19
votes
What are some waterproof materials that meet my criteria for folding origami stars and cranes eggs?
You could try using palm fronds, which can be woven to make beautiful stars and patterns:
For more details about the craft of palm weaving, see this question and the links given in its answer (...
- 1,996
15
votes
What are some waterproof materials that meet my criteria for folding origami stars and cranes eggs?
Plastics comes to mind. I use flexible circuit inside of keyboards to create some fun stuff. Some are made of polyester film. Plastics would come in a variety of colours so that should not be an issue....
- 11k
14
votes
Accepted
What material can I use to dye paper to look older?
tl;dr: tea!
Yup, that's right, good ole' Lipton (or whatever other type of black tea you happen to have on hand). Diluted coffee can also work, but will smell like, well, coffee-stained paper.
Note ...
- 1,818
12
votes
What are some waterproof materials that meet my criteria for folding origami stars and cranes eggs?
Waterproof paper
My company needed to travel with some spec sheets through a rain-forest area. We used waterproof laser printer paper so the sheets wouldn't be ruined by the rain. The product was ...
- 121
12
votes
How to get velvety soft finish on hard toys?
Flocking
In short, flocking is the application of thousands of miniature fibers onto a surface. I'm fairly certain this is the general approach for what you are seeing on those dolls pictures.
...
- 11k
11
votes
Accepted
What paint works for "mock" stained glass?
A very simple approach are Window Colour types of paint (example).
They basically produce removable decals. You can either work directly on the glass or - if bottle design and pattern permit - work ...
- 1,166
10
votes
What type of paint should I use for stone painting meant for outside
What you need is exterior masonry paint.
Which specific kind of exterior masonry paint may depend on what sort of stone you're using. This page from a decorating advice site tells you which kind of ...
- 1,996
10
votes
Accepted
As a calligraphy beginner, what features should I look for in an ink?
All the liquid calligraphy inks I know of are ready to use, no dilution required.
Pigmented ink must be well mixed before use for the pigment to be uniformly dispersed.
I find acrylic ink sometimes ...
- 1,333
10
votes
Accepted
To do direct animation on clear super 8 mm film, can i just bleach some old film?
No, the gray and black light-sensitive chemicals are embedded on the film media and won't simply wash off or "turn clear" in bleach.
What you are trying to do is known as Draw-on-film ...
- 1,334
10
votes
Is regular "wood glue" suitable for lighter woods (e.g. balsa)?
Wood glues are fine for balsa.
While there are stronger glues, the added strength is usually unnecessary and strong enough should be sufficient. It is hard to generalize but "white" glues, ...
- 11k
9
votes
Is regular "wood glue" suitable for lighter woods (e.g. balsa)?
Absolutely. An Elmer's-style wood glue (polyvinyl acetate (PVA), generically known as carpenter's interior wood glue) is an inexpensive glue which is quite effective for holding balsa wood together. ...
- 1,334
7
votes
What are some waterproof materials that meet my criteria for folding origami stars and cranes eggs?
Something that immediately came to mind for me was one of my favorite origami papers: Foil Paper.
This paper has a metal foil on one side for a great shiny appearance, and has a paper backing to ...
- 436
7
votes
Best materials for a long-lasting scroll
We actually have a good idea of which scroll materials last for hundreds of years, because we have scrolls that are hundreds of years old. What are they made of?
Parchment
We have two thousand year ...
- 2,325
7
votes
Can an oil painting be finished with wax to create a matte finish?
Pure beeswax is compatible with oil paint and you can use it as a top coat or "varnish" on oil paints to provide a matte finish.
There are also cold wax mediums and varnishes that you can use with ...
- 3,129
7
votes
How do I paint hot glue so that it's slightly translucent?
The best material that comes to my mind is Window Color, an acrylic based liquid paint used to create faux stained glass ornaments. Alternatively, acrylic paints designed to paint directly on glass ...
Elmy♦
- 12.6k
6
votes
Accepted
What paint to use for outdoor plastic chairs?
I have a plastic chair in my workshop. It is spattered with acrylic paint which is very hard to remove. I suggest you use good quality exterior grade acrylic paints. I have painted concrete ornaments ...
- 314
6
votes
Accepted
Are there markers, paints, pencils, etc that are known to not change color over time?
The two keywords you need to look for are lightfast and archival.
For US manufacturers, lightfastness is usually given as an ASTM rating (that's American Society for Testing and Materials), which is ...
- 1,818
6
votes
Can I use sunflower oil in oil paint?
Cooking oil certainly isn't a direct substitute for linseed oil. Oils used for paint and treating wood are so called 'drying oils' this means that they naturally polymerise when exposed to air, ...
- 1,979
6
votes
Accepted
What kind of paper to use for airbrush practice?
The paper you are looking for is "Bond" which has a smooth plate surface.
You could also use Hard Press or Hot Press water color paper but that will be more absorbent.
- 3,129
6
votes
What should I use to connect my empty toilet paper rolls?
Paperclips (even if just from behind, though from both front and behind would be sturdier; each tube would be clipped to all the tubes adjacent to it).
[Edit: oh, btw, the ends of the paperclips ...
- 181
6
votes
How could I make a twisted cuboid sculpture like this?
This particular shape "screams" 3D printed. There are a number of programs which would allow one to create the model to be printed. I'm particularly fond of OpenSCAD, a descriptive language ...
- 7,231
5
votes
What paint works for "mock" stained glass?
Most of the sites I've found on the internet recommend Deco Art for buying glass-staining paint. They sell specialised paint for use on glass, both transparent and pearlescent, as well as an opaque ...
- 1,996
5
votes
What paint works for "mock" stained glass?
When I did my faux stained glass window (see below) I used hot glue to do the "lead" outline. It worked really well on glass because although it sticks very well, if I made a mistake I could remove it ...
- 51
5
votes
How to avoid / deal with rough edges after painting plywood?
When using a water based paint, you will for certain cause the grain to raise and funny things that look like tear-out on the edges.
To avoid this, before painting, I sand, then intentionally raise ...
- 653
5
votes
Accepted
How to avoid / deal with rough edges after painting plywood?
Not sure if you want to hear this but this is better handled before finishing as supposed to mitigating after the fact. Either way I think you need to sand the roughness out you have first then do ...
- 11k
5
votes
Distressing purchased wall art
Since it's a plastic surface mediums made for use with acrylic paints might be your answer.
There are varnishes and glazing mediums specifically made for acrylic painting.
Both mediums start out ...
- 2,956
5
votes
How to make adjustments to a PVC raincoat?
I'd recommend you head to a camping supply store
(like REI or Academy ) and pick up some tent repair tape.
Its usually rip-stop nylon with adhesive on the back.
It will reinforce the pvc so you can ...
- 311
5
votes
What are the differences between different black oil paints?
The answer would be too broad because the different black pigments have all different characteristics as other pigments have in terms of hue/temperature, intensity/tinting, transparency, even value ...
- 266
5
votes
Accepted
Create a head bust (maybe plaster or paper mache)
Decide which media you desire to use. A good choice for a beginner would be the inexpensive medium of Papier-mâché, a composite material of paper pulp and binder. One can use newspaper, shredded ...
- 7,231
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