Nail Polish Anyone?

Thrusterhead Jones · Post by **Thrusterhead Jones** » Mon Jun 01, 2009 12:24 pm

Has anybody out there tried/used fingernail polish for painting? My daughter has amassed a collection of polishes she never uses, and I though this could be a good source for interesting finishes.

AZRhino · Post by **AZRhino** » Mon Jun 01, 2009 12:35 pm

Supposedly, the car guys use it all the time. Nice cheap source of enamel paint that comes in a lot of interesting colors. Thin with acetone, and away you go!

Rogviler · Post by **Rogviler** » Mon Jun 01, 2009 1:16 pm

Yeah, you can pretty much expect the same results as with the little square bottles of Testor's enamel, i.e. way too thick out of the bottle, takes awhile to lose the tacky surface, et cetera.

Once you thin it, it usually takes a few good coats to get a nice coverage, but on the other hand you can get some interesting translucent effects with different basecoats. Silver underneath is a popular choice.

A lot of it also depends on the quality of the polish. The $1 stuff is less opaque than the $10 bottles.

-Rog

eeun · Post by **eeun** » Mon Jun 01, 2009 1:32 pm

I've tried some pearl-finish nail polish, thinned with lacquer thinner. It was had a blue tint, but thinned out enough and sprayed over black it just left this nice blue/green/purple glow depending on the angle.
Applying several coats of Future once it cured gave it a nice shine.

Other polishes I've tried haven't been as successful. After the first test I picked up six bottles of $1 polish in varying colours, and they pretty much were all crap. The first bottle was more expensive, so I guess you get what you pay for.

This was all done for testing...I've only tried it on scrap parts so far.

Rogviler · Post by **Rogviler** » Mon Jun 01, 2009 2:10 pm

The above reminded me that I should've noted that I would only spray it. Brushing it on does not turn out well.

-Rog