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Resins And Their Types
The art market is flooded with different types of casting resins. Each bears a different set of properties and is therefore suited for specific applications. There are a lot of possibilities in store and deciding which resin is suitable for a task requires a clear understanding of its purpose and effects.
The main types of resins used in artworks are:
Polyester Resin:
This is also known as fiberglass resin as this resin is used as a binder in fiberglass products. It comes as a viscous, honey like liquid and is a contact product which does not require any pressure to cure. The resin cures within hours to give a very hard finish. It can be sanded and polished to yield a clear and shiny surface.
Polyester resin is easy to use and emerges as the cheapest of all resins. However, the resin products are not UV resistant and can break easily when dropped. Moreover, the resin itself emits a noxious odor that is dangerous to health. Using a respirator is always advisable.
Epoxy Resin:
Polyester resin is easy to use and emerges as the cheapest of all resins. However, the resin products are not UV resistant and can break easily when dropped. Moreover, the resin itself emits a noxious odor that is dangerous to health. Using a respirator is always advisable.
Epoxy Resin:
This is an all purpose resin that costs more than its polyester counterpart and can take several days to cure completely. However, it gives a clear finish and a sealer spray will give a nice glossy finish. It is safe and a respirator is not required. It is still advisable to wear gloves and operate in a well-ventilated area.
Polyurethane resin: The most popular and widely used resin is the polyurethane version. It is available in both opaque and water clear versions. But it proves heavier on the pocket, especially the clear varieties.
The leading benefit is that polyurethane resins set pretty quickly, some within a matter of minutes. It is commonly used for making toys and figurines. Polyurethane resins have proved suitable for cold casting and even mold making variations are available. The cast is quite durable and will not break easily. However, the only drawback is that the resin is sensitive to moisture and fails to cure properly in humid environments or even in molds that contain water.
Polyurethane resin: The most popular and widely used resin is the polyurethane version. It is available in both opaque and water clear versions. But it proves heavier on the pocket, especially the clear varieties.
The leading benefit is that polyurethane resins set pretty quickly, some within a matter of minutes. It is commonly used for making toys and figurines. Polyurethane resins have proved suitable for cold casting and even mold making variations are available. The cast is quite durable and will not break easily. However, the only drawback is that the resin is sensitive to moisture and fails to cure properly in humid environments or even in molds that contain water.
Silicone resin:
Not many people may be aware that resin comes in a silicone variation as well that again cures within hours. However, it yields a rubbery finish which is more suitable for making molds for casting other resins. These molds have a long shelf life and can be used again and again.
In sum, when it comes to deciding which resin to use, keep in mind that polyurethanes are best suited for most applications as they cure within minutes, are durable and can be buffed to a shine as well. However, you need to steer clear of the same polyurethanes when working in humid areas.
Polyester resin products turn out hard and can be sanded to get a glossy finish, but they may yellow with age. Epoxy resin is suitable but cannot be buffed and needs an additional layer of resin to get a good finish.
Take your pick accordingly.
The author, Aarron Barry is an enthusiastic writer who loves writing on creativity; art likes topic and attention the detail. Through this article he shared his valuable information on resin casting, polyurethanes or latex rubber. Want to know more about those topics, visit the website.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/9430756
In sum, when it comes to deciding which resin to use, keep in mind that polyurethanes are best suited for most applications as they cure within minutes, are durable and can be buffed to a shine as well. However, you need to steer clear of the same polyurethanes when working in humid areas.
Polyester resin products turn out hard and can be sanded to get a glossy finish, but they may yellow with age. Epoxy resin is suitable but cannot be buffed and needs an additional layer of resin to get a good finish.
Take your pick accordingly.
The author, Aarron Barry is an enthusiastic writer who loves writing on creativity; art likes topic and attention the detail. Through this article he shared his valuable information on resin casting, polyurethanes or latex rubber. Want to know more about those topics, visit the website.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/9430756
Casting And Embedding With Clear Polyester Resin
POLYESTER RESIN AND MEKP CATALYST
(a) Clear polyester casting resin is pre-promoted and generally requires only the catalyst MEKP to convert it to a solid state. The MEKP can be added at various levels to allow for ambient temperature, required cure time or mass of resin being cured. This resin contains Styrene Monomer and should be treated with care. Styrene Monomer is a known health hazard. Use only in a well ventilated work place, preferably outside in the fresh air.
(b) MEKP(Methyl Ethyl Ketone Peroxide) catalyst is a very strong peroxide and should be treated with the utmost care. Do not allow contact with the skin or eyes. Wear suitable(nitrile rubber) protective gloves and close fitting eye protection. Have eyewash materials close by, either an eyewash bottle or a full bucket of clean water large enough to plunge your head into. If MEKP is splashed in the eyes you have only 4 seconds to wash the eyes to prevent some damage.
