Thread: Troll brush

hi all,
after a recent post conversation between myself and andrew jm i have decided to try to make a troll brush.
The idea is to de-handle a no-name bristle knot, procure a 3" tall troll doll and replce its hair with the knot.
can anyone help with answers to the following:
1- the trolls are a vinyl type plastic, i will need to fill it with some sort of resin, what would be best? it needs to secure the knot in place and also fill the hollow doll, i was going to use a 2 part syringe with a mixing nozzle so that i can get right down into the legs, is that the right thing to use, as far as i can tell it wont melt the vinyl. i planned to test fit the knot for height, then fill it just shy of that point, let it set, then glue the knot in.

2- can i dye the knot with anything permenant that wont ruin it? ideally it needs to be a lurid colour like purple, red, orange etc.

3- the donor brush has a wooden handle and the knot has a brass ring around it which i assume is part of the plug, i dont have much in the way of tooling available to me, is the best plan to just start whittling the wood away and see what happens? i have a stanley knife, screwdrivers and access to a hacksaw where i am.

4- can anyone confirm the diameter of a 3" troll dolls head?

no i am not trying to pull your legs, i would like to make this work, i think it would be fun.

Ed, this is a fantastic idea. My daughter has many Troll dolls at home, sadly..... I'm not at home but I'm pretty sure that troll dolls are solid. you wouldn't need to fill it up. The problem I see is the hair line of the troll. I don't think you'll be able to just pull out the hair, you'll have to buzz it down to "the wood." then drill for the knot, leaving the old hair line around the "new hair"

Dang I wish I had one of those suckers here so I could be more help.

Could you post a pic of the donor brush you'll be removing the knot from.

Im sorry that I can't help you out with your project Ed but I must say that I think it's a great idea and I can't wait to see the outcome. : )

This might help for ideas.

Originally Posted by HARRYWALLY

This might help for ideas.

Cheers Harry, i cant claim the idea, it was Andrews, i have looked up various troll websites and they are definately hollow, there was an article on replacing the hair with a light up marge Simpson type do, i could see all the way down to the feet.
And yes, the hairline is lower at the back, it might not matter if I can get enough of the plug into the head.
I did email an eBay seller asking about the diameter of the troll they were selling, they probably think I am a nutter

I will take a photo of the brush when I get back to camp in an hour or so.

i think beetroot juice might work to dye the knot, what do you guys think?

Sounds cool Ed.

I've got no experience with this sort of stuff whatsoever, but in terms of filling it with resin (or similar) and gluing in the knot, would there be anything wrong with using Araldite beyond the fact it would be rather pricey?

No idea on the dye, but I suppose food colouring would be pretty harmless though it might not last long. Dye for people's hair may prove more permanent, I don't know. Possibly a good approach would be to have a test knot you can play with - pull a few bristles out and test them on the various dyes you choose to see what works?

Anyway, good luck. Sounds like a fun project.

James.

As for the knot being dyed, what kind of hair will it be. I imagine if it is light colored boar or badger it would take coloring well although I don't know if the quality of the brush would hold up. I think a synthetic would probably be up to maintain its quality from being dyed but I don't know if it would hold the color or fade really fast.

Beet root juice could work well. I once went on a juice diet and had 1 beet juice drink and it dyed my poop for 2 days.

Here you go - can't speak to the veracity of the info, but it sounds as though he knows what he is talking about....
dye painting brush bristles

James.

Originally Posted by Jimbo

Here you go - can't speak to the veracity of the info, but it sounds as though he knows what he is talking about....
dye painting brush bristles

James.

He does mention vinegar so perhaps the juice from pickled beetroot would work. Cheers Jimbo.