Need Help Withe Future Floor Polish

[stanleymsn]

how do I use future floor polish to clear coat my model, hot to mix it?

[Zoom Zoom]

It does not need thinning to spray. It's already almost too thin to spray.

[fordsixty]

i just use it straight out of the bottle. i brush it on with a small foam brush. because it is self levelling, it leaves a nice smooth shine.

[stanleymsn]

Thanks guys I will give it a shot and let you know the results.

[935k3]

Everything you need to know about Future is at this link.

The Complete Future

[forwardlook60]

.....And while we're on the subject...

Does anybody know where I might find some Future? Between this afternoon and evening I

went to two Targets, two K-Marts, one Wal-Mart, two Jewel Food Stores (the local big grocery chain),

a local harware store (Ace) and a Home Depot. None of them had anything even remotely

like Future. As a mater of fact, most of the help didn't even know what I was talking about

when I described it. I searched in all of the pertinent sections and found nothing. This is very

frustrating (not to mention surprising) as you would think that it would be easy to find (being

an S. C. Johnson brand and all). Anybody out there that could point me toward where they

KNOW that they stock it?! (perhaps, even better, someone in the Chicagoland area who has purchased

some).

Thanks, Steve

[m408]

The link Dale posted is great, & here's even 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. 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 sandpaper, 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.

Just an FYI. I tried future as a base for flocking my latest car carpet, as versus paint, and it worked great.

[m408]

.....And while we're on the subject...

Does anybody know where I might find some Future? Between this afternoon and evening I

went to two Targets, two K-Marts, one Wal-Mart, two Jewel Food Stores (the local big grocery chain),

a local harware store (Ace) and a Home Depot. None of them had anything even remotely

like Future. As a mater of fact, most of the help didn't even know what I was talking about

when I described it. I searched in all of the pertinent sections and found nothing. This is very

frustrating (not to mention surprising) as you would think that it would be easy to find (being

an S. C. Johnson brand and all). Anybody out there that could point me toward where they

KNOW that they stock it?! (perhaps, even better, someone in the Chicagoland area who has purchased

some).

Thanks, Steve

Most major hardware stores, including ACE, should have it. Look in the home cleaning section for floor polishes.

[Kenny]

.....And while we're on the subject...

Does anybody know where I might find some Future? Between this afternoon and evening I

went to two Targets, two K-Marts, one Wal-Mart, two Jewel Food Stores (the local big grocery chain),

a local harware store (Ace) and a Home Depot. None of them had anything even remotely

like Future. As a mater of fact, most of the help didn't even know what I was talking about

when I described it. I searched in all of the pertinent sections and found nothing. This is very

frustrating (not to mention surprising) as you would think that it would be easy to find (being

an S. C. Johnson brand and all). Anybody out there that could point me toward where they

KNOW that they stock it?! (perhaps, even better, someone in the Chicagoland area who has purchased

some).

Thanks, Steve

It has a new label. Now called "Pledge with Future Shine" or something. I just saw it at Walmart the other day.

[MikeMc]

Its made less than 70 miles from you....Call SCJohnson.....1-800-558-5252

[Clay]

.....And while we're on the subject...

Does anybody know where I might find some Future? Between this afternoon and evening I

went to two Targets, two K-Marts, one Wal-Mart, two Jewel Food Stores (the local big grocery chain),

a local harware store (Ace) and a Home Depot. None of them had anything even remotely

like Future. As a mater of fact, most of the help didn't even know what I was talking about

when I described it. I searched in all of the pertinent sections and found nothing. This is very

frustrating (not to mention surprising) as you would think that it would be easy to find (being

an S. C. Johnson brand and all). Anybody out there that could point me toward where they

KNOW that they stock it?! (perhaps, even better, someone in the Chicagoland area who has purchased

some).

Thanks, Steve

I found Future Floor polish at target, in the floor cleaner isle with the mops and what not, and it is Future Floor polish and nothing else, I have yet to make a model worthy of this polish yet, but when i do i will post the results

[CAL]

For a long time I did without future. I have seen some bad results and it seemed to be a cure all for other problems, mainly poor paint jobs. However, I have changed my mind and picked up a bottle recently and have experiemented around with it a bit.

FWIW

I did see Future and Pledge with Future Shine. I believe it to be the same stuff. The inside labels are exactly the same and could not find any specific differences.

I think I am converted and sold on Future, but the jury is still out.

First, I have had no problems airbrushing straight out of the bottle other than it's so thin that it likes to run easy. Maybe it’s the nature of the stuff, but there seems to be a very fine line between getting a glossy finish and it running. However, that seems to be a minor annoyance compared to the positives.

