impcon Posted June 25, 2010 Share Posted June 25, 2010 I have heard of guys using nail polish to paint models and I am wondering what the pros and cons are of painting with it and if anyone can tell me what to use for thinning it for spraying with an air brush? ALso, what precautions should be taken as far as the spraying properties of the paint goes as to how heavy of a coat can be applied?? I was looking at Wal Mart today and there are some very nice colours available.. some are even close to several stock automotive colours that I recognize. I did pick up a blue that is close to a '63 Galaxie colour and I have a convertible that is waiting for paint. Another colour is close to the original Crown Sapphire used on '59 Chevrolet passenger cars. What would you use for a top coat or do you even need one if the final coat of nail polish is applied wet? Would real automotive clear coat work as a top coat or would Future floor polish be better? ? I believe that nail polish is actually lacquer and I'd be using commercial grade laquer primer under it if I was to use it. I have used lacquer primer many times before and when applied properly, it works well with no adverse effects on the plastic. The secret is to let it sit between coats long enough for the solvents to all eveaporate. So would I apply one coat of nail polish and then let the model sit overnight to allow the solvents to evaporate before applying the last coat? Any words of caution or advice will be appreciated.. Thanks in advance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RatRod Posted June 25, 2010 Share Posted June 25, 2010 (edited) I've painted with nail polish a few times with great success. I use the Pure Ice found at Wally World, and use a low temp lacquer thinner to thin it. You have to thin nail polish quite a bit more than regular lacquers because of all the fast drying chemicals they add to it, but does go an nicely. After priming, I'll shoot a couple coats of Dupli-Color white base, then airbrush the nail polish. Give it a try, it's a good cheap alternative to HOK pearls sometimes. Pure Ice Frosted Platinum Pearl on this trike.... I shot some of the platinum pearl over white, then masked the stripes, and shot several coats of Pure Ice Hot Tamale on this one.... Edited June 25, 2010 by RatRod Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caine440 Posted June 25, 2010 Share Posted June 25, 2010 Great looking builds. I would have never thought of nail polish. I hate to sound dumb but what is a low temp lacquer thinner? How do you know it is what you need? Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
raymanz Posted June 25, 2010 Share Posted June 25, 2010 Gary, I've been painting with Nail polish for years-in fact it's one of my Fav's. Thinning goes 2to1 ratio. Two parts thinner to one part paint. I use PPG-DTL876 thinner. And I use a good automotive primer(peferablly white). Depending upon the color your gonna use,your suppose to put a close matching basecoat color down. Myself I just laydown a base of white primer. You said you where going to use a Blue-I've painted with Blue polish before and had GREAT results. Also,I mix my paint with about a 1/4 of clear nail polish(still using the 2/1 ratio) and the shine just about Knock's ya over! I,usually let my paint gas-out at least a week or more,even after using the dehydrator. Good luck and you can checkout my work at HUBGARAGE.com in Ray's RadicalMind garage-case sensetive so must be typed like you see it here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kaleb Posted June 25, 2010 Share Posted June 25, 2010 This is a great idea, cheap too. Secondly what primer? I use automotive grey primer from a rattle can, Where is the white primer?....Secondly Ive painted some chameleon metallic while I was in school on a speaker box with a flat black primer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
raymanz Posted June 25, 2010 Share Posted June 25, 2010 This is a great idea, cheap too. Secondly what primer? I use automotive grey primer from a rattle can, Where is the white primer?....Secondly Ive painted some chameleon metallic while I was in school on a speaker box with a flat black primer. White primer is just White-in a can and the gray works too. Gray Might make lighter colors a little harder to get coverage,which brings up a good point that I didn't touch on coats-how many? Depends on color of nail polish(light or dark, useually about 2too3 coats is all it takes. This is something that you just have to test. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
diymirage Posted June 25, 2010 Share Posted June 25, 2010 ive only painted one model with nailpolish it was a 99c bottle from meijer called pizzaz frost or something i thinned it out with laquer thinner to the consistancy of milk...in this case it was closer to 3 parts thinner to 1 i used a grey primer, german silver base coat and about 11 (eleven) coats of nailthinner (admitted i may have watered it down just a tiny hair to much) havent finished the model yet but here is the body Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RatRod Posted June 25, 2010 Share Posted June 25, 2010 That body looks great!!! Clear coat will really make it pop too!!! Yes, it does take more thin coats with nail polish than regular lacquer, I think I put 5-6 thin coats on the dragster. It's better to thin nail polish a tad more, than not enough, it won't spray if it's not thinned right. As far as primer goes, I'm totally sold on Plasti-Kote sandable automotive primer as basic primers go, and Dupli-Color filler primer when I need that. The Plasti-Kote comes in white, gray, black, and red oxide. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
