Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Sebastyne Young on September 11, 2010 at 3:57

If you're in US you can find something called Krylon Fusion for Plastic, which is apparently fantastic on plastic like Barbie's furniture. For the rest of us, we need to dig a bit deeper and possibly find a primer spray for plastic which will then enable any spray paint to be used on the primer, or find some brand of plastics paints, usually at model shops.

You can also use a brush to give the item more life like finish, but I'm not sure which paints suits hand painting. I could ask a friend of mine though if anyone doesn't know.

Groups AdminPermalink Reply by Ada Bogoevici on September 11, 2010 at 8:57

Unfortunatelly I'm not from the US. :( I would really like some paint 'cause I can work with it better than with a spray. I need to find out the composition of the paint so I can go around art shops and ask for smth similar.

Permalink Reply by Gwen on September 21, 2010 at 12:43

I love to repaint Barbie furniture, just not Barbie herself. I tried that once and it looked horrid and then I felt bad cause I ruined a perfectly good doll, lol. I use acrylic paints on the Barbie furniture, you have to be very careful because it will rub off easily until you get whatever kind of clear coat on it you want but once you get a clear coat on it you could use it as a football and it won't come off. There are 3 brands that I use and I find these to work well, Apple Barrel, Ceramcoat, and Americana. I just finished 2 of these chairs this morning using acrylic paints and a gloss clear coat. Acouple of tips I could give you would be expensive brushes are worth it, I bought cheap brushes when I first started out and they were always leaving bristles in the paint so I would have to use twizzers to try and get them off then I would have to repaint that area. Make sure you have all size brushes, these come in handy for those hard to get to spots and touch ups for when I go outside the lines, lol . When painting chairs I hold onto one of the legs and paint everything else then let it dry and then paint the leg I was holding onto but make sure you let it dry for about 24 hours before doing a 2nd coat. The first coat always looks horrid but one you get the first coat on the second coat goes on much better and also looks much better. Make sure your brush is always loaded well when doing a second coat and that you don't spend to much time on one spot because it will rub the first coat off. I know this sounds hard to do and might even be a little scarry but once you get the hang of it and know what you can and can't due it will be a breeze. Two of these chairs took me about 2 days but out of those 2 days I only spent about 20 to 30 minutes painting the rest of the time was spent waiting for them to dry.

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• barbie repaint chairs 001.JPG, 711 KB
• barbie repaint chairs 002.JPG, 596 KB

Groups AdminPermalink Reply by Ada Bogoevici on September 21, 2010 at 12:47

Wow! Thank you so very much for all this info. Really comes in handy. This is like the best tutorial I have read. :D Thnx. The chiar looks so cool. I have some cupboards that I really want to paint.

Permalink Reply by Gwen on September 21, 2010 at 12:57

No problem! I find it easy to do new projects when other give me tips so when someone asks me I always try and give as much detail about it. I hope it works out well for you!

Groups AdminPermalink Reply by Ada Bogoevici on September 21, 2010 at 12:58

Much obliged. You really know how to explain things. :D

Permalink Reply by Thom d'Royce on October 8, 2010 at 3:33

i HAVE a plethora of barbie plastic furniture and have begun trying different paints and get some good outcomes and some bad. I would love to invest in a airbrush but this is another investment. Now with my interests in the larger size dolls most of the furniture is the wrong scale. what exactly is the 1/3 -or 1/6th dolll equivalent to? For example barbie furniture/clothes fit barbies 12in frame? jamieshow would then fit into tyler or tonner scale clothes/furniture? spray paint a base coat seems to work well

Permalink Reply by Rose Red on October 8, 2010 at 10:46

If you buy an airbrush, buy a compressor as well - I have an AZTEK airbrush and it is very good.
Barbie furniture is 1/6 - or 'playscale'. Tonner etc would - I guess - be 1/4 scale.

You can spray paint furniture - do it outside on a mild day, as the fumes are horrible, apart form the mess when you start. It is NOT easy to get a smooth finish, but once you can do it, it looks good.

Permalink Reply by Gwen on October 8, 2010 at 12:24

I had thought about using an airbrush, so that works pretty good once you get the hang of it? I didn't want to go out and spend that kind of money on one to find out it doesn't work very well. I did find a small airbrush gun at my local store with the model cars that you put together and paint yourself and it runs off a can of air instead of a air compressor. I think I will go and try and purchase one in the next week or two, thanks for the heads up on the airbrush Rose Red.

Permalink Reply by Rose Red on October 8, 2010 at 15:05

They do work well BUT if you are painting furniture, it really isn't worth the expense! ( A good airbrush is £100+ and a compressor about £120) Using a copressor is SUCH a pleasure after those horrible cans!
I spend half y life spray painting in mass - and I use cans! It really takes practice to get a smooth finish, but with furniture - as oppose to dolls - it isn't quite so vital!

Community ManagerPermalink Reply by Simon Farnworth on October 8, 2010 at 18:39

Yes Tonner, Jamieshow, Sybarites and all 16-17" dolls are 1/4 or 1:4 scale. Also referred to as 'Tonner scale" or "Gene scale".