Using Pledge Floor Care Tile & Vinyl Floor Finish with Future Shine

[m408]

Future seems to be one of the magic elixirs of model car building, but I have never tried it, and know nothing about it.

What are your favorite uses for it? And how do you apply it for those uses?

Yep, I'm looking for a ton of hints all at once on this super stuff.

[Harry P.]

Future is used as a clearcoat, as an alternative to other products. You can apply it with a soft brush (it's pretty self-leveling) or airbrush it. Some people even dunk the body into a container of Future and let it drip dry!

I've only airbrushed it, so I can't vouch for the other methods...but it goes on nicely via airbrush. No thinning necessary...it's the right consistency straight from the bottle. And all you need to clean your airbrush is plain old water.

The biggest benefits to using Future are that it's acrylic, so it dries fast and can even be sprayed indoors if necessary. (After all, it's meant to be applied to floors, so it's safe for indoor use.) And the fact that, compared to other types of clear, it's dirt cheap! You can get a bottle of it at the supermarket for $4-5 or so, and you'll have enough to last the rest of your life!

I'm not sure about polishing it, though. I haven't tried that. Maybe some others will chime in.

[curt raitz]

I have used Future for a number of years and can atest to its ability to flow together when applied with a brush.

Have not tried using Tamiya's flattening agent as of yet...but am going to give it a go

link to website very helpful

Edited January 2, 2008 by curt raitz

[MrObsessive]

Yup, Future is the best when it comes to needing a barrier! I've been using it since '99 when I was doing a '56 to '55 T-bird conversion and wanted to paint it anything but the standard red it was molded in.

I've applied it with an airbrush, keeping the pressure no more than 10-15 psi or so. It can run quickly out of the bottle so when airbrushing, I recommend quick passes!

And as Mark mentioned, I've used it for attaching photoetched parts as an alternative to epoxy and white glues which to me are too messy.

[jbwelda]

and if it accidently spills on the floor...

[weirich1]

I've used Future as a clearcoat on my NASCAR and street cars for about 4 years now; just brush it on, dries beautifully.

[m408]

Future? Did someone mention Future!?!

Let me see if I can offer more info on this wonderful product, (& if you stay to the end, I'll post a good link with more info).

Future is a great clear coat, As it's an acrylic, it won't yellow.

It's also a great barrier for many things: Red/yellow/other non white or non gray colored plastics so the unstable pigments in the red/yellow plastic won't bleed through to the top coats.

Also it's a great barrier for the new softer plastic we seem to be stuck with, & once applied to it, you can use hotter lacquers & enamels with no worry, (mucho thanx to Bill Geary for that tidbit of great info).

I don't airbrush it myself, but from all I've read/heard, it can be airbrushed pretty much straight out of the bottle.

I have dunked parts in it before, but I usually brush it on using a 1/4" or 1/2" wide brush. As Harry mentioned it is self leveling, so brush marks disappear once it dries. If it runs or pools, you can strip it with ammonia or Windex, or sand out the run or pool once it's dry & reapply.

For use as a barrier coat, use it before any priming is done, & simply scuff it with an 1,800 grit polishing pad/cloth, or 1,000 grit sandpaer, then prime & paint as normal.

You can also use it to vary the sheen of things like tires or leather/vinyl looking interior parts. it is a gloss, but with practice you can adjust the level of glossiness of it on the part, & thus the level of sheen overall.

It's the best thing I've found for replicating the glass/clear over gauges.

Finally, here's a set of tips for it's use I found & posted in another thread a while back:

1. Future is great for use as a clear coat preparation for decals and as a sealer. When used in preparation for decals, it should be sprayed on full strength. Put on enough coats until you have a uniform, smooth, glossy finish. When sealing metallic finishes, it should be thinned at least 50%. Either water or alcohol can be used to thin Future.

2. Future can be used for making mud puddles or standing water when doing a diorama. It's not as thick as epoxy, but it's easier to work with. And, it doesn't take nearly as long to dry as resin type clear mediums. Pastel powders can also be mixed with it to create grime, mud, yuck, or whatever.

3. Use Future for instrument dial faces. It may take many more applications than epoxy, but you don't get the domed effect you do with epoxy, and Future is clearer.

4. You can add talcum powder to Future to make a quick drying seam filler that is hard, but sands easily.

5. After final polishing, canopies and windshields can be dipped in Future to give them a fantastic glass-like appearance.

