- 13/10/16
- 3,901
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That one was made using water-based acrylic spray paint ...
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Decal printed dial
- Thread starter Bart Cordell
- Start date
- 13/10/16
- 3,901
- 2,326
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lume is 100% dead as it should be ... no glow in the dark ...
but when exposed to UV light something happens
but when exposed to UV light something happens
I was using 'decent' name brand paints before. They was too thick/opaque. The one I used on the dial was one of the cheapest generic 'Auto' paints.
I painted straight on to the brass without a primer, and it covered thinly with a semi-translucent finsh like actuall enamel. I did two thin coats. The paints I was using before would almost fill the indicies holes they were so thick. The new stuff didn't and it cured to a really even glass-like finish.
I left it to dry for a day. I used a matt clear lacquer on the decal paper and after I laid the decal, I put another layer of matt lacquer. When that was dry enough to sand, I sanded with 3000 grit to a semi-gloss finish, then buffed with a microfiber cloth.
Beautiful as always!That one was made using water-based acrylic spray paint ...
That gives me a lot of questions:
What type of dial is it? A matt or gilt dial?
How did you get the white/silver text so nice? Is it white toner or a black decail over a blanc brass dial?
Oh so much questions: i which to book a workshop from you ;-)
- 13/10/16
- 3,901
- 2,326
- 113
Thank you
It's a 1675 GMT Mark I matte dial ... hence the "long E"
The text is white and made using black toner transfer on a white dial.
Possibly the last of that sort as this week I'll "dip my toes" in white printing on matte black ... fingers crossed
The lume reaction to UV is a bit too much
I tried to mimic the reaction of the zinc sulfite lume which was still used on early GMT matte dials.I'm still on a "test phase" playing with green and blue fluorescence (not phosphorescence) and all the shades in the between.
At the moment I have no idea on how to get a purple one (some old gilt dials have it) but I'm stubborn so I will find.
I don't have the time to push the tests much further, but from January 2025 I'll be working 100% on dials and watches, so I'll be able to explore new solutions.
rangan
Renowned Member
- 8/4/12
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Am I looking at the wrong photos? I don't see a Long E.Thank you
It's a 1675 GMT Mark I matte dial ... hence the "long E"
The text is white and made using black toner transfer on a white dial.
Possibly the last of that sort as this week I'll "dip my toes" in white printing on matte black ... fingers crossed
The lume reaction to UV is a bit too much
I'm still on a "test phase" playing with green and blue fluorescence (not phosphorescence) and all the shades in the between.
At the moment I have no idea on how to get a purple one (some old gilt dials have it) but I'm stubborn so I will find.
I don't have the time to push the tests much further, but from January 2025 I'll be working 100% on dials and watches, so I'll be able to explore new solutions.
- 13/10/16
- 3,901
- 2,326
- 113
My bad
I made a Long E dial and a radial dial the same day and was 100% certain I had posted pics of the long E ... then I wrote my lest post without looking at my own pics
A little problem with the date, but here's the dial in his watch.
I'm starting to get the hang of putting my decal on. My first difficulty is removing the transparent film after baking. I cut almost flush with the dial and it's hard enough to grab the film, but it's easier to put it on and to get rid of the air. When I remove the film, I often get a little bit of paint with it. When the background is white, you lose several days to start again... Do you have a tip?
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I assume you are looking for tips from @manodeoro since his technique is perfected. But I'll give you some ideas that may help. Try to leave a little arm sticking out in one part of circle so you can have a small section that is easier to grab the film.
As for getting the paint to adhere, I would wetsand the dial with something like 400, 600, or 800 if the sand scratches won't show through the paint. Then clean it thoroughly with acetone or soap and water then alcohol. For the paint, I would look for an etching primer to use. You could use it to prime, but if you can find one that's white, that could be used as your paint color too. They have etching primers in a few colors, but I don't think white is as common as grey, military green, or brown. Also, I usually have better luck with products that are more intended for industrial use than craft purposes. Something for auto repair might work better than something designed for models or crafts.
@manodeoro gave me a few tips 
which I only half-applied, I'm a bad student... I'm going to switch to car spray paint, it should handle the heat well. And I'll take your advice and leave some of the film sticking out to make removal easier.
which I only half-applied, I'm a bad student... I'm going to switch to car spray paint, it should handle the heat well. And I'll take your advice and leave some of the film sticking out to make removal easier.
They're not great, but for me they're OK. The most complicated part remains. The lume
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- 13/10/16
- 3,901
- 2,326
- 113
@manodeoro gave me a few tips
- 13/10/16
- 3,901
- 2,326
- 113
My wife's nail varnish is the wrong colour.
My wife wears only really dark red nail varnish ... so I bought my own
No that I use it on my nails but it's pretty helpful for dials ...
Been quite happy with my white text dial experimenting, so I decided to make a 6542 serice dial to replace the gilt one in my budget 6542. Didn't look right with the aluminum bezel, and I wasn't going to fork out $100 for bakelite bezel and small GMT hand on a budget job.
Lume is definitely not my strong point
I keep practicing and get a little better each week. Luming is the worst! And those who are good don't like to share their tricks.
I'm not sure it's a trick we need, but the right tools and the right texture will do the trick. I just left myself with this and I think it should look better, so I'm going to go back to the watchlume, which is a product that's already ready to be installed. I had much better results with it. The problem is that it's not opaque and can only be applied to white.
I keep practicing and get a little better each week. Luming is the worst! And those who are good don't like to share their tricks.
