Clear Paint?

[Arkanjal]

I want to find a way to paint a clear case, so that the paint is still transparent...

has anyone tried this, or have any ideas how this may work?

[Chapel]

Like dye it? Not quite sure how to do it, but i would experiement with contact paper if it was me. Try painting that then seeing how it looks on something clear. you might beable to find some thin vinal that would work also.

[Rankenphile]

I would experiment with stains, as well. I'm sure that there are ways to stain the acrylic using some sort of laquer, but I'll be damned if I know what they are specifically.

Gee, in hindsight, I don't think I was much help at all.

Oh well. You're welcome. :D

[Arkanjal]

damn....

well if its any help, heres my vision:

I want to paint my acryllic window, with a portrait of myself(I'm a pretty decent artist).

however I want it to be transparent, so that the guts of my computer are still visible....as well, I want to put all white lights inside, so it basically illuminates the picture.

[amberella]

i would recommend acrylic paint, which is easy to use and water soluble for easy cleanup. Acrylic paints are basically pigments suspended in a medium (ok, all paints are), and that medium can be changed to achieve different results. There are a million different kinds of mediums to choose from, based on the sheen you want on the product later, whether you're trying to retard drying time, whether you're trying to add body to the paints so they build like oils, have an opalescent finish, etc. Several of them can be used to create transparency, which you'll often hear referred to as a "watercolor" or "glazed" feel. I'm guessing that you're looking for a Clear Gloss Medium, which should say that it dries crystal clear and glossy (duh). Usually people add some of the medium to their paint, but I think for what you're trying to do you might consider just adding some paint to the medium, lol. I hope you have some spare acrylic sheets around cuz you're gonna need to practice. :p FYI since acrylic paints are acrylic just like your acrylic sheet is acrylic, the thicker you build your paint the more likely it will be to peel. Usually one would sand the plastic surface, but obviously that would ruin your look. Maybe you could mask off the rest of the case when your're done and spray a clear sealant over the image. One more thought - Since you're going for high transparency, the quality of your paint is important. If you get "student grade" paint, there's more fillers and less pigment, which reflect light differently when suspended in other mediums, it won't look the same. Search around online, there's plenty of info out there.

:) amberella.

[Arkanjal]

cool. i got some acryillic paint laying around i may practice with....

[Malatory]

have you though about using the paint on stain glass paint from the local hobbie store? That would be more on the translucent than Acryillic paint

[amberella]

hmm.... stained glass paint is cured in a kiln which would totally melt your acrylic. now that i think of it, though, there are some arts & crafts type "simulated" stained glass paint that also works on plastic ... one is here (http://www.plaidonline.com/articleDetail.asp?entry=article&articleID=56) to get an idea.

:p amberella

[Dark-hobo]

I just got a kickass idea. What you should do is cut 1/4" wide channels and maybe an 1/16" deep into your window. Then disolve some extra peices of acrylic in acetone and add some UV reactive dye, or buy UV reactive acrylic and dissilve THAT in acetone. Then proceed to fill those channels you made with the resultant acrylic sludge... That would look hella cool. Actually I think I am going to do that on my case that I am going to build :D. That will look sweet! And it would achieve the whole transparent thing you are going for perfectly.

[Aero]

personally I havn't had good results with "simulated" stained glass paints. But I'm no artist either. Maybe you can get it to look better than I did. When I used it, it was hard to get a "smooth" appearendce and it was quiet rough, but like I said, you might have better luck than I did.

[amberella]

agreed. plus you don't want to get that whole "this is a stained glass window of myself like in a chuch because i equate myself with jesus" look lol. unless, of course, you do.

;) amberella

[chrisinbeav]

Okay... here's what you need to do. There is an adhesion promotor rattle can spray that you can use. Comonly used on clear lexan bodies of RC cars or it is also used in the autobody industry. This will then make pretty much any paint stick to it. At this point you can now mask off the areas you want to paint and either airbrush them on or paint brush them on. Transluscence will be adjusted by how much paint you put on. More paint=more opaque. Then when you are done you can use a clear sealer and then a clear coat over the top of that. Wet sand and buff and you'll have a very high luster, high quality, trasparent, self portrait.

Chris Nilluka

[Arkanjal]

Okay... here's what you need to do. There is an adhesion promotor rattle can spray that you can use. Comonly used on clear lexan bodies of RC cars or it is also used in the autobody industry. This will then make pretty much any paint stick to it. At this point you can now mask off the areas you want to paint and either airbrush them on or paint brush them on. Transluscence will be adjusted by how much paint you put on. More paint=more opaque. Then when you are done you can use a clear sealer and then a clear coat over the top of that. Wet sand and buff and you'll have a very high luster, high quality, trasparent, self portrait.

Chris Nilluka

can u provide me with a link for the stuff your talking about?

[chrisinbeav]

can u provide me with a link for the stuff your talking about?

I tried to find links to the hobbiest version. I couldn't find anything right off hand. However, I was able to find a link and data for an autobody finish.

http://www.sherwin-automotive.com/media/oem_products/Clear_Adhesion_Promoter.pdf

I have personally used PPG's version of this product and it works great. This one might be a little easier to use as there is no mixing involved.

Chris Nilluka

[slipknot_fan1]

celophane might work. if it is on tight enough and their are no ripples.

[tybrenis]

You have two options, IMHO.

1.) I recomend that you etch the window. If you take your time and maybe sandblast it to etch the image you will get a great result, and the lights will easily illuminate the etch if doen corretly.

2.) Two is something I have never done before. You could try to take some acrylic paints and maybe thin them up with acetone first. However, in order to paint the acrylic you would probably need to do a little bit of sanding to your case/window to get the paint to adhere to the surface. I have an acrylic case and it's surface is pretty slick. I would never try painting it unless the paint was real thick. And, obviously think does not equal transparent.

[GregoryJ]

the issue with acryillic cases is that they are limited on what you can do to them. Most acryillic cases are impregnated with pigments prior to being molded to yield a consistent and durable color. Dyeing may work but you are not going to be able to do the detail that would be required. The only other translucent paint would be a type of Candy. The only problem is that you almost always need a pneumatic spray gun and would have to prep the surface (sanding, chemical cleaning, etc) and they would require some sort of base coat to be visible. Also the material its self is soft and very prone to scratchs with repeated handling and could ruin a great piece of work with just general handling of the case.

Lexan is a similar material that is used in bulletproof windows and can be sanded or etched to an opaque finish and then using careful application of heat to the etched/sanded area it will become clear again. this would be a good clear material to use just for the window. 8)