| 2 people marked this as a favorite. |
Future (now Pledge! With Future Shine)
What is Future? It's basically a bottle of liquid acrylic. And it's wonderful. What do you use it for?
1. Sealing Miniatures - once a miniature is painted and completely dry, dip it in future (or brush it on). It will 'smooth out' all the colors, improve the look of drybrushed and washed areas as well as give it a super-tough coating to protect your paint job.
2. Create custom 'dip' colors that are easy to clean up - add a drop or two of ink or watered down paint to a cup of future to get a custom miniature dip. You can make it any color you have paint for and it gives very similar effects to MinWax Polyshades, but is easier to clean up and there are no limits to the colors.
3. Thin cheap craft paint to make it flow better on miniatures - buy bulk craft paints from Michael's... things like Americana or Apple Barrel paints. Mix Future 1/2 and 1/2 with distilled water, and add this to the craft paint at about 1/2 paint to 1/2 Future mix and your paints will still be bright but have MUCH better flow, coverage, and workability.
4. Create basic water effects - if you have a watertight area, you can fill it with Future and in a few days it will thicken and dry. It contracts a lot while doing this, but it's a good way to create very basic water effects in thinks like Hirst Arts fountains and small pools.
Any others?
1. Sealing Miniatures - once a miniature is painted and completely dry, dip it in future (or brush it on). It will 'smooth out' all the colors, improve the look of drybrushed and washed areas as well as give it a super-tough coating to protect your paint job.
Let me add to this one.
Future was originally a clear acrylic floor coating. As in, "gee, the linoleum floor of my workshop is getting marked up, I'll coat it in this clear acrylic to give it a nice new shine and protect it from scuffs."When I first started using it on minis, I decided to test its durability. I painted a mini, dipped it in Future, and let it dry. Then I rubbed my thumb on the mini's face for a minute, actively trying to rub the paint off. No effect.
I'm not saying Future is invulnerable, but it is hella durable.
Thanks for the tip! Something I'll have to try...
I use Future as a sealant on my model rockets, when a good shine is desirable. Generally, I don't care for that level of shine on my gaming minis -- I haven't used Future on a gaming mini, but my fear would be that they'd wind up too shiny. For those who have used it -- how do they turn out?
They turn out with a medium gloss, which is ideal for chitinous insects, slimy oozes, and other things. for stuff that you don't want to be shiny, spray them with a coat of Flat/Matte clear sealant once they are 100% dry.
Testors Dullcote, Krylon 1311 Matte Sealant, and Vallejo flat Sealer are all good choices for this.
I will reiterate that you shouldn't spray them until they are 100% dry, as otherwize you can get some cloudiness/cracking effects that aren't really ideal.
Make sure you get the right stuff though. The brand was originally called "Future" but was bought out by "Pledge" so the new bottles are labeled "Pledge Floor Care Finish" with an old "Future" logo affixed to the label.
I use it a lot. I thin my acrylics with a mix of Future and water at about 40/60 (future/water). I used to use Future to seal my minis, but I now use a spray on matte finish instead, the future by itself leaves them shiny.
One bottle will last forever...
I'm going to have to try this stuff. I've been getting fed up with my current miniature sealant, lol.
|
Make sure you get the right stuff though. The brand was originally called "Future" but was bought out by "Pledge" so the new bottles are labeled "Pledge Floor Care Finish" with an old "Future" logo affixed to the label.
I use it a lot. I thin my acrylics with a mix of Future and water at about 40/60 (future/water). I used to use Future to seal my minis, but I now use a spray on matte finish instead, the future by itself leaves them shiny.
One bottle will last forever...
Sorry for the thread necromancy, but what spray on matte finish do you use?
Thanks!
Make sure you get the right stuff though. The brand was originally called "Future" but was bought out by "Pledge" so the new bottles are labeled "Pledge Floor Care Finish" with an old "Future" logo affixed to the label.
I use it a lot. I thin my acrylics with a mix of Future and water at about 40/60 (future/water). I used to use Future to seal my minis, but I now use a spray on matte finish instead, the future by itself leaves them shiny.
