Model Railroading > Future floor gloss coating for decal application

Eleven years ago there was a thread about using Johnson's Future clear acrylic floor coating in a pre-decaling application to give a super gloss finish for the decal to rest on. Several modeller's wrote in praising the product. After a recent unhappy decaling experience I decided to give this new-to-me method a try. Only to find out Future has been discontinued for some time and replaced by Pledge With Future which was recently replaced with just Pledge. With all these product changes I'm not sure what Johnson is currently selling will work anymore for how we modellers intended to use it for decal application. Any comments or suggestions?

I did find a competitors product, by Minwax, an gloss acrylic spray bomb, which appears to have the same intended use on wood, as the Johnson product had for floors. Anybody tried this yet?

I've never understood why people needed or wanted to use floor wax. Was it a cost saving issue? I have never gone wrong with Micro-scale's Micro Gloss. It never yellows, is an acrylic and has always sprayed beautifully for me. FWIW there always has been other options (eg. Testors) around so why did the Future Floor Wax come up as a preferred method? I know I never liked Scalecoat's enamel gloss because of its' yellow tint but with Scalecoat colour enamel, I never needed to spray a gloss coat over top.

If it is of interest, the Spanish modelling company, Valejo makes a nice gloss which seems to be as good as the Micro-scale gloss.

Rick

This page will probably answer your questions, it has info on the various names Future currently has across the globe:

http://www.swannysmodels.com/TheCompleteFuture.html

From the first paragraph: "In 2008 S.C. Johnson began a program to move all their floor care products under the Pledge marketing umbrella. For Future this meant a gradual change in labeling seemingly in an effort to gently bring long time users of the product into the new marketing scheme. At right you can see the evolution of the labeling and how the Future logo was made progressively smaller until in 2013 it vanished completely and the Pledge logo became dominant. The formula remains the same."

I use Future on every model I build. I find that it levels and provides a smoother finish than the gloss coats made by most paint manufacturers. Also, it doesn't need thinning, it's easy to clean up, and it's cheap. I've had one bottle for years and it looks like it will probably last me for another decade or two.

Future also does a good job of making clear plastic look like actual glass. Aircraft modelers dip cockpit canopies in the stuff (other gloss products might do this as well, I'm not sure, I haven't looked into it).

I have no idea where the idea to use Future originated, but my guess is that modelers have been using it since before there was a wide selection of hobby specific gloss coats and that it's stuck around due to how well it works.

- Chris
www.milepost15.com
https://www.facebook.com/milepost15

If you pick up an issue of Fine Scale Modeler magazine you will see the armour modellers are using Future (now Pledge or PFM as they often abbreviate it) for all kinds of stuff. Future or Pledge/PFM is not a "floor wax" but is an acrylic finish. There are many armour modelling websites out there with tips on using it for different applications.

If you browse some of the armour modelling magazines or websites you will see they are using all kinds of painting and weathering techniques that would be useful to model railroaders.

Andrew C



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/25/14 07:55 by andrewcastle.

Since I dabble in armor and military models as well as model railroad I thought I might chime in. Yes, there are a number of clear products that work just fine. Future (or Pledge, or whatever) has become VERY common among aircraft modelers, and somewhat common among armor modelers, and a few of us train guys use it. It's a clear acrylic. Again, I can't speak for the other brands as I have only used a few of them, but Future/Pledge can be airbrushed as well as applied with a brush or dipped. It can help restore a scratched clear part, can be used over other paints for a "wet" or glossy surface (small puddles, etc come to mind). Another advantage to using Future is that it can be mixed into other acrylic paints (PollyScale, Vallejo, etc) to create a smooth finish. Future can be put on in a thin coat and is good at self-levelling. I use a dab of Future applied with a toothpick on the headlights and taillights of my vehicles. I have also used a bit of Future mixed into my paint when I have brush-painted some resin automobiles. Since it mixes well, Future could even be used in tinting windowss (but I haven't tried it personally). Another advantage for many modelers is price and availability. Pledge/Future is in most discount stores and a bottle lasts quite a long time. No it's not the answer to all of life's problems. I have had full strength SolvaSet decal setting solution attack a Future surface, but only on a few occasions (maybe I didn't let it cure long enough?). Future needs to be applied carefully if you are brushing it on - it runs freely. On the good news, the errors can be cleaned easily and the coating reapplied.

Thank you Chris and everybody else that has responded. I managed to find the last bottle of the 2013 Pledge on the shelf at Ace Hardware, so now I have my lifetime supply and am looking forwards to trying this technique.

rschonfelder Wrote:
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> I've never understood why people needed or wanted
> to use floor wax.

No wax. It is a water thin gloss acrylic that levels better than most (all?) - (but I haven't tried "all!") hobby store clear gloss acrylics. I use it under and over decals. There isn't visible build on surface textures. No yellow. My oldest Future coated model is a white SF flat and dates from the fall of 1980.

Note to younger modelers. If you are moving out of a rental and doing your own cleaning to get your deposit back and find the landlord is not happy with your shine on his worn out linoleum kitchen and bathroom floors this will change his/her mind. Strip the floors with ammonia and apply future in the kitchen and bathroom. They will shine like never before. While you are at it do the bath tub and sinks to make them better than new. This will pay for your bottle of Future many times over.

Posted from Windows Phone OS 7

I actually use liquid acrylic floor polish to keep my fiberglass travel trailer clean and shiny. Easy to apply and extremely durable. It is commonly used in the vintage fiberglass camper/trailer world in place of wax.

Is there any Aussie's on here who know if this stuff (or comparable product) is available here? I know Humbrol produces a small bottle of clear coat.

Rick

It seems this stuff needs to be relabeled as a model (railroad)
product so that it will gain acceptance. The bottles should be at
least half the size, and triple the price. Then, and only then it
will it become the Gold Standard.

Larry

Another thing the stuff is good for is attaching clear parts.
Holds well, dries clear and doesn't fog the glass.

Believe it or not, back when the Army still shined boots, we would use Future to make our jump boots really shine!

Posted from iPhone

Rick Bacon
Windsor, CO

rnb3 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Believe it or not, back when the Army still shined
> boots, we would use Future to make our jump boots
> really shine!
>
> Posted from iPhone

Until the first time the leather flexed and it looked like an earthquake fault zone!