tubes showing thru acrylics

[rich gubbin]

Hi all,
Having been making pens for several months both in wood and acrylics, my biggest problem so far has been the tubes showing thru the lighter or translucent acrylics, i normally paint the brass tubes in a color that blends with the acrylic im using before gluing it in the blank. After turning the tube is still visible or seems to have bubbles in it from the glue, sometimes the glue effects the paint and makes it worse.
When i look at your superb pens no one seems to have this problem, can someone please shed some light on this for me before i go insane.
rgrds
Rich

 

[el_d]

Paint the inside of the blank (reverse painting) you may also need to paint the tube and paint the epoxy in some extreme cases.

 

[randyrls]

Rich; You may also want to experiment with contrasting colors.
These two pens started as identical blanks. One was reverse painted with light blue, the other pink. White will brighten the colors of the blank, black will mute the colors of the blank.

 

[yorkie]

I will also dye the epoxy to match the color I paint the tubes/reverse paint. The glue can discolor as it dries and ruin your work.

Use a few drops of the paint.

 

[rich gubbin]

hi all,
thanks for the advice, i,ll give it a go at the weekend. hopefully will get round to posting some pics soon too.
rgrds
rich