# Painting front sight



## bornandraisedlv (Jun 22, 2015)

Not sure if this is the spot for this or not but here goes. 

I have searched far and wide and have found that most people tend to use testors model paint when painting their front sight. 

So went and bought me some white and fluorescent orange. My goal was to just do a vertical thin strip in the very middle of my front sight. From what I have read it seems the best applicator is a toothpick, however I went to apply the first coat of white base paint and it spread to cover most of the front of the site in the ridge I applied to. I do not feel like I had to much paint on the tip of the toothpick but more the paint was far to runny for this application. 

Anyone have any suggestions?


----------



## Steve M1911A1 (Feb 6, 2008)

I use nail enamel ("nail polish"). The colors are brighter, and the stuff is thicker and therefore easier to control.
The ladies at the counter of our local drug store have a lot of fun with me, when I buy the stuff. Their comments are predictable, but they do know what I use the stuff for.

I find that the brush in the cap of the nail enamel bottle works pretty well, if you're careful.
But if you need to mask the sides of the front sight, to keep the paint from spreading, clamp two small pieces of cardboard to the sides of the sight, before beginning to paint.
A tweezer may work well enough to be a good clamp. If not, wrap a tight rubber band around the tweezer, to increase its strength.
The cardboard should "stand proud" of the area to be painted, just a little bit, in order to confine the paint.
Remove the cardboard only after the paint is dry. You may have to hit the edges of the sight with a _very fine_ Swiss file, to remove the last fringe of cardboard.

Clean the sight with alcohol or nail-polish remover, before beginning to paint.

Paint works best on a sight that is cut with horizontal lines to control reflections. The horizontal file cuts hold the paint better than does flat metal.

Yes, start with bright white paint. When that is completely dry, add a couple of coats of bright color, letting the color dry completely between coats.


----------



## bornandraisedlv (Jun 22, 2015)

Thanks for the info Steve. I think I will give that method a go. My goal was to have just a thin line in the middle of my sight that stops in just the right spot so that I can use it to align with the bottom portion of the notch on my rear sight that would align the top of front and rear sights perfectly. If that makes any sense. Rather than just painting the entire sight. 

I have Heinie Straight 8's so wouldn't want to paint over the tritium


----------



## Steve M1911A1 (Feb 6, 2008)

bornandraisedlv said:


> Thanks for the info Steve. I think I will give that method a go. My goal was to have just a thin line in the middle of my sight that stops in just the right spot so that I can use it to align with the bottom portion of the notch on my rear sight that would align the top of front and rear sights perfectly. If that makes any sense. Rather than just painting the entire sight...


The best that you might do is to mask the area with blue tape, very well rubbed-on, and use an X-Acto #11 blade to cut out the middle of the masking tape, exactly where you want the line to be.
But I bet that the paint or nail polish will leak under the edges of the tape, and spoil the job. (Nail polish will be less likely to leak: It's thicker.)



bornandraisedlv said:


> ...I have Heinie Straight 8's so wouldn't want to paint over the tritium


Why not? :mrgreen:


----------



## Spike12 (Dec 10, 2008)

Model paint and nail polish paint is great to experiment with but its not very durable, as in not at all. 

There is dedicated 'site paint' once you decide on which color you want and get the application figured out. You can get it at Brownell's and probably Midway. I'd Google it first "site paint".


----------



## Cait43 (Apr 4, 2013)

Glow-On Super Phosphorescent
Purchase - Glow-On


----------



## bornandraisedlv (Jun 22, 2015)

Spike12 said:


> Model paint and nail polish paint is great to experiment with but its not very durable, as in not at all.
> 
> There is dedicated 'site paint' once you decide on which color you want and get the application figured out. You can get it at Brownell's and probably Midway. I'd Google it first "site paint".


http://brightsights.com/coatings.php

?


----------

