PVA airbrushing, ever try it?

[Stephen Casey]

Have any of you had experience airbrushing PVA (polyvinyl acetate)? We are talking basically about Elmer's Glue, as that is what that is made of.

I would be using an Iwata Hi-Line HP-CH. (.3 nozzle) What do you cut it with; just water? And what exactly are you using to clean the brush afterwards?

I'm a noob. My first airbrush won't arrive for another ~10 days. I am a sculptor and I just found out that PVA is compatible with the silicons and plastic resins I am using. What I am trying to do is two things.

1. Create a high gloss finish over a curvaceous surface.
Simular to a fist in size but more wrinkled.

2. Via several airbrushed layers, build up a highly consistent layer of about 1/32" (.8mm) over such a curvaceous surface.

[Frog]

Hy Yes I have sprayed PVA with an airbrush, I used to spray it into my plaster waste molds to build up a gloss and seal the surface.
I never realy took much notice of how much I thined it, I just aded water till it look right.
I then flushed a lot with water lots of water.

hope this helps
Michael.

[Stephen Casey]

Michael was that usually a spray gun or a small airbrush? How many coats did it take to get the gloss you needed?
And yes this is helpful, thanks!

[Stephen Casey]

Did a bit of Googling and found people have airbrushed PVA or Elmer's Glue in particular for lots of varied reasons.

The most interesting I think was a fella that sprayed his watery Elmer's over sections of his rail road diorama and then sprinkled baking soda over it. He stirred it about a bit and then used the air brush to make snow drifts.

Anyhow tonight I walked all over Lowe's and Home Depot Hardware warehouses and the only simple PVA without pigments and fillers was in the glue area, so there you go. I was over complicating things again.

I dripped a sample on the back of several brands and found only the basic varieties of wood glue and school glue dried to a glossy finish. So that is what I brought home. Too pooped to do anything now. Tomorrow I will try some brush-on applications of various water dilutions and simply pouring into complex molds and pouring it out as my silicone supplier suggested and see if I can get the thickness and or glossy results I want with a fresh mold and polyurethane casting. By this time tomorrow night I should know if this very inexpensive media will work.

I have some Auto-Air Semi-Opaque here so I will add a bit so it won't dry clear. I sure look forward to getting my airbrush. What a neat toy....

[Frog]

Im sure you probable know about this, but another thing i would sometimes do is Talcom powder and a tooth brush, dip the brush in talc and scrub (this is on plaster) gives an amazing finish.

I have painted poured and airbrushed into molds, Paint brush not very good, Pouring good results but have to be careful on undercuts and details, airbrush more control of thckness and gloss. A lot depended on what I was casting and how much detail was needed as the pva will fill in on fine detail (molds).
what I used to find is first coat well watered will soak in the plaster, the second coat also will settle into the plaster and the third coat you start to see gloss, after that you will start to build on thickness. Of course it depends on how much you thin the pva. I used a cheap single action AB with high pressure (around 50psi).

Your other option is acryilc medium but more expensive than pva.
Or even good old shelac.
Oh yeah and something else that seems to the popular at the momment is Future floor polish.

Post some of your sculptures I would love to see them.

Michael.

[Stephen Casey]

Terrific post Michael. Helps to confirm my line of thinking.

Just got back into the studio this afternoon and will do some experiments with PVA over my resin and silicons.

Talcum powder is an old stand by for a release agent. I hadn't tried using it as a glossing agent but will give it a go.

Like you say it is the details in molding that require careful consideration. I have not worked with Tin based bu the Platinum based silicones render amazing detail.

I expect I'll be able to airbrush in layers with the HP-CH just fine. Just a matter of finding the best media and putting i to work.

Just about everything I have sculpted has been chopped up and used in casting, texture, and opacity experiments. In the next few months I'll have some stuff to post.

For now everything in process is part of either an invention or a sculpture for mass production that I can not show until they are in production. A couple figurative pieces might get pushed up if my health issues worsen, otherwise I have to concentrate on a very complex human anatomical I am working on. Wish I could be more specific, but I mustn't for business reasons. I should also say that I am a better insulator or Junk man than a sculptor as I did those things longer. Poor Boy's Hauling was my last licensed business.

What kind of work-art do you do Michael?

Have you airbrushed Shellac or Future Floor Polish?

[Frog]

Hi Stephen
Sorry bout the late reply.
I havent tried shellac or the future polish on sculpture (but I am sure I will)

I am a bit of an Art freak, I have tried everything and as a consequence I mix things a lot, just to see what I will get. Plus I am self taught so dont feel restricted by the percieved "proper" way to use media.
My passion and my frustration is sculpture . If I had the space, the time, and the money I would go big. Oh well one day maybe
I do have some balet sculptures (bronze) in a limited edition run in the UK, but as I am sure you know the sculptor gets very little out of it. Nowadays small sculpture are just ornaments because of the cheap imports.
I wish you sucess in your venture.

All the best
Michael

[Stephen Casey]

Frog,
I tracked down some Future Acrylic Floor Polish locally and brought some home. I'll be sure to post some results and I'll PM you with the details so you don't miss them. In the MSDS thread a lengthy article was referenced on Future by CarsonsChaos. It told the different names and retail distributors of it in various countries including the United Kingdom. I will paste a copy of it here.

http://www.swannysmodels.com/TheCompleteFuture.html
Here is a quote from the article:
"If you do your own mold making and resin casting, Future is a great clear coat to use on your masters or molds to ensure a clean casting. You can either brush it or spray it on. The clay you use to make your master mold can be used over and over again, as the Future does not seem to harm it."

Indeed I have found the process of researching media can be so interesting it is easy to not actually get anything done with them.

As for the financial rewards for the sculptor, you are so right. Even going my route with generating original prototypes for a high margin market (and retaining all rights to the model and it's castings) is a real headache and challenging to the point of easily becoming ridiculous. For instance learning Latin and Greek as well as common English names for the very same anatomical features. Still, I am enjoying myself. But without a full disability pension to support me I would be up a smelly creek.