I just thought I'd show you a few pics of a lighter I made using a simple method with only varnish paint and a clear varnish coating to protect the surface. (They use that stuff on cars, so I figured why not...?)
Not screen accurate or anything but I kind of like how it came out in the end.
I made my own lighter about 6 months ago too.
I haven't been able to post pics 'til now though
as I'm in the process of changing web host, but
here's mine:
I carry mine with me always, so it does show a little
use.
I used "Hobby Varnish", Hobbylack in Swedish. The maker of them is Lefranc & Bourgeois, a French company.
The clear coating is alkyd varnish, from Henkel, with a Plastic Padding logo on there too.
I started by trying Fallguy's method, but the epoxy wouldn't work
right for me. So after painting the background and clover on the
lighter I used about four coats of clear nail polish for the top coat.
I've added another coat or two of the nail polish since then as well.
The finish seems very durable so far and is easy to apply.
Neat looking lighter and box. Appears to be available
for $33.99 from the vendor. I don't see it on Zippo's
web site yet though. The collector tin is cool too!
I just applied about 4 thin coats of Rustoleam acrylic clear coat to my "Studio" clover leaf Zippo to proytect the silk screen. with the exception of a little bit of "pooling" around the edges (I masked out the print with masking tape) it turned out very nice. I shall be field testing it soon to see how it holds up in a pocket full of car keys and coins.
PBG
Where are you located? 
