What are fine pigments?
Fine pigments are glow pigments with a particle size of 5–15 µm (micrometres, thousandths of a millimetre). For comparison, our standard pigments in natural shades are approx. 70–85 µm. The fine grain passes through fine screen-printing meshes and airbrush nozzles where coarser powder would not pass or would be visible. The material is doped strontium aluminate with a protective coating.
What are fine pigments used for?
- Screen printing: stir into transparent screen-printing ink. Rule of thumb: the pigment should be no more than approx. one fifth of the mesh opening. We recommend meshes from 32T to 80T.
- Airbrush: in transparent varnish, in several thin coats.
- Watch hands and fine markings: apply two coats. Our ready-mixed luminous paint for watch hands is also available for this.
- 3D printing: for DLP and SLA resins, such as 3D printing resins. The pigment is hard and abrasive; nozzles and tools wear faster. The higher the proportion, the more the strength of the part may suffer.
- Watercolour: as a fine pigment for glow watercolour.
How strongly do fine pigments glow?
Fine pigments glow for a shorter time and more weakly than coarser pigments, because a smaller grain stores less light. The natural shades glow longest, then the lightly tinted ones, and the darkly tinted ones shortest. For casting resin, varnish or paint, coarser glow pigments are therefore a better choice.
Which colours are available and how long do they glow?
There are 11 colours, 100 g each. The name gives the daylight colour and the night colour. The natural shades with a whitish daylight colour glow longest, the darkly tinted shades shortest – and because of the fine particle size all of them glow shorter than our standard pigments. A true red is technically not possible.
| Colour | By day | In the dark | Glow duration compared |
|---|---|---|---|
| Natural Green | whitish | green | longest |
| Natural Blue | whitish | blue | longest |
| Natural Green-Blue | whitish | green-blue | longest |
| Yellow-Green | yellow | yellow-green | medium |
| Green-Green | green | green | medium |
| Orange-Orange | orange | orange | medium |
| Blue-Blue | blue | blue | shortest |
| Purple-Blue | purple | blue | shortest |
| Red-Red | light red | reddish | shortest |
| Pink-Pink | pink | pink | shortest |
| Terracotta | brownish | green | shortest |
Good to know
As a starting point we recommend approx. 20% pigment relative to the carrier; test on a sample first. Natural shades withstand up to 1,200 °C; do not process tinted ones above approx. 150 °C. The pigments are not classified as hazardous under CLP – see safety data sheets. Avoid dust when processing larger quantities.