Jaxsan 600 is one of my favorite materials for texturing or sealing surfaces.  It’s durable and does what I tell it to.  What more could a scenic artist want?

Jaxsan is a goopy, gritty texturing kind of substance.  It’s a flexible acrylic (the fancy-pant term is elastometric) and while “Jaxsan” is the brand name, I’ve tried other brands (i.e. Henry’s from Home Depot) and was not as pleased with the product for theatrical purposes.  I'm sure it works wonders with roofing.  Jaxsan comes in a few different numbers, which pertain to thickness but the 600 version is the only one carried by Rosebrand because that’s the version that’s most useful to us theater folk. 

In many ways it acts like joint compound that’s been somewhat thinned with sawdust added, however it’s got some added bonuses.  (Joint compound with sawdust will give you splinters.  This won’t… and this comes premixed to the right consistency.)

The Pros

Fire retardant

This means you don’t need to add additional flame-proofing in most theatrical applications.

Water resistant

If you paint over joint compound a lot, you know that working at all wet is a no-no unless you want the color of the joint compound to bleed through, because no matter how dry it was, it can be rewet and softened up again.  Once Jaxsan is dry, it’s dry. 

Stickable

This stuff sticks to a lot of surfaces that other texture compounds don’t like as much.  Wood, cloth , foam, masonry, and a lot of plastics are all very happy to stick to this stuff.

Thinable and Tintable

Jaxsan 600 can be thinned with water.  It can be tinted with tints or standard latex/ acrylic paints.  I think Rosebrand only carries white, but other places it can be found in a couple shades of gray as well.

Applies a variety of ways

You can apply this with a brush, trowel, puddy knife, wallpaper paste brush, texturing roller or with anything else you use to apply textures.  Just beware the clean-up caution.  I don’t think I would apply this more thickly than a quarter inch at a time or half inch total in a few coats, because the top has a tendency to dry faster than the underside when applied thickly, so I’m not sure the underside would ever dry if it were too thick.

Durability

So if you put this on a flexible or squishable non-porous surface (i.e.- when I use this on the pipe insulation foam tube that I like to use as molding detail), it can flake off if the surface flexes or gets squished.  On a porous surface, flexing and abusing this product doesn’t matter.  Once it’s there, it’s there to stay.

Weather resistant

This stuff was designed for use in roofing, so it will live up against the elements.  This is especially beneficial for use in “rain or shine” outdoor productions or on scenery that must survive special effects that include flying water.

The Cons

Clean-up

No matter how long I wash, this stuff never seems to come all the way out of a brush.  It’s the gritty texture that tends to end up stuck there.  I always use chip brushes with this that I can throw away.  It also doesn’t like to come off your skin after drying there, so wear gloves.  (It’s probably not healthy to get on your skin anyway.) 

Cost

Two gallons of this runs about $75, and a five gallon pail runs about $180.  You can get it a bit cheaper if you shop around, but be careful that it’s the 600, because the thinner versions tend to be cheaper and it would be easy to accidentally get the thinner kind.  Jaxan is more expensive than a joint compound, sawdust and glue mixture.  In fact, cost is probably the biggest reason this product isn’t used more often.  For anything within reach of actors, however, it is worth the cost.

Dry Time

This stuff, when not used too thick, becomes too dry to be workable fairly quickly, but then doesn't completely dry to realm of recoatable until a bit later.  That can be a little annoying until you get used to it. 

After Drying Adjustments

This stuff isn’t really sandable or carvable or anything once it’s dry.  SO, once it’s dry it’s dry and there and done.  The only option to change it is to add more. 

Only registered users can write comments.
Please login or register.