(c) A good neutralizing solution can be made from a 2% sodium bicarbonate or freshly made 5% sodium ascorbate solution, followed by immediate medical attention. MEKP splashes on the skin should be immediately washed with soap and water.
DYES
(a) The clear resin may be clear dyed or opaque tinted. Opaque polyester gel coat pigments are suitable for tinting resin intended to form a base layer before placing an object on it and then covering with the clear resin. Clear dyes are available in either powder or liquid form. The powder dyes should be dissolved in a very small quantity of styrene monomer before addition to the resin.
(b) Not all dyes or pigments are suitable for polyester resin. The MEKP catalyst may react with the dye, which can then change colour. Be careful of greens and blues. Unsuitable dyes and pigments include: paints, universal paint tinters, food colourings, some inks, water-soluble pigments.
(c) Alcohol soluble dyes are often used to colour animal tissue, which is to be embedded. Borax carmine is used to produce a pink colour.
PLANTS
(a) In the case of plants, the polyester will be affected by moisture in the plant. This moisture has to be removed. Unless special treatment is carried out, the colours will be bleached out of the final castings. To overcome these problems, drying and treatment with special colour preservatives is required. Two basic solutions for colour preservation are listed below.
SOLUTION A
tertiary butyl alcohol 100
thiorea 1
sodium citrate 2
SOLUTION B
tertiary butyl alcohol 100
thiorea 1
citric acid 2
(b) For blue or green flowers use Solution A. For red or pink flowers use Solution B. For intermediate colours use a mixture of A and B. Most flowers need immersing for between 10 and 20 hrs, after which time they become stiff and fragile. This treatment must be carried out at room temperature. At temperatures below 20oC, the addition to each solution of approximately 10 parts of normal butyl alcohol will be necessary.
OBJECTS IN FORMALIN
Most often used for fleshy objects such as tadpoles,
(a) Opaque. Wash in running water for an hour. Dry by gently rolling in tissues. Air dry for an hour, or immerse for a few minutes in absolute alcohol and then dry in a vacuum desiccator. Immerse in uncatalysed resin and transfer immediately to the embedding step.
(b) Translucent. Dehydrate the object completely by passing through successive grades of alcohol, 30%, 50%, 70%, 80%, 90% and then absolute, preferably on successive days. Transfer the dehydrated specimens to uncatalysed resin until the required translucency is reached. Embed as before. In this way quite an amount of internal detail is revealed.
OBJECTS IN ALCOHOL
Exoskeleton objects such as centipedes, crayfish, ants and beetles
(a) The usual concentration of alcohol when used as a preservative is 70%. The normal procedure is to continue up through the dehydrating alcohols to absolute, soaking in uncatalysed resin and then embedding.
(b) Many of the exoskeleton objects may be dried from the 70% alcohol and then treated as a dry object.
OBJECTS IN GLYCERINE
An alizarin transparency of a mouse.
(a) This is quite transparent in its glycerine solution, however will embed opaque because glycerine is not optically miscible with the clear casting resin. Transfer the object to 70% alcohol and follow on successive days to 80%, 90%, 95% and then absolute alcohol. The glycerine will now be removed.
(b) Transfer to uncatalysed resin, and when it sinks, it is ready to embed as described later.
DRY OBJECTS
Dried echinoderms, bones, shells, insects, etc.
The problem here may be eliminating air trapped in or around the object. Soak the object in uncatalysed resin and then embed. Catalysed casting resin may be injected into large empty body cavities. A vacuum desiccator may be utilised to carefully de-air these body cavities during the embedding process.
METHOD OF EMBEDDING THE OBJECTS
(a) A suitable mould is the first requirement. This should be as close to the required finished size as possible. The mould may be a purpose built gelflex, RTV silicone, fibreglass or an existing plastic shape from the range of kitchen containers such as ice-block trays, plastic cups, egg poachers, disposable polyethylene(PE) or polypropylene(PP) buckets. Moulds made from plastic other than PE or PP will most probably be attacked or dissolved by the resin. Purpose built moulds may also be made from plastic or metal sheet.
(b) All moulds, other than PE or PP should be treated with a release agent. Liquid or hard paste wax, green PVA release agent, silicone oil, silicone emulsion, "Armourall", "Mr Sheen", floor waxes, and the PE packing tape, used properly, are all suitable as release agents. Plaster moulds should be treated with caution. Plaster has first to be properly dried and then soaked with a liquid wax. A number of applications of wax are required to realise the glossy finish required.
(c) Fabricated moulds must be totally leak free.
(d) Most embedding jobs will require a layer of gelled resin on the base. This is used to mount the object at a height above the base before pouring the remainder of the resin around and over the object. This gelled layer may vary from 2mm to 100mm or more.
