Ever make a silicone prosthetic and think to yourself -  all my pieces are just different shades of orange?
You're not alone.

Artists often say to us, "We love the variety of colours in your Ink range. Why don't you make silicone pigments to match"?
Great idea! But that's 130 colours 🤯

We did a little research and found that most brands of silicone colourants only have 5 or 6 base pigments.
And sure, you can mix - but inevitably you have a very limited choice of colours when making prosthetics.

Worst of all, with so few pigments available to colour silicone intrinsically, artists inevitably limit their colour choices when colouring prosthetics extrinsically.
This is true of all skin tones - light and dark.
In other words, if the prosthetic is 'orang-y' on the inside, that will dictate your colour choice on the outside too.

But your colour choices should be based on the actor's skin tone, or the character, not by the fact that your silicone pigment didn't have the right red in it (for example).

Unlike most silicone pigments, our Ink range uses many different base pigments, not just 'primaries', black and white.
For example, we use seven different basic reds! Which means our skin tones are far more nuanced and individual.

But, before we began on the arduous task of developing 130 colours to tint silicone, we thought we should try one thing.
That thing felt really dumb, but we did it anyway; we mixed a few drops of our Ink into some silicone... and to our surprise, it worked!
And, the more we tried it and the more we pushed it, the more our Ink kept working.
And working.
Against all common sense regarding silicone inhibition, it kept on working - in tin and platinum!

So now, instead of buying a whole new range 130 'silicone tinters', you can simply use Bluebird Ink straight out of the bottle!
Best of all, you can match the ink colour to your actor's skin tone beforehand, make the pieces, apply & colour them - all with the same product.
It's SO simple.

So, how do you tint silicone using our inks?
Just like any normal colourant!

But, first a disclaimer - always test first.
We have tried our Inks in many silicones, but our tests are not exhaustive.
Also, we may not use silicones in the same way you do. So... always test.
Remember too that, as well as pigment, our Inks also contain alcohol and other ingredients, so it may be possible to overuse them.
Again, only testing will tell it they are suitable for your specific use.
This is especially true of our Fluoro and Pearl colours.

But we are very confident that Bluebird Inks will be suitable for the majority of prosthetic requirements.
If you use our Inks to give a soft translucent skin tone, then you should have no problems whatsoever using our Inks.
If however you are trying to get a super-solid, super-opaque colour to your silicone, you might be best to use standard silicone pigments.

OK. With that out of the way, the rest is easy.
Simply use our Inks in the same way as you would any silicone pigment.

You can add our Ink any time that suits you during the mixing process.
If you are starting out, we suggest you mix equal amounts of Ink separately in Part A and Part B (and Part D:Deadener, if you are using it).
This will show you exactly the colour you will achieve once everything is mixed together and allow you to concentrate on the pour alone.
If you are creating multiple pieces, you can mix the pigment into the silicone ahead of time, but only tint what you will use that same day.

The actually tinting is really easy. Shake or stir the Ink well and add it drop by drop, until you get the colour and translucency you prefer.
You don't need all our Inks as they can be easily intermixed.
And if you need to tweak a colour or if you prefer to use primes and oxides for the whole job, here are some of our most useful mixing colours-
Rust (Red oxide)
Old Gold (Yellow Oxide)
White (Titanium Oxide)
Black (Black No.2)
Sunflower (Yellow No. 5)
Marigold (Yellow No. 6)
Cobalt (Ultramarine)
Bloody Mary (Red No. 40)
Fuchsia (Red No. 7)
Scarlet (Red No.6)
Cyan (Blue No.1)
Iris (Manganese Violet)
Bruise (98% Red No.33)
Nightshade (90% Ferric Ferrocyanide)
Tobacco (a transparent brown)
Dried Blood

You should only need few drops for a nose or chin.
Our Inks are not as concentrated as silicone pigment, but they are SO much easier to get right.
Note: We don't recommend you use our Translucent Toner or Transparent range of Ink colour as you will simply need too much.

Once mixed, silicone can be de-gassed in a chamber as usual.

Cons:
WARNING: Do not use a flame-torch to de-gas silicone tinted with our Ink, as the Ink contains alcohol which is flammable.
Too much Ink may have side effects such as shrinkage (as the alcohol flashes off) and inhibition. Always test 😀

We are sure you will be amazed at how easy it is to use our Inks to tint silicone.
And with so many ready-mixed colours to work with, you will get amazing (skin) tones - both in the silicone and on the silicone!

Before we leave the subject of colouring silicone intrinsically with Bluebird Ink, I thought I would quickly cover a couple of additional points on colour -

Back-painting - Yes, you can use our inks with or without silicone to back-paint prosthetics and props.
Simply coat your mould with your favourite bald-cap material or silicone skin-coat and you are ready to start back-painting.
If you require a soft airbrushed look, you can go straight in with our Inks, then fill with silicone as usual.
If you want stronger /thicker colours, just use our Inks in silicone and brush in.

Post-Colouring - If you need to colour your silicone post cure, you can do that too!
Just mix and colour. You can do this with calking type silicones, as well as A:B

Do you need to thin your coloured silicone for spraying onto silicon? No problem!
Simply add the Ink to your silicone before you add thinner.
We recommend you try our Sil-Sol, as it is much safer than Naphtha, but as always, test first.

Here is a goofy little job we did for a comedy snake bite.
We made a swollen silicone glove and coloured the whole thing - inside and out - with Bluebird Inks mixed with silicone (and Sil-Sol to spray).
(Note the actor's other hand in the background for comparison).