Doug,

You can get that thick, glossy look with Lacquer head cement. I actaully use lacquer, the stuff sold in paint stores, not 'head cement'. A quart will last for years and it works very well. Hsansens' or any clear nail lacquer works as well, the regular lacquer is just a lot less expensive and easier to work with.

It just takes multiple coats.

For me, about four or five BEFORE I paint the eye, then three over that.

Nice thing about Lacquer (or Hansens), it dries quickly.

I can put a coat on two dozen streamer heads in about five minutes or less. It takes about ten to be sure the coat is set. As long as you're not in a hurry, you can tie the streamers, then apply a coat every fifteen mintues. In an hour you can paint on the first color of the eye and let that set overnight. Next morning, you can paint the pupil. The next evening you can put on a few more coats of lacquer, next day they are done and ready to fish.

Epoxy does it with a single overcoat, but you need a drying wheel to do it properly in any quantity (I have one, but prefer the lacquer for most applications as it just looks better with less build up). If you want to paint on eyes, you will still need two coats of epoxy, plus time for eyes to dry. That's at least three days (one for the eyes, plus one epoxy under and one over...). So, for the same 'effect' epoxy actually takes longer, but requires less 'hands on' time.

All of it works. Mostly it takes patience.

Good Luck!

Buddy

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