Colour Choices Painting Tubes, A Difference

[Jim in Oakville]

Hi,

Just sharing some of my experience here if it helps some of you regarding painting tubes.

I have been painting my tubes with acrylics and celluloid’s for a couple of years now. Initially I used black paint and was happy with my results, they seemed to densify the colours and enhance the look.

This is typical of what I was getting with black painted tubes , the blank is a crimson red from Craft Supply.

In the last year I have begun to experiment with other paint colours for my tubes, settling on white as my favorite.

Here is the same pen design, same crimson red celluloid from Craft Supply with white tubes.

I like the luminescence that the white gives in this material, and if sales is a judge I sell more white tubed pens than black.

I thought this might be worth showing as I sometimes read or even get emails from fellow forum members on the same topic.

Hope this helps add to the design options you may consider.

 

[jthompson1995]

I agree about the difference it makes in the color you paint the tubes and you can get some interesting effects by using contrasting paint colors and/or metallic/opelescaent paints as well. I will many times paint one coat of sparkly fingernail polish followed by an opaque acrylic. On very clear blanks (inlace comes to mind) you can make it look like the tubes dissapear because the sparkly paint blends so well with the blank. I usually try to match the color of the paint to the main coloring of the blank. On the blank you used for the pens you show, I usually use red paint for the tubes so they fade away better. I've got lots of things I still want to try along these lines, but I think there could be a lot of cool effects just by varying the paint.

 

[wdcav1952]

Interesting idea, Jim. Thanks for sharing.

 

[mick]

Thanks for posting this Jim. Sometimes I think we as experienced ..or somewhat experienced...lol turners we forget there are new turners out there turning the different "plastics" and sometime being less than thrilled by the results such as brassy tubes showinh thru...or glue bubbles plainly visible. Hopefully this can help those "folks"
What I see Jason doing is in affect basically what I do. I have certain acrylics I wouldn't dream of turning without painting both inside of blank and the tubes....You paint the inside of the blank ands no glue bubbles will show thru! If it's a translucent paint then by all means paint the tubes too. An interesting affect can be achieved with certain of our blanks. I'm thinking primmarily of a couple oF CSUSA BLANKS Amber Marble...nice golden color with black ribboned through-out.I've painted the inside of these blanks more colors than I can renember but a couple which do are red, giving the finished pen a golden orange swirl throught-out the pen. Another that I do a lot are the white Pearl blank, aslo from CSUSA .I normally make Perfume Applicators from these so what I do is pick several neon like colors and paint the inside of the blanks with neon greens, hot pink, metallic grape, electric Blue and any others I can think of!BTW those perfumes are always the first to go!
Here's a couple of pens so you can see just what a difference a few strokes of paint will bring out both are the same material

 

[Ligget]

Thanks for sharing your findings, I try to use a colour similar to the main colour of the blank too.

What a difference in both pictures![:0]

 

[nava1uni]

I have never painted blanks or the tubes. If you are painting the tubes how do you get the glue to stick so that the tubes stay inside the blanks. Do you sand the tubes before painting? How do you paint the inside of the blanks.? I would appreciate any direction.
Thanks

 

[monkeynutz]

Just a noob comment here, Jim, but I think one reason your white tubes work in your example is the inclusion of the fine white marbling in the blank. I'm not sure the results would be the same if there was not that white color component. Might be fun to try and find out...

 

[Dan_F]

I use a Q-tip cotton swab to paint the inside of pen barrels, using Testor"s model paint. It takes a much longer time for the inside of the blank to dry than it does for the outside of the tube to dry. I sand the tube prior to painting.

Dan

 

[Blind_Squirrel]

I found PCing the tubes makes a difference. The one on the left was PCed black. The one on the right was PCed white. Both cast at the same time with the same PR.

 

[Jim in Oakville]

Originally posted by nava1uni

I have never painted blanks or the tubes. If you are painting the tubes how do you get the glue to stick so that the tubes stay inside the blanks. Do you sand the tubes before painting? How do you paint the inside of the blanks.? I would appreciate any direction.
Thanks

Hi Cindy,

I do sand the tubes first, then spray paint them. I use epoxy to glue them in.

I have tried colour matching as well with the blanks, it works nicely. The example here is to show an extreme in contrats, one picking up on the black accents in the celluloid, white to pick up on the other.

 

[eskimo]

I have been painting the tubes I use for acrylics for a while now, with good results. The only real issue you need to be aware of is when the barrel thins down toward the nib or finial of the pen, the effect of the paint, particularly white, will be enhanced. Also, if the acrylic on the lower barrel is thinner than the upper barrel, such as with an Americana, the lighter painted tubes may make the barrels seem unmatched when using a relatively transparent acrylic

 

[Jim15]

Thanks everyone for posting your methods, very interesting. Brought up some points that I hadn't thought about.

 

[sbell111]

Thanks for the thread. I never thought about how much difference different colors of painted tubes would make. Mostly, I just thought about painting the tubes to hide them. I wonder if this change is noticible prior to turning? I think that I might paint up tubes in different colors to try it out. If the change is apparent, I'll keep them on hand to 'test drive' prior to making the final decision.

 

[mick]

Originally posted by eskimo

I have been painting the tubes I use for acrylics for a while now, with good results. The only real issue you need to be aware of is when the barrel thins down toward the nib or finial of the pen, the effect of the paint, particularly white, will be enhanced. Also, if the acrylic on the lower barrel is thinner than the upper barrel, such as with an Americana, the lighter painted tubes may make the barrels seem unmatched when using a relatively transparent acrylic

Bob this is one reason I try to "color match" the paint to the blank most of the time when I paint them. I use acrylic craft paint so its relatively cheap(less than a buck a bottle)and my wife already has a bunch!

 

[mick]

Originally posted by sbell111

Thanks for the thread. I never thought about how much difference different colors of painted tubes would make. Mostly, I just thought about painting the tubes to hide them. I wonder if this change is noticible prior to turning? I think that I might paint up tubes in different colors to try it out. If the change is apparent, I'll keep them on hand to 'test drive' prior to making the final decision.

Sorry don't mean to hog this thread but I just had another thought. I cast some red and green PR blanks. Nothing outstanding or special, turned one pen and it was so so. On the next one I had an idea...I painted the insides blue. When I turned the pen it was a very vivid teal and deep red color. Sold it the very next show. I turned the rest of the batch in various pen styles and sold everyone of them. BTW I still have that first plain green and red euro...lol Sometimes it's amazing what a different color can do for a blank!

 

[Tanner]

Thanks for the post Jim. I just paint red with red, blue with blue, yellow with yellow. It looks like I've really been missing out on some nice effects I could be creating.

 

[follow3]

I also paint or PC my tubes. I have tried several different colors and have noticed that different colors definitely change the look of some acrylics. I think I will start keeping a notebook to remember which colors turn out good with which acrylics.

Something else to consider, I will sometimes use epoxy to glue the tubes and will color the epoxy with a little paint. This helps to hide the " glue bubble" problem.

Another favorite trick of mine if i want to really highlight or set off a nice color... I use "chrome" spray paint on the tubes. it really brings a vivid color to life.

Have fun and try different combos. And post the pics!
Steve

 

[monkeynutz]

Originally posted by follow3

Another favorite trick of mine if i want to really highlight or set off a nice color... I use "chrome" spray paint on the tubes. it really brings a vivid color to life.

I think I saw where AS or somebody of similar ilk sells chrome tubes. Might be worth a look.