PSA: resins
I've noticed this "ICE" resin mentioned a LOT in the past 2 weeks on my flist so I thought I'd hit at least one community with a little public service announcement. Particularly for those in the USA as I haven't yet had time for you "lazy foreigners"** who can't/won't call/contact riogrande yourself and ask if they ship to other countries + how much the shipping is. ;)
ICE resin is expensive. And is the exact same stuff as riogrande.com's more-for-your-buck resin.
Read this article:
http://artfortheheart.blogspot.com/2008/09/resins-as-finishes-sealers-and-casting.html
Especially these parts:
Ice Resin was $24 for four ounces of resin and four ounces of hardener
Colores from Rio Grande is $19.50 for eight ounces of hardener and eight ounces of resin plus the cost of shipping
The ICE Resin is as similar to Colores Resin (Doming System) Rio Grande as any two products can be. The amount of the bubbles is the same. The ease of bursting the bubbles is the same. The odor is so similar that I cannot tell the difference in a blind test. The ability to dome on an object is the same. My suspicions from my testing were that this is the same product or at the very least has the same active ingredients and just in a different package.
Then order from riogrande.com.
;)
One thing I know about riogrande's resin, and is probably the same for ICE, is there is no expiration date. So don't let the larger size of the riogrande system deter you at all. Riogrande's system also comes with a stack of mixing cups and sticks.
And a tip I learned with riogrande's doming system: popping the bubbles is EASY. For those who have glasses, you know how you clean them real quick by fogging them up with your breath and then rubbing them on your shirt? Same thing with the resin. Just "haah haaah" breath on the finished product after you cover it with resin and watch the bubbles swarm to the surface. Though I've never seen very many bubbles at all. Also you can flash the surface with a lighter. A lady who works at riogrande as I was buying the product in their store (they are local for me, located in Albuquerque) gave me these tips for bubbles.
** play on the "lazy American" stereotype you guys are always throwing my way, people are lazy EVERYWHERE but that's another PSA for another time, yeah?
ICE resin is expensive. And is the exact same stuff as riogrande.com's more-for-your-buck resin.
Read this article:
http://artfortheheart.blogspot.com/2008/09/resins-as-finishes-sealers-and-casting.html
Especially these parts:
Ice Resin was $24 for four ounces of resin and four ounces of hardener
Colores from Rio Grande is $19.50 for eight ounces of hardener and eight ounces of resin plus the cost of shipping
The ICE Resin is as similar to Colores Resin (Doming System) Rio Grande as any two products can be. The amount of the bubbles is the same. The ease of bursting the bubbles is the same. The odor is so similar that I cannot tell the difference in a blind test. The ability to dome on an object is the same. My suspicions from my testing were that this is the same product or at the very least has the same active ingredients and just in a different package.
Then order from riogrande.com.
;)
One thing I know about riogrande's resin, and is probably the same for ICE, is there is no expiration date. So don't let the larger size of the riogrande system deter you at all. Riogrande's system also comes with a stack of mixing cups and sticks.
And a tip I learned with riogrande's doming system: popping the bubbles is EASY. For those who have glasses, you know how you clean them real quick by fogging them up with your breath and then rubbing them on your shirt? Same thing with the resin. Just "haah haaah" breath on the finished product after you cover it with resin and watch the bubbles swarm to the surface. Though I've never seen very many bubbles at all. Also you can flash the surface with a lighter. A lady who works at riogrande as I was buying the product in their store (they are local for me, located in Albuquerque) gave me these tips for bubbles.
** play on the "lazy American" stereotype you guys are always throwing my way, people are lazy EVERYWHERE but that's another PSA for another time, yeah?