A primer on Future Floor POLISH usage

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Well, it seems the Pledge/Simple Green doesn't like humidity very much. I read where a couple of members inquired about the effect of humidity with this top coat approach but never saw a definitive response. I applied 2 thin coats on a nose cone (24 hours apart) that looked incredible for 2 days. Then the humidity rose to the high 80's for several days and the top coat got very cloudy/milky.

That should not happen. What was the dry time on the color coat before applying the Future? Doing sniff test was there any odor left in the paint?
 
At least 4 weeks. It has the best gloss finish i have ever been able to get from Rusto Pro. The humidity was the only thing I could think that would cause it to go cloudy after a couple of days. I will get out the Windex, strip off the Pledge and try again. I used 3 parts Pledge to 1 part Simple Green and applied with a sponge brush; applying in thin layers.
 
At least 4 weeks. It has the best gloss finish i have ever been able to get from Rusto Pro. The humidity was the only thing I could think that would cause it to go cloudy after a couple of days. I will get out the Windex, strip off the Pledge and try again. I used 3 parts Pledge to 1 part Simple Green and applied with a sponge brush; applying in thin layers.

Frankly, I wouldn't add the Simple Green. I don't find that it adds that much more gloss. If I were using it the ratio would be much less, say 5:1 (that's assuming it's the premix, non-concentrate already, if it's the concentrate then only a few drops in a bowl).
 
I think shooting acrylic paints through an airbrush and then using my recipe for mixing up future with simple green gave me the best results. The future dries really fast and the results are unbelievable. Someone mentioned earlier about going to the dollar store and getting some floor wax but future is not a wax. If you have problems finding this product like I mentioned before I suggest calling the company and get a link to their current labeling and retail location for this product. I may have ordered it online through Amazon or directly from the company I think that's what I did one bottle will last you many years. So off the top of my head just having read post my post it was 3 to 1 future and then diluting simple green one to one and then I shot that through an airbrush a few very light coats and I was good to go best results ever for a gloss coat
Feb 28-2021 Howdy, i was looking at my rockets during the covid thing and then watching youtube videos on rockets launches and I am anxious to head to the launch pad. I found this old post from 11 years ago. The rockets that I shot with this Future formula still look fantastic....the white on the Initiator is still white!

In ten years have there been any improvements or replacememts to shooting future acrylic for rocket finishes?
 
I'm not aware of any improvements. The name of the product we use has drifted. Not sure what it is called now.

I don't bother with simplegreen anymore, favoring just brushing on the acrylic straight.
I am so spoiled after buying a nice airbrush that shoots a nice thin layer of this coat exactly where i want it.

in 11 years, i now have to relearn everything from RMS motors, loading and safety, to using my airbrush. I have one rocket i need to finish, my cracked up Mustang I need to glue back together to finish repairs and another unassembled rocket ventris in waiting .....
 
I sorta meant, has anyone come up with an alternative for this type of gloss coat or using something entirely different? I found it to be the absolute best **** out there at the time.
 
It is still my go to when I don't use a solvent based clear coat such as the UV resistant Krylon clears.
That is good to know, hate to learn anything new. Lol or re-learn everything. I am looking at my kit and drawing a blank.....lol thanks
 
Here's another wrinkle for Future-users.

On his blog, Chris Michielssen (@hcmbanjo) has talked about using a Q-tip to apply future just to decals and around their edges just to seal and protect them, without applying it to the whole model. Well, I have had a couple of occasions recently where I needed/wanted to do some heavy Future application to some small decal areas, so I thought I'd get out the Q-tips and give it a try. What I found is interesting.

My method is to just dip the Q-tip in Future, enough to get it wet but not dripping. Then rub it around the target surface, wiping until the whole surface is covered. I am not concerned about going back over the same areas over and over; it doesn't hurt. Ultimately, the goal is to apply a thinner-than-usual layer, one that will not run or drip after a minute or two. So don't slop it on. I kept the treated surface approximately flat while drying, opposite to normal Future application, because I want it to level but not run. It dries very quickly (a few minutes), and you can apply multiple coats in fairly rapid succession.

Here's a laser decal that was my first target, before:
Decal no shine.jpg
My experience with these laser decals is that one or two normal coats of Future are not even close to sufficient to achieve a uniform gloss finish over them. I don't know what it is, but the surface of the toner is very resistant to glossing up. So I wanted to target them first, with the idea that once I had a decent gloss on them, I'd be able to then do the entire rocket.

So, after... well let's just say "many" coats, here's the result:
Decal shine.jpg
I was so happy with it that I went after a few areas in the paint that I had needed to wet-sand to take down some bumps. Equally good results (not so many coats). And then I was feeling so good about it that I ended up doing the entire rocket like that. Each area was given exactly as many coats as needed.

I would by no means recommend this method for general use (and especially not on large rockets) but I enjoyed it. The main downside is that it was a lengthy (but very easy) incremental process and I went through a lot of Q-tips. Unlike the normal brush-on technique, I didn't need to hang it, but could do the whole thing on my bench, one piece at a time. There were never any drips to sop up, and there was almost no perceptible odor because the quantities used were so small.
 
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