Fast drying high gloss clearcoat?

carluccidesign

Member

• Oct 29, 2015

• #1

Hey, was wondering if anyone could recommend a brush on self leveling high gloss clearcoat that dries fast? I have a rush project. I'm sculpting a 3' pill prop for a trade show. The pill has a glossy sheen. I used blue insulation foam ,hard coated it with aquagem epoxy . any help would be really helpful

 

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Badgersbunk

Active Member

• Oct 29, 2015

• #2

How about a 5 minute epoxy. I'm not sure how glossy it is but it's fast.

 

clonesix

Master Member

• Oct 29, 2015

• #3

Why Brush-on as opposed to Spray-on?

 

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Badgersbunk

Active Member

• Oct 29, 2015

• #4

I just noticed it said 3 ft pill. How about mod-podge. Or polycrylic( it can be handled in 3 hours).

 

carluccidesign

Member

• Oct 29, 2015

• #5

Yeah it's pretty big. Polyacrylic might work. I'll look into that. Thanks.

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I just don't have the facility to spray. Also I think if I use spray can clearcoat it will leave an uneven sheen. I was considering spraying it with krylon gloss but even that isn't glossy enough

 

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Voodoocaster

Well-Known Member

• Oct 29, 2015

• #6

You could heat a sugar water mixture(more sugar than water,..1:6 mixture) and brush that on,dries in 10 minutes ,.faster when the pill is cold but it could crack when to cold...the cool thing is that a real pill has the same coating(gelatine sugar water).
Also you could disolve styrofoam in thinner(really toxic basicly napalm) and brush this on,..this will give a plastic high shine,dries in minutes..basicly this way you coat the pill in transparent plastic.

 

carluccidesign

Member

• Oct 29, 2015

• #7

Voodoocaster said:

You could heat a sugar water mixture(more sugar than water,..1:6 mixture) and brush that on,dries in 10 minutes ,.faster when the pill is cold but it could crack when to cold...the cool thing is that a real pill has the same coating(gelatine sugar water).
Also you could disolve styrofoam in thinner(really toxic basicly napalm) and brush this on,..this will give a plastic high shine,dries in minutes..basicly this way you coat the pill in transparent plastic.

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Wow, cool! The sugar may melt and get sticky during transport. It's shipping to LA. I live in NJ. The polystyrene method sounds pretty cool. I'll have to try that sometime. I was just wondering if the home depot or Lowes sold something that I needed. Thank you

 

pitchforknumb

Sr Member

• Oct 29, 2015

• #8

Voodoocaster said:

Also you could disolve styrofoam in thinner(really toxic basicly napalm) and brush this on,..this will give a plastic high shine,dries in minutes..basicly this way you coat the pill in transparent plastic.

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I'm curios on what the thinner is that you use for styrofoam? And do you mean like typical styrofoam that comes in cups?

 

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Voodoocaster

Well-Known Member

• Oct 29, 2015

• #9

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pitchforknumb said:

I'm curios on what the thinner is that you use for styrofoam? And do you mean like typical styrofoam that comes in cups?

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the thinner is a lacquer thinner or MEK,the styrofoam is the white stuff/balls/flakes etc. you use to fill boxes/packages with fragile content.
Basicly you can use any kind of styrene plastics(plastic cups/model kit sprues) which disolves in thinner(the melting proces will be slower and the drying time longer)
Many modelers used to make their diy plastic putty this way.
You want to do this styrofoam melting in a well ventilated area and the styrene melting closed jar,..really toxic fumes!!
If you melt the styrofoam in a closed jar the lit may be blown of since the air in the in the styrofoam needs to escape.
I think you can disolve insulation foam(fresh and still "wet") aswell this way,...not shure though.
TIP,..you want keep trowing styrofoam in the thinner untill it doesn;t desolve anymore than your mix is ready to be used, if to flued the thinner is not "saturated"enough and may eat through the paintlayer or even the object you use it on.
Hey pitchforknumb,... planning to make a firebomb with this stuff?
Imagine this stuff sticking to your body while lit on fire,...jezus what a hell must that be(napalm)

 

Last edited: Oct 29, 2015

clonesix

Master Member

• Oct 29, 2015

• #10

I missed the blue foam part. So I would say that you need a surface coat first, and sanded smooth, and then clear coated.

There are products from smooth-on that are made for this. Search their website for ideas

 

carluccidesign

Member

• Oct 29, 2015

• #11

clonesix said:

I missed the blue foam part. So I would say that you need a surface coat first, and sanded smooth, and then clear coated.

There are products from smooth-on that are made for this. Search their website for ideas

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Thanks! I hardcoated the surface with aquagem epoxy. Sanded it. I have to paint it. Then clear. I know smooth on has stuff, I even thought of boat epoxy but I don't have the time. I was wondering if anyone has used a product from home depot ect that was good. Thank you

 

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Nicholaus

New Member

• Nov 2, 2015

• #12

You can try a top coat of shellac.
I've only ever used Bull's Eye, their "unwaxed" or "clear" both work well, the "amber" will polish up but will add color (the amber nicly replicates some aged varnish).
It dries really quickly (sand in a half hour) and melts into itself, so sometimes rather than risk sanding through I'll just kind of polish a ridge with the applicator to smooth it out. It's extremely forgiving.
Use a pad of cloth to rub it on-- press down firmly and keep the pad in constant movement. If the pad is catching/sticking (check first that it has enough shellac on it) then dab a fingertip in olive oil and touch it to the pad after picking up more shellac.
This is basically French Polishing. It's quite easy when you only need a top coat-- any lamentations you may hear about the technique is more about difficultys with building film thickness....

 

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RogueTrooper

Well-Known Member

• Nov 2, 2015

• #13

Acrylic Lacquer Clear Coat should do the trick....test it first though...super glossy and drys very fast...stinks though, so well ventilate....