Future, varnish, clear coat?

The Rocketry Forum

Help Support The Rocketry Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

Gillard

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jan 18, 2009
Messages
1,973
Reaction score
3
Well here's an old thread that's resurfaced.......

Just nearly finished a few rockets and i'm wondering....

Do i use spray varnish, use a clear coat (similiar to varnish) or add future, or do nothing?

I've had a few people say don't add anything, especially varnish as it yellows with age.
I've used future before, but to be honest, i did not see much difference.

Should i leave tham as they are?
 
I'm probly one of the only folks that'll say Yes Leave it alone.

Actually there are a couple things you can used to bring up the shine, and sort of protect your decals.

After the last coat of paint has had a few days to completely dry. if your really not happy with the smoothness and/or shine of the finish, just about all the imperfections, orangepeel and dust in the paint can be removed with a material called Finessit-II or if the surface is a little rougher then you want a material called Perfect-it-III both are 3M products and kind of expensive about 25.00 a quart. they are worked with a soft damp cloth and a bit of elbow grease. When done you'll have a very nice highly shinny surface on which to apply your decals.

When the decals have completely dried, If you don't like to use Future.
A quick coat of Microscale decal film or a couple coats of Nu-finish polyer well better protect them than any rattle can applied clear coat.

Hope this helps a bit.

Nu-Finish-sm_ & Finessit-II(96dpi)_08-17-06.jpg
 
thanks,

Had a look at the 3M products - they are a bit pricey for me, will look into the Nu finish.
 
I can comment on the varnish option,

I have used liquitex varnish for airbrushing, it comes in gloss, satin and flat.
It's an excellent option for using in an airbrush. resiliant and available in a uv resistant formula. It can be found at most crafts stores.
 
I think it's simply down to personal preference. I don't think you'll be wrong with whatever decision you decide to go with.
 
I'm probly one of the only folks that'll say Yes Leave it alone.

Actually there are a couple things you can used to bring up the shine, and sort of protect your decals.

After the last coat of paint has had a few days to completely dry. if your really not happy with the smoothness and/or shine of the finish, just about all the imperfections, orangepeel and dust in the paint can be removed with a material called Finessit-II or if the surface is a little rougher then you want a material called Perfect-it-III both are 3M products and kind of expensive about 25.00 a quart. they are worked with a soft damp cloth and a bit of elbow grease. When done you'll have a very nice highly shinny surface on which to apply your decals.

When the decals have completely dried, If you don't like to use Future.
A quick coat of Microscale decal film or a couple coats of Nu-finish polyer well better protect them than any rattle can applied clear coat.

Hope this helps a bit.


Hey Micro, where you getting the Finesse it and Perfect it?? I take it they are a liquid based polishing compound?? Have you any experience with more readily available polishing compounds??

Interesting stuff... :) OL JR :)
 
Hey Micro, where you getting the Finesse it and Perfect it?? I take it they are a liquid based polishing compound?? Have you any experience with more readily available polishing compounds??

Interesting stuff... :) OL JR :)


Luke:
Perfect-it-III is as close to a retail polishing compound as I'd like to be on Krylon or spraycan finishes. Most automotive compounds are FAR to agressive for our use.

Finessit-II is my favorite; it takes a little longer but removes even less paint.

Perfect-it is used to get out those ocasional stray dog hairs or dust blips. I almost ruined a job recently using it and rubbing to hard on that same spot;)

The micro cluster model below is a single coat of Krylon burgundy over cheapy grey primer. No clear coat or Nu-finish at the point the photo was taken. Sorry this pic was taken as part of a clustering prep series or I'd have tried to get a little closer Still shows the shine fairly well.
 
Last edited:
I'm partial to Future, probably from use in scale modeling and ease of application. By itself, you'll end up with a medium gloss that can be polished to a higher gloss if desired.

Might I suggest The Complete Future

3_11c92e_4c7e9e19_oj.jpg
 
Thanks for the web site, it took a while to get the British version of Future (we call it pledge multi surface wax - before that it was Klear) but you website has every possible name for it under the sun.
 
Has anybody sprayed Future (or Pledge with Future) with an airbrush?
I was thinking the same thing. Future is like water so I would imagine it is like spraying water which might be a little difficult.
 
I've used a foam brush or even a paper towel to apply it, but spraying would make it much more even.
 
I use a foam brush as well but my point is that Future is so much like water I think you would have problems spraying without it running. But I would like to try it...
 
I'm a big fan of the Finesse-It II. This stuff is remarkable on paint and I use it on carbon too. The pic below compares the same fins after 1000-grit wet sanding and then after Finesse-It II. This is much better than having to apply a coating over the top, although a little Nu Finish makes it that much better.

The stuff is expensive. However, it goes a long way. I've used a lot of it over the last few years on 2-4" rockets, and I'm only on my second bottle.

I like the Nu Finish too, but it seems to separate quickly in the can. Sort of like wet cottage cheese.

Jim

With_without.gif
 
Do Nu-Finish, Perfect-It-III and Finessit-II work with water-based paints too, like Createx?
 
Maybe very light coats letting it dry between coats would work.

Actually, you'll end up with a pebbly surface. Future should go on fairly heavy and will self-level very well. Any sags/drips can be soaked up with the corner of a paper towel while its still wet. Use 15-20psi.

It usually doesn't need to be thinned, but if you feel you must then 3:1 Future to isopropyl alcohol can be used.
 
Has anybody sprayed Future (or Pledge with Future) with an airbrush?