It will sand, however any aggressive grits (like 600 or coarser) and or wet sanding strips it right off. Maybe it’s not hard enough yet, as I am still playing with it. However, I found that I had best luck with 800 wet-dry and 3600 micromesh, and it sands pretty easily.

I tried brushing as well, It goes on smooth and easy and dries without brush strokes, however I did find that I got a little better finish and less trash and nibs airbrushing it.

I also found that it liked to bead up in places on a gloss finish so some areas had to be worked with the brush more to get it to stick. I did not have any problems like that while airbrushing the stuff.

It’s extremely glossy and gives a body that wet look finish. I had a better finish in 5 min spraying Future than I did with hours of sanding polishing and wax and buffing.

It will hide small sanding scratches, however, the base needs to be pretty good without any major sanding scratches or defects because it WON’T hide the bigger paint issues.

However, it seems like it works if you wanted to do a two or three stage paint job. If the flat base is wet sanded (color sanded) and a couple of coats of future was just a glossy as future over gloss.

It may cloud up while drying particularly on second and third coats, but clears up when dry.

I here Windex would strip Future, but so will Iso, which is what I used. I came right off even after several hours of drying.

I suspect that may be a different case after 24+ hours when it really dries. I also suspect that it will get much harder later.

I also understand that it can be polished and waxed, but I don’t know that you’d be able to get any better finish (it’s pretty darn good just sprayed on), but that’s other experiments I plan on trying in the near future.

So far I have had a pretty positive experience with Future.

[LVZ2881]

Blueman Mark, could to go thru the procedure you used to use future as sealer/barrier for red/yellow plastics??

[935k3]

If you have to strip Future use straight Ammonia and it comes of instantly and will not hurt underlying paints except Tamiya Acrylics which also dissolve with Ammonia. Also I tried many waxes over Future and found only one that did not remove the Future, Zymol brand really protects and enhances the gloss of Future and it smells good because it has Coconut oil in it. I apply Future by wiping it on with a disposable cosmetic cleaning pad(sold in 100 packs at Dollar stores). I use a Q-Tip for small and hard to get into areas like NACA ducts on racecars. Because of the reworkability and absolutely safe over anything qualities of Future I would never use anything else.

Edited February 18, 2008 by 935k3

[CAL]

If you have to strip Future use straight Ammonia and it comes of instantly and will not hurt underlying paints except Tamiya Acrylics which also dissolve with Ammonia. Also I tried many waxes over Future and found only one that did not remove the Future, Zymol brand really protects and enhances the gloss of Future and it smells good because it has Coconut oil in it. I apply Future by wiping it on with a disposable cosmetic cleaning pad(sold in 100 packs at Dollar stores). I use a Q-Tip for small and hard to get into areas like NACA ducts on racecars. Because of the reworkability and absolutely safe over anything qualities of Future I would never use anything else.

Well that's good to know. It is the best in the world and the only thing I have ever used in the past several years.

Thanks for the heads up.

[Clay]

Can you apply this stuff with a foam brush? And how long does it need to dry?

[Nate]

How long does future take to dry.

[m408]

Dries pretty quick. Just figure that if you used it on a floor, when could you walk on it?

[CAL]

How long does future take to dry.

I like to let it sit and harden up 24-36 before handling or sanding/polishing any imperfection out.

It's pretty much dry in a few hours. I just found it to be a little soft yet.

[Merkur XR4Ti]

I'll add one thing to know about Future:

If you are going to decal over a Future-coated body and need to use Micro Sol, you MUST wait at least 48 hours to decal or else the Micro Sol will etch into the Future and leave a milky white film that doesn't come out. For safety's sake I usually wait at least a week before attempting to decal over Future.

I have a tough time airbrushing the stuff without getting runs. I wish there was a way to thicken it a little bit so it sprayed more like paint and less like water.

[Zoom Zoom]

I have a tough time airbrushing the stuff without getting runs. I wish there was a way to thicken it a little bit so it sprayed more like paint and less like water.

I once put an open jar of Future in the dehydrator for an hour to help thicken it a bit before spraying. It helped, but not as much as I would have preferred. I've seen incredible results w/sprayed Future, especially from Bill Cunningham who built probably the best 1/24 scale Ferrari 250 GTO ever. He spends a long time applying light mist coats of Future, building it up very slowly over about a half an hour. I don't have that level of patience. But it's as good a finished clearcoat as you'll ever see. Future is definitely odd stuff to work with, but it can be done if you change your habits a bit. My ham-fisted spraying of it has been okay, the few runs I got pretty much leveled out and can be dry-sanded w/micromesh later. Haven't had to strip it before.

