shooting fingernail polish through an airbrush

raser13 · Post by **raser13** » Wed Feb 02, 2011 5:45 am

hey guys i was stuck in the finger nail polish isle with my wife the other day and i got to looking at some of the amazing colors,metallic type, and color shifting polishes. when i did i kept thinking that they would look amazing on different ships, and i've never seen this kinds of assortment of shades or finishes in model paint.

then i got to wondering about the difficulty of shooting them through an airbrush and what damage it might cause to said airbrush.(i aint got that kind of cash running around to just try it and see) so i was wondering if anyone has tried to shoot nail polis before?? and if so can you shoot it straight? if thinned with what and what ratio??? or did it do damage to your gun?

i hope that someone has done this and it worked because there is an amazing pearl aqua-marine that has my avenger class model written all over it. oh another question has anyone used powdered makeup for weathering? because they have a much better selection of shades then any of my pastel kits ever have. i.e blushes and eyeliners?? or are they to oily and repel paint and clear coat??

on a + note if this doesn't pan out. my wife has announced that she will never ever take me down any make up isle ever again.

USS Atlantis · Post by **USS Atlantis** » Wed Feb 02, 2011 5:52 am

I've never done this, so take it with a grain of salt

I know at the very least you'd have to thin the nail-polish to an extreme amount - it's VERY thick compared to enamel paint

Acetone is the thinner of choice there - that's all nail-polish remover is really

If you try this, take all ventilation warnings and double them

The powdered make-up - hmm - I wonder how close to the powdered pastels these would be - probably use the same techniques

And ya - the wife's had me push her down those aisle (she's wheel-chair bound) to check on things, so I know exactly what you're talking about as regards color selection

Mad-Modeler · Post by **Mad-Modeler** » Wed Feb 02, 2011 5:55 am

Can be done.

The protege of Max Watanabe does it a lot on her Gundam builds.

There are videos of her builds on Youtube check the 'Plamo Tsukurou', etc vids.

seam-filler · Post by **seam-filler** » Wed Feb 02, 2011 7:05 am

^ what they say, but I also found that the acetone attchs the seals in my Badger 150 pretty quick. They're only pennies to replace, but it means a complete strip-down.

Kylwell · Post by **Kylwell** » Wed Feb 02, 2011 10:20 am

I wold suggest lacquer thinner to thin it. Vaporizing acetone has a list of dangers I don't want to go in to.

It's been ages since I sprayed fingernail polish, I was repaint fishing lures for my Dad, but I do remember using lacquer thinner.

Kylwell · Post by **Kylwell** » Wed Feb 02, 2011 10:38 am

Huh, it's amazing what one finds when you do independent research instead of relying on what you've been told.

Any guess as to the active ingredient in lacquer thinner? Acetone. While acetone is an irritant and can cause some throat issues it has little other health issues.

The lacquer thinner I use also has Methanol, Toluene, Acetic acid, Hexane, Methyl ethyl ketone, & Ethanol. Some of which are nasty.

So, thin with either, don't spray near open flame and use in a well ventilated area. As USS Atlantis said, it'll need a lot of thinner. Very thick stuff.

Wug · Post by **Wug** » Wed Feb 02, 2011 11:02 am

Hi raser13,

Many car modelers airbrush nail polish. Here are tutorials.

http://www.briansmodelcars.com/tutorials/tutorial/20

http://www.hotworldcustoms.com/Nailpolish.htm

http://modelpaint.tripod.com/nailpolish101.htm

Info from FSM

http://cs.finescale.com/FSMCS/forums/p/393/935990.aspx

Mike

raser13 · Post by **raser13** » Fri Feb 04, 2011 12:54 am

thanks guys for all the info. you've helped out immensely. i think that i'm going to have to buy a cheap car model and some nail polish and have to start experimenting.

and definitely thanks for those write-ups they seemed to answer every thing. there are a lot of colors in the nail isle that i just can't find out here in the boondocks in model paint, so i think this will answer alot of my prayers.

Lt. Z0mBe · Post by **Lt. Z0mBe** » Fri Feb 04, 2011 10:41 pm

In these two tutorials on user "TMBountyHunter's" channel, you can see a coughcoughcoughhotcough female Japanese builder shoot nail polish:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qFixV8jwDLA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1D64BCJkiKs

I hope this helps.

Kenny

TonyT · Post by **TonyT** » Sun Mar 06, 2011 6:43 am

lol many salons use airbrush kits for doing nails and fake tans, these use standard airbrushes and most do them as kits.......... here are Iwatas

http://www.medeabeauty.com/

so if you are looking a little anemic after hours locked away in a darkened room modelling away............ Never fear, run some fake tan through your gun before you pack up and tell the missus you have been doing that gardening you promised to do