So, I realize this is a subject that may have been brought up before, and the only reason I’m asking is essentially, I don’t know much of anything about nail polish beyond what little I have learned in recent days. I was (and still am) contemplating to use acrylics, as they are the predominant, more popular hobby paint used to finish scaled models. However, in recent days for some reason, “nail polish” entered my mind as a viable alternative.
Mainly I have been looking closely at acrylic inks as virtually every other acrylic manufacturer I have found does not have the colors or types of colors I want or need. They tend to have a small line of pearlescent colors, but really not much beyond a base coat and maybe one or two other colors and the rest are wrong or on the extreme spectrum of color.
However, many of these lines of acrylics are also not recommended to be airbrushed, although I have talked to some who swear they can be if you run them through a larger needle with some added flow agent and you max out the thinning ratio. They are also tend to be opaque colors and I require something more, “transparent to semi-transparent”. I can achieve most of the transparency by experimenting and testing ratios of a clear acrylic medium. It just takes some tinkering with Fair enough.
Acrylics also have some major draw backs. They tend to be very heavy and require a good 20-25 psi to spray them. They also cannot be thinned much beyond the average, recommended consistency of whole milk. Over thinning acrylics leads to all kinds of painting issued from cracking, flaking to adhesion. They tend to not get a “hard bite” into a nonporous surface such as styrene and other plastics the same ways a solvent based paint tends to do. They also do not blend or really melt into prior paint applications like lacquers do. Granted, old lacquers have gone the way of the dinosaur, but what you get with acrylics is more akin to, “layering”. Kind of like stacking cards on top of one another.
Which brings me to the idea of “nail polish”. I just started thinking of it and started looking at some brands online. Most have a good line of pearlescent colors. Pretty much the full spectrum I am looking for as well as a few others I may even consider. There are clear coats ranging from gloss, semi-gloss to a dead flat. I’d still need to monkey around with nail polish colors and clear coat ratios to achieve the level of transparency I am seeking-no difference there.
From what I have read, nail polish is an acrylic lacquer. They can be thinned pretty heavily to near water consistency, although I am not sure what thinning medium to use? I was told to use the nail polish thinner/remover, which as far as I know is basically Acetone. Acetone (to my knowledge) does not play well with styrene and ABS surfaces. It could attack surfaces and dissolve its way down and through base coats and primed surfaces. It also could produce some unwanted painting problems of its own like poor surface finishes, clogging needles and drying up inside your airbrush.
That being said, I further read that others have thinned them out with lacquer thinner (which is another hurdle of mine). I can’t get good lacquer thinner in my state. However, it was said that nail polish dried quickly, dries almost overnight practically and cured super hard which might allow me to do with it that acrylics won’t allow due to how soft they tend to be. I can wet sand and polish (use polishing compounds) between painting sessions which might give me an even better painting finish and results.
In the end, what I am seeking is hopefully someone who might be able to help me finish dotting all my i’s and crossing all my t’s concerning the use of nail polish over hobby paints. I don’t know everything and am simply repeating what I found out/read about. I am certain there are other things that have not yet occurred to me nor have I thought of?
I’d like to know of any airbrushing issues, the best thinning ratio results, what thinner(s) were used, any problems with taping and masking or removing tape, templates and masks (Were there clean lines?). What psi was used, how the nail polish went down on surfaces? Using any of the clear coast? Can you combine the clear coats with colors? Drying issues. Decal application problems (if there were any?). Really I’m looking for a full review from someone who had/has more experience using them over me which I should think will not be that difficult. Any help in these departments would be greatly appreciated.