I still see people on other forums, those seasoned "experts" that finish a kit or two every 10 years, telling people to thin Future, one of them even said "to the consistency of milk"... I mean, c'mon...I know they're just trying to be helpful, but this "help" I see divvied out at times is anything but helpful when solid answers by experienced builders are fighting to be noticed amongst the unhelpful noise of people who use model forums as a primary social outlet because they don't ever really build anything, they just like to talk a lot about it.

Today on another forum I was accused of "soapboxing" when I tried to give some good solid advice that was contrary to someone else's that was completely out of left field. I even tried using smilies and whatnot so not to hurt their feelings, but it didn't work. I ended up deleting my advice on the subject and decided to stay out giving advice there in the future. I feel bad for those who really need good advice and can't separate the good vs. the bad or "left field" solutions that are handed out regularly. Oh well, life goes on.

Edited March 14, 2008 by Zoom Zoom

[CAL]

Future is very thin and runs easy, but it's not the end of the world.

Future sands easy and the more coats the less runs.

Also when shooting it what looks like terrible runs will level out after it's dry. They ones the don't I just sand smooth and reshoot.

[Uncle Mike]

Dries pretty quick. Just figure that if you used it on a floor, when could you walk on it?

I never walk on my models.

[atgpwc]

Hi, new here. Just another question to Future (would like to add on to it, since there are a few threads of same topic around, thought I just add on to make one single thread more informative), I've used this stuff to strengthen some of my flat acrylic paints, and had this stuff for two years now. I recently saw the finish on two of my model cars starting to have cracks around, those spider web types, now my car looks like an ancient vase (those that have cracks on the pottery). I have yet to see the finish on some of my friends model cars (I did the body paint jobs on them). I've read other forums about Future cracking and stuff, which is probably due to gas out/drying process of paint underneath, and many people have also advised to not use it but use something else instead. I saw some fellow members here showing their future applied cars (gotta say, very professional level to me), and I would like to ask some fellow experienced and positive experienced members to describe the procedure to applying this (in terms of when after the paint job, in layers, or just once, and the timings etc, what kind of paint was used underneath). I use acrylics paint underneath, (tube or bottled ones art brands from art store that I mixed with future, which is quite strong and cost effective, but I really want to fix this Future clearcoat problem).

Edit: I am starting to suspect this problem is caused by polishing, maybe a reaction with polish, since my with friend's paint jobs I never polished, just lightly waxed. Maybe if it's not a reaction with the polish, it's the rubbing action moving over the soft acrylic softening the paint and causing the hard clear to crack.

This Williams was done with Future, but cracks started to show now, they are small and all over the place, I can see them clearly from 10cm away and angled with light hitting on it. I'll probably try to sand down the clear and apply a thin layer to fix it.

Edited July 12, 2008 by atgpwc

[935k3]

Hi, new here. Just another question to Future (would like to add on to it, since there are a few threads of same topic around, thought I just add on to make one single thread more informative), I've used this stuff to strengthen some of my flat acrylic paints, and had this stuff for two years now. I recently saw the finish on two of my model cars starting to have cracks around, those spider web types, now my car looks like an ancient vase (those that have cracks on the pottery). I have yet to see the finish on some of my friends model cars (I did the body paint jobs on them). I've read other forums about Future cracking and stuff, which is probably due to gas out/drying process of paint underneath, and many people have also advised to not use it but use something else instead. I saw some fellow members here showing their future applied cars (gotta say, very professional level to me), and I would like to ask some fellow experienced and positive experienced members to describe the procedure to applying this (in terms of when after the paint job, in layers, or just once, and the timings etc, what kind of paint was used underneath). I use acrylics paint underneath, (tube or bottled ones from art store mixed with future, which is quite strong and cost effective, but I really want to fix this Future problem).

THis Williams was done with Future, but cracks started to show now, they are small and all over the place, I can see them clearly from 10cm away and angled with light hitting on it. I'll probably try to sand down the clear and apply a thin layer to fix it.

Future will crack over Tamiya's Acrylics and I have had it crack over Testor's Enamels. Do not sand it down, try taking a 50/50 mix off ammonia and Future and wiping it over cracked area. It can be reflowed and fixed by doing this. It can also be easily rmoved with ammonia which will not touch any paint execept Tamiya Acrilics. I have always applied by carefuly wiping it on, I use disposable cosmetic pads. Iw ould not use over any Acrylic paints just to be safe.

Edited April 18, 2008 by 935k3