# Tutorial-How to use Future on clear parts.



## robiwon (Oct 20, 2006)

Here is a step by step tutorial on how to use Future or Pledge with Future Shine, on a clear plastic part. In the first pic you will see the materials needed to dip a part in Future. You will need the clear part, tweezers, a container to hold you Future, a paper towel, some sort of rack, and a box to put the part in to dry. Pictures are clickable.
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First step is to hold the clear part with your tweezers. Here I am holding the window frame of the side window from my Fujimi Spinner kit. The Future will cover the section of frame after I set the part down as Future will level itself out. Even if it didn't, the frame will be painted anyway.
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Lift the part out slowly. After dipping the part in Future, hold the part at an angle so a corner is pointing down. You want as much excess Future to run off the part. Let this drip back into your container. If you have any bubbles on the part that didn't pop or run off, re-dip the part. 
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There will likely still be some excess that will not drip off. This is where your papertowel comes in. Hold the bottom corner of the part and just touch it to the papertowel. The papertowel will wick away the last drop or so of Future.
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I made a small plastic rack out of plastic strip and half round to set my parts on after dipping. You dont want to set the part on something with a lot of surface contact between the parts or they will get stuck together. Yes, Future can be used as a glue. But that is another thread that I will post later.:thumbsup:
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Here the rack and part have been placed in a box. You want to leave this covered until the Future dries so no dust or other particles land on the part. I typically leave the parts in a box for 24 hours to make sure the Future has cured completely.
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In 24 hours, I'll post a pic of the result, along with a comparison of the other window that has not been dipped yet.

Keep an eye out for another exciting installment on how to use Future on your workbench! Please comment or add any tips/tricks you may have on using Future!


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## mcdougall (Oct 28, 2007)

Cool:thumbsup:
Thanks for this info!
Denis


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## SteveR (Aug 7, 2005)

Yes, thanks, Robiwon! :thumbsup:


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## firefight (Aug 21, 2012)

Hi,
I am new to all of this.
What benefit is it to dip the clear parts into this fluid and have you any idea what its equivalent is here in Blighty?


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## rkoenn (Dec 18, 2007)

firefight said:


> Hi,
> I am new to all of this.
> What benefit is it to dip the clear parts into this fluid and have you any idea what its equivalent is here in Blighty?


I don't know all the benefits but some of them are you will have a very clear and shiny finish on your model which in many cases is very lustrous. I have sprayed it on car finishes when done and it really is an excellent final coat and will seal decals and the surface. It is particularly great on clear parts and will even hide small blemishes on clear parts. I brush it on things that should be shiny or moist on my figure models such as eyes and mouth/teeth when done. I am sure there are many more benefits but those are my uses for it.

And thanks Robiwon for the tutorial.


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## robiwon (Oct 20, 2006)

Hello Firefight and welcome to the forum! Future has several uses when it comes to building models. In the tutorial I posted above it shows dipping a clear part. One of the magical things that happens by dipping a clear part, such as a window, aircraft canopy, etc in Future, is that when it dries the part will look optically clearer. Clear plastic windows have a slight off color to them and are not 100% crystal clear. Dipping in Future gets you a little closer to that "crystal clear" glass look. Hard to describe but it gives it that glass sparkle too. Future is self leveling and works to make the surface of the plastic window very very smooth, plus with it being a gloss it's very shiny, giving it that glass look. Another benifet is that it helps prevent fogging when using superglue on a clear part. Test first though. It will also fill in fine sanding marks and make them dissapear.

Of course Google is your friend when it come to learning as well. I suggest starting with this site.
http://www.swannysmodels.com/TheCompleteFuture.html

It may also give you an idea of what is available in your neck of the woods.

Future can also be used over flat paints before applying decals, like military aircraft and armor. Decals put on flat paint will look silverish underneath because the surface of the paint is not smooth. Your seeing trapped air bubbles under the decal. You can brush a coat of Future where your decal is going, let dry, apply decal, and then overcoat with a clear flat. That's another article altogether though.

It's not expensive, and a bottle will last a long long time. Pick some up and experiment. If you don't like it for modeling, at least the wife will be happy when you make the kitchen floor nice and shiny!

Oh, and thanks guys. I figured it was about time I put my money where my mouth was.:wave::tongue::freak::thumbsup::dude:


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## Spockr (Sep 14, 2009)

Thanks for the really helpful info! I use it for some things and now I'll try it on more things. :thumbsup:

Regards,
MattL


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## hal9001 (May 28, 2008)

Robiwon, got a question. Let's say I'm dipping an F-16 canopy for example and set it to the side to dry. As you stated, Future/Pledge is self leveling, so once the canopy is set to the side for drying does the F/P not run down the canopy and collect around the frame?

I used the F-16 canopy for an example because there is no frame (except around the bottom) to catch the F/P as there would be on say a WWII aircraft. I understand what you said about touching it to a paper towel to absorb the excess but isn't there still excess 'sliding' down from the top of the canopy until it sets?

Obviously I've never used the stuff and not sure if I made my point clear enough.

