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Gold Canopy Tint Experiment


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Hi all!

 

So lately I have been thinking about how to replicate the metallic goldish-red tint that is on Raptor and Prowler Canopies (and others) that seems to flip shades depending on the angle you view it.  Such as these:

 

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And while watching my wife apply nail polish I had an epiphany... Why not try Nail Polish?  There are tons of wild metallic and iridescent shades out there.  And sure enough, I found some on eBay that looked like it would be perfect:

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I got a bottle of this on eBay for .75 shipped!!!

 

So I took an extra P-51 canopy I had on a recently completed Tamiya Kit, and decided to test it out today.  I took an empty Gunze paint bottle, filled it about half way with regular Hardware Store Lacquer thinner.  I then dabbed the nail polish brush into the bottle until I had the mixture about right.

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I then put some in my airbrush, and sprayed the INSIDE of the canopy with a light mist coat.  I ended  up putting a second, more substantial coat after, and here are the results:

 

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I just thought I would share this with everyone as I am pretty stoked with the results, and maybe it can help someone trying to replicate this effect.  I will report back after some time to make sure that there are no ill affects on the plastic itself, since I did not dip the canopy in future first and used lacquer thinner.

 

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Just getting my head around the idea of a Mustang Zapper -as the late Mr Marley would say, "Jammin'!"  But maybe a Whif Too Far.

 

That canopy looks very similar to the Prowler's pimp-chic window tint; I'll have to experiment to find that elusive soap-bubble look on Hornets and A-10s. Maybe I can persuade Mrs Who that she has a promising career as a nail wizard... :whistle:

 

Many thanks for the pointer!

 

Edited by ChippyWho
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  • 2 weeks later...
  • 2 weeks later...
On 1/8/2017 at 2:13 AM, Fighting Eighty-Four said:

I just checked my eBay history, and it's #212.

 

You ordered from an EBay store located in China? The results look very favorable and I want to give it a shot.

Edited by Mr Matt Foley
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On 1/27/2017 at 3:40 PM, viper730 said:

It looks really good ...question  does it have any "metal flake" particles like those in gold paint?

I was wondering the same thing.  In the mean time, I'm going to have to raid my wife's and two daughters' stash of nail polish to see if they have similar items!  It's going to be hard to root through their boxes of nail polish while trying to look like a dignified man at the same time.

 

Eric

 

PS. Indeed!  Thank you for the great tip!

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2 hours ago, echolmberg said:

I'm going to have to raid my wife's and two daughters' stash of nail polish to see if they have similar items!

You've got some serious thrill issues, dude!

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Funny..... I was just thinking about this the other day. I have airbrushed nail polish for years to paint custom fishing lures with awesome results, and having seen the very opaque finish, I wondered if it would work for these "gold" canopies as well. My only concern was that when I airbrush it, I use actual nail polish thinner, which is some VERY hot stuff! You'd almost certainly have to give the canopy a dip in future and let it dry for a week before trying it though. Otherwise I think that the canopy might melt!  Nice to see that it has some potential. Thanks for sharing ;0) Fred K.

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I just checked the canopy again today, and there are no adverse affects from spraying this on the inside.  It is a little dull on the inside where I painted, so I think if I dipped the canopy in future it would gloss it right up.

 

For those asking if it has gold flake, I am not sure.  But it does change color depending on the light from full gold to an almost reddish hue. 

 

I thinned the polish with store brand laquer thinner, which is also quite hot, but using the light mist coats seemed to have no ill effect.

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On 2/4/2017 at 4:12 PM, Fighting Eighty-Four said:

I just checked the canopy again today, and there are no adverse affects from spraying this on the inside.  It is a little dull on the inside where I painted, so I think if I dipped the canopy in future it would gloss it right up.

 

For those asking if it has gold flake, I am not sure.  But it does change color depending on the light from full gold to an almost reddish hue. 

 

I thinned the polish with store brand laquer thinner, which is also quite hot, but using the light mist coats seemed to have no ill effect.

 

That is great news. I ordered my bottle last week. I'll get it in 30-40 days.....I hope.

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  • 3 years later...

Bringing this thread back from the grave, but since it is my thread I figured why not!

 

Anyway, I used this technique on my recently completed F-22 Raptor model, and am very pleased with the results and wanted to share them here since this discussion is concerning this very application.  

 

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3 hours ago, ridinshotgun said:

Any idea on the color name?  I ran that number for that brand of polish and it doesn't come up.  Or a link to the original listing?

 

I am interested in this too. I searched on eBay under the Born Pretty brand and could find nothing that looked quite like what is pictured above. I searched the general Internet and all the Born Pretty "Holo Polish" looked to be a pretty coarse glitter polish. Nothing like the fine pigments in the bottle you have.

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