6. Canopies and windshields can be glued in place using Future with no worries of marring or damaging the surface of the clear parts. You can also use Future to attach small parts on when you need a clear cement, but something stronger than white glue.

7. If you want to create your own shades of transparent colors, food coloring can be mixed with Future for the desired effect. If you mess up, you haven't invested as much money as you would combining clear paints.

8. Use Future to revive those old decals that came with the kit in the bottom of a box in the garage. Once Future has dried water will not affect it, but it does sometime have weird reactions with some of the decal setting solutions. Normally it is only a temporary period of discoloration but you might want to experiment a little beforehand.

9. If you do your own mold making and resin casting, Future is a great clear coat to use on your masters or molds to ensure a clean casting. You can either brush it or spray it on. The clay you use to make your master mold can be used over and over again, as the Future does not seem to harm it.

10. Mix a little SNJ powder with Future and have a rock hard gloss silver finish.

11. After finishing your Sculpey base for a ship diorama or display coat it with Future for a truly wet look.

12. Future can be mixed with some flat water-based acrylic paints to create a gloss or semi-gloss finish. Experiment with small amounts before mixing up a big batch. The amount of Future added will determine the amount of sheen.

Some people will say, "Well it's a wax, so it will yellow, or can't work as you mention, yadda, yadda, yadda......." Trust me. First of all, it is NOT a wax, it's an acrylic, so it will work. It's designed to stand up to abuse by people waling on it, scuffing it, etc., so you know it's going to stand up to the handling we do of models.

I've used Future for nearly 18 years now in modeling, (as a barrier for softer plastic only for the last year or so however), with NO ill effects.

Future works, bottom line.

Now for the aforementioned link I promised, (you did read all the way to the end didn't you?):

http://www.swannysmodels.com/TheCompleteFuture.html This is the best site for overall info.

There's another site I can't find the link for right now, but it's not as detailed, & the same guy does both sites.

I hope this info helps!

Thanks Mark.

Great hints and super link. Printed "The Complete Future", and I'm sure that it will get lots of use. I would recommend this link to even the most experianced builders.

Edited January 3, 2008 by m408

[Canada Jeff]

I'm also a fan of Future. I air brush it as a clear coat and have been very happy with the results.

I'm a little surprised that nobody has chimed in yet to tell us how LOUSY it is and that it's total ######. Seems like whenever this topic is raised on.... another forum for scale auto enthusiasts, somebody pipes up with some nonsense about how crappy Future is and that it has no place in model building. Disregard the nay-sayers and ebrace the Future!!

[Canada Jeff]

and if it accidently spills on the floor...

Then you have to polish the rest of the WHOLE FLOOR! Clean it up quick with some windex and a paper towel before the Mrs. sees!!

Windex also works great for cleaning your airbrush afterwards too. Any dried spots will be gently disolved by the amonia in the Windex.

[935k3]

I've been using it for years because it safe over any decals. The only thing I had truble with was finding a Wax to go over it that did not rubbing it off when applied. I discovered ZYMOL brand(availble at Wal-Mart)works great, it deepens and enhances the gloss. Zymol smells good too because it has coconut oil in it. I apply by carefully wiping it on with a clean tissue with excess drained off by pressing it on a paper towel. I use a Q-tip to apply in small areas. Holding it under a warm lamp helps it too level better. It can be used to seal models molded in yellow and red that usually bleed the color through successive coats of paint. Just about any paint can go over it safely. Here is an Opel DTM I used it on.

Edited January 5, 2008 by 935k3

[Mr. Show]

This just occurred to me and I haven't seen it elsewhere. I know people use future on clear parts for a shinier, more realistic appearance. Can you also tint future then use it for a tinted glass effect? If so, what would you use - water based acrylic, enamel or lacquer? I would have tried it already but I don't have any spare clear parts I want to ruin.

Edited November 23, 2010 by Mr. Show

[Jantrix]

RIT dye maybe? I've wanted to try this too.

[paul 54]

RIT dye maybe? I've wanted to try this too.

I use mc cormick food color neon works good

[lonewolf01]

here is some ideas on how to tint future

You can add talcum powder to Future to make quick drying seam filler that is hard, but sands easily.

If you want to create your own shades of transparent colors, food coloring can be mixed with Future for the desired effect. Tamiya clear colors work well as toners also. If you mess up, you haven't invested as much money as you would combining clear paints.

