Nail Polish...anyone ever use them for painting?

[jpolacchi]

So, I never really thought of using it and today I was. Nail polish. I know acrylics are the thing now, enamels are going the way of the dinosaur despite have loads of Flowquil R.R and military enamels, I have more or less run out of thinner Well, I have a very limited supply anyway and had been using it sparingly. I can't buy, "real solvents" let alone real lacquer thinner in my state which has been me off for years now. Every hardware store has replaced the real thing with EPA friendly solvents and that goes for everything that I desperately need. And I mean I need everything: MEK, Acetone, Mineral Spirits. I ran out of some things a few years ago and have not been able to replace them.

That being said, I was briefly looking over nail polish. I think they are "acrylic lacquers"? Apparently there are also flat, semi-gloss and gloss clear coats and I found a fair number of pearlescent colors. And they can be airbrushed. Although I'm not sure if the thinner for nail polish should be used since I think that because it is acetone it may either "melt styrene and craze other plastics" and/or strip off any base coats or primer coats underneath? So...I'm not sure how to get around that? I'm also not sure how much you can thin them out? They are an acrylic lacquer, so I imagine quite a bit? Maybe upwards of 50% or maybe more but that would make them too *hot* I think? I just don't know anything about nail polish?

I think with a little experimentation I can get the right transparency of color combining the nail polish colors with the clear gloss coats and, " I think" nail polish cures a lot harder than straight acrylics do? So...maybe wet sanding and polishing between coats and finishing might be doable which can't be done with regular acrylics because they are too soft? In any case, I was hoping to hear some opinions and maybe from someone who has actually used nailpolish to paint up and finish a kit?

[Wug]

I've never used it, but car modelers have airbrushed nail polish for ages. There are bound to be a bunch of videos on youtube.

[jpolacchi]

Thanks, I thought of that but wanted to see if anyone knew in here or tried it? My biggest hurdle is getting solvents. I used up all my real lacquer thinner a long time ago, as well as the MEK, Acetone, and I have some M.M airbrush thinner, no mineral spirits because I can't get any of the real stuff. All I can get is that echo friendly EPA green and I'm not so sure about using that stuff in really expensive model enamels.

[Zubie]

I don't airbrush, but I would suggest testing on scrap...surely you have some somewhere.

I have used nail polish on paper models that will get painted over as a way to harden paper and allow it to be sanded as that prevents piling of the paper. I do think that as a paint, some of the pigment grains in the metal flake blends can be sort of big. In the case of nails, well that's for effect so its a non issue for nails. It as no adverse effects on PET that I know of but does seem to stick to it quite well. No experience with styrene. It is quite inflammable. Nail polish is typically made with nitro-cellulose aka gun cotton. It will burn readily if exposed to direct flame even after application and dried. It makes me think that if used in an airbrush extraordinary care should be taken to not have it near open flame, cigarettes or sparks. Since paper is already not flame proof, in that respect I don't worry that much with regard to how I use it.

[Kylwell]

Used to be that nail polish were lacquers, well technically synthetic lacquers but lets be real nobody uses original lacquers anymore. That being said I'd suggest a lacquer thinner, typically 80% acetone and 20% unicorn farts, to try to thin them. I've tried a number of less smelly lacquer thinners and they too work even if you end up with a craving for Panda Express. Acetone, as a note, is one of the less hazardous cleaners/solvents. Even California hasn't been able to ban acetone. It breaks down easily into components like water & alcohol.

[jpolacchi]

So, would using the nail polish cleaner be better than buying Acetone itself? I was under the impression that in CA (where I am) that you can't get real Acetone. You can only get that "green" EPA approved stuff. Not as I know/remember it? Maybe I've been wrong all this time? Also, wouldn't the acetone melt styrene and craze other plastics like acrylic or polycarbonate? Not sure how Acetone reacts with ABS?It might melt that too. I know,"experiment first", but....acetone and styrene don't get along well to my recollection. I'm concerned using acetone as an airbrush thinner as it might melt styrene and remove/damage any base coat or primer. It bugs me also because I want to get other solvents like MEK,Mineral Spririts (enamel thinner basically), lacquer thinner and maybe Toulene and Naptha and all they have at hardware stores are the EPA alternates. Oregon and even Nevada are a bit of a drive. for me and not the nicest of roads to be on in the winter. Like 8-12 hour drive.

[Kylwell]

In thin coats lacquer thinned with lacquer thinner dries too fast to affect the plastic. If you soak it in lacquer thinner there will be problems. 100% flashes off too quickly for a lot of uses which is why there is lacquer thinner, now with even more unicorn farts.

Nail polish cleaner/remover covers a wide range of chemicals and is generally more expensive that just using lacquer thinner.

You can thin regular Tamiya paint with lacquer thinner and most GSI paints. For really good effect you can use GSI's Mr. Color Leveling Thinner which lets the paint level out a bit more before hardening. It can and will regenerate previous coats of paint depending on the type. I use it over Mr. Surfacer or Tamiya Fine White without issue.

MEK is not only highly hazardous but commonly used as a plastics glue. Same with Toulene & methylene chloride. Enamels, aka mineral spirit/paint thinner based paints, are very hard when cured. So hard that most common solvents won't touch them which with why cleaning your airbrush after use is so very important. Just look up your local hardware store, like Lowes, and see if they have lacquer thinner in stock.

[jpolacchi]

The Hardware stores (Lowes&Home Depot.) have those solvents, but they have all been reformulated for CA as you know. How good they are I don't know? Like I said, it's all those reformulated "green" EPA approved solvents. Call me stubborn or set in my ways, but I prefer the NOS stuff. I know how toxic MEK is and other solvents. I used MEK extensively for welding styrene and ABS together. A charcoal filter doesn't hurt to use around it. Acrylic requires acrylic solvent(obviously).

[Kylwell]

Look up the MSDS on them. You'll find them chock full of acetone.

There are "green" lacquer thinners and they genuinely work. They smell like soy is about the only drawback. We used to use them a lot for cleaning airbrushes when we didn't have a vent booth.

[jpolacchi]

Well, I'd be willing to pay someone to buy the solvents I want out of state and ground ship them to me, but I don;t know anyone in any neighboring states who would be willing to do that? And, UPS or some other outfit might not be willing to ship those items accross state lines and if they did, they might charge more than what the solvents would cost?

[Wug]

You could go into a nail salon and ask the workers what thinner they use. Maybe you could buy a bottle from them.

[jpolacchi]

Pretty sure they strictly use acetone although I am not 100% on that. I had thought of that...but I'd like to get larger volumes of solvents. Like 1/2 to full gallons of MEK, Acrylic Lacquer thinner, Acetone. Mineral spirits etc.

[Bellerophon]

I once touched up a rental car with nail polish. Does that count?

They didn't come after me about the scratches, so I must've done a decent job.