Cold Paint Touch Up?

Can you touch up or paint back on the white cold paint on mugs like the Bali Hai?

If so what would you use?

I was just packing up some mugs in order to get ready to move (good lord what a pain!) and was wondering if any of these could be touched up.

Any info/ideas welcome!

[ Edited by: leleliz 2010-05-17 15:33 ]

I used some enamel paint (the stuff you use to paint model cars, etc.) to touch up the earrings and other features on the Orchids of Hawaii headhunter mug that kind of looks like Mr. Bali Hai. The shine of the enamel looks very good on the mug- just like the cold paint from other mugs. I'm not sure that it would survive being washed (my mug is cracked, so I have never tried to use it) but for display purposes it works just fine.

Thanks for the suggestion Fugu!

Yes, Fugu is right- you want to get the "Testor's" model paint from a hobby shop.

Usually the basic "kit" with about 6 colors and the thinner, will work great.

I've restored many painted mugs this way. I really only do it on ones that have gotten so worn from the dishwasher that they were just a flakey mess.

Using other good condition mugs or good photos of the intact mugs as a reference, I recreate the original paint job, mixing close match colors if need be.

If you have a bad, flakey original paint on there it's usually best to get that off first, so that don't end up with more flaking or a bumpy texture.

I've done some Bali Hai mugs that ended up looking like they just came out a box of mugs circa 1968..

Use a good brush, and maybe do some test painting on an old dinner plate. I suppose you could use the test plate to see how it holds up to washing too

Great thread. Thanks for the painting tips. I have a Mr. Bali Hai that looks like he has been down a hard road. I thought I might touch him up a bit but then thought again about it. He's probably seen allot of hands and drinks in his time and was lucky enough to make it to Michigan in one piece over the years. Old and tired he proudly sits up on the shelf.

I'm sure many of us have wondered why cold paint is used. Such as on the Stockton Islander hula girl, Sneaky Tiki and Mr. Bali Hai mugs for example. Why isn't that color fired under glaze too? Here is someone's response I found on a quick Google search:

"“Cold paint” refers to paint which has been applied after the pottery piece has been both glazed and fired. Because this painting is done after firing and is not fired (heated) itself it is called “cold paint,” “cold painted,” or “cold painting.” And because cold painting was done to save money, the results were not only less expensive but cheap in terms of quality: Paint applied over a glaze easily slides or washes off.

However, as this was such a common manufacturing method, most collectors expect such wear and are more accepting of such missing paint than they are of chips or cracks.

In fact, while vintage cold painted ceramic and pottery pieces with the majority or all of the paint intact will sell for much higher prices, if the cold paint looks too good to be true, it could be a sign that the piece may be repaired."

This does not fully answer the question. Anyone else know?

I have seen cold paint glaze done very good and very bad. I prefer to leave a mug alone if the paint is worn. In my opinion the worn out paint tells the journey the mug took over the years. Was it purchased at a restaurant during a special dinner ? "Liberated" in a purse during a night out and forgotten for years only to be rediscovered in a dusty thrift shop? If these things could only talk but sadly they are mute idols of a moment in time long passed. I love the look and feel of a well used mug.

"Anyone who has ever seen them is thereafter haunted as if by a feverish dream" Karl Woermann

[ Edited by: uncle trav 2017-01-24 04:32 ]

On 2017-01-24 04:30, uncle trav wrote:
"worn out paint tells the journey the mug took over the years. Was it purchased at a restaurant during a special dinner ? "Liberated" in a purse during a night out and forgotten for years only to be rediscovered in a dusty thrift shop? If these things could only talk but sadly they are mute idols of a moment in time long passed. I love the look and feel of a well used mug.

---

"Anyone who has ever seen them is thereafter haunted as if by a feverish dream" Karl Woermann

[ Edited by: uncle trav 2017-01-24 04:32 ]

Nice When you wax poetic uncle T.
Cheers

Thanks. I'm laid off at the moment so I had some extra time :D

Huh. It's funny. I've got a lovely little mid century dining set that I'm about to restore as soon as I get my shop up and running(FINALLY). And We've a lovely mid century bedroom set that's been lovingly refinished. But it never occurred to me to try and restore a tiki mug. funny how something can seem totally fine in one realm, but not so much in another.