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J!m

Molotow de-throned as the best "paint mod"

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J!m

Yes, it's true. As I have my first (well second really, but I'm keeping this one) ceramic bezel rep, I naturally need to improve the white paint situation there.

I am aware of the "sharpie mod" and more recently the "Molotow Mod". Well, I found a third option, and in my opinion, it is superior to both.

So, how can I make such a bold claim? Well, I had to do the leg work. As an old boss of mine said : "In God we trust; everyone else must have LOTS of data." So, I don't have LOTS of data, but I do have photo documentation of a side-by-side test of the three options. I hadn't seen this done before.

OPTION 1: The infamous "Sharpie Mod". Sharpie, of black marker fame, also makes metallic ones. Silver, gold and bronze. I picked up a set of the three colors at Wal-Mart for a few bucks.

OPTION 2: The "famous" Molotow Mod. Molotow is a German company and they of course make wicked nice stuff. The marker is therefore nice. BUT, the paint inside is acrylic, and not terribly permanent. Sharpie is better in this regard (also flows on/in smoother) but the sharpie color is too gray. This is the current "standard" of paint mod at the time of writing. Usually in stock at Staples, and $10. (note they also have gold, which might be worth trying for a gold or two-tone model)

OPTION 3: "Painter's" marker, made by Elmer's (the glue company). All I can say is: WOW. Color is bright silver, even brighter than the Molotow paint. It is permanent, and thin, so it flows well too. I think this is THE BEST option short of a proper Platinum sputter job. I would say it is as good as an aluminum sputter job. I don't know what material the few sputter mod options use, or at least they aren't telling me...

TEST CRITERIA: I wanted an even, blank surface to test on. Ideally a paint test card. If you've never seen one, it is a card with a hole in the middle. Half is black and the other half is white. It is used by (competent) painters to determine coat count for full coverage (the hole allows the original paint on the car to show through to make sure color match is correct). When you can't see the difference in black and white areas, you have full coverage. Unfortunately, I don't have one of those, so I used a white legal pad. I applied four "strokes" of Sharpie and Painters, two strokes of the Molotow as it was getting lumpy...

That's nice. WHERE"S THE F#<k!nG PICTURES?!?!

Here you go: Left ("S") is Sharpie; Middle ("P") is Painter's; right ("M") is Molotow. Various lighting conditions tested.

marker-test-0019558fc2943cc58d1.jpg

Indirect natural light

marker-test-002ef7bdd938eac048e.jpg

Direct incandescent light (Surefire E1e)

marker-test-004cb4dc95ae2f423ce.jpg

Indirect light, but pad was angled toward window... It really has a nice color shift with the light.

marker-test-005cb5a326c11f28a33.jpg

Direct sun exposure. Look how the middle mark glows!!! Also note the dark-ish areas of the sharpie but also the Molotow.

Here is the secret sauce, available at Wal-Mart. Look in the arts and crafts section, not with the stationery supplies...

marker-test-0031999cae578bd12fa.jpg

Tip is a little wide (about 2mm) so you can shave it down with a razor before loading it with paint the first time, or just deal with the clean-up.

For clean-up, I suggest acetone. Put on a rubber glove, pull some cotton t-shirt material tight over your finger, dampen the cloth and wipe quickly to avoid touching the bottom of the markers. Flow the paint in wet and let it settle naturally. Do not re-coat until the first coat is dry (probably 5-10 minutes max). As you can see, color is very even and bright.

You're welcome.

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Glaude

:thumbsup:

Indeed the Painters by Elmer is way way better at every angle possible ! More uniformity too ! 

Do you happen to know if they are acrylic based like Molotow ?

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J!m

Solvent base like sharpie. 

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GingerApple

Looks amazing on paper mate, good find!!!!

But.

Where are the bezel shots??!? I reserve judgement until I see it on a bezel.

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Lagger

Is there a picture of the bezel you did?

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GingerApple
3 minutes ago, Lagger said:

Is there a picture of the bezel you did?

