one of them has pale parents, and the third is related to the second's pale parents.

The next doll I intend to get will be natural skinned, because that is who he is.