Re: robo3687's Officer K Coat Build - Blade Runner 2049 (Pic Heavy)
guys, guys, guys....
before I go further I want to say that my goal for painting the coat has always been to replicate it's appearance, and not necessarily focused on waterproofing etc. That said...
I think I might have done it, and it was far easier than I could have hoped.
Firstly, this is the look I've always been going for, the sort of glossy, but not uniform look where you can still see the weave of the fabric (which often gets lost in waxing and such):
Now, I posted this test yesterday:
This sample was painted with a mix that was Derivan Artists Acrylic Phthalo Green + Liquitex Fabric Medium + Liquitex Gloss Gel Medium and watered down a decent amount. It went on really dark (because it was wet), but dried to the colour you see here. I was mildly disappointed because it seemed like any glossiness had gotten lost as it went into the fabric.
Enter the happy accident...
As I was making pockets yesterday I was using the barrel of a sharpie to crease a few small folds, and I noticed it was kind of making the fabric a little shiny as it was rubbing and pressing on the fibers. So this morning I tried it on the painted test and....well...it kinda worked. I got a small ceramic canister (though I think I'll use an old coffee mug in future) and went all over the thing and....
i mean....
I was blown away. It looks like the glossiness was there all along, and rubbing it with the canister has sort of, buffed it up and brought it back out. It's also made it really smooth to touch (it doesn't even feel like canvas anymore) and while after the initial painting it was a bit stiff, this also seems to have softened it all out.
I'm exceedingly happy about this, because it simplifies the process a lot. Paint and buff. No messing about with varnishes, or gloss coats or any of that.
I would image the effect would somewhat wear away over time, but then you'd just buff it back up.
thoughts?