Back painting blanks

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qquake

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I'm curious as to how everyone "back" paints tanslucent acrylic blanks. Do you use spray paint, or do you use bottle paint with a brush or cotton swab? Or perhaps some other method? I use spray paint, but have trouble covering the entire inside of the hole, especially with smaller diameters.
 

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pianomanpj

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Augusta, Maine, USA.
I've used spray paints in the past, but mostly use two light coats of Testor's enamel applied with a cotton swab. Whatever you use, the more opaque the better. Less coverage required equals less overall thickness.
 

RKB

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Mar 17, 2014
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Apollo, PA
I spray paint the inside of the blank from both ends after using DNA on a swab to clean the inside. Then let it dry completely and color my epoxy with the same spray paint when gluing in the tubes. I no longer use CA to glue in tubes, I had CA react with the paint, especially when I painted the outside of the tubes. :biggrin:

Rod
 
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Sabaharr

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Mar 7, 2009
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Slidell, LA
I use a swab with craft paints in the squeeze bottles. They have more of a flat surface than a slick one and tubes adhere better to it IMO.
 

qquake

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I was wondering about using craft (acrylic) paint vs. Testors enamel. I use craft paint to color my epoxy, and have several colors.
 

campzeke

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Jun 28, 2015
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Tampa, FL
Like Sabaharr I use a cotton swab dipped in acrylic craft paint. Same paint on the outside of the tubes. Works for me!
 

TonyL

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Mar 9, 2014
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Georgia
I tried all of the above, and found, despite some sloppiness, I enjoy the most success with spraying with Rustoleum primer or paint. I also paint the tubes. I do see many achieving great results with all of the other methods. I should also had that seldom make a 7 mm anything.
 

KenV

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Oct 28, 2005
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Juneau, Alaska.
Jim -- I plead guilty to having fun playing with colors on the inside of blanks -- especially with Lucite blanks. There are opportunities to lightly scuff the 1st coat of paint and add a complementary/contracting color for different effects. The same blank can have radically different appearance depending on the colors used. The scuffing gave me an aha as to the weakness of the paint-blank bond.

Craft paints work reasonably well but do not bond well to the plastics, especially if the inside of the blanks is polished (as in Lucite) - and that results in a mediocre glue bond because while the glue bonds to the paint, the paint-blank bond is weak. -- It works but needs a light hand turning.

Testors bond is a bit better, but take care.

Silver is my fall back color selection -- and is easy to find in a spray primer and spray primers are better bonding to the plastics.

If you want to test the bonding -- use the outside of the blank and paint a bit even put a bit of glue on it and see how firm the bond of paint to blank is.
 

Skie_M

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Aug 7, 2015
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Lawton, Ok
I haven't yet found a reason to paint the insides of my blanks or my brass tubes. I like the effect it gives to several of my pens.
 
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