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Hi everyone! I haven't tried using Future on the airbrush but had read somebody using it and I'd like to give it a try; but before I start, what and how would be the best way to clean or flush out the said liquid from the airbrush after using it? Could lacquer or acrylic (not water-base) thinners be used for this purpose? Thanks in advance!

Edited by flybywire
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hi lancer.

let me state beforehand that i never used future in the airbrush.

nevertheless, given the characteristics of the future it should be rather odd to have a "pebbly" suface as , as stated in the previous post by foxmulder, the substance's most outstanding characteristic is that of being self-leveling.

i'm not quite shure about what happened to your airbrushing future...i would need a very sharp picture.

and alll in all better wait for the advice of someone who knws better.

personally, i would avoid shooting more future at the risk of getting a very thick coating.

my very cautious advice would be to wash away the pebbled coat with ammonium-based cleaner and restart from a clean surface.

good luck!

best ciaos. bobo.

 

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If it's pebbly, let it sit. It will level out. I always clean the airbrush with lacquer thinner. 

 

However, in my experience, future is best applied in light coats and let to dry about 15 minutes between coats. It will form a beautiful glossy finish that is rock hard. 

That being said, I still prefer Testor's Gloss Lacquer. 

Edited by jester292
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I'm another one that can't get Future to work in any form except dipping clear parts. I've been having great luck with clear Testors and Mr Color lacquers and Tamiya acrylic sprayed by my Iwata HP-TH with its fan cap.

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12 hours ago, foxmulder_ms said:

Airbrushing this thing is fun because you cannot make a mistake. I have flooded surfaces with it and somehow someway it flattens itself when dried. It is magic :D

I wish I could agree, but after many attempts over the years, I completely gave up on Future. Despite having great success with virtually everything else, with Future I could just get two results:

1) Spray it thick and very wet at low pressure and a relatively big tip (much thicker than the way in which I apply any other paint, such as my Mr Color or most enamels), which results in a smooth finish but way too thick in my personal opinion.

2) Thin it (I've tried everything that I've seen recommended over the years) and apply it in mist coats, which results in a rough pebbly surface that required sanding with a micro mesh to get really smooth.

 

I do realize I'm doing something wrong, considering how everyone else is having success with it, but I eventually decided that it was just too much hassle and too much of an adjustment in my normal techniques to get this right. I get almost perfect, smooth results with a number of other combinations. My favourites being:

- Tamiya X-22 thinned with Tamiya lacquer thinner (yellow cap). Goes on perfectly smooth and thin, dries quickly, rock-hard and doesn't seem to react with any decal solutions.

- Alclad Klear gloss lacquer, straight from the bottle - also excellent result, usually used as a final coat for models finished in gloss paint, can be painted over the X-22 mentioned above (I sometimes use the X-22 before and after decalling, then Alclad Klear in gloss/matt/satin depending on the desired result).

 

I've had such consistent results with the materials listed above, that I started using Future only for dipping canopies... Then I discovered that polishing canopies with gradually smoother polishing compound worked even better than dipping, so what's left of my Future is now lying in a bottle slowly drying up.

 

I know all of this is heresy, but I really tried to get Future to work the way I wanted. Maybe I just expected too much. Maybe the relatively fine tips used on H&S airbrushes are just not the ideal setup for Future. One thing I do know is that it is not a case of a bad bottle of Future - I thought that was the case so bought more - even once bought one of those bottles of repackaged Future sold by Sprue Brothers - all with the same result.

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I am really hit and miss when it come to future. A friend of mine brushes it on with a wide paintbrush and does multiple coats. Sometime i can nail it with 3 nice passes with the airbrush, other times i want to just throw the model against the wall.  Depending on the size of decals, i have just brushed future on. When it comes to sealing the model with the gloss coat for use with a weathering product, you will find out where you didnt have enough future real quick. As for clean up in the airbrush, i use ammonia followed by alcohol. 

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1 hour ago, adamitri said:

Depending on the size of decals, i have just brushed future on

I forgot, this works for me too. I do this with vehicles. Brush the future on and set the decal in place. Spray a flat coat atop when all done.

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23 hours ago, foxmulder_ms said:

Windex. Ammonium based glass cleaners works great. 

 

Airbrushing this thing is fun because you cannot make a mistake. I have flooded surfaces with it and somehow someway it flattens itself when dried. It is magic :D

 

 

Many thanks for your response foxmulder_ms! 

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10 hours ago, Mfezi said:

I wish I could agree, but after many attempts over the years, I completely gave up on Future. Despite having great success with virtually everything else, with Future I could just get two results:

1) Spray it thick and very wet at low pressure and a relatively big tip (much thicker than the way in which I apply any other paint, such as my Mr Color or most enamels), which results in a smooth finish but way too thick in my personal opinion.

2) Thin it (I've tried everything that I've seen recommended over the years) and apply it in mist coats, which results in a rough pebbly surface that required sanding with a micro mesh to get really smooth.

 

I do realize I'm doing something wrong, considering how everyone else is having success with it, but I eventually decided that it was just too much hassle and too much of an adjustment in my normal techniques to get this right. I get almost perfect, smooth results with a number of other combinations. My favourites being:

- Tamiya X-22 thinned with Tamiya lacquer thinner (yellow cap). Goes on perfectly smooth and thin, dries quickly, rock-hard and doesn't seem to react with any decal solutions.

- Alclad Klear gloss lacquer, straight from the bottle - also excellent result, usually used as a final coat for models finished in gloss paint, can be painted over the X-22 mentioned above (I sometimes use the X-22 before and after decalling, then Alclad Klear in gloss/matt/satin depending on the desired result).

 

I've had such consistent results with the materials listed above, that I started using Future only for dipping canopies... Then I discovered that polishing canopies with gradually smoother polishing compound worked even better than dipping, so what's left of my Future is now lying in a bottle slowly drying up.

 

I know all of this is heresy, but I really tried to get Future to work the way I wanted. Maybe I just expected too much. Maybe the relatively fine tips used on H&S airbrushes are just not the ideal setup for Future. One thing I do know is that it is not a case of a bad bottle of Future - I thought that was the case so bought more - even once bought one of those bottles of repackaged Future sold by Sprue Brothers - all with the same result.

 

 

This is what I do: I spray a thin layer of future then a very wet layer so wet that I would not do it with any other paint because they cannot cope with it. Once dry it has a very very gloss finish. I apply decals. Then another wet layer, less so than the previous one. Washes and then the final satin coat that is a mixture of MM Lacquer flat and gloss. I like the results I have. 

 

The "thick" look of future disappears once I use the satin coat.. 

 

I like this because this is a very cheap coat and decals go really nicely. As a bonus it is not toxic, well at least less so than the other options:D

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3 hours ago, adamitri said:

I am really hit and miss when it come to future. A friend of mine brushes it on with a wide paintbrush and does multiple coats. Sometime i can nail it with 3 nice passes with the airbrush, other times i want to just throw the model against the wall.  Depending on the size of decals, i have just brushed future on. When it comes to sealing the model with the gloss coat for use with a weathering product, you will find out where you didnt have enough future real quick. As for clean up in the airbrush, i use ammonia followed by alcohol. 

Many thanks for your tip adamitri!

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