Glossing Flat Acrylic Paints

[Stonepointer]

Today I made my first use of an airbrush and I wanted to start out using cheap craft paints, because I do not want to waste good airbrush paint while learning how to use an airbrush.

 

Okay, I am also kind of cheap, but I do intend on purchasing either some Createx, Spectra-Tex (which is the most closely available airbrush paint I can find), or maybe some other more efficient airbrush paint in the near future.

 

However, in the meantime while I am learning, I will use some of the water based acrylic craft paints, because they are really inexpensive.

 

I am using a siphon type airbrush; one is the kind that a discount tool warehouse sells and I also have a Badger clone of the siphon type put out by a model making company.

 

Of course I had to thin the paint I was using and did so by slowly adding distilled water and mixing little bits at a time so it would not lump.  I also added acrylic floor finish and came close, but not exactly at about 1/3 by volume of each substance of paint, water, and floor finish.

 

Really, I just mixed the 3 substances in that order until it seemed to have about the same thickness as best I could remember as some Spectra-Tex I picked up and shook at a local art supply store.

 

I sprayed 2 lures today, already with a dried D2T seal coat over foil and the paint sprayed okay with a belly coat of white and a mix of colors that seemed close to trout greens I had come across in the past, but it came out a little flat when it dried.

 

One lure came out fair as far as spraying and masking was concerned, and the other not so much. 

 

No clogs, but I obviously need to work on how I move the brush as well as the distance of the brush to the workpiece.

 

I also tried to gloss the flat looking paint after it dried to some degree with a model brush and floor finish. I think using a model brush was a mistake because it started to grab up some of the already applied paint and caused some small holidays.

 

The after coat of floor finish will give a gloss to the paint though, but the next time I try this, I will instead spray a mix of floor finish and distilled water instead of brushing it. I will have to experiment with the ratio of water to finish, as I am not sure I should spray the finish alone from the brush.

 

I will also give the paint longer drying time before trying to gloss it.

 

After this I want to use some thin strips of plastic iridescent ribbon glued on the sides of the lure and some paste on plastic eyes, I will then over coat with some more D2T.

 

Anyone have an idea how long I should wait before applying the D2T?

 

I obviously have to wait for the glue on the plastic ribbon to dry, but I might do more lures this way, if it is feasible.

 

With lures with just paint and gloss alone I am thinking maybe 3 days before applying the D2T.

 

If anyone else has ideas on how to gloss flat looking paint I would like to hear them.

 

I know some will say just buy the gloss type of paints but thinning with water flattens the paint to some degree anyway.

 

 

[Seeking 56]

Can't speak for the other topcoats but Etex will gloss any color it covers. 

 

s54

[RayburnGuy]

It doesn't sound like your using any type of external heat to dry your paint. There are many, many threads about "heat setting" paint so you may want to read up on some of these. Personally I use a heat gun set on low to dry and set each coat of paint. This allows me to move along without having to wait for paint to dry before applying the next coat of paint. Another advantage is that when I'm done painting a bait, and have made sure the paint is properly set, I can move right on to top coating it. This applies only to the acrylic paints I use. I don't use lacquers or solvent based paints so I can't help you with those.

 

Ben

[BobP]

I'm wondering about "glossing" paint too.  Whatever the gloss state of the paint, your topcoat of D2T will gloss the whole bait, so I can't see the need.  You do need to have dry paint before you apply a topcoat.  D2T will cure hard over just about anything including damp paint but damp paint will never adhere well to the lure and it may cause problems later.  I've applied D2T immediately after painting, using a hair dryer to speed dry acrylic paints as I shot them.  No problem.

 

One caution about Pledge floor polish.  It dries much harder than latex paint so be sure to clean your airbrush 100% after using it.  I've left some in the barrel of my brush and had to use pliers to pull the needle out of the brush after it had dried.

[Stonepointer]

Thank you everyone for the replies.

 

I guess it does seem a little redundant to gloss the paint when a clear coat of epoxy will be applied later on.

 

I was concerned that it would just look like a flat coat of paint under a clear glossy coat of epoxy. 

 

I was thinking maybe the acrylic floor finish would somehow bond with the acrylic paint to give some kind of shine to the paint, and it does to some degree make the paint shine visually a little bit more.

 

As far as the floor finish gumming up the needle in the airbrush, I did not use the Badger 350 clone, but the other cheaper brush which is some kind of straight barrel shaped fluid cap siphon fitting.  I am planning on using the clone for airbrush specific paint only.

 

Last night I glued the iridescent plastic ribbon strips on the sides, then I spotted it using an old toothbrush dipped in paint and flicked the paint at a distance onto the lure. After this I applied the plastic paste on eyes.

 

This morning I decided to use a hairdryer on it as BobP mentions and it is now probably dry enough to apply the epoxy coat. 

 

The green paint seems lighter in color than it was yesterday, but it still looks like a small rainbow trout, hopefully enough to fool a fish.

 

It is far from perfect, but once the eyes were placed on, the lure really seemed to take on more character.

 

I am thinking about using red treble hooks with it when I get I get to that step, but I am still not sure whether I should or not.

 

Anyway, this is one of my more serious attempts at making a wooden hardbait, but even if it does not turn out in the long run, I will take it as a learning experience to make better lures later.

 

Thank you all very much for the information.