I have seen items that mimic the look of water using clear hardened substances (like a fake water-filled goldfish bowl, or something). I gather that it is a kind of epoxy/resin that goes from liquid to solid via the edition of a catalyst. I’m looking for one that hardens into a completely colorless, transparent, hard substance and that can be used in glass and polymer clay containers with ‘floating’ polymer objects (bonus points if you can put any kind of plastic in it).
I need it to not have loads of bubbles or be opaque when it sets, and to be able to use it in very small amounts. I’d also like to be able to color it without losing the transparency, and for convenience, it’d be good if I could add opaque color too.
How long do you need for drying time? If you’ve got time, simply pouring clear polyurethane into your pieces will achieve what you want. They’ll take weeks to dry though.
Weeks is fine, I don’t have any deadlines or hurry in my mind. Would it still dry well if it was thickly applied? Like, a 32-ounce jar filled with it? (I go to both extremes - tiny and expansive).
Yep. Just be sure to keep it out of the light while it cures so it doesn’t discolor. Other than that, it ought to fine. The more you use the longer it will take, but once the “skin” forms and hardens you can move it about with ease and no warping. Try out a few different brands in little glasses before you experiment on a good piece though. YMMV
Sweet! Can you color it? And about how viscous is it in liquid state? Could I suspend plastic or clay objects in it? One last question - does it shrink (or expand) as it dries?
You can color it with tints, or pigments. Viscosity changes from product to product. Suspension will be a bit trickier as you;ll need to wait it out a bit until it hardens up a little. I haven’t noticed much shrinking, and no expansion. Another product that would be perfect for small pieces is clear craft GOOP. That will give you everything you want and you can suspend things in it almost immediately. Pricey for big projects though.
Supergoose, for your smaller projects, you might find that this works very nicely. It dries over night and won’t have many bubbles if you don’t shake the bottle before using it. While it “settles” a bit after drying, another very thick layer can be added easily. And pigments/glitter/etc. can be added easily. Plus, you just squeeze it out of the bottle - nothing to mix. And it’s water-based. I hope you’ll post some pics of your finished project(s) .
The resin you linked to will suit your purposes.
In terms of marine use, which is my familiarity with it, it isn’t as long lived as epoxy, but is cheaper and somewhat easier to use.It is not “hard” in a glass sense, but more like perspex.You may want to consider pot life. Reaction time is within minutes.
It does exhibit some dimensional variation over time.
I’ve no experience colouring it but imagine UTC’s would work in small percentages.
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