[Northkeep] Bummed Out Belt
Cody Chezem
bolverk187 at yahoo.com
Wed Dec 16 20:46:38 PST 2009
I unfortunately have no experience with tan cote. Maybe a leather cleaner can remove it with out hurting work to much. Then retouch it up.
Long ago when I wanted to do color-full leather work I purchased the expensive leather paints. My projects turned out fine. After using them though I noticed the paints were the same consistency of the Apple Barrel and Folk Art paints I used to paint miniatures with. I tried them on leather and got great results. I used the acrylic sealer that I used on the minis, it comes in both matte and gloss finishes.
Sorry I did not know of your plight until I got home from FP or I would have talked to you there. I have some samples of what have done when I experimenting with the cheaper paints.
Centurion Thorvald
The problem with today is: They just won't let you load the boys (and girls) up in the boat and sail down the coast to burn someone's damn village down.
--- On Wed, 12/16/09, Catherine Lackey <catanlac at yahoo.com> wrote:
From: Catherine Lackey <catanlac at yahoo.com>
Subject: [Northkeep] Bummed Out Belt
To: "The Barony of Northkeep" <northkeep at lists.ansteorra.org>
Cc: gdh at ki.org
Date: Wednesday, December 16, 2009, 12:59 PM
Well, folks, I'm pretty bummed out here and I hope someone out there can advise me. I embarked a couple of months ago on a project--hand painting a wide leather belt in Celtic knotwork and zoomorphic figures. I went to Tandy Leather and talked to one of their personnel who directed me to the acrylic paints and something called Tan-Kote Protective Finish. I explained to the guy what I wanted to do and bought what he told me to buy. The only thing he told me to do was to dilute the paint when I used it, but didn't say why.
Well, I planned my design and started to work. Diluting the paint made it too difficult to get bold color and using full strength gave me what I wanted. Even so, it took several coats on the inner design to get the coverage and strong line I needed for the design to show properly.
Finally, this Monday I finished it and if I do say so myself, it turned out great. The colors were great, the design showed beautifully...then I put the sealant on.
To my horror, it made the colors of the paint run, especially the blue. It bled on the yellow badly and suddenly it looked like hell. I had to repaint another coat on the yellow to clean it up. Then, today, having had 2 days to dry, I checked it out and wiped away dust with a damp cloth. To my further horror, the colors still ran (which they hadn't done before I put on the Tan-Kote) and became sticky.
I called Tandy and the woman told me that I shouldn't have used the paint full strength and it would certainly crack when bent. She said diluting it makes it sink into the leather and apparently bond somehow, which I was never told. I said I told the guy what I wanted to do and this was not explained to me and how do I get bold colors watering down the paint. She said "Use a brighter color." Really? What's brighter than red and blue? She also told me the Tan-Kote was for unpainted areas and the acrylics are self-sealing. Really? I wasn't told that at the time, and there *are* no unpainted areas?
She was pretty much useless, and I pretty much feel ripped off, as well as heartsick that 2 months of work apparently have gone for naught but ruination. I don't dare wear the thing as it is, for it surely will stain the garb I wear it with because of the Tan-Kote ruining the seal of the Cova acrylics.
Does anyone have any knowledge of how I can seal the thing so at least as not to ruin the garb I planned to wear it with, at least until it cracks and goes to hell? I feel kind of sick about this since it seemed to turn out so well and I bought leather to make more belts which I now don't dare to do.
I know in the greater scheme of things this is not a big deal, but it feels like a bummer to me. I'm really ticked at Tandy and inclined never to give them my business in the future. I hope someone can tell me how to seal this thing so at least it doesn't damage my garb at least. Thanks for the space to vent.
Catrin, cranky
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