One bottle will last forever...
Sorry for the thread necromancy, but what spray on matte finish do you use?
Thanks!
I can't answer what Adamantine Dragon uses, but from what I've read around the web the 3 best matt varnish types you can get (the ones which kill the most shine) are (in no particular order):
Testors Dullcote (the most expensive for the amount you get).Army Painter Matt Varnish.
Vallejo Matt Varnish (bottled for airbrushing or painting on).
I haven't used Future (or Pledge, these days) as a straight final figure preservative (interesting idea, though) but I have been using it for some time as an ingredient in a "Magic Wash" I saw suggested on a modeling website. Mix up a bottle of 20% Future/Pledge and 80% water (1 part Future to 4 parts water) and use it in place of regular water when doing detail washes and the like. I use a lot of craft paints these days and have had a great deal of success with this, although it works just as well with other water based acrylic paints (Citadel, Valejo, etc.)
These is a slight shine after using the magic wash, but it goes away once I apply my final matte protective varnish. For that I've been using Grumbacher Matte Varnish for some time now - be sure you get the one "for acrylics" and not the one for "oil paints". Michael's has it in a big spray can that costs about $11, which is comparatively cheap considering how many minis one can will cover. It goes on evenly without having to worry about buildup problems, dries dead flat, and is fairly bulletproof. I use it on everything from RPG figures to 15mm WW2 and ACW figures to 1/300th aircraft, and have had no problems whatsoever.
One problem I am starting to have is finding Future/Pledge floor polish at my local stores (Portland, OR). It appears more and more floor care products are going to the "one use and toss it" route, and only one store locally still had liquid polish the last time I checked. It might be a good idea to stock up if you still have a good supply source in your area.
Abit of thread necromancy to join the choir of praise! I recently decided to try this myself and so far I'm very happy with the result. I've just dipped a finished mini in the sealer, set it aside to dry and then a quick coat of Army Painter Anti Shine and the result is soooooo much better than what I used to do (two layers of Vallejo Gloss Varnish, followed by one layer of Vallejo Matt Varnish). Like Sean I also tried to rub my thumb on the mini a while without any negative results.
I still haven't transported a Pledge varnished mini, so I can't tell how it will hold up after prolonged use, but so far I'm really excited!
I also tried to dip one of my finished miniatures that had undergone my previous method of sealing and the result seems to be positive. I might end up giving all of my metal miniatures this treatment.
That Army Painter anti shine: is it spray on or brush on?
I use the brush on. Don't have the weather in Sweden to make the spray on reliable. I do have a can I might use during the summer if I've got enough minis to seal at once, but the brush on works perfectly fine.
It's funny though, when I first tried the brush on anti shine on the Vallejo gloss varnish it didn't help at all, so I had almost given up on the stuff. I thought I try it one last time with the Future Polish, and I'm glad I did.
Also, did you dilute the floor polish or just do a straight dip?
Straight out of the bottle. I fill the cap with polish, dip the minis that need sealing then I pour the rest back into the bottle. For bigger miniature I'm going to use the cap of a spray can.
Abit of thread necromancy to join the choir of praise! I recently decided to try this myself and so far I'm very happy with the result. I've just dipped a finished mini in the sealer...
Where did you get it from? Is it sold in Sweden?
I haven't been able to find it or a similar product here in Denmark.
Where did you get it from? Is it sold in Sweden?
I haven't been able to find it or a similar product here in Denmark.
I got it from a nearby grocery store. At first I wasn't sure where to get it (or if it was even available in Sweden) but I contacted SC Johnsons through their website (info@scjohnson.se) and got an anwser the following day. Turns out that it was much more common than I thought it was. Up to a few minutes ago I thought that of course it's available in Denmark as well but now I'm not so sure. I did a search and they don't have a office in Denmark (Link to their european offices). Although that doesn't mean it's not sold there.
In Sweden you can get it at Ica, Coop Forum, City Gross and Ö&B.