(e) If the object to be embedded is heavier than the resin the gelled layer should be sufficient to support the object without sinking and remain sticky enough to allow bonding of the successive layer.
(f) If the object to be embedded is lighter than the resin it will need to be rested on the gelled layer and left to cure further and thus stick the object to the base.
(g) The longer the base layer is allowed to gel the more apparent the interface of the next resin layer will be.
(h) The object may now be fully embedded with one or more covering layers. The number of layers depends on the total depth required.
CURING THE POLYESTER RESIN
(a) From now on these instructions are subjective to the size and complexity of the object to be embedded.
(b) When mixing MEKP catalyst into the resin it should be thoroughly blended. It is best to hand mix the resin with a flat, square ended paint stirrer. Scrape the sides and bottom of the container to ensure uniform blending. If the resin partially cures in some spots and remains liquid in others, there is only one explanation - the resin was not properly blended.
(c) Pour the catalysed resin in such a manner so as to avoid trapping air bubbles underneath the object being embedded. Small free-floating air bubbles may be removed with a syringe. Large bubbles should rise to the top before the resin fully hardens. The green tinge present in the uncatalysed resin will also disappear as the resin passes through the gelled stage towards fully cured.
(d) The time to gel depends on the mass and depth of the resin involved. 200ml of resin catalysed at 1% and then cast 5mm deep will gel at a different rate to that cast 50mm deep. The 50mm deep sample will most probably gel, overheat and crack because it cured too fast. The other variable is ambient temperature. The resin will cure faster in Summer than in Winter, therefore all Tech Data Figures are quoted at 25oC. If the resin appears to be gelling too fast, the mould and its contents may be temporarily artificially cooled slightly. Placing the mould in a refrigerator, or in front of an air conditioner or fan until the cure rate is controlled may do this.
(e) Even though the above mentioned examples will both gel at about the same time(say 45minutes), the 50mm deep sample will fully cure much more rapidly(1hr) while the 5mm deep sample may take 2hr30min. The violence of the curing reaction is much more noticeable with larger quantities of resin. If the cure seems about to get out of control you should dispose of the resin mix in a bucket of water, This will cool the resin immediately and prevent the resin decomposing to a smelly, dangerous, toxic and smoky mess.
(f) A good starting point for catalyst ratio would be:
2mm thick layer of resin 2% MEKP
5mm " 1.5% "
12mm " 1% "
20mm " 0.8% "
40mm " 0.65% "
75mm " 0.5% "
CATALYSED RESIN DIP COAT METHOD
Another method which can be used for some types of samples is one in which the sample is dip coated with resin having a high catalyst level. Here the resin gels and cues very quickly before the specimen surfaces have a chance to affect the resin. The specimen is not subjected to a high exotherm, which can force out volatile material. The coated specimen can then be embedded in a block after the resin coating has properly cured.
FINISHING THE CASTING
(a) The casting may remain sticky on the surface even though the underlying resin is fully cured. This is entirely normal and is caused because the clear polyester resin is unwaxed. Wax is added to polyester laminating resin to exclude air and thus cure surface tack free. If wax were to be added to the clear resin it would not remain clear when cured.
(b) This surface tackiness may be overcome by covering the exposed top surface with a piece of cellophane while the resin cures. The same result may be obtained by spraying the tacky surface with PVA release agent. PVA release may be washed off with water prior to sanding and polishing. This surface tackiness may also be removed by wet sanding with wet and dry abrasive paper(W&D).
(c) As well as being surface tacky the resin may also have a very rough face. Start work on the surface with W&D of a grade sufficient to remove the surface irregularities(80 to 180 grit). Use several grades of W&D up to and including 1200 grit, removing the surface scratches caused by the preceding W&D. By the time you have finished with the 1200 grit the surface will be relatively clear.
(d) Finish polishing with a polish such as "Brasso", a very fine buffing compound or plastic polish as used for "Perspex"
Polymech was founded out of need for an economic supply of moulding and casting supplies as well as clear Polyester casting and Fiberglass Resins to a wide range of industries.
Polymech can advise you on the best products for your requirements as we don't just sell our products we also manufacture so we speak from hands on experience.
When you need Moulding and Casting Supplies, Polymech can help and we ship anywhere in the world.
Log onto http://www.polymech.com.au for more information.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/7656835
Thursday, August 8, 2019
Five Most Common Problems Beginner Painters Have
For people who are interested in learning how to paint with either acrylic or oil paint may experience a few common learning problems. These are the most common problems people have when they are learning how to paint. You can overcome these common problems with some basic knowledge and problem solving skills that will eventually get you past these difficulties.
