Swirl Painting Primer???

[Canucker]

watched a few videos on swirl painting dip method (enamel paints, water, borax) and the pedals usually appear to be painted white (or other colour).... is it advised to prime, paint and then swirl or can you prime and then swirl? I'm guessing prime then swirl would be fine but I haven't seen a dip swirl done that way so I figure I'd ask the experts.

[bukas]

never done it ( cant get my hands on borax here) but i looked into it and found that primer should be almost dry so swirl paint can stick to it. my guess is any oil based paint for primer

[haveyouseenhim]

All you have to do is put one good coat of flat white. It acts as a pretty good primer. I just use cheap spray primer. You can prime then paint white or what ever base color you want. Usually you want a color that is similar to the colors you are swirling.

Also don't mix lacquers and paints or you will get cracks in the paint. Use spray primer/paint, then swirl, then polyurethane clear coat.

Just watch my swirling tutorial on my youtube channel in my signature below.

found that primer should be almost dry so swirl paint can stick to it.

It can be totally dry. The swirl will stick regardless.

[JebemMajke]

never done it ( cant get my hands on borax here) but i looked into it and found that primer should be almost dry so swirl paint can stick to it. my guess is any oil based paint for primer

Go to the pharmacy, and ask for borax . Обично тамо има, бар ја купујем у истим

I am using white poly as primer and enamel paints for swirling.

[Canucker]

Funny thing is I have a large box of Borax because my sister was advised that you mix it with sugar to get rid of an ant colony...they take it back to the queen she dies and they all piss off. I think it actually worked too!

[Canucker]

All you have to do is put one good coat of flat white. It acts as a pretty good primer. I just use cheap spray primer. You can prime then paint white or what ever base color you want. Usually you want a color that is similar to the colors you are swirling.

Also don't mix lacquers and paints or you will get cracks in the paint. Use spray primer/paint, then swirl, then polyurethane clear coat.

Just watch my swirling tutorial on my youtube channel in my signature below.

found that primer should be almost dry so swirl paint can stick to it.

I actually watched a bunch of your vids last night! Thanks for taking the time to share all that info! 
It can be totally dry. The swirl will stick regardless.

[SmoothAction]

When swirl dipping I find the actual layer if swirl paint is really thin... a nice coat of flat white makes the colors 'pop' against a white base. A blank enclosure that is swirled looks ok, but the colors look much more vibrant when primed because they are so thin. I'd imagine acrylic swirling 'dragonfly' style wouldn't necessitate a white base, but I've never done it that way.

[petey twofinger]

no pro , but i have done a bit , and only screwed up one ...

i have used gloss white wall mart spray , and grey wall mart primer . it worked well with both , but the one with the grey , the colors are much duller or darker . it actually looked very cool , " retro " colors . i used the same paints , but with white and the difference in how the turned out is a huge difference . i would think white primer would be good .

i have used testors paint , cut with cheap thinner , and also just plain old gloss krylon , sprayed that into a lid and the krylon turned out very very nice .

water temp is important . i got a fish tank thermometer for that .

also , at the craft store they have these lil plastic , well they are kind of long , eyedroppers , those are great . a hair drye works instead of compressed air , if you dont have a compressor ...

be care full with the anmmount of black , and dont thin it too much or it runs like crazy , well that was black testors model paint .

[Canucker]

I was out and about today and popped into a couple of places (but didn't pass a hobby store) and was surprised how few places carried models or model paints....none at walmart or target. Michale's had the testors but $2.69 each...a can of krylon was $3.99 at Canadian Tired (a dollar off the regular price). My streak of never finding anything worth buying at Micheal's will never end!

[davent]

There is  the Dragonfly Swirl Tutorial, he uses acrylic paints to create his swirls on the box. No need for borax or dipping. Last i heard he was providing swirled enclosures to a commercial pedal venture.

http://www.aronnelson.com/gallery/main.php/v/DRAGONFLY-LAYOUTS_0/TUTORIALS/HOWTO/

A mix of borax and water, can't remember the proportions, is also good for killing Creeping Charlie in your lawn, doesn't affect anything else but gets charlie.

dave

[Canucker]

Wouldn't acrylic require a hundred layers of clear coat? I know it would be easy to work with but I can't picture it being anywhere close to enamel for durability.

[haveyouseenhim]

It seems like the acrylic would take forever to cure. And it just looks too messy for my taste. I prefer the swirly flowing lines of the borax method.

[danielzink]

There's athread over at BYOC: http://byocelectronics.com/board/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=42389

That fellow is having some pretty good luck. There's even a video.


Dan

[haveyouseenhim]

I have had luck using banana skin as primer

[bluebunny]

You're not busy today, are you Mike?   

[haveyouseenhim]

You're not busy today, are you Mike?   

Nope       It's actually an old pic. I was swirling that day so I tried something fruity.

[Canucker]

Possibly a silly question but does it matter how thick you put on the primer? The krylon primer comes out pretty fast so you have to hold the can back quite far so it doesn't pool and streak....but the spray is pretty wide so you really do tend to waste a lot doing something this small....guess I need to do fifty boxes at a time! 

[nosamiam]

I haven't done any swirling, but I know what would work great as a primer: Appliance Epoxy. I get it at ACE Hardware but it can probably be gotten in a lot of places. It comes in a spraycan. It works great on bare metal and is tough as hell. I'm not sure if it's a true epoxy but if it is, I would think any other paint should adhere to it just fine (epoxy is inert once it cures). I've only seen it in white, black, and beige, but since we're talking about light-colored primers, white should be perfect. Try it under a swirl and see how it works!

[bluebunny]

"I was swirling that day so I tried something fruity."

I bet you say that to all the girls...   

[petey twofinger]

is that a real banana or is than en electric banana ?

tell me you didnt eat that thing .