Testor's Paint??

[graybarkhunter]

gonna do some cresting soon.. might be a dumb question but where do i get testors paint?  thanks in advance     gray

[stickbowhntr]

wal mart at one time, michaels , lot sof hobby shops .

[greg fields]

Many hobby shops art supply stores will carry it.

[Brently]

Hobby shops seem to have the greatest choice of colors.

[Fischman]

Ditto on your Hobby shops, many pawn shops double as such .

[DV of WI]

Hobby Lobby

[NoCams]

Make sure you get the water based and not the regular enamels ! Much more compatible with other products used in arrow building. I had a heck of a time when I first started and used the regular enamels from testors. Hobby Lobby is where I get mine. You can go on the testors website and find a local store in your area too. Happy cresting bud !

[PEARL DRUMS]

NoCams advice is crucial.......trust him. The regular enamels dont cover as well, and may smear with the right poly. I found that high pigment artist paint is much better, and you get much more paint for the $$$$$$. Craft stores are full of it. Its fun to crest when it works out and looks good, can get frustrating if the paint doesnt cover well and doesnt look nice.

[NoCams]

Pearl Drums..... frustrating is not the word for it when your pretty cresting runs after a poly overcoat dip !!! Ughhhhh !!! The clear overcoat dip is the final finish right before fletching and finishing a dozen. When you ruin them at that point in the process it is sickening ! I am using testors acryls and Daly's Profin with good results thanks to our bud, "snag " now. Learned all I know listening to him and all the other fine arrowsmiths on the gang.

[Huntschool]

As above, I get the stuff at Hobby Lobby.... I do use their regular enamel but my final coats are water based poly.  I use Min Wax water based poly... 3-6 coats depending on how I apply it, with 0000 steel wool lightly between all coats after #2. I do not "dip" but rather use a rattle can or a sponge brush.  Ya should likely have a "practice" shaft around and play with it a bit.

Also, the brushes at HL are great but as my wife, who is an art person says... Ya get what ya pay for" don't buy the cheap stuff... get the expensive ones... they work better.

Here are some I will be working on today:

Pics are not great. Took them with my phone. These are AD carbons soo... These are for a 45# MA

 

 

These are for a 51# PLX
 

[NoCams]

Bruce, glad you are able to make the testors enamel and Min Wax polycrylic clear top coat work for you.... I had very mixed results, especially with metallics like silver and gold. When dipping, as I do, it would cause them to run sometimes. I realize you are lightly brushing it on so that may be why it works better that way. If I let the metallic enamels dry for a week they would not run sometimes. It was so iffy and frustrating that I simply went to the testors acrylic enamels instead and I am a Happy Camper now ! JMHO

[Huntschool]

Jimmy:

I had the same problem early on. Did the longer dry time and that worked but now I use a heat gun... (careful here) to expedite the matter.  I will still occasionally get a "bit of a run" with the metallic stuff  only when brushing on.  If I use an excess of metallic I use the spray on very lightly at first until I build a cover...  Then I put it to em...

Brushes for your lines are the key....

Honestly, I can not find the acrylics here...  where do you get yours?  I thought about artist colors as per a suggestion from Marilyn but there are no metallic colors in artist colors soooo....  Same problem.

Did you folks get any ice out of last nights weather?  We were looking at some possible acc but the temp line moved so we did not get as much.  Main roads are already clean.

[razorsharptokill]

Have trouble with CA glued feathers adhering to testors paint.

[30coupe]

Originally posted by razorsharptokill:
Have trouble with CA glued feathers adhering to testors paint.

You need to have poly over the paint. Also, try fletch tape. That stuff seems to stick to about any surface.

[razorsharptokill]

Cool, thanks.

[Huntschool]

Yea, I should have said that.  FLETCH TAPE...

It is more of a pliable membrane than a tape.  Takes a little getting used to to work with it but its the Bomb....

[snag]

NoCams, glad to hear you're arrowmaking is now rewarding!    

[Huntschool]

Snag..  Nah, it just gives him an excuse to keep Mason in arrows

[NoCams]

Yes snag, arrowmaking is a lot like golf.... sometimes playing golf turns into misery rather than joy. You are supposed to be off work, having a good time and enjoying the course. However, if your swing or game is off it is torture. Same with arrowmaking..... especially when again, you are almost done with a eye popping dozen and then have your cresting run, Ughhh ! You helped me more than you will know snag, THANKS ! Did I mention how much I love these Doug Fir SureWoods you told me about ? Charcoal stained a new dozen 65-70's last night and checked them this evening..... still gun barrel straight which is more than I can say for my last dozen POC's. These are the most awesome shafts I have seen to date. Don't worry about being lonely out there in Oregon, these will be my first feather spliced dozen so I am sure I will be emailing you to death for help.

Bruce, go to Testors.com and the Acryls are under model paint. 3 pages of colors and they also have a retail locator where you type in your zip code. Surely you could find a dealer in Paducah or Marion ? You can also buy direct from the website I think and ship right to ya. Once you get on the water based Acryl wagon with the rest of us your troubles will be behind you ! No long wait for dry times and no compatibility issues.

I use a dip tube cause we make woodies. Noticed you are cresting carbons so I can see why you only brush over your crest and cap area. The Polycrylic is fine for that I am sure but not worth a crap for woodies and target burn. We shoot pretty hard targets that will burn that Polycrylic right off in about 20 shots. Snag hooked us on the Daly's Profin and it is the cat's pajamas ! Hear what you say about the Fletchtape too, best thing out there for a poor guy like me who cannot afford a table full of fletching jigs and waiting on glue to dry. I can fletch a dozen with the tape in an hour or less.

We got about a 1/2" of ice last night but as the night went on the temp actually went up ! That warm Gulf air saved our butts. Up to 55 today so we got a 30 degree rise in a 18 hr period. Our tracking snow is gone now, ughhhhh ! Mason has been lucky enough to get two deer in the past two years in what little snow we do get. We love huntin in the snow, it is so much fun. Only wished we got more here.

[snag]

I can relate to the golf analogy....haha, "a walk in the park ruined" I believe is how Mark Twain described golf...haha  
But now that's over with.
There's some good tutorials about splicing too. If I can help just let me know.