Nail polish painters here

[Deleted]

Okay another little off the wall. How many of you guys have used nail polish to paint with? If so can you relay a lttle info what all is involved, talking lacquer not any of the "new" blends. Looking ahead a bit on the next project while I am waiting on some things to finish my present.

[arcticwolf]

Never painted with it, but nail polish remover does a great job of stripping paint off. And I found out accidently, also removes chrome plating if you let it sit for a few minutes and then rub gently. Paint with it? I'd be worried it would start to flake off after a while. Worth a test though.

[vintagerpm]

A few years back I used some. Sprayed very nicely, although I didn't get the color I was expecting. Polish was a metallic purple sprayed over white Tamiya primer. Put down several coats, but it never got dark. Although a dark purple in the bottle, it was a light violet on the model.

Don't think I thinned the paint at all, but did use automotive lacquer thinner to clean the airbrush afterwards. Have not tried again since then.

Mike

[Deleted]

Thanks for the responses and suggestions, but "Dr. Cranky" has 3 really nice YouTube video tutorials on this subject and they pretty much covered any and all questions I had about this. The good Doctor has a new patient.

[mickgee]

Hello W.Brown, I just last week finished a nail polish paintjob.

This one here;

Nail polish was used for two reasons.  First, getting the pink color correct.  The car is not a deep pink, or Miss Piggy pink, but rather a mild and soft pink. No one does pink paint like nail polish companies.  Secondly, I chose nail polish because it fills well.  The car body is brass sheet, and the "toe blisters" on top of the cowl were beaten in with jewelers punches, so during the build there were some dents, dings and scratches that had to be attended.

I talked with my wife about this, and she told me how to do it.

Clean the surface with alcohol.

Apply "ridge filler" generously.

Let dry an hour.

Paint over with a white base.  I used "Essie" nail paint, high quality, and doesn't dry immediately.  But you do have to work quickly.

The white base was a dream come true.  The absolute best paintjob I've ever done!  The white covered the brass that was still visible under the ridge filler.

All micro dents and scratches disappeared.

Next up was mixing the paints to get the right shade.  Mix just like you would with any other paint.

So, then the pink paint, still using Esie polish, and the brush that is supplied in the cap.!!  Yes, perfectly suited for nail polish!!

Here's the kicker....paint quickly.  Dab the brush in and spread it on slightly.  Dab it in again (lots of polish on the brush)  and apply heavily then spread it out quickly.  Keep the surface wet!  The strips of paint should overlap a bit to keep it moist.

After letting the paint set for a whole day....the polish dries to the touch in like 5 minutes.  But beware, under the surface it's not set.  Let it sit a day.  You then with 1800 or 2400 grit, wet sand in long strokes, any "puddles or uneven lapping.

After sanding...of course it the surface gets a little blunt....add a high quality nail polish gel topcoat.  What you get is a super smooth, glass like surface.  A dream!

Again, one of my all time great paint jobs.

Mike.

PS: An airbrush works great too, just it will not cover up micro dents and dings like the brush will.