Eagle feathers

[DC]

My wife gave me a different formulation that may be gentler on the feathers. I'll let you know. The hair dye is not a liquid. It's a two part pasty cream. When I put it on with a brush it kind of left a hard line which didn't look great. I'm going to try to dab it on with a sponge. These hair dyes come in a massive assortment of colors. The one I posted above has a bluish tinge when not left long enough. Bald eagles up here tend to lean to the brownish black so the stuff I got this time is hopefully more realistic.

[DC]

Here's what I got. With a little more fiddling it should look great. I can't help but see a dyed fake feather, but that's the way I am.

[JW_Halverson]

Oh dang, son!  That looks better than the ones you can get from the different suppliers. 

Can you tell me your process to get that?

[DC]

My wife says to go down to the store and get the darkest hair color you can. If it has a code on it what you are looking for is something like 2N. I used 3N on this one. The number is the darkness from 1-10, 1 being Spanish and 10 being Swedish. The N stands for neutral but there are a bunch more A-ash, R-red, like that. Remember this stuff is for hair, not feathers so results vary. 3N worked well because it tend toward brown so if it comes out a little light it looks brownish which works because eagles are brownish black. The first one I tried was 1A and it looked blueish when it was too light. Anyway the stuff comes in two parts. You mix it 50/50 by weight. It's a pasty cream. I dabbed it on with a torn sponge and it looks like it. There must be a better way. Once its on let it sit for 45 min, covered with something so it doesn't dry out, and rinse it off. My feathers feel natural with lots of body . They preen like they always did.  I've been trying to come up with a method that doesn't leave a sharp edge, I want it to fade into the rest of the feather. I haven't thought of anything yet. If I can help any more let me know.

You're the one I wanted to talk to about this. When I Googled eagle feathers I kind of got side tracked to fake eagle feathers. They showed these white feathers with a black tip. It took a while to dawn on me that eagles don't look like that. At least not ours. Not a black tip on the bird. What kind of eagle are these fake eagle feather manufacturers copying?

[JW_Halverson]

Lot of variation in eagle feathers depending on age and species.  Never really can tell for sure!

[Ranasp]

If you're looking for a gradient/blurred edge, I'd go back to the feather after about half of the time has passed that you're setting the dye and add a bit more fresh to the edge.  That way the edge will have dye sitting on it for only half the time that the rest of the feather, and should be lighter as a result.  If you wanted to blend it further, then half the time again and brush on more onto fresh feather.  Also, they have flat brushes for putting dye on hair, that might work as well/better than a sponge since the bristles can get in between the feather tines.

[Aaron H]

Is the hair dye thin enough to spray through an airbrush?   You should be able to do really nice fades if it was.

[JoJoDapyro]

Is the hair dye thin enough to spray through an airbrush?   You should be able to do really nice fades if it was.

That is a good idea. Some is thick like a gel, but I assume it can be thinned.

[DC]

It's quite thick. Like ketchup. Way too thick for an airbrush. I'm sure thinning it would result in a very washed out grey. As for putting it on in layers, I'd thought of that and am going to try it. I think it's going to step down in bands though. Maybe I could put some on and then pull some of it down the feather with a wet(plain water) brush. I'll see if I've got time to try a couple of things this afternoon.

[bowtarist]

This is cool stuff. Who woulda thunk a beauty salon could be such a practical wear house for us primitive archers. Strong peroxide for bleaching skulls and bones and now strong hair dye to dye feathers and such. Good stuff!! dp

[Ranasp]

http://g03.a.alicdn.com/kf/UT8l.yJXhNeXXagOFbXo/122962447/UT8l.yJXhNeXXagOFbXo.jpg  is the kind of brush I'm talking about by the way.  It's designed to work with the goopy thick dye, while a normal bristle brush will just have the dye clump and slide off. 

[DC]

I've got one of those brushes. It didn't work any better/different than the sponge. It actually might have made the edges sharper which is not what I'm after. I tried a couple more. The top one is smearing with a wet brush, the bottom is 3 layers 15 min apart, each one getting bigger, like you suggested. I think I can see where it might be working a bit but it still needs work. The pen is just to hold the feathers flat. This was with a different dye which is why its browner. I'll go back to the other dye. Nosense changing to many things.

[DC]

I did a couple more with the original dye and it behaves slightly differently. So I think what you will have to do is buy the hair dye of your choice and then experiment a bit. In this picture again the bottom is layered 15 min apart and the top one is pulled down the feather with a wet brush. The wet brush didn't work as well this time because this dye is oil based. Anyway I'm liking the results and I will be using it. It's a little fussy and I'm sure someone will come up with a better way. Maybe Rit. The top picture was taken without a flash and the bottom with a flash. The true color is closer to the bottom.

[sleek]

Dont let a warden catch you with those! Your gonna have a time convincing him they aint real....

[Ranasp]

Looking really good!  You might be able to add a brown tint afterwards by letting the tips sit in coffee grounds, but I'm not sure how that would affect the feathers.  People do it all the time to make paper look aged in calligraphy.