What is acrylic craft paint? It is a water based acrylic emulsion with solid pigmentation suspended. It is meant for general craft use and is meant to replace the solvent base paints. If you have ever been to Michael's or Hobby Lobby, you would have seen them in cylindrical 2 ounce bottles in a rainbow of colors. They come in various forms for different desired finish results. They come in heavy body forms for application to paper and canvas, in a little thinner consistency for other porous substrates like wood and ceramics, in outdoor enamel finishes for decorating garden ornamentation, and metallic colors. The metallic craft paints consist mainly of colored micas suspended in acrylic emulsion. Some of the metallics are actual metal powders like powdered copper, brass or aluminum. Paints with copper powder will carry a special caution informing of a slight toxicity hazard.
Although the outdoor enamels and special paints made for metals are best for applying acrylics to metal, just about any craft paint can be applied to metal if necessary preparations are taken. In applying to steel a primer coat should be applied. This coating can be sanded when dried to ensure a smoother finish. Once dry and fresh of dust and debris, the acrylic paint can be brushed, stippled or airbrushed on. Although the paint appears to dry in an hour or so( depending on temperature and humidity), you will want to wait 6 to 24 hours before handling or sealing the paint with clear coat. Contrary to what you may have heard, you can seal th acrylic paint with acrylic aerosol clear coat. The solvents are intense but if you start with a light coat and let it dry then apply increasingly heavier coats with each passing, then you will get a durable finish that is more resistant to scratches.
That is right! As the title said I have been reading about all these forums from model rocketry, model railroad, and model builders in general. For the most part they all swear about using Future Floor polish as both a clear coat on finishes, as a barrier between two different kinds of finishes, and more importantly as a flow improver and thinner for acrylic paints. Floor polish is nothing more than a thinned acrylic emulsion in water with additives to improve durability and shine.
NOTE=Future Floor polish is now called Pledge floor care with Future shine. It is the same products and still works great.
I will discuss primarily the results of putting mixtures of the paint with the Future to thin with the additional help of a little water. For airbrushing, I have a mix of blue metallic paint mixed with an equal volume of Pledge Floor Polish with some water. It worked OK but I would like to mention that your paint MUST be like skim milk WITHOUT any lumps! Otherwise the airbrush will just clog up every 20 seconds and you will be doing more cleaning than painting. After repeated trials, I have found that a thinning or, more correctly, flow improving medium can be had with equal volumes of water and Pledge Floor Finish. Just mixing the paint with neat floor polish will not quite get thin enough for airbrushing. Now for washes and similar affects, neat Pledge with paint works great and no brush marks show due to flow improvements.
SUMMARY
In conclusion, I have covered craft paints, how they can be applied to metals, and how to thin them for airbrushing and wash effects. The URL in my signature box will take you to a site with pictures and results of the techniques.
In conclusion, I have covered craft paints, how they can be applied to metals, and how to thin them for airbrushing and wash effects. The URL in my signature box will take you to a site with pictures and results of the techniques.
My name is Jason Bosh and I have been making metal art for 2 years. The information in this article is supported with pictures at http://www.squidoo.com/thinning-acrylic-paints. I also have several other sites there related to the arts.
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