HAL9001-


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## robiwon (Oct 20, 2006)

Thanks for the great question Hal. I have done several aircraft canopies. You may need to touch it to the papertowel a few times to get most of the excess off. It may take a few minutes, as like you said, it will continue to migrate to the lowest point on the canopy. There will still be Future that, for lack of a better term, will be stuck to the rest of the canopy. What I do is after I have wicked away most of what has run down I will rotate the canopy to see if there is still excess moving around on the surface. Future is very thin, almost watery so it is not going to glob like paint would. It isn't going to be thick like paint is, all you need is just a thin coating. Once you get the majority of the excess wicked away and the part is set to rest, the rest will drip away. As long as you wick most of what you see pooling you will be fine.

Using Future, just like any other new tool or technique, takes practise. Future is water soluable so if you mess up you can wash it off before it dries! As long as you lift the part out slowly (to reduce the chance of bubbles) and wick away the majority of pooling, you should be O.K.


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## hal9001 (May 28, 2008)

Thanks Robiwon! After re-reading my post I see I should have used the term 'sag'. Which is what my concern was. But I see what you are saying, and that's just watch it and try to keep up with the run off. Would it help to rotate the piece so as not to give the Future a chance _to_ 'sag'? Or would that just promote the possibility of catching dust?

One last question. Aproximately how long does it take for it to set enough _not_ to sag? In general that is, because I know there are different factors at work with humidity, etc.

HAL9001-


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## djnick66 (May 2, 2008)

I just wick off any runs, sag or build up along the bottom of parts with a paper towel. The stuff levels out fairly quickly and you can spot any developing globs and drips and wick them up before it sets. How long it cures is really variable depending on thickness, size of the model, etc. It is not a big deal though. For small stuff like canopies, I just sit the part on a paper towel and let it cure on its own.


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## LGFugate (Sep 11, 2000)

Another great feature of Future is that it can be removed with Windex! If yo don't like how the Future has set and drived on your part, spray it with Windex and wipe the coating off. Then you can re-coat to get it right.

Larry


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## robiwon (Oct 20, 2006)

In most cases for small parts it "sets" in about 30 minutes, give or take. Yes, you can definately move the part around to help spread it. I just read on another forum that someone uses coffee filters instead of papertowels as they have less fibers that could stick to the part. I'll have to give that a shot. I have a whole package of 4-6 cup filters that I can't use. My coffee maker takes the 8-12 cup filters. Hey recycling, bonus!

Some further tips.

If you get a bubble on the surface that just wont go away you can do two things. First you could re-dip the part. That should remove the bubble. Repeat the wicking process.

Second, you could take a papertowel, or coffee filter, and tightly twist a corner to a point. Touch this point to the bubble and that should take care of it. Do this quickly, but delicately, so that the Future will fill the small void where the bubble was before it sets.


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## hal9001 (May 28, 2008)

Thanks Robiwon for the tutorial! Now all I have to do is get some....

HAL9001-


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## robiwon (Oct 20, 2006)

You're welcome! Post your results when you try it out.

O.K. Here are the pics of the dipped window and an undipped window. The dipped window is on the right. Kinda hard to tell in the pic but the window on the left has a slight "milky" look when compared to the window on the right.



Here is another angle. Dipped window is on the bottom.



In person there is a noticeable difference between the two. The dipped window is much smoother on the surface and looks more like glass than plastic.


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## GEH737 (Aug 9, 1999)

I've done this method a lot - and here's a hint. On another forum - this was being discussed - and the fact that there can still be "micro specks" that end up in the future from a canopy that has a "positive charge" - attracting dust - that will still end up in the Future (the product - not the timeline). The discussion got down into "surficant tension" and other esoteric concepts. The merits of "Future" comes up quite a bit in other forums with regards to aircraft canopies and its use as a gloss coat prior to applying decals.

So... to cut to the chase - BEFORE you dip the item in Future - wash the item in warm, soapy water - removing oils and micro-specks - then rinse the item under running water - then *immediately* dip the item in Future and place in a clean container as mentioned. The water rinse will not affect it. The result will not be as good if you skip the wash - and proceed directly to the rinse. Don't be lazy  If you don't like the result - easily removed with Windex. Let it dry for a day (or two) - and it can be masked without any problem.


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## firefight (Aug 21, 2012)

Thanks for the welcomes and replies as to the benefits of future, just a couple more question do you dip before or after you paint the window frames and just like with salsa is double dipping a no no?


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## robiwon (Oct 20, 2006)

GEH737, thank you for that valuable info. I always wash, well, most of the time, my parts. But I had not heard to do it just prior to dipping. I will try that before I dip my next part! Thanks again!

Firefight you can dip with a painted frame. Just be aware that the frame will end up with a bit of a shine if it was painted with a flat paint. Something to keep in mind.

Yes, you can double dip. But there is a point where you may wind up with too much Future on your part. One or two dips is usually suffeciant. You can also dip a part that has already dried as well. Just keep in mind that you will be increasing the size of the part just slightly due to the extra layers of Future you are adding.

Thanks guys for all the great questions and comments. *I am by no means an expert on Future.* I'm just Joe Modeler using and learning a tool. If you know of a better or another technique, please post them. I have already learned something new here. I figured that it was about time we had a thread dedicated to learning and useing this product without diss-information.


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## Frankie Boy (Feb 28, 2002)

Great post!!

And yes, you can see the difference between the dipped and undipped canopies, especially in the bottom photo. The dipped canopy has a much sharper edge on the overhead light reflection. 
The edge of the light reflection on undipped canopy is noticeable softer.

So what I think we're seeing is that "'crystal clear' glass look you referred to earlier.


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