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Using Acrylic Fingernail filler for bodywork


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Well Mike, I used the product from Sally's beauty supply store and I used Alumilite molding material for the mold. It is very smooth after it cures. I then pored in the liquid and then the powder. After it cured it was just as smooth as the mold. I myself can't tell which one is the original and which is the copy from the picture cause I forget and the only way I can find out is to take them off the car and look. :)

They both are sprayed with Alclad. The original had its chrome worn off so it had to be redone also. Dan

Oh wow ... pour in separately? So is the powder just a filler? Looks like I have to go back and try it this way. Thanks for the input Dan. :D

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Thanks for the info, I'll try it myself on a few things I have laying around, I sure can't seem to cast anything using resin!

I don't have very good luck doing this either Mike. I do like using this fingernail stuff to make small parts though. It works fine for me. I have had some parts come out not complete sometimes but that may be due to the shape of the part and I have to do it over and be just a little more carefull when I pour the liquid in and then the powder. Just do it a little at a time until I get the part fully made. It doesn't take very long in the process and it's ready to go in no time at all after it sets for a few minutes in the mold. Dan

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Oh wow ... pour in separately? So is the powder just a filler? Looks like I have to go back and try it this way. Thanks for the input Dan. :D

I guess so Mike. This is the way my friend Mark, who's business is making dental parcials and false teeth, showed me how he does it when he uses his dental stuff to make parts for his models. He has access to all kinds of stuff that we can use in modeling but his stuff is very expensive. This fingernail stuff is almost the same stuff he uses but this is not dental quality. It smells the same though. Bad, real bad to me anyway. :lol: I use it for all the small parts that I have to make. Dan

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  • 2 weeks later...

I tried Dan's method of pouring the liquid into the mold and adding the powder afterward. My success wasn't that great. It's slightly less gritty than mixing first but the powder still sank to the bottom and got the surface gritty. Maybe another brand of powder will dissolve in the liquid. The door handle was painted with MM Chrome Silver and not finished at all other than scraping away "flash" from the bottom. The mold was RTV silicon squish cast against a door with the handle.

doorHandleNailCastingDSC_8302.jpg

Edited by Foxer
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  • 1 year later...

I always wondered about the use of this stuff in my model building. My wife used to do nails and has all of this stuff still laying around at my disposal. Plus she just started to let me use her electric file, with a very fine speed control, after I told her I was filing/shaping by hand because my Dremel was to "hot" for the task and just melted the plastic.

Thank you for this great and helpful tip!

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No problem at all Will, I just hope it becomes another tool in your arsenal of tricks!

And if you noticed, most of the pictures are missing, that's due to Fotki having server issues (That they say will be resolved soon). It seems that some of their servers were in the NYC area and were affected by Hurricane Sandy. Once the server issues are resolved, they say my pictures will be back, we'll see!

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  • 7 years later...

Yes, you can find pretty much anything on eBay or Amazon.  And the stuff described here was originally made as a dental resin for temporary fillings or caps.  Then nail salons started using it on fingernails.  I believe Paul Budzik (dentist by trade and an excellent modeler) was my introduction to using this type of material (for casting small parts). Back then it was still only available from dental suppliers.  IIRC I learned this technique in Paul's article in FineScale Modeler Magazine.  Yes, that unloved by car modelers magazine.

But since the time it started being used by nail salons, the acrylic powder and liquid were easily obtainable (in larger quantities) from beauty supply stores.  I often go there with my GF and I find all sorts of useful modeling supplies.  All sorts of emery boards, sanding sticks, tweezers and other tools, nail polish remover in (acetone and non-acetone) in gallon size bottles, small rhinestones, brushes, sponge applications, and hundreds of nail polishes in  many colors which are prefect "car colors".  They also have rub-on transfers with all sorts of images that make excellent model car graphics.  If you have one of the beauty supply stores, I highly recommend going there and checking out their inventory.

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