Painting An Old Aquarium Resin Sculpture...How Do I Do It?

Hey all, it's me again. So, I have this special mermaid sculpture made of resin. Now, some of you may know that I'm definitely not a "mermaid" or an "artificial decor" person, but this sculpture is quite special to me. It belonged to my beloved girl Bluestar, my very first Betta but the second Betta I had ever cared for (the first was rescued from my very own brother, unfortunately), who lived a happy life but very sadly passed last year (she was 4 years old). This topic is very sensitive to me, so I would rather not explain any more. Anyhow, getting back on track, I've been keeping this decoration displayed in my family's "China cabinet" (yes, it's that special to me), but I'm thinking about putting her into another aquarium with another beloved fishy named Honey (some of you may have heard of her from my post about Honey's birthday, though I'm afraid it may not match with the naturalistic blackwater style of the aquarium If not, I'll consider putting her into Pattie's, Harvey's, Squishy's, Shortcake's, or any other fish's habitat). If I am putting the mermaid into another tank, however, I would like to repaint her to look exactly how she looked 23 years ago (she was apparently made, custom-made presumably, in 1997). I've been doing research on different types of paints suitable for aquarium use internally, but I'm wondering which brand do you think would work best for a porous sculpture with various textures? I would likely be painting with a very small brush. I'm also perfectly okay with waiting up to a week for it to cure. A picture of this special sculpture is below, just to give you some perspective with textures and colors.











Thanks for all your help, guys! If I do this project anytime soon, I will be sure to update it here

 

Beautiful piece. You can use acrylic paints to paint her but once done you will need to seal the paint with something like Krylon Fusion. From all I've read it is aquarium safe once fully cured.

 

Beautiful piece. You can use acrylic paints to paint her but once done you will need to seal the paint with something like Krylon Fusion. From all I've read it is aquarium safe once fully cured.

I also agree that the Krylon Fusion would work well. I would also recommend “plasti-dip” or something like that. Just watch out because I like to paint as well as keep fish and acrylic paint is very runny, just a heads up. Wouldn’t want you to damage your mermaid.

 

I also agree that the Krylon Fusion would work well. I would also recommend “plasti-dip” or something like that. Just watch out because I like to paint as well as keep fish and acrylic paint is very runny, just a heads up. Wouldn’t want you to damage your mermaid.

I suppose there are different types of acrylic paints. I just used the cheap bottles of it from walmart on my resin pieces and didn't have any problems with runs while using it.

 

Beautiful piece. You can use acrylic paints to paint her but once done you will need to seal the paint with something like Krylon Fusion. From all I've read it is aquarium safe once fully cured.

I have searched high and low for a clear krylon fusion. It doesn't exist. Is there a different paint that can be used to seal?

 

I wonder if Krylon crystal clear would work? I could have sworn I saw krylon fusion clear gloss at one point on a shelf at my local wal-mart but could have been mistaken about that and it might have just been krylon clear.

 

I have searched high and low for a clear krylon fusion. It doesn't exist. Is there a different paint that can be used to seal?

Who don’t you just use Plasti-Dip? Same thing just clear and gets the same amount of recommendations.
Plasti-Dip

 

Who don’t you just use Plasti-Dip? Same thing just clear and gets the same amount of recommendations.
Plasti-Dip

Price point. I was hoping to find something less expensive. It's a pretty big piece I am wanting to paint.