Is there an echo in here?????

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Lagger

What

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J!m
38 minutes ago, GingerBlubba said:

Looks amazing on paper mate, good find!!!!

But.

Where are the bezel shots??!? I reserve judgement until I see it on a bezel.

Understandable. When you paint your bezel, you will see it!

But honestly, comparing bezels is really not the way to go about determining color. With so many facets on the insert to deal with, and varying light in all the posted photos, it is easy to even make the original white paint look good in some light. This shows the three options side-by-side under identical lighting conditions; two of these paints have been seen MANY times on bezel inserts, so you know exactly how those look (in photos). Sometimes we have to put two and two together. If you like the more gray-ish coloring, stick with Molotow or Sharpie. If you want a very white/silver color that changes with the light (as the Platinum plating does) this is as close as I can find now, short of actual platinum plating.

But, feel free to not use this paint. I'm not making any money from its sale.

43 minutes ago, Lagger said:

Is there a picture of the bezel you did?

No. As of now, I have not done my bezel. Working on the crown and movement.

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Rokerite

I would suggest that the molotov marker is lumpy because you haven't allowed it to dry long enough between coats. Acrylic paints are notorious for this "lifting" of the first coat by the second coat even when it appears to be dry. Colour does look right though.

Edited by Rokerite
Spelling

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GingerApple

I'm not criticising, I'm just saying need a bezel shot to properly compare. The paper is clearly not a reliable surface for comparison purposes. Because for example,  on paper, the Molotow paint looks like it's made of lumpy elephant poo. Which is not how it looks on a bezel.

I'm sure this new paint is awesome, I just want to see it in its rightful place.

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splke

£4 delivered via amazon paint stuff

 

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J!m

The big problem is, I don't have several bezels (including a gen one) to do a proper "on bezel" comparison. Therefore, that test has no value. Seeing one bezel with one paint on it (or even three paints on one bezel, which I had considered) is not valid.

There are comparisons of the old solutions compared to gen here and there, so you have to extrapolate a bit.

And yes, the Molotow might be able to be improved beyond what I sow here; however, on color alone, Painter's looks better- or more accurately, the color shift we see in gen inserts seems to be replicated well with this paint. Further, the Painter's solution is permanent, unlike the Molotow, which needs frequent re-application and to be treted with TLC all the time, which I for one, am not willing to do.

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Rokerite
43 minutes ago, splke said:

£4 delivered via amazon paint stuff

 

Don't know if this is same as op's marker (it looks like it is by the pics) but that is acrylic, or water borne. Not oil or solvent based.

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J!m

Label looks right. That is a "fine" tip whereas mine is a "medium" tip, so package color is different.

And I notice it says "acrylic paint" on the back label but it has a definite solvent smell, like the sharpie does. If it IS acrylic, I advise a single coat, dry fully before adding the additional coats. But, I will say that I did several strokes (like with sharpie) and it didn't get lumpy at all- it stayed fluid. Thinning the Molotow might help that lumpiness but it won't correct the color.

I guess you could always spray it with matte clear the following day for security... Krylon Krystal clear acrylic is quite durable and shouldn't alter the color. (NOTE: that has not been tested as of now)

I don't have time today (or tomorrow) to clean and paint the bezel, but I'll post pictures of that once I do.

MOST IMPORTANT: your paint job is only as good as your prep. Make sure the numbers and marks are super-clean before you start.

Finally, another idea is model paint. Years ago I used Testors brand "Model Master" paints. They had a lot of specific metallic colors (such as titanium) for various aircraft parts. I'll have to dig out my old modeling box and see what I have in there. That was good paint and solvent based too. Maybe I'll find something better!

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J!m

TESTING UPDATE:

As I was big into model building about 20 years ago I have a huge tackle box loaded with all sorts of paints, adhesives and tools from when I was doing that.