For those gold tinted canopies on contemporary jet fighters try adding a few drops of Tamiya acrylic gold to a couple teaspoons of Future.

Future as a sealer over decals allows the modeler to use an oil based paint mixture thinned with Turpenoid to color to darken panel lines etc. The Future will prevent the oil paint from marking the surface and you can use a paper towel or q-tip to remove as much as you want until you get the effect that you desire.

[Cato]

here is some ideas on how to tint future

You can add talcum powder to Future to make quick drying seam filler that is hard, but sands easily.

Wolf-some great tips. This talcum powder filler-does it shrink over time?

[lonewolf01]

the post i made came from here

http://www.swannysmodels.com

Edited November 23, 2010 by lonewolf01

[MikeMc]

I am a big future fan. That said I never have had luck (skill) in tinting future with tamiya acrylics. I will say that the risk in trying it is minor as future can be removed with windex. When I tried the last time I mixed things in an epoxy cup. I started with 20 ml future and added tamiya smoke drop by drop.What I found is tamiya acrylics tend to curdle in the future and never seem to blend correctly. I since have gone to 1:1 window film tint and it works great!

This is Swanny's take on tinting........

You can mix Future with Model Master Acrylic paints and add 20% to 25% of matt clear to obtain a realistic semi-gloss finish. Using Future as a "mixer" for acrylic paints will help them airbrush better, increase the durability of the paint to resist damage, and if you use enough Future, the resulting finish may not need to be gloss coated prior to decaling. It has been successfully used with Polly Scale, Model Master, Gunze Sangyo, and Mister Kit acrylic paints. Results have been poor when mixing Future with Tamiya acrylics and I do not recommend it. Usually around 25% Future to 75% paint will give good results but depending on your project you may want to add a little more Future. For example, if you are doing a fade/blending coat, you might add 80% Future to make a "translucent" paint. If you screw up the application you can remove the dried Future with Windex, Windolene or simply let it soak in a cup of Future overnight. It is important that the clear parts are clean and free of wax or oils (such as your finger print) prior to application otherwise these contaminants will repel the Future and give unsatisfactory results in the end.

Sources:

http://swannysmodels...leteFuture.html

http://fichtenfoo.ne...-floor-acrylic/

Edited November 23, 2010 by Stasch

[Cato]

the post i made came from here

http://www.swannysmodels.com

Thanks Wolf-I found it but he doesn't say. Maybe I'll ask over there.

[Cato]

the post i made came from here

http://www.swannysmodels.com

A quick email to Swan confirmed that it does not shrink over time once fully cured.

[Skydime]

Just a thought...maybe spray some VHT Nite-shades in layers to the desired tint level on the inside of the window/light glass and then future it on the outside?

[Farmboy]

To add my two cents, I just did my windows on a '79 Camaro to match the 1:1 blue tint. I used future and a couple of drops blue food coloring. I set my 2bl action airbrush pressure to 35 lbs, and over the course of 5 or 6 coats in 2 or 3 minutes, had that wonderful thin blue tint I was after. It came out even with no dark spots or runs. This was my first attempt at this and it worked! I`m having an argument with my photo program right now, but I`ll supply a pic if you`d like as soon as I figure out the problem.

[MikeMc]

To add my two cents, I just did my windows on a '79 Camaro to match the 1:1 blue tint. I used future and a couple of drops blue food coloring. I set my 2bl action airbrush pressure to 35 lbs, and over the course of 5 or 6 coats in 2 or 3 minutes, had that wonderful thin blue tint I was after. It came out even with no dark spots or runs. This was my first attempt at this and it worked! I`m having an argument with my photo program right now, but I`ll supply a pic if you`d like as soon as I figure out the problem.

I would love to see it Mike! I have good luck with 1:1 tint film.......not future tinting, although I dip all glass in future and swear by it

[Farmboy]

Finally got this working again. Here's the first test window I did on a gluebomb I got from a friend, my very first attempt.

These are the actual windows I'm using front and back. I hope this just wasn't beginner's luck and I can expect results like this every time. Next try is going to be for a more or less opaque green sun shading strip at the top of the windshield on another build I have in progress.

[robdot]

they dont make future any more. they were bought out by pledge.

[Harry P.]

They still make it, but now it's called "Pledge with Future Shine."

Different label, different (and stupid) new name... same product as before.