raymanz Posted June 26, 2010 Share Posted June 26, 2010 (edited) That body looks great!!! Clear coat will really make it pop too!!! Yes, it does take more thin coats with nail polish than regular lacquer, I think I put 5-6 thin coats on the dragster. It's better to thin nail polish a tad more, than not enough, it won't spray if it's not thinned right. As far as primer goes, I'm totally sold on Plasti-Kote sandable automotive primer as basic primers go, and Dupli-Color filler primer when I need that. The Plasti-Kote comes in white, gray, black, and red oxide. Ratrod I totally agree about the Primer's and thinning. A little more and Multi-coats. Edited June 26, 2010 by raymanz Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
raymanz Posted June 26, 2010 Share Posted June 26, 2010 ive only painted one model with nailpolish it was a 99c bottle from meijer called pizzaz frost or something i thinned it out with laquer thinner to the consistancy of milk...in this case it was closer to 3 parts thinner to 1 i used a grey primer, german silver base coat and about 11 (eleven) coats of nailthinner (admitted i may have watered it down just a tiny hair to much) havent finished the model yet but here is the body That's a VERY SHARP Body and Color looks KILLER! Good Job! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
diymirage Posted June 26, 2010 Share Posted June 26, 2010 That's a VERY SHARP Body and Color looks KILLER! Good Job! why thank you hard to beleive thats a chevy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
outlaw035 Posted June 26, 2010 Share Posted June 26, 2010 (edited) i have painted several models with nail polish...i mostly use dupli-color white auto primer from pep boys or advanced auto...etc...then unless ur painting a dark color i lay down a couple of LIGHT coat of dupli-color silver lacquer since nail polish is lacquer then several light coats of nail polish u dont have to wait to long between coats...10-15 min for me...most important u have to spray closer to the model then u do with paint 5-6 inches keep it moving passed the model then sand between coats if necessary...then a couple of wet coats.. let dry i usually give it a couple days at least then hit it with clear...here is the last model i painted with nail polish... Edited June 26, 2010 by outlaw035 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mopar01lee Posted June 30, 2010 Share Posted June 30, 2010 (edited) hey guys are you people sure that nail polish is a lacquer paint and not enamel paint .. cuz i just got some pure ice nail polish , and then went on the companies site that makes the stuff an they refer to there polish as enamel ....????????? so can i thin it like enamal.... ive never used it so i dont kw wether its enamal or lacquer.. but a few salon stores an a few ladies told me its enamal as did the maker of pure ice polish , so can u ues the same stuff to thin enamals with.. Edited June 30, 2010 by mopar01lee Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
outlaw035 Posted July 1, 2010 Share Posted July 1, 2010 i always treated it as lacquer...i have even painted a few with pure ice using lacquer thinner so unless they changed the formula im treating it as lacquer...it dries so fast dont see how it could be enamel Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
impcon Posted July 1, 2010 Author Share Posted July 1, 2010 i always treated it as lacquer...i have even painted a few with pure ice using lacquer thinner so unless they changed the formula im treating it as lacquer...it dries so fast dont see how it could be enamel The thinners evaporate quicker than most reducers and you can use lacquer thinner with synthetic and acrylic enamels when painting 1:1 cars and trucks. It works but the paint will not hold it's shine as long as a reduced enamel will especially with hardners. I have used thinners with enamels for painting bumpers and wheels and it held up OK but a good shine is not that important on those areas - you really want almost a semi gloss. I agree that the nail polish really doesn't smell like lacquer - so I don't know for sure what it is. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ford Edsel Posted July 23, 2010 Share Posted July 23, 2010 (edited) Gary, I've been painting with Nail polish for years-in fact it's one of my Fav's. Thinning goes 2to1 ratio. Two parts thinner to one part paint. i have not build a model in over 10 years, so most of this is new to me. for that reason i have a few silly questions regarding this topic. does the paint have to be air brushed when using nail polish? or can it be done w/ a regular paint brush? also when doing the thinning. woudl i have to use what i thinn, or can the whole nail polish be thinned and saved for later use? Edited July 23, 2010 by Ford Edsel Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brett Posted July 23, 2010 Share Posted July 23, 2010 I always use lacquer thinners to thin mine and I think nail polish is more of a synthetic lacquer than enamel.anyways Fordedsel nope ya cant brush it not nicely anyways. On average it takes a bottle and a half of polish to fully paint a model(airbrush). I tend to buy threee of each color where posible and mix two together using at least one refilled with thinners for a starting point. Then thin some more as nessecery. If not used for a while I'll always thin again right before use. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ford Edsel Posted July 26, 2010 Share Posted July 26, 2010 ohh ok, thanks Brett Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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