Airbrushing Future-what am I doing wrong?

Drying time for enamels is very much dependent on whether the enamel is flat or gloss.  I find flats can be coated in a few hours.  Glossy takes a couple of days!  At least, at room temp. I built a drying cabinet heated with a light bulb that will dry a light coat in a few hours, though to be safe I usually let it set in the drying box for four to six hours.

Several things here.  A lot of the times, I have found that the orange peel effect is more about your paint job, than shooting too far away.  Sometimes certain kits are designed with grainy textures in the molds, and this can be a nuisance as well.  If you detect this, prime your kit before you start painting.  As far as thinning it, you can shoot it straight from the bottle with no ill effects.  Build up a layer that's wet, but not running and sloppy.  That first coat will bind into the paint rather quickly and then you can come back about 20 minutes later and do the same thing again.  Some will say that a ton of light coats is the better method, but I'd rather shoot two heavy coats, and touch up with one light coat, as oppose to shooting 6 light coats and still ending up soaking areas in the end.  Save yourself the time, and just get it wet from the start.  I don't particularly like brushing it on, because I find that sometimes you'll have excess that is hard to see until it hardens or thickens up, and then you'll magically find a drop of future that has hardened towards the back of a wing or around a contour.  Also, despite it's really good leveling capabilities, you can leave brush strokes in Future.  What I have learned over the past few months is to polish your paint job prior to starting your clear coats.  I use micro mesh 6 and 8000 pads to go over the surface of my paint job.  Be careful not to hit too many of your raised areas, or leading and trailing edges, as this will take the paint of of them as well.  Just a light rub over the major surface areas, especially where you know there's going to be decals.  Just doing this alone saves a TON of frustration when trying to lay Future down.  Most people seem like they're looking for the "wet" look when using Future, which I hate to say it, isn't going to happen.  I've all but abandoned Future as a pre-decal gloss coat for this reason, and for the fact that I do not like waiting days to go back into work on a project, simply because I have to wait for a clear coat to have it's way.  This might shock some folks, but what I've found to be the best gloss coat is Krylon Fusion's Gloss Clear.  The Fusion line of paints is made specifically for plastics, so they will not harm your kits.  The only problems I've had with this method is that it can have a tendencey to do weird blending effects if you have a preshade underneath a light layered base coat.  So, anytime I'm doing pre shade, I go with Future.  I can pull off a nicely done post shade that looks equally as good in my eyes, so I can avoid this most of the times, but other times the pre-shade is just the best option.  I shoot the Fusion straight from the can in quick bursts until you build up light layers.  This stuff is great in the fact that it cures in about four minutes provided you don't drench the thing.  Go light, and move quickly when making your passes, and you'll see the build up happen rapidly.  Once done, place in front of a fan, and you're literally ready to start decals in five minutes with an absolutely slick and glossed coat.  

Switch to something designed for this use, such as any clear gloss offered by Tamiya, Gunze, or Testors.  I use Alclad's clear gloss and have never had any of these problems.   Use the Future on your floors.  Nah, I'm not being a smart alleck, Future used to be good but somewhere along the line they changed the formula it wont cure right, at least in my experience.  

Good Luck,

Joe  

Forgot to mention that I'm spraying in a basement that is about 68*F with about 50% humidity in a spray booth.  I'm also using an old Badger 200 airbrush and practiced a bit on old models to see what worked best for me.

Clean up with windex or ammonia.

I spray a squirt of windex in the Future, bump the psi to almost around 30 and spray a bunch of light fog coats (6" away or maybe a little more).  I will start to see where I need to shoot and were not to.  This might take more than one application but it will get you a high gloss shine after a while.

what do you guys use to clean your airbrushes with after??

Windex? water? ISP alcohol?

can you thin the future with water??

What I personally try when I'm airbrushing Future, which I do with a very cheap single action airbrush, is to suspend the piece (for me, normally aircraft) and create a 'fog' of Future from the brush - very broad pattern, low pressure - and allow the 'fog' to 'fall' onto the suspended workpiece.  I've always had bad luck with trying to 'paint' the piece with Future, as you say, pooling, uneven layers. As milair mentioned, I try to do two or three light coats like this (I am to create 5 to 10 seconds worth of the 'fog' each on the top, then each side, then the bottom) and come back to it an hour later, repeating this technique.  I figure you're really only aiming for a separation layer of a thou or two thick.  I do three or four layers like this, and I find it builds up enough to perform that separation of one layer to the next.  Helps if you have a spray booth or something similar.  Hope that helps.  

cut the future with 70% or 90% isoprople? alcohol   3parts future 1 part alcohol    no more thick layers  this works  let dry 24 hours

Gave up airbrushing it any only brush it on, even on large areas. It will level  out and not leave any brush marks.

I spray over enamels. how long do you guys let it cure before futuring?

Theuns

Nope, Acrylics(Gunze aqueous or Tamiya). I know what you're saying, but I only add a few drops of windex, and it never seems to affect the acrylic base coat.(Assuming its dried completely). I would also suggest using Polyscale clear gloss if you can't get future to work. Its what I use mostly now and it seems much easier to airbrush. Just thin with MM acrylic thinner.

Future thinned with a small amount of windex works good for me, move the airbrush slow and keep it no more than 2 inches away and spray a coat thin enough to keep it from pooling. You can always go over it again with another coat 10, 15 min. later.

While on the subject of Future, how long do you guys wait for paint to cure befroe putting futre over as a decal gloss coat? I usually wotk with enamels but have found that when I either brush or spray future over it ,it seems to not have a totally gloss look to it, rather a glossy satin finish .

I use the future neat from the bottle and usually wait a day to do the clear.

Could it be that the paint is not cured enough?

Interesting tip about the soap in the future, does it have no effect on the future's ability to "stick" to the model?

Thanx

Theuns

I find a mix of about 80% Future to 20%  isopropyl alcohol (i use the 91%) and just 1 drop of dish washing liquid detergent (helps break surface tension so the future flows smoothly on the details.) be sure to mix well. and this works well for me.

I spray a light coat,  wait a little bit and spray another light coat...  repeat as needed..  I did a model the other day that I used about 3 coats on to get full coverage, but that may be because I'm using a Badger Velocity, and it has a small needle size.  

Delbert

Well, I had a look at it after it dried, and it didn't look as bad. I decided to throw a 2nd coat of clear on using a lacquer glosscoat. I just might reserve Future for brush use from now on. Thanks for the tips so far!

 Chris

I usually do thin future a bit, with isopropyl alcohol. I use the 71 % mix commonly sold in drug stores.

I usually find orange peel, whether with future or various paints, is the result of too great a distance between airbrush and model surface. I usually use 15 psi- that is about right to me.

I do try to get a consistant look to a coat while airbrushing. If some spots look to dry, others wet, I go back over the dry-appearing areas with more paint.

I've found it easiest to coat first with a couple of light coats & leaving these for a hour or so before laying down a heavier wet coat - the second light coat can be used to sort out any patchiness you might have. The final wet gloss coat can be achieved over the first couple of coats without blasting too much paint on.

the best single thing I have for trying to lay down a nice gloss coat of Future is bright light, used at the right angle it allows me to see exactly what going on (or down, or not).