Go green?

There is a way to add a certain degree of patina to any model or painting by applying a layer of home made lacquer. It does not apply to all models or paintings but used in the right fashion a layer of shine can attract the eye and bounce around light in a beautiful manner. You can pour a cup of lacquer-thinner in a glass jar ( well ventilated area ) and drop styrofoam ( closed-cell extruded polystyrene foam) pieces into the jar and watch the styrofoam melt while the lacquer-thinner bubbles a little. When pieces stop dissolving it means that the lacquer thinner is saturated. At this point your lacquer thinner should still be translucent but of a jelly like consistency. Apply the home made lacquer to your painting or model and voila! after drying a shiny fine layer will remain and therefore give it that patina.

Now, this is where the title makes sense: went to Home Depot and tried the “green” version of lacquer thinner to try out this be a good citizen of the world thing…needless to say maybe it does what it does well but it does not dissolve styrofoam in the same manner. No sheen or shine on the models thanks to green. Why not just use normal lacquer from the store you ask? Well this way is cheaper, interesting way to recycle lying around styrofoam and if your styrofoam has color ( black, blue, red… ) that’s another little extra…well if you don’t go green and mess up the whole process. Still an interesting technique nonetheless.