There are five common problems beginner painters have:
1. Very little experience in drawing prior to learning how to paint.
You really need to have some knowledge or experience in beginning drawing before you ever pick up a paint brush. Using a pencil to draw is a lot easier skill than using a paint brush. You should have some basic knowledge about shapes, forms, lines, and values (shading) to enable you to understand how to manipulate colors in your paint. You need to take your time and not hurry through your drawing in order to get the composition of your picture placed in the most effective way in your picture. If you can draw out the picture in a sketch book prior to actually drawing it on your canvas; this will help to iron out any problems that may arise with your composition. Having some skill and practice at the drawing level will definitely help you have a more successful painting.
2. Not being organized from the beginning with how you set up your palette.
When you first learn how to paint you need to be organized with all your paint colors from the beginning. That means to set out your paints on your palette in the same order every time. Try to leave the most room on your palette for mixing your colors. You will have to mix just about every color you use to paint with so you need to have room on your palette for these color mixtures. As a beginner, you will be using trial and error to get the color you want and this will take time and practice to learn which colors you need to mix together to get what you want. If you put your paints out all over your palette with no apparent order, you will not have any room for mixing and will end up having to clean off your palette and starting with a clean palette.
3. Not putting enough paint on your palette the first time.
Many beginner painters will squeeze out a tiny bit of paint on their palette and find that they run out of that particular color rather rapidly and need to get more from the tube again. This can be a problem when you are using that particular color to mix with to make another color with. Don't be stingy with the paint, it is OK to squeeze out a generous amount of paint onto the palette. The paint will stay moist for several days (especially if you put it in the refrigerator) You will use up the paint eventually.
4. Brush work problems of over-doing the brush strokes,
Another common problem beginner painters have is they repeatedly paint over the same area inadvertently ending up with mud. There is a tendency to keep on stroking the same area in the hope it will magically change into something they are trying to do. Unfortunately painting doesn't work that way. Each paint stroke needs to be thought out carefully and done in a way that will not interfere with the other colors. Some of the color do not go together well and this may be the cause of the "mud" in the end. It is very frustrating for the beginner painter to encounter this problem. It is a matter of learning the color theory and learning more skill at handling the paint brush. This comes with time and experience.
5. Forgetting to clean the paint brush frequently and especially between colors.
It is vital to clean your brush frequently while you are painting. Especially when changing to a different color. For a beginning painter it is very easy to forget to clean the brush and accidentally contaminate one of your lighter colors with a previous darker color you were using. This can happen either on the palette or on the canvas. If it happens on the canvas it can sometimes be difficult to fix the area, you may have to just wipe the area off and start again. Even if you don't clean your brush off in the turp solvent, you can still just wipe it off on a paper towel or a rag and that will help.
For more information on learning how to paint with oil paints go to my website at
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/1169546
8 Oil Painting Tips for Beginners
Oil paints are high quality and versatile. Plus, they are available in tons of colors. That's the reason they are used by artists all over the world. Although it's easy to get started with oil painting, there are a few things to learn. If you are into painting, you may have your favorite brand, mediums, palettes and brushes, but there are some general tips for you. Let's read them.
Start small
If you start with small paintings, it will give you a better idea of the techniques, and you won't invest too much time or stuff in the process. So, it's a good idea to go for small canvas boards or canvases. You can try on paper as well.
Get Organized
It's a good idea to choose a place that is well-ventilated and spacious enough so that you can put all of your stuff near you. Moreover, it will make the process a lot easier for you, and you will be able to paint more often.
Buy Quality Brushes
If possible, you should invest in professional standard paints instead of the student grade. In the same way, when it comes to buying brushes, opt for high quality ones. If you are just getting started, buying three different sizes is a good idea.
You can opt for synthetic brushes, but there is a host of natural hairbrushes as well. Generally, painters make use of bristle brushes.
Prepare your painting surface
As far as choosing the painting surface is concerned, know that you can choose from paper, wood or canvas. No matter which one you opt for, it's important to use a primer known as gesso on the surface. This will keep the paint from getting into the surface.
As an alternative, you can choose a good quality pre-primed board and apply another coat for making the surface even smoother.
Color mixing
It's important to note that the primary colors don't fall under the category of "pure". Actually, they lean towards blue or yellow. So, it's important that you know how to mix them.
If you think you have to use all the colors when you are just getting started, you need to think again. At first, you may want to do a monochrome painting. In this case, you will use just one hue, its shades, and tints. Based on what you want, you can go for either of the two.
An oil sketch is a thin sketch of color and turpentine. Know that it will dry pretty quickly. Next, you can add layers of paint without waiting too long.
After you are done with a painting, don't forget to clean your brushes using water and soap. You may want to use rags and paper towels for wiping the excess turpentine and paint from your brushes.
So, these are a few basic tips that may help you get started with oil painted if you are a beginner. Hopefully, you will be able to get the hang of it.
Article Source: https://EzineArticles.com/expert/Shalini_Madhav/2396631
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