Tuesday, February 28, 2012

Vintaj Patina by Ranger - Part II

After posting yesterday's info about the new Vintaj Patina Inks by Ranger I got lots of questions so I thought I'd post them here.

*The most asked question was about Ink dry times?

Of course this is going to vary depending on the temp, humidity and how thickly the ink was applied but in general it took about 15-25 minutes to dry naturally.  

It was mentioned in the video that you could speed drying using the heat tool.  I would caution you when doing so.  The first time I tried to use the heat tool after about 35 seconds or so the inks started to bubble up and they did not go away after they appeared.  You have to keep in mind you're heating metal not paper so the temps will rise quickly and hold the heat much more so than with paper, chipboard, etc.  So I would say if you are going to use the heat tool I would suggest drying the ink in short bursts...no more than 20-25 seconds at a time, allow a bit of cooling time and heat again if necessary.

Now, that's not to say that the bubbles aren't cool under some circumstances but they can be unsightly on some designs.

Cure Time?

Although nobody asked about this subject in particular this is another aspect I discovered and wanted to point out about the inks.   Even though the inks may be dry to the touch I noticed that thicker coats/areas need a longer cure time before they were more stable.  What do I mean by that? 

Well, you know I like to throurally test products to see how they will behave under various conditions.  After my post last night I started trying to scrape the inks off the charms to see what would happen (approx 2 hours after applied).  The thinner areas held very well but the thicker areas near the center scrapped right off with my fingernail.  This morning however those areas had set pretty well and was much more difficult to scrape off nearly. 

If you're not going to glaze the inks I would suggest thicker layers of ink need a cure time of 12 hours or so before you do too much handling.

Glaze Dry Time?

The Glaze dry time is a bit quicker than the inks. It only took about 5-8 minutes for thin layers of Glaze to dry on the inks.  It's much thinner than Glossy Accents.  I found that a few drops goes a long ways.  The charms I used below are approx. 1.5" square and I used 4 drops (spread around with my finger) to cover the entire piece.  I didn't attempt to use thicker coats of the Glaze but I'm sure those would take longer to dry.

Are the Vintaj Patinas similar to Alcohol Inks?

IMO - No, the inks are totally different.  VP's are opaque, thicker and more like a paint than the the thin, translucent consistancy of the Alcohol Inks.  

Clean up?

When wet the VP's can be cleaned up with a bit of water.  After dry however it is a bit more difficult to remove.  So if you're using a paint brush or get a bit of the ink on your work surface I suggest cleaning it up immediately before it has a chance to dry.

Complaints?

One thing I did notice was the inks/containers are a bit messy.  It says on the bottle that you should shake them up until you hear the mixing balls rattle.  Well, when you do so some the ink must shoot out the top because when you open it up there is a ring of the ink collected on the bottle and ink the lid....  I'm not exactly neat and tidy when I'm playing in inks (hence the name Ink Stains) but this really doesn't help me out any.  Trust me, I had this stuff all over the place!

Vintaj Patinas II 002

This is what the inks look like with the glaze over it.  You can see that the color is intensified... if you look close you can see where I missed a few spots on the charm ~ the color difference really shows up there. 

Vintaj Patinas II 005

Blending -

Here is one of the silver charms that I blending the colors in the "weathered copper" set (Moss, Veridigris and Jade) along with a touch of Clay.    Just a few dots of each blended with my finger.

Vintaj Patinas II 006

Here is the same charm stamped and covered with a layer of Glaze.
Vintaj Patinas II 011


Glaze as an extender....

And I wanted to try the Glaze as an extender.  I mixed Cobalt and Marine with the Glaze....

Vintaj Patina II 001

Moved it around and blended with my finger tip.... and let it dry.  I noticed that the colors blended VERY easily with the Glaze.  There were also some streaks that were clear giving a marble effect to the finished tag.  It's hard to see in the photos but it's easily visible in person. 
Vintaj Patina II 002

I then stamped the dried inks, applied some of the Glaze and heated it to speed drying....
Vintaj Patina II 005

You can see in this photo  - the lower left hand side of the charm where a few bubbles formed when I was heating.  I did this intentionally since it was "clouds".  I thought it might add some cool texture and it did.

Vintaj Patina II 006

And here are both of the finished charms....

Vintaj Patina II 007

I have to say the more I play with this the more I like it!
I can't wait until the next charm swap.
I'm thinkin these inks are going to play a big part in my charm making process!

10 comments:

  1. I want to play in your next tag swap. Love what you created so far.

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  2. These are so cool. Thanks for the tutorial. I can see where the bubbles will serve a purpose in the right setting - like in the clouds!

    Hugs,
    Kay

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  3. But where o where did you get these from already? That is what I want to know! Thanks for your postings on this new product.

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  4. These are gorgeous Roni. Thanks for sharing with us.

    Elaine Allen

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  5. Thank you for the additional info! One more question...what ink did you use when you stamped on the dried charms? StazOn?

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  6. Yes, these inks have some fascinating possibilities. Thank you for doing such a thorough review and testing on them for us. This would be something I would look at for a long while before purchasing so I could hear what others are saying about them.

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  7. What a fantastic description. Thanks for the info. Now I have to have these too!

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  8. I am really looking forward to getting my hands on some of these inks. I think they will work beautifully with my metal and polymer clay jewelry. I was hoping they would show in my Michaels so I wouldn't have to pay shipping, but it looks like I'm going to have to break down and order some if it doesn't show up there soon. Thanks for the review Roni!

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  9. So very cool! Love the stamps you used too can you let us know the brand? Thanks!

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  10. regarding the Patina's and alcohol inks.... can either be used on metals such as zinc and lead and tin? I'm thinking outside the box to use in another artform but I use primarily zinc, lead, copper and tin. Thanks!

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Thanks for your thoughts and comments!