Ola Guys and gals

I like to try something I never done before in 2014. Which is shooting Future through my AB. And for that I need to pick your brains a bit. I have more or less asked this question in the feedback of my Horten G0 229 thread but I think answers will come faster if I make it a dedicated topic to my question. So far I Always applied future with a brush. But since it is such thin stuff you get airbubbles and it littterally attracts every dustparticle and hair in the house as long as it is not yet cured. And the main reason I have never applied it with my trusty Airbrush is because I have no clue what to clean my AB with afterwards. So any tips and tricks are hugely appreciated.

Happy 2014 everybody.

Robert Blokker

I picked up a low end AB to use for spraying Future. To clean it you can just use water and/or if you can stand the smell use ammonia. The Future label actually says if you want to strip it from your floors (does anyone really use this stuff on their floors ??) use ammonia.

Cheers and Happy '14

Hi Robert , Happy New Year !

I will either brush or spray future . When spraying through the airbrush I use it straight out of the bottle - no thinning . For cleaning up the airbrush water works just fine . Windex ( glass cleaner ) will also do the trick . Spray it on in thin coats and let it tack up between coats . lay it on to thick and it will cause runs .

When brushing future you have to move slow . To fast and air bubbles forum causing many problems . I dip the brush and wipe off a bit of the excess . Might take a few more coats but I have never had troubles doing this way .




Terri

Hello Robert.

I have trouble finding future here in Belgium. But i live only 10km from the Dutch border. Can u please tell me where i can get future in Holland?

Tony

Ola guys

Thanks for the swift and very helpful replies.

So water is the solution. Great... We got water enough. ALso got amonia in the house but since I clean it shortly after I sprayed the Future with it I think water will do the job fine.

@ Robbie/... A Cheap AB for Future only is quite a good idea. Might invest in one of those in the near future but I'm confident that till that time my own AB will do the work fine.

@ Terri... Got a question about the let it tack up between coats... is that fully dry or is it a matter of giving it a few minutes rest and then another layer? I noticed with brushing that the stuff dries up pretty quickly.
I started wiping off the excess with brushing Future as well on one of my other aircraft builds and that already improved matters. I guess I still brushed too fast as I still keep getting bubbles. But will give it a try again as I am a firm believer of trying to master every trick in the book

@ Tony
Well the problem with Future is that it isn't called Future here in The Netherlands as I found out after weeks of searching for Future. It is called Pledge here. To help you I have a picture of what the bottle looks like. I bought the one on the left for wood floors and it works pretty good. I bought it at the Albert Heijn stores here but I think if you pick a big supermarket chain in Belgium like Delhaize or Carrefour they should have it as well. Success in your search.

What the original and latest label looks like. I included my cheap AB I use to spray.



Cheers

Another question that just crossed my mind... Do I have to mask canopies prior to spraying Future? Or can I leave them unmasked and have the Future add an extra layer of shine to it?

I would have already dipped (literally) all clear parts in future before assembly. You could unmask them to get another coat but usually with future extra coats is not going to make it any shinier. The other problem is if you unmask them to get the future coat you will have to remask them if you need to spray your final matt/flat coat.

Cheers

Hmmm that is another trick I did not know. Will keep that in mind for another build. Ok it means I got to improvise a bit on my Go229

Robert,

Thanks a million for the pic, now at least i know what i am looking for.

Tony

Hi Robert,

I have little I could add to the sound advice above. I can show you this, an example of how Future can cloud yet how easily it can be fixed with ammonia. Yes, ammonia removed Future on contact.

To demonstrate, here's a problem and solution from 7 years ago (Look at the link Murphy Strikes! : https://aeroscale.kitmaker.net/forums/55766

Robert, I've been air brushing Future/Pledge for years without any issues. I use it straight from the bottle, but I lower the psi to 12-15psi max. I apply a few tack light coats, then a few heavier coats. It dries in just a few min. I do leave it for several hours before decaling.

For cleaning my air brush, I use Window Cleaner like Windex with D (ammonia), then a rinse in water.

I don't unmask clear glass/canopies if the finished model will be a matt finish. I just leave the masking in place so that the frames get a coat of pledge to help seal them as well.

Joel

Robbery I use future through the airbrush all the time and have had no issues with clean up using windex (with ammonia in it) and then flush well with water. Before I spray again I usually run a small bit of windex and then a few drops of water through again to make sure things were flushed well.
As was stated above I too dip clear parts into future and I do recommend masking canopies, or what ever else, before you shoot the rest of the kit, same for flat too. I would suggest shooting future through your multi use or general. I do multiple light coats until things look shiny. If you have a spray booth turn your fan on and put a piece of plastic sheet or cardboard on the front to keep the dust off while it dries, which should be within 60 seconds. All my best. Cheers.

@ Tony
Youre welcome mate.

@ Frederick
Thanks for pointing out the clouding issue and how to solve it... That should come in handy should I ever encounter it.

@ Joel
I had to look up Windex as we don't know that brand here in the Netherlands but I already saw we have many similar products only need to check which has Ammonia in it.
As for the unmasking of the canopy... I already did that out of inexperience. The 1:72 Horten was my first kit with a canopy that made it this far. And I was really curious to see if the masking worked out... not even realising for a second I still had the Future coat to do. I think I can remask it. All part of the learning curve. In the future I will dip the clear parts in the Future.

@ Damon
Thanks for the tips. Will invest in a product similar to windex and try them out.

Thanks for the help so far people. Really appreciated.

With friendly greetz

Robert

I use glass cleaner like windex to clean out my airbrush after using future and have had no problems.

All the best,
Brian

I always airbrush Future on my models before decaling but instead of using Future straight from the bottle I recently started thinning the Future with a small amount Windex (glass cleaner) and have had excellent results and being able to get perfect gloss finishes.
Before I started thinning Future I was getting good results and having glossy finishes but looking at the surface of the model under oblique lighting and high magnification showed the surface was not as smooth as it could be and that's when I decided to experiment with thinning Future.

For thinning Future I use about 15% Windex and this seems to work just fine, using more Windex than that does not really make a difference so I try for the 15-20% ratio.

Cleaning your airbrush after spraying Future should be done like you would after spraying model paint, I have never had to remove anything more than the needle and spray nozzle whilst cleaning my airbrushes and doing so only takes a few minutes of my time but it is time well spent.
Adding a drop of Iwata Super Lube to the needle and spreading it along the length of it before inserting it into the airbrush body insures the needle will not get sticky and ruin your next airbrushing session.
Also after your airbrush has been cleaned and re-assembled put a few drops of thinner in the color cup and do a test spray...better to do that than put paint in your airbrush and expect to paint something only to find the airbrush was not as clean as you thought it was.

Matrixone

First, and also having had the difficulty in finding Future while living in Europe, I aske dthe helpdesk of the producer if there was a product in Europe identical to Future.

There is NOT. Pledge, Klir Klear ... are all different things and none is identical to the formula of Future. They may seem to have the same aeffect but are accoding to the producer NOT the same.

By the way, it is said that Future is no longer produced so those that still have a few bottles, hold on to them.

I apply Future with the airbrush as coat for the decals. I thin it with 40% of Isopropanol at 15-20 psi. This makes the Future run better and I don't get that annoying grainy effect anymore that I used to have without thinning.

For the clear parts of canopies I tend to add a second (after airbrushing) layer of Future with the brush to get a nice shine.

I also use future on dails in cockpits.

I have been adding some flat base to Future for a final matt coat sealing also the decals. Be careful not to hit the clear canopy parts with this last coat.