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Sealing Anonymous
Dear po/

So I decided to try sealing my papercraft with a spray acrylic. Being a believer in scientific method, I bought three different kinds (gloss, matte, triple-thick glaze) and tested them all. Here are my results:

Matte: The least effective. Paper is matte to begin with so it really doesn't change the surface at all. However, if you apply it as a base/primer followed with gloss or heavy glaze, the latter dries shiny with much fewer coats.

Gloss: It takes three or more coats to beging to develop a dull shine due to the porousness of the paper.

Triple thick glaze: Takes only a couple coats for a good shine. You can achieve a glass-like shine if you use one coat of matte, one coat of gloss, and then one coat of glaze. A couple coats of matte and a couple of glaze will do the same thing.

None of the sprays caused the printer ink to bleed or discolor (ink jet printer) and I only tested on a medium weight cardstock. Dripping and welling up of glaze occurs if you overspray a model, so don't get too excited and dump a whole can at once.

Overall, the spray acrylic works. It will protect you model from water and fading with age. And depending on what you want, you can get either no shine, a dull plastic-like shine, or a thick glass-like shine.
>> Anonymous
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quite
>> gizmogal !MmLOyiCYJs
that's good that they're waterproofed and fade resistant, but does it make them any stronger (say, if they fell or something, would they still fall apart as easily?)
>> Anonymous
>>27336

I'm not the OP, but from my work with fixatives, they won't really make any difference. There is a product called spray adhesive, but that's used more for stenciling because the adhesive is like a stronger version of a post-it note's adhesive.

Also, if you are having trouble with your papercrafts being fragile, then use a heavier weight printer paper. Also, never underestimate the power of Elmer's Glue and a toothpick.


Also, thanks OP. I'll go and get some Matte and Gloss spray acrylic the next time I'm at a store. I need to get some varnish for my acrylic paintings as well. I keep putting that off.
>> Anonymous
[OP]
>>27336
They feel slightly more sturdy after a few coats of acrylic.

>>27346
You're right about glue to strenghten a model. Glue will hold the edge of a piece of paper perpendicular to more paper once dry.
>> Anonymous
>>27361

>>27346here. I Just wanted to say thanks. I found out that the Krylon acrylic coatings work for paintings as well, so I'm using the same finish on my papercrafts as I will be on my paintings to give them a topcoat. (It makes them a lot easier to clean when smoke, grease, and other things build up on the painted surface.) I've only used one called Crystal Clear so far, because I already know what the Matte acrylic coating is going to do. It says that it's a permanent, protective gloss finish. After giving all my models 2 coats of it they were pretty glossy.

When I was doing this I also realized something. Paper printed with red ink is really good for finding out if a product will make the color bleed on paper, and black is great for testing glossiness.

When I was at Michael's getting these, I looked through the varnishes as well, and there was one that was specifically made for paper, and it said it was an adhesive/varnish. I think the company was DecoArts or something like that. It was in a white bottle similar to tacky glue. I would have tried some, but it cost about as much as two cans of the krylon acrylic coating.