 

Anyway, I remembered having a silver paint marker as well as some higher quality paints, made to replicate specific metals, such as brass, titanium, aluminum and stainless steel. Some of them could be "buffed" after spraying, to replicate polished airplane aluminum body panels etc- nearly mirror polish. Others were "non-buffing" ones that are just sprayed on. Note for the testing, I use a fine brush and brushed it on wet, and allowed it to dry. Again on my legal pad.

So, I re-did the test with the originals, and added the Testors silver paint marker as well as the Testors "model Master"  Aluminum non-buffing metalizer.

Painters still looks the best, which is somewhat disappointing as the Painter's is an acrylic, as pointed out by another member earlier (despite the solvent smell) and may not be as durable as a solvent based lacquer or enamel paint.

Grading wise, I place the marker and paint in between the Sharpie and Molotow options, for clarity, color evenness and "whiteness" in direct sunlight. Of the two, the "edge" in clarity goes to the marker, but I bet if I sprayed the Model Master it would look better... That painters paint just glows in the sun like nothing else.

I have stripped the white paint and pearl from my insert with alcohol (got most of it) and then acetone (that got the last stubborn bits) in ultrasonic last night. I'll put the painters paint in and see how it looks sometime today hopefully. It seems one wet double coat will do it. Then I can bake it to dry thoroughly.

Note a friend of mine is performing a similar experiment but he is making up a custom mix with three colors to get it exactly the way he wants it... That is looking promising as well, but I'm looking for a "buy it, coat it, clean it, wear it" solution.

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GC

I’m not seeing any photos 

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J!m

Me either.

I guess Pixelsbin took it upon themselves to delete them? I thought they would be visible for 30 days... I use the "guest" option to preserve my privacy.

The earlier replies indicate what's up. Information is there if you wanted to replicate the tests (which I endorse) or just buy something and try it.

 

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J!m

Another (useful) update.

 

I painted my insert with two coats of the "painter's" stuff. Looks amazing but is WAY too delicate. It might be suitable with a sealer of some sort on top, but I don't want to go that route.

So, I am going to the Model Master paint next. That is not as "white" as the Painter's; however it has a very pleasant metallic "sparkle" that catches the sunlight, like the rough sputtered surface of the gen bezel.

I'll report back again once I've finished stripping and re-coating this.

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GC
1 hour ago, J!m said:

Me either.

I guess Pixelsbin took it upon themselves to delete them? I thought they would be visible for 30 days... I use the "guest" option to preserve my privacy.

The earlier replies indicate what's up. Information is there if you wanted to replicate the tests (which I endorse) or just buy something and try it.

 

Wasn’t exactly the response I had hoped for, I’m not trying to replicate or discourage your progress, I’m just interested in some eye candy fella... but I’ll just move along instead 

cheers

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VMSG

Any s for rose gold scratches painting? Or this will look bad?

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J!m

I have now stripped out the Painter's stuff and am curing the second coat of Model Master paint. Although it is a bit more gray than the Painters, it has a very nice "sparkle" under the sun, so I'm going with that.

First coat was cured with a heat gun and then cleaned up with acetone. Second coat is under the heat gun now...

Based on how it came off with the acetone, this is much more durable. Testors recommends a sealer on top of this paint, so I may look into that if I end up needing to recoat it.

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J!m
7 minutes ago, VMSG said:

Any s for rose gold scratches painting? Or this will look bad?

So, you want to touch up scratches in rose gold plating on a case or bracelet or something?

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Mr Stubbs

Very well presented post J!m.   You've given me some ideas.  BTW the pictures are still up for me, though perhaps you've just reposted them.

1 minute ago, J!m said:

So, you want to touch up scratches in rose gold plating on a case or bracelet or something?

Watching with interest...

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VMSG
So, you want to touch up scratches in rose gold plating on a case or bracelet or something?
Yap, on the side of a case.
I could not find a reliable replating service, so I was wondering if a marker can do the job?

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J!m

I guess you could try and then wipe the excess off so its only in the scratch...

Maybe the sharpie "bronze" marker?

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