Whose clear flat do you like using these days?

jcfay

Thanks oldermodelguy- super helpful.  I’ll definitely be ordering or picking up some of the liquitex products in the next day or two.  I’ve been unable to find standard pledge anyway (I remember having a hard time finding plain Future 10 years ago, so I wasn’t surprised by this).  

Could you talk a bit more about the thinner you’re using with liquitex?  You mention the retarder but I’m curious about what you’re using exactly to thin the varnish.  Thanks again

 

I use all Liquitex products in the Liquitex varnish as a top coat. The thinner is Liquitex Airbrush Medium.The retarder is Liquitex Slow Dri and the flow aid is Liquitex Flow Aid. Everything has instructions on the bottle labels worth reading.

And I buy these products at Micheals, generally with 40 or 50% off coupons. This is not an inexpensive line but it's affordable by joining the Micheals rewards coupon program and just keep an eye out in your email for the coupons you want .And really scan through a coupon offer when it comes because the header doesn't desribe all the coupons that may be in the offer, you need to scroll down to find the 50% off single item purchases etc. Or like today in my email there is a 30% off entire purchase offer for I think 1 day, today. All you have to do is sign up for this, the coupons come often enough to be bothersome.

That said, there are knock offs of the Future out there that you can get at places like the Dollar Store under generic names fwiw. Also my Pledge did not yellow in the bottle as I had stated earlier, that was a mistake.. I wanted to be sure of this and pulled it out of the cupboard, when I did there was a yellow box behind it giving it the yellow cast. If anything it has a slight, very slight blue tint to it and is otherwise clear. That product is Pledge Floor Care finish, the Finish is a separate word on the label.

Also Goldens sells acrylic varnishes as well that probably work similarly to the Liquitex, I just haven't used it so I write about what I know about LOL.

oldermodelguy

I use all Liquitex products in the Liquitex varnish as a top coat. The thinner is Liquitex Airbrush Medium.The retarder is Liquitex Slow Dri and the flow aid is Liquitex Flow Aid. Everything has instructions on the bottle labels worth reading.

And I buy these products at Micheals, generally with 40 or 50% off coupons. This is not an inexpensive line but it's affordable by joining the Micheals rewards coupon program and just keep an eye out in your email for the coupons you want .And really scan through a coupon offer when it comes because the header doesn't desribe all the coupons that may be in the offer, you need to scroll down to find the 50% off single item purchases etc. Or like today in my email there is a 30% off entire purchase offer for I think 1 day, today. All you have to do is sign up for this, the coupons come often enough to be bothersome.

That said, there are knock offs of the Future out there that you can get at places like the Dollar Store under generic names fwiw. Also my Pledge did not yellow in the bottle as I had stated earlier, that was a mistake.. I wanted to be sure of this and pulled it out of the cupboard, when I did there was a yellow box behind it giving it the yellow cast. If anything it has a slight, very slight blue tint to it and is otherwise clear. That product is Pledge Floor Care finish, the Finish is a separate word on the label.

Also Goldens sells acrylic varnishes as well that probably work similarly to the Liquitex, I just haven't used it so I write about what I know about LOL.

So I tried out the liquitex today, and I think it went pretty well as a gloss coat before decals (and then post decals pre-weathering I'll throw on another coat).  I didn't buy any of the flow aid or retarder, but do have the airbrushing medium and probably used 40:60 ratio of medium to varnish which may have been total overkill (for some reason I had 50:50 mix in my head - wrong!).

Curious how long you let these dry prior to working on them (applying decals)?  I'm used to letting future cure for a day or two but I'm wondering if this finish hardens quicker?

Thanks again

Another 10 year old thread revived....

BlackSheepTwoOneFour

Another 10 year old thread revived....

"Everything old is new again..."

jcfay

 

 

So I tried out the liquitex today, and I think it went pretty well as a gloss coat before decals (and then post decals pre-weathering I'll throw on another coat).  I didn't buy any of the flow aid or retarder, but do have the airbrushing medium and probably used 40:60 ratio of medium to varnish which may have been total overkill (for some reason I had 50:50 mix in my head - wrong!).

Curious how long you let these dry prior to working on them (applying decals)?  I'm used to letting future cure for a day or two but I'm wondering if this finish hardens quicker?

Thanks again

 

I'd say decals could go on sooner than 24 hours but in my world it just ends up being a day or two because that's just how things go around here ( I should conduct a test though, I bet it would pass in a couple of hours). With no retarder it's going to set up pretty fast and if you heat set too then working time will be even shorter. I could see spraying in the morning and decal in the afternoon with good drying conditions.

That medium is deceptive stuff, Sometimes I wonder if you couldn't just use that alone as varnish lol ! 60/40 won't hurt anything for what you are doing with gloss varnish, though I go more like 80/20 or 75/25 varnish to medium with gloss. But you might lose some of the flat look on the mat finish with 40% medium. You might need none on the mat actually, it goes down pretty nice alone but try it on something as a test first.. I wouldn't use more than about 10% medium if you need any at all with mat. With satin I use maybe 15%, that makes a very nice satin finish for a leather or vinyl look. I also use the satin in craft paints for a material look for car interiors and such things, it just takes that total flat look away and gives a little sheen.

My cleaner for this stuff is alcohol, Windex and water fwiw.  I've also scrubbed the airbrush in hot water and dish soap, that works too. Point being though, you want to clean up as soon as done spraying , don't wait till after the next session.