"Mod Podge spray?" Topic

The other day I was in an art supply store and noticed that on the shelf right next to white glue-like Mod Podge was a product I'd never seen before: Mod Podge spray. I was in a little bit of a hurry so I didn't pick up the can and examine it. I now wish I had, because I use Mod Podge with my soft plastic Airfix-type figures as a primer and then a sealer after applying the paint and before the final matte varnish, which works nicely to stiffen the figures up and seals the paint in between two layers of protection preventing the paint from flaking off when the figures bend. My main gripe with this method is that it can be time consuming to brush on the two individual layers of Mod Podge, and I think using a spray version of Mod Podge would speed the process up considerably.

So my question is does anyone have any experience with the spray version, and is it the same thing as the original Mod Podge just in a different form? Or is it some other type of product possibly for other purposes? Thanks in advance for any input.

Mod Podge, huh? I use Gesso to prime my soft plastic figures.

Tom Reed, you're not alone with the Gesso. I've heard many people singing it's praises, but I've never tried it. My experimenting has led me to using a number of various products/combinations to try to keep the paint on soft plastic figures. They include Future/Kleer, Minwax Polyshades(The Dip) and Clear Plasti-Dip in addition to the Mod Podge which is the lastest incarnation of my methods.

Deleted post was just a duplicate posting of my last entry.

I second Gesso. After painting I then coat with an acrylic floor finish product. Seems to seal the paint on very well.

Gesso for years – they even have a "clear" texture version. Use on plastics, metals and resins – no problems.

I used to paint 54mm Army Men figures: paint the bits that differ from the plastic's color only. After that, I would brush on The Dip Technique, Minwax Polyshades Urethane Stain. Problem is, the HDPE plastic used to make Army Men, will not allow anything to adhere to it for very long.

I had the urethane stain rubbing off the rifles and other bits, within a few years, with modest handling.

The only thing which I found to be bullet-proof, was Patch Attach Glue: it remains tacky, until you paint it with acrylic paint. It covers/fills in a lot of textures and details. It literally remains very sticky, for (5+) years, until you cover it with paint. To remove it from a figure, you will need to apply cooking oil, to dissolve the glue. Wear nitrile gloves when using this stuff, as soap and water will not dissolve it from your skin -- you will need to 'wash' your hands with vegetable oil to remove the glue, then dish soap to rid yourself of the vegetable oil… It is quite a chore, and quite a mess. Be careful in handling the coated mini's as they will stick to just about anything, until you get them painted! Apply your wash of choice/dry-brushing technique, and seal, when finished. The paint may get damaged, but it will never come off completely, unless/until you soak the figure in vegetable oil.

I painted Patch Attach Glue onto some 50mm Viking figures, to use as Frost Giants for my AD&D games. The acrylic paint eliminated the tackiness, but the surfaces were quite rough, as the glue is rather thick, masking what little details the plastic figures had. I did not enjoy the process, nor the end results. Those figures I experimented with, have never lost any paint, after 20 years…

If Patch Attach Glue could be thinned, without losing its qualities, without erasing the shallow details of cheap plastic mini's, it would be the Tsar Bomba of painting soft plastic mini's! I never learned of a thinning technique for it, though.

Just thought I'd share one technique not listed yet. Cheers!

For soft plastics, I generally brush on a mix of craft shop acrylics and Elmer's (PVC) Glue. I'll grant you a spray would be faster.

Here is the blurb for Mod PodgeŽ Clear Acrylic Sealer, Gloss. <<It is Acrylic based, so NOT the same as classic Mod Podge>>
"Protect decoupage and craft projects with an easy-to-use spray that shields paint, lacquer, varnish, stain, glue, wood and other porous surfaces. Reach for this dust-and-fingerprint resistant aerosol to cover over water base and oil base paint, glaze, lacquer and varnish. It creates a strong, crystal clear, glossy finish and non-yellowing acrylic seal that also reduces tackiness, a common issue with decoupage."

Sounds like good for the sealing coat. Not so sure about as a primer. As a sealer an Acrylic will retain the stretch and flex for soft plastic, but I am skeptical about coverage as a primer.

My best results for primer on soft plastic has been Krylon fusion for plastic, but sprayed very light and distant to get a slightly pebbled result. The tooth of this technique allows easy painting in every media I have tried.

I read that spray Plasti Dip is also is very good as a primer for soft plastic figures. I have a can but it has been too humid to try a spray here. I do worry about covering details with a "rubber coating" but the write-up was very glowing.

Thanks DyeHard. It sounds like it's designed as a sealer only and doesn't have the glue-like properties of the original, so as you say, probably not a good primer. I think I'll pass.

As far as Plasti-Dip goes, I would recommend it. It was my go to for my soft plastic priming and as an after-paint-but-before-matte varnish additional layer to seal the acrylic paint between two layers of protection, which gave the paint nowhere to go even if it did flake off. It worked well until one hot day when I sprayed it from too far away on one side of the figures, and when the figures dried their front was fine but their backs were covered with a bumpy sandpaper-like coat of P-D. So that's when I moved on to Mod Podge, which has served me well. But don't be put off by my failure, give it a try. Just watch your spraying distance.

I've had good experience using Vallejo figure primer, just like I do on my metal figures. I give them a double coat of gloss spray to seal the paint.

It looks like there is a spray version of the Mod Podge PVA solution, called Mod Podge Ultra.

That is just about all I know about it. More research needed. Anyone wanna try it out and post about it?

- Ix

Well, now I am curious. I'll have to keep an eye out.

Thanks YA. That MP Ultra doesn't look to be a good fit. It seems to be nothing more than regular MP thinned down enough to be able to be sprayed. And that pump type nozzle doesn't seem that it would work well for figures.

Pass.