Just a little product review tonight, to go along with the progress of one relaxa-project:
Piece mid-varnishing. The painters tape is to prevent any drips.
Ultra-glo is a really wonderful varnish/protective coating. Previously, on my sculpted pins I used standard issue epoxy gels. Usually 5 or 30 minute cure kits, with high tensile strength. You know the kinds: little 5mL tubes of resin and hardener with the twist tops that never keep the goopy stuff contained between uses. Or even worse, the little push-syringes that leak like yuck.
But I need a clear varnish that will keep my sculpts from shattering into a billion pieces when knocked about or dropped, so I used it.
The downside of these epoxies is that they usually yellow over time or even yellow as they cure (ugh!) and they're difficult to get accurately 1:1 ratios... which can lead to tacky gluey pieces that take ages to properly harden. They're more expensive per ounce, in the long run. The quick curing epoxies need to be mixed in multiple batches over the course of a paint-job so I tend to waste more as it sets up on me, and it's just generally a pain. But they're easy to buy (Home Depot, Canadian Tire, along with just about any small hardware shop). So I tolerated them.
Some pre-epoxy sculpted Critter Pins.
Last January I had the chance to visit a
TAP Plastic shop. While there, I picked up some pints of
Ultra-Glo polymer coating (and of course glow-in-the-dark powder to add to it for extra fun).
This stuff is great. I'll never resort to any two-part epoxy gel again.
First off, it's CRYSTAL clear. No more weeping as my lovely snow white painted pieces gradually go nicotine yellow again. If this was the only perk I would absolutely still recommend it against anything I've used before. But there's more!
It's also wonderfully shiney, looking like fresh wet paint that's been polished with diamonds. From my experience, it fills in any small rivulets from brush strokes in paint and seems to 'smooth' itself, and makes any paint job look absolutely smooth and seamless. No more sanding paint smooth before varnish. It's definitely made my finished pieces look better, more like ceramic or resin casts... Considering all my sculpts are one-ofs in soft sculpting clays, and I'm not using any ceramic casting, I'm liking the effect.
It's also fantastically strong! I used it to coat a set of claws used on the gloves and feet of a costume, and they feel silky like polished ceramic dish plates & have yet to show any sign of scuff or scratch. Despite opening doors, grabbing items, stomping around for miles and just generally being used... I haven't tried to smash them with a hammer/gouge them with keys (at least not directly), but I have a feeling they would stand up admirably to even that level of abuse.
It's also, dare I say, easier to mix. Ultra-Glo is much more liquid than anything I've worked with before (aside from polyurethane varnishes, ick), so it's easy to mix up in graduated measuring cups. It's physically easy to mix (same 1:1 ratios, then stir-stir-stir) and easy to paint on because it's so fluid and watery. I used acid brushes trimmed to fine points to get into all the nooks and crannies.
This is probably the only complaint I have of it; is the viscosity. Being accustomed to gloopy gels, I'm used to loading it onto my pieces to get a nice thick coating. But too much Ultra-Glo will just drip right off if it's applied too thickly. But it doesn't NEED to be applied so thick, so I think I'm just going to have to get used to the medium and adapt!
Another perk is the initial cure time is between 2-8 hours depending on ambient temperature, humidity (and sea level, I imagine). I find it tends to start to set-up in about 30-45 minutes in my studio atmosphere, but is malleable for a while, so lots of time to mix one batch and work. If you find it's creating a 'drip' along some point, it's a simple matter of taking a sharp point (a pin, or tip of a brush) to sweep away the excess Ultra-Glo and it's all fixed up and smooths itself out. No more drippy gobs connecting delicate little sculpted bits to one another and requiring a dremel to sand them off once cured.
It's just great! It pays to investigate new chemicals and tools to optimized and really highlight your projects. With Ultra-Glo's almost archival qualities, I know my pieces will look tip-top for a long while, too!
