What do I need to do to get a nice, smooth, gloss coat by airbrushing Future? The times I've attempted it, I either get a rough, pebbled surface (it's drying before it hits the model) or it goes on too thick and puddles! I can't find that middle ground!

Tonight I sprayed Future straight, no thinning with water, I've tried that before and it didn't seem to help, I don't think. So no thinning tonight, using my Paasche H on the widest tip and needle, I test sprayed at 10psi, it rushed and spider webbed. Ok, I cranked down to almost 1-2psi, it still comes out quick but hey, it's thin stuff.
I start spraying on the model, it's pebbling!! Too far away I thought, so I move airbrush closer, trying to put on a wetter coat so it'll blend. Now I get nasty puddles! I don't have the needle wide open, I'm just doing a small area at a time but it was still too much. I tried whisking some away using a 1" flat brush dampened with water, that got some of it off but the finish is still ruined.
Now I need to figure out how to strip the Future without destroying the paint job.

I need help, can anyone tell me what I need to do to get the Future to spray on and get a good coat? I know it's possible, most everyone else seems to do it, what am I doing wrong??
Thanks for any help
Dominic

I used to spray it straight from the bottle with no problem. Now I cut it with alcohol, it takes a few more coats to get the gloss that is desired. Usually 50/50 though I do not measure. That should solve your problem.

I had exactly the same problem with a rough surface but then I started thinning with isopropanol (a type of alcohol, not water) and things got a lot better.

My impression is that the pebbled look goes away after a long drying time. It even appears to me that models which were way to shiny just after airbrushing future, became a lot more "satin" after a couple of weeks.

Anyone else having the same experience?

I spray strait from the bottle careful on acrylics when mixing in alcohol

Ditto....straight from the bottle, glass smooth surface.

What air pressure are you spraying it at? Siphon feed? or Gravity?

Looks pretty thick out of the bottle...but really as low of an air pressure you can use and it still pushes the future is better.

As well...multiple thin coats as opposed to one heavy one is always better.

I cranked it down to about 1 or 2psi, i was spraying it siphon feed through my Paasche H. I have a gravity feed Iwata HP-CH, but I don't want to put future through it because I feel like its a pain to clean once it's dried on.

I used to spray it on but was never particularly happy with the results.

Now I brush it on with a very good quality brush (So the hairs don't come off) and results are generally much better. Far easier than spraying the stuff.

From my experience syphon feeding on a low pressure is always a recipe for disaster. You need a reasonable amount of air passing the syphon tube in order to suck the paint or klear up the tube. It sounds to me like the paint/klear is drying before leaving the airbrush. I use to spray it at around 15-20 psi straight from the bottle with out any real issues. I have found lately though that I brush paint the Klear on with a wide 'doping' brush.

I suspect they changed the formula on Future(Klear) when they added a scent to it. I used to spray it straight thru a Testors single stage airbrush with canned air with no problems at all. Now I find that brushing it with a clean soft brush works much better. Since the "self-leveling" feature still works I don't really sweat the brush strokes since they disappear on their own as the stuff dries I have also noticed that the new stuff is not as glossy as the original used to be when dry
Good luck
Later

Smaller tip and needle, plus higher pressure.

Yes, I've generally been hearing that I should use a smaller tip, plus thin it down a tad. I'm still using an old bottle of the original Future. Well, i have my gravity feed Iwata with a nice thin tip, I'll give that girl a go and see what happens (I used to have my thinner tips and needles for my Paasche, but my 3yr old thought they were play things. Don't ask me how, but I discovered that the thing making the horrid noise in the garbage disposal was my #1 tip! Pretty chewed up.)

Looks like there's quite a few of us who brush it on. I tried spraying it on last week with my old Paasche H. I didn't like the look of how it was settling on the model and stopped immediately. Finished the job off with my trusty brush. I find it works great for sealing and prep for decals. Give it a try.

Simon

If you want a gloss coat with future you must hand paint it: there is no other way. Do it with a large flat brush and don't put on too much in a coat. (One coat should do.) Future is self-leveling so unless you slop it on the brush strokes will disappear. (Try this on a test kit if you have doubts.) Hand brushing will also create an extremely smooth surface for decals or weathering: you'll want it for decals but maybe not for weathering. The best you'll get with an airbrush is a satin finish, which is usually what I'm after. Put in a little flat base and you can use Future to create a semi-gloss or flat finish. I have a Paasche VLS that I use for future - spray about 20psi neat. Blow the stuff out with windex or something like it or you'll get a properly stuck needle. If you're a purist you can give it a quick buff with very fine sand paper.
Eric