Painting with nail polish???

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jttheclockman

jttheclockman

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Anyone out there use nail polish to either paint their tubes or paint the inside of a blank?? If so is there a special kind that works better than another and if so what is it and where to get it?? Does anyone do caston tube blanks and use nail polish to paint the background of the tube?? I know there are some here that use clear nail polish to adhere watch parts. Does this work well and is there any negative when using epoxy resins?? Do you see it after it has been turned?? If using colored nail polish do you apply any special way to get rid of brush strokes or is it self leveling?/

I know alot of questions but would like to know is this a route that is possible. Also would like to hear any negatives to using this weather for casting or just using to reverse paint a translucent blank. There seems to be alot of colors. Thanks for the replys.
 
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I'm curious about this too. It seems ideal for a couple reasons: 1) many, many colors available 2) relatively inexpensive 3) small containers don't take up a bunch of room.

I've only tried it once so far and it worked... okay. I applied it to the tube but not the blank and ended up with some bubbles and smearing of the paint. This could be because it was too tight a fit, because I was using CA instead of epoxy, or both.

Note that over time nail polish thickens up and becomes gluey. It can't be thinned with acetone, you would need to use dedicated nail polish thinning solution.

Looking forward to hearing if others have worked out a way to use it better than I have.
 
I have painted a tube with red nail polish , individually CA glued moose hairs longitudinally around the painted tube , over cast with Alumilite clear , then CA`d again after turning and sanding , to get high gloss . Also have used a red nail polished tube in Alumilite casting of a Colorado blue spruce cone (all of the seeds and some scales removed by squirrels before casting) , and in an unstabilized corn cob . Both looked good . All of these were done about 10 years ago , when I was still using CA to glue tubes in . The colour showing in all of these was in small patches , so brush strokes were not visible . I wouldn`t hesitate to reverse paint a blank with it . My memory is hazy . I may have reverse painted the corn cob , rather than the tube .
 
I have used nail polish to paint "the hole" in the blank. . I don't like using nail polish because it dries a bit too quickly. .( If you are too slow it can go "gummy" before you are finished applying it.) . Painting the hole is better than painting the brass tube (glue lines can still show through).

I don't know the subsequent history of those blanks because I gave them to a friend and he did the pen assembly and finishing.

One problem with painting the hole of the blank is that you can accidentally scrape the paint off when you insert the brass tube ... care required.

My best blank painting successes have been with that "chalky" paint that is used for creating short term seasonal signs inside windows.
I say "chalky" because it is non-glossy and when it is dry and you wipe it off a window it comes off somewhat like chalk dust off a blackboard.

The brand name is Rust-Oleum, which you would have likely heard of from other products.
I think you can get it at specialty craft stores like Michael's, but I got mine at a hardware disposals store.

I like it because it dries quickly (but not as quickly as nail polish) taking about 20-30 minutes. . It is fairly opaque but sometimes requires 2 coats.
There are not a great variety of colors but you can mix the colors to get what you want. . Gentle heating with hair dryer helps it dry quicker.
It comes in a cylinder much like a big fat marking pen (but fatter) with a felt (I think) application tip which I take off.
I take the writing end off (with pliers) and then dip a long Q-tip in to get the paint out ... somewhat inconvenient. Replace tip when done.

I have also used water-based liquid acrylic paints from a craft store. . These are artist quality paints. . They don't dry quickly and I don't like them for that reason but they do work if you are prepared to wait overnight. . Large range of colors at Michael's ... don't remember the brands.
 
I have tried a variety of for colors and brands of nail polish on the inside of the blank with limited success. One thing I will say is just like may other things I found that you get what you pay for. The more expensive the nail polish the better it covered. I personally have found rustoleum 2x paint and primer spray paint has given me the best results so far.
 
Ive tried it with several varieties of glitter nail polish to be able to produce a glitter slimline. I mounted the tubes on a threaded rod with some delrin cones to paint them and after letting it dry for a day I cast them in clear polyresin. The part you have to be careful with is the nail polish is usually a bit soft and stretchy so you can have problems turning the resin close to the polish layer and it has a tendency to debond with the resin there. Since nail polish can be made of different materials its hard to predict how it will act in each combination.
 
I use nail polish to paint tubes. But here is how i use it. I mix nail polish 50/50 with paint thinner. I then use my airbrush to spray it at 22 psi. Works fine. And I use the same formula for painting model cars. I also us Sally Hansen Hard as Nails clear to glue watch parts. Never had an issue, but i only use alumilite to cast with
 
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