I use it exclusively with an airbrush. It does not need to be thinned. I hose the whole project down; it is so thin, it never leaves run trails. Just stand the rocket upright (don't future the NC while it is installed, or it will STAY there!). As the material you sprayed migrates towards the bottom of the rocket (the whole thing is WET), you can 'mop up' the droplets that appear on the lowest point(s), so they don't dry that way. Works fantastically!
Mine have not yellowed after the last 5 years.
It has not attacked any of the aftermarket decals I've used, Phred's or Tom's; my self-printed decals do very well also (HP ink-jet).
Very safe to use, too, with no horrid odor.
Dries lightning fast when compared to Krylon (which WILL attack certain decals).
I love the stuff!
PM me if you need specifics.
Allen
 
Allen....

Thanks for that info. What about cleanup of the airbrush? Does it clean up easily with soap and water or airbrush cleaner?
 
Allen....

Thanks for that info. What about cleanup of the airbrush? Does it clean up easily with soap and water or airbrush cleaner?

Best cleanup is with an ammonia-based window cleaner like Windex. Incidentally, if you discover a run after it dries you can 'buff' it out with a cotton swab & Windex. Works great.
 
I'm a big fan of the Finesse-It II. This stuff is remarkable on paint and I use it on carbon too. The pic below compares the same fins after 1000-grit wet sanding and then after Finesse-It II. This is much better than having to apply a coating over the top, although a little Nu Finish makes it that much better.

The stuff is expensive. However, it goes a long way. I've used a lot of it over the last few years on 2-4" rockets, and I'm only on my second bottle.

I like the Nu Finish too, but it seems to separate quickly in the can. Sort of like wet cottage cheese.

Jim


If your Nu Finish appears to seperates in the bottle, just shake it up well, I believe thats the insturctions on the bottle. I have maybe 3 open bottles l've been using for the past several years. used one of them last weekend.. still works great.
 
Best cleanup is with an ammonia-based window cleaner like Windex. Incidentally, if you discover a run after it dries you can 'buff' it out with a cotton swab & Windex. Works great.

Propbeany... Where can I get a full sized jpeg of your avatar? I Love it!

*back to your regularly scheduled thread*
 
you can nu-finish a rocket sprayed with acrylics but only after clearcoating it.
acrylic finishes are very fragile by themselves they >have< to be sealed/ clearcoated.(atleast the types I have tried so far)

If you spray future thru an airbrush make sure to clean it well, I glued together a passche vl because I didn't get all the future out.
I destroyed the airbrush trying to take it apart. now I use strait ammonia, it's cheap and definately the most effective cleaner for future.
 
Last edited:
I always clear coat models – it protects the color coat and decals and makes the decals look better.
I have used Clear enamel, lacquer, acrylic, polycrylic and Future for a final clear coat (depending on what the color coat is) and the only one I have had any real issues with is Rustoleum’s Painter's Touch brand clear gloss enamel, which can wrinkle the color coat no mater how long you let the color cure for (even after a few weeks…). The matt finish of the same brand doesn’t have the same issue. The polycrylic worked great with all types of color paint, is very forgiving (if you over spray and get a run, just wipe it off and spray again), but is expensive (>$8 a can).
One gloss coat that has always worked well is Testors lacquer. According to Testors, it is specially formulated to use on enamel, but can’t be used on a metallic finish like silver. Since it only comes in 3Oz cans which cost as much as a 12Oz can of Rustoleum, its not really practical for larger models. But when used to coat a testors enamel, it looks great.

This Fat boy was painted with Testors metal flake enamel and coated with Testors clear gloss lacquer.

Fatboy1a.jpg
 
The only trouble with spraycan clears is nearly all Yellow badly over time Expecially testors clears. but worse clears became very brittle in a year or so chipping easily taking parts of the decals and paint with it.

It's like Many things, the Short term benefit, generally isn't worth the long run effects.
On dark colors the yellowing isn't as much a problem is the chipping with age.

Re applying a couple coats of Nu-Finish or reworking a Future finish after a year of so don't take that much extra time and has the added benefit of making the model look almost new again. not so with most sparycan clear coats.
I'm saying most as Krylons #1305 UV resistant clear and a couple other "Newer" UV resistant clears might also prove to be fine, we just don't have enough in use data on these products yet. Like the acrylic based Liquitex these newer UV resistant clears may change my mind over time. but for now I'm still gonna resist applying anything over my finished models but Nu-Finish...your results may vary:)

009b3-sm_Interceptor 3pic comparison(115dpi)_08-12-06.jpg
 
Re applying a couple coats of Nu-Finish or reworking a Future finish after a year of so don't take that much extra time and has the added benefit of making the model look almost new again. not so with most sparycan clear coats.

Hi John

When you "rework" a Future finish do you strip the old stuff off then re-apply, or just spray a new coat over the old one?

I've got a Black Brant III that I built about 2 years ago, and was never very happy with how the Future finish turned out on that particular rocket. Kind of dull looking with too much orange peel. I'd love to redo the Future coat on it, now that I know how to apply it with better results.
 
Hi John

When you "rework" a Future finish do you strip the old stuff off then re-apply, or just spray a new coat over the old one?

I've got a Black Brant III that I built about 2 years ago, and was never very happy with how the Future finish turned out on that particular rocket. Kind of dull looking with too much orange peel. I'd love to redo the Future coat on it, now that I know how to apply it with better results.


To be honest Goblin I've never tried to remove a future finish from a model, I just recoat over the dulled down finish that was left. but I haven't needed to do that in such a long time. I believe I simply applied a new coating directly over the old after whipping the surface down with alcohol to remove any dirt, dust and crud.

Another reason I like Nu-Finish so much, it never builds up.
 
Back
Top