thinning future floor wax?

You can use it without thinning biy you can use  tamiya x-20A acrylic thinner up to half.

I moved this from the Aircraft forum to Techniques.
This is a good discussion which can benefit everyone.

Future Floor wax can be thinned /cleaned up with house hold ammonia. I use the lemon sented kind. A 50/50 mixture works great.

I'll answer your questions as best I can...

1. Alcohol would be the correct method of cleaning Future. I normally spray it on and don't use a brush much. Alcohol has a tendancy to dry things out. If you're using a good brush you may want to run some mineral spirits through it afterwards.
2. The manufacturer recommends 20 - 30 minutes. I usually don't mess with it until the next day, but that's based on personal habits.
3. Durability is something I haven't had to worry about so I really can't speak to it. Except to say that it's a floor finish and if it didn't wear off after a while they would never have to sell it again. I would suspect that a good varnish would be more durable than Future, but I have nothing to base that on. You might want to pose the question on the "figures" page and see if anyone has tried this.

Stupidfish, that's a great tip. I'll check out the web site and add that tip to my library.

You can thin Future with rubbing alcohol. If you want your models to look dull afterwards, mix future with Tamiya's Flat Base X-21 but no more than 50 precent of the flat base or it will haze pretty bad. Check out navismagazine.com they have several demos (most of which include several uses of Future) on all sorts of models built by some of the best. I hate to plug another website but we ARE here to help each other and you'd be doing yourself a favor by giving them a look-see.

Dave, great information - thanks for taking the time to explain it like you did.

I have three questions:

1) If using a brush, would I use alcohol to clean it off? Once the brush is used, is it safe to assume that I wouldn't use it for anything else?

2) What would you recommend in regards to drying time?

3) In regards to painting miniatures, it's always recommended to spray them with a Matt Varnish which helps protect the paint (from chipping, rubbing off, etc) - especially when actively gaming with them. My question is does Future also protect the finished paint job like a varnish would?

I meant to add: :)
TEISE

Something I've always wanted.....a gloss that smells good.

TEISE

Hi - I had a similar question I posted a few weeks back and got some good responses. See "Future Floor Polish" folder from author "Paccardi" on second page. There were some very good replies and suggesions on the application to the model.

Even if you don't want to use it on the whole model, it's a great product to have around when wanting to shine small parts. Just dip them of brush them. So much easier than pulling out the gloss coat spray....and it smells better too.

Best of luck.

Paul

thanks Dave. your knowledge has been very helpful. i'm going to get some future today and try it on my f-14 tonight. thanks, Jim.

It does several things for you.

1. It puts a clear and level finish on your model that will not yellow. That makes it ideal as a base for applying decals. It will not model or blotch like clear laquers can. It also wont orange peel and dries fast.
2. It's great for canopy's in several ways. It corrects minor flaws and protects the plastic. Therefore you can coat your clear plastic, mask it with something like bare metal foil, and remove the mask without worrying about damaging your plastic. Then a final coat to get it a well maintained appearance if you wish.
3. It's easy to apply. No thinning. You can spray it, dip it, or brush it on. It always levels perfectly.
4. Clean up is easy as well. A little alcohol and it comes right off. But you also don't have to worry about it coming off with water.
5. You can shoot a clear flat over it to tone it down. I like Microscale products. But you can put most anything on it I believe. At least anything I've ever used.
6. It's cheap and you'll never run out. At least I haven't.

This is just one of those great finds. I'm certain you'll be very happy with it and you'll probably never use anything else for this application again.

Dave

thanx! i've never used it before but it seems to be all the rave.why is it so good,and what does it do?

No. Shoot it straight. You can brush it and dip it. What ever works best. I prefer to spray it though. If they stop making this stuff I think I'll cry.