"What do y'all use to cut/thin Future floor polish?" Topic

Well the title says it all. I've heard so much about how great Future, or rather what's now Pledge Acrylic floor polish in finishing and sealing models; I'd like to try it out in my airbrush to see how it works. My biggest pause is I don't know what to clean it up with or if it needs to thinned to shoot it through my Testor's Aztek airbrush. So I thought I'd ask my fellow TMP er's what they use. So please, do tell! Thanks and salut y'all!

Bruce the Texas Grognard

Water.

Distilled water I guess.

Plain old tap water

Tap water, works just fine.

Water to thin it, Windex to clean the airbrush afterward.

water 4 parts, Future 1 part, more or less.

Sorry, I brush it on, full strength.

I used to do a 1:1 distiller water mix, but lately I've been using it full strength and liking the effect better

Is Future really the best thing to seal miniatures with? I find it rubs off to easily.

@JSchutt

That's more likely to be a problem with your priming than Future. The paint job is only as good as the bond between your primer and the metal or plastic of your figure.

I don't thin Future.

Damon.

I do think distilled, or at least, purified water, for airbrush, though I'd never tried.

JSchutt: Sounds like the counter-question is: does just the Future rub off, or the whole paint job?

Doug

Nothing, I use it straight up. Extremely thin to begin with, plus none of that cohesion/adhesion issue that you get with a polar molecule like water.

For making magic wash I thin Future 1:1 with wet water, which I make from filtered water with 1-2 drops dishwasher rinse aid per cup. I start about 8:1 this mix with paint and adjust as needed. This airbrushes fine.

You can airbrush or paint unmixed Future and I do that when I want an inexpensive gloss varnish.

For the actual wash, I find it works better undiluted or at most 1:1 with plain water. Brushes clean up fine with water and soap.

I have a friend who uses FFFs on all his finished models, and he shoots the stuff uncut from his airbrush. Seems to work fine.

dihydrous monoxide! only a snob would use anything less!

I'd use spray varnish to seal instead of Future. As mentioned, it'll rub off if the figures are handled after a bit. I tried it a few years back.

I was hoping this site still was working, and it is:

The Complete Future:
link

This will address most of what you will want to know about using Future Floor Finish for modeling.

Shoot Future straight up from the airbrush. Clean with water. It's the easiest thing in the world to work with.

Tennessee Jed Rye Whiskey does it for me……..

Failing that, Wild Turkey. Hard to get in UK…worth the effort. Do not mix with floor polish if you intend to drink it…..

"As mentioned, it'll rub off if the figures are handled after a bit."

When I use FFF to coat a figure/model, I finish the job with a flattening coat of Testors flat lacquer. Thus far, this step, has protected the models from paint-rash.

I never thin Future. When I did I had lousy results. Unthinned I swear by it. YMMV.

Thanks,

John

Attention Deadhead: Wild Turkey is NOT rye whiskey, it's bourbon, mate. Definitely not from Canada.

When I use FFF to coat a figure/model, I finish the job with a flattening coat of Testors flat lacquer. Thus far, this step, has protected the models from paint-rash.

I'm curious, if you spray the figures with a sealer as a final step, then what's the point in coating it with Future?

I'm curious, if you spray the figures with a sealer as a final step, then what's the point in coating it with Future?

I'm not sure either, if you are using it as your final coating.

I don't, I use it as my wash medium and I do use it diluted 4:1 with water. I then do the highlights over the wash. So I do a final spray, Dullcoat or Krylon Matte, to protect the paint and take down the shine.

Greystreak.

You were more right than you think. Wild Turkey I suggested as "failing that"…….My son agrees with you entirely that it is a Bourbon (like Louis XVIII).

But my Tennessee Jed Rye Whiskey is not just fictional, it is impossible. The first two words refer to a Grateful Dead song. The latter two, you cannot get Rye Whiskey South of Maryland/Pennsylvania I now learn.

Mixed with floor polish?…it can taste that way!

Why spray Testors Dullcoat over a figure that has future floor wax on it? It's all dependant on the sequence you paint a figure with.

Use floor wax as the dark wash medium over your primer coat. This seals your primer and pre-shades the model.

Then paint and Dullcoat your figure.

With floor wax over the primer, and Dullcoat over the final paint job, your figure will never chip. Ever.

Kevin in Edmonton.
mageknightkevin.blogspot.ca

As a general guideline, if you want to protect a figure with multiple layers of varnish, all layers should be gloss except the top layer, which can be matte or gloss depending on the desired finish result.

Matte varnishes are usually the same formulation as gloss varnish but with an additive to interrupt clarity. Layering this can cause issues (white frosting for example). It's usually recommended to do only one layer. Gloss varnishes have no additive so multiple layers are clear all the way through.

Future is a gloss varnish.

That is something I had never appreciated…I am still new to all this!

Gloss then matt…sounds daft…till you put it like that!

That is something I had never appreciated…I am still new to all this!

Gloss then matt…sounds daft…till you put it like that!

Love to see the dragon advance up the ridge. "Up guards and at 'em. Now Maitland, now's your….Maitland? Maitland?"

I thought they stopped selling Future. Is it still available on shelves?

They didn't stop selling it Tuscaloosa but merely changed the name to Pledge Floor Care Multi-Surface Finish
link

Definitely gloss then matt for all sealers. Or just leave the last coat gloss; some gamers prefer that look.

Pledge Floor Care Multi-Surface Finish--the stuff that's available here in Central PA is _blue_ in color; is that the right stuff??

Pledge Floor Care Multi-Surface Finish--the stuff that's available here in Central PA is _blue_ in color; is that the right stuff??
There's also clear stuff for wooden floors, but it has a lemony scent. I take it that this is not what is correct to use on figures?

Hey capncarp;

That blue Pledge isn't what you're looking for (I made the same mistake)…

…and the lemony smelling wood floor cleaner isn't it either.

You want the clear stuff in the bottle that tapers towards the top, and has a dark blue pop-up cap (like they have on dish detergent bottles).

Here in Eastern PA, you can find it at the bigger Walmart store (the "Super Walmarts") or an Ace Hardware store is a great place to look.

You can order it from Amazon, but the shipping puts a dent in the cost over finding a bottle locally.

Thanks, Kensboro: I tried their competitor, Tru-Value, and they had one bottle of floor _FINISH_ (not _cleaner_) left, which I scarfed up with victorious glee! Bwah! Bwah-ha! Bwah-ha-ha! Callou, callay! And so on.

I tend to use water. But I use a future wash in black first, followed by armypainter soft tone when it dries, then dull cote spray it after that dries. 3 layers of sealing help keep them from chipping and the double wash works well.