Preparation & Repainting
Strip the figure (a piece of velcro from a cast-off FC outfit prevents any snags incase you want to reuse this costume).
Used a hairdryer to warm the arms and legs allowing me to pop out the hands and feet.
Time to repaint her face (doing so at this stage guards against accidental paint spills on the completed outfit!). Wanted to start with a relatively blank canvas so applied some nailpolish remover with a cotton bud over the existing paint and worried away with a cocktail stick, (mopping up with a clean paper towel) slowly removing the original paint scheme. Don't use too much remover as it can weaken the vinyl
Then time for her new paintjob. Repainted the eyes, trying to make them less slanted. Added new pupils, a base of dark green, inside that lighter green then the black pupils and finally a couple of white specks to bring the eyes alive. Painted on new eyebrows and new lips (lining the latter in a darker hue).
'Fraid I can't really offer up any tips for painting - you'll get the hang of it after a while. Just make sure your paints aren't too thick and gungy as you want it to go on nice and smoothly. Two or three thin layers might take longer than one thick, but they'll look far better.
For the hands and feet, as they were to end up gold I first applied a yellow undercoat (acrylic metallics tend to need a colour beneath them). Stuck the hands and feet into bits of plasticene to make the painting of them much easier.
