What do you guys think is the best way to seal in pastel dust? I love the look of this technique but the finished look is so fragile.
Therein lies the problem with it, it is very fragile. I think it looks great to, but it is so easily lost.
From the posts I’ve read here about the subject, the common ground seems to be just to leave it alone and then redust things when necessary. I covered some with Future one time, and it just pretty much disappeared. I even tried a flat finish over it one time but to no avail.
Something I’ve thought about, but haven’t had the nerve to try, is to dust it on Future while it’s still wet. If the dust is on top and the Future dries around it, that might keep it in place. Haven’t tried it so I don’t know how well it would work.
If someone has a good method for keeping it in place, I would certainly love to hear it.
To get the best effect, you should not seal it in. It has something to do with the flat granular structure of the dust that makes it look so good. If you seal it in, you actually lose the granularity sealing it over.
If you want to seal it in, you can just spray flat over it. It does lose some of it’s character, but if you want to get it back for a show or after handling, just redo it.
The pic in my signature has exhaust stains done in pastels and sealed with testors flat acryl.
I love working with pastel dust! What great stuff! Mine actually turned darker when I sealed it with a flat overcoat. It didn’t ruin the model by any means. It just made the pastel a touch more “pronounced” than it was before sealing.
Eric
roman1772,
I am going to ask an artist what they use to seal their pastel chalk drawings. I’ll let you know what I find out.
Richard
Artists use a sprayable “workable fixative” to seal chalk or pastel dust, pencil, charcol, etc. Workable in that it can be gone over again if neccessary so you can build up layers. In some cases even erasing it.
It retains its flat nature (but does darken a little) because it is sprayed on paper, which absorbs much of the excess. Unlike a painted or plastic finish which has no absorbtion qualities, so the excess sits on its surface and dries. Leaving a little satin or gloss sheen.
An article in one of the mags (maybe even FSM) mentioned using acetone to use as a binding agent. This creates its own problems in that it will
a) evaporate quickly
b) acetone is pretty noxious stuff and will debond your joints as well as melt your plastic if there isn’t enough paint on it.
c) may react with your paint.
I think others put it best. Don’t do anything to it. How often do you handle your models that would require a “touch up” ? Even if you traveled them from show to show a presentation or display base will keep you from touching the model and thus prevent putting undue stress on your finish.
Mike
renarts,
I just finiished talking to my artist friend and what you posted is exatly what she said[#ditto][#ditto]
You know, there are so many members of this forum that have the answers[8D] Why did I go for outside help[sigh]
Thanks[:D]
Richarad
Quoting my own post feels weird [%-)]
Anyway, I have to retract what I said. Since several people said that sealing chalk dust with a flat sealer would work, I decided to give it another try. I dusted an area on the Thud I’m working on and sealed it with a mix of Tamiya Flat Base and Future and it worked great. I can still see tha chalked areas, but the Future didn’t overpower the effect. I don’t know what I did different this time, but it worked fine.
I stand corrected, it does work [tup] Thanks guys!