1/. Lay the ‘sanded flat’ picture upon the ‘grit’ side of
a sheet of sandpaper that has been placed on a levelled block (wood, large
thick book, brick or what have you) and the whole assembly placed upon a
large sheet of blotting paper that is in itself placed upon a turn-table (a
cake decorators type of turn-table would be ideal for this purpose, see my
accompanying illustration for guidance)
Important Note:
before moving on to the next step of actually applying the Plastic Coating,
please read the safety warnings printed on the tin. Some coatings have a
rather toxic nature and should only be applied in a very well ventilated
room. Also, if you have any surplus coating left over, avoid storing it in
your refrigerator even if it is sealed in a jar, because any odour escaping
from the jar will contaminate the contents of your fridge.
2/. Once you have ensured that the surface of the picture
is level by using a spirit level, then brush on "Rustins" plastic coating
using a lightly applied "floating" action to avoid forming air bubbles. What
I mean by floating action is applying the coating by more or less guiding
the coating on with your brush rather than forcefully brushing it on with
any degree of force, as such erroneous action could easily introduce air
bubbles through the over strongly applied brushing effect. I would recommend
using a decently sized very good quality brush, one where the bristles don’t
fall out, for this operation. When you apply the coating only do it by using
ONE stroke of the brush, don’t be swayed by the temptation to go back over
the application of coating until it has surface dried, no matter how patchy
it looks just leave it, now do the next stroke of the coating brush in
parallel with the previous application and carry on until you’ve covered the
surface of the picture.
3/. Using a scrap piece of blotting paper, remove any
drips of the ‘still liquid’ coating that has been collecting under the edges
of the picture.
4/. Now allow 20 to 30 minutes for the coating to touch
dry before you apply the second coat using the aforementioned method.
5/. Apply your third coat as above following the
instructions given in steps 2 to step 4, leaving out the "levelling" of the
picture because you have already completed that step.
6/. When the third coat is touch dry (give it an hour or
two depending on the weather and temperature) turn the picture over, check
it’s still level with your spirit level, then coat the reverse of the
picture using precisely the same methods you’ve already used for the face of
the picture. You will now have three coats on the front and three coats on
the reverse of the picture, and if you haven’t over applied too much
coating, six thin layers of coating on the sides. If you preferred to, you
could wipe off any of the coating that gets on to the sides of the picture
with some blotting paper at the time you are applying the coating to the
front and rear faces of the actual picture. You may then do the 'varnishing'
of the sides separately by utilising the methods you’ve already used when
doing the main faces of the picture. The choice is yours.
7/. Now allow the ‘varnish’ coating to dry for a few days
or so, then rub the varnished picture flat by using 800 grade wet and dry
papers (with a block) by only using light pressure to avoid scratching the
surface. Use the sanding sequence of front, back, then sides. Once you have
got the picture flat with no visible "dents" in the finish, you can use some
burnishing cream to achieve a smooth surface.
8/. Once you have achieved the smooth surface make up some
more plastic coating solution and this time add a little plastic coating
thinners to the mix to make the final applications of coating flow easier,
and then follow the aforementioned procedures to apply the coating.
9/. The extremely important ‘secret’ with making use of
these methods so as to achieve a perfect finish, is in the burnishing of the
surface after the first three applications of the coating, this burnishing
allows the final thinned coats to find their own level and because of this
you will achieve a very high quality of finish to your picture.
10/. If you find it necessary you can do some final
finishing and flattening by using some 1200 grade wet and dry papers (wet of
course) and then do some final burnishing with the supplied cream followed
by some light buffing. If you require a matt finish use some 0000 grade wire
wool lightly applied to the finished picture until you achieve the level of
matt-ness you require.
