mfxposé #5: Barnes Products

Friday 3 July 2009
Those of you looking to try your hand at a bit of sculpting are in for a treat once again. This week we're featuring Barnes Products in our mfxposé. We had a chat to people there and have included for you some of their tutorials on using patina's and Pinkysil.

SOME BACKGROUND

Barnes Products was founded in 1986 by Kevin and Maria Barnes. Kevin had a vision to introduce the latest technologies in materials such as polyeurthan, silicone rubber, gypsum that met world class standards to the Australian Industry.

Today, Barnes is run by Kevin and Maria’s daughter, Nicole Barnes, who continues to supply the highest standard of materials and service to Australia, New Zealand and many other countries.

THE BUSINESS

Their head office is based in Bankstown, NSW, where they do product testing and development, as well and packaging and distribution.

In recent years Barnes have opened retail outlets in Newtown (NSW) and Richmond (VIC) where customers get a personalised service plus technical advice based on the vast experience of their employees.

Newtown (NSW)

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Richmond(VIC)

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Walking into a Barnes store is like a treasure-trove for anyone into special effects, film prosthetics, miniatures sculpting, moulding and related fields. They've got a really wide range of products for a variety of different uses.

They've furnished us with a couple tutorials and some details on products that would suit our miniature modelling purposes. Still, check out the website or head on over to the store as you'd be surprised what you'll come across that'd be useful for a miniature effects artist.

PATINA'S

The Barnes range of Patina’s retail between $16.50 and $33.

BarnesPatinas

Patina’s are used for aging metal finishes, like obtaining rust and greening finishes on metals. The great thing about them is you don’t have to start with a metal object, but can paint with a metal paint prior to application to achieve your desired effect.

Patina’s can be used in the following way:

1.) Select the item you wish to work with (ideally it can be made from plastic, wood, resin or plaster but other materials should work as long as it can be painted)

2.) Paint your item with Barnes metal paints (three coats works best)

3.) Once the metal paint is dry, apply Patina to your item using a spray (you can use a spritzer bottle) or brush (with a regular bristled paint brush).

4.) Leave your item to dry. Different Patina’s have different drying times (no longer than overnight)

PINKYSIL

Another material which is great for replicating items is Pinkysil (RRP $35.20 for 500g). You can use it to replicate your favourite characters, buildings and other terrain shapes easily.

BarnesPinkysil500gm

Pinkysil is a skin safe silicone and quick setting (only half an hour).

Use Pinkysil in the following way:

1.) Stick your chosen item into the middle of a plastic container (a disposable plastic cup works well).

2.) Pour the Pinkysil according to the enclosed instructions. It's a simple 1:1 ratio by volume.

3.) Stir the Pinkysil until an even pink colour is achieved.

4.) Pour the Pinkysil over your chosen item in the plastic container.

5.) Wait approximately 30 minutes and then remove the pinkysil from your plastic container and remove your item.

6.) You’ve now created an exact replica mould of your item.

You can use Barnes resins to make solid replicas with products such as TC808, which they tell me is ideal for figurines and prototyping.

BarnesPinkysilSuperFast

For some more great hints and how-to's, check out this link at Barnes' site.

UPCOMING: Keep an eye out for some more featured artists and companies ...