Cost aren't everything, there are evil forces at work everywhere.

Cost aren't everything, but as long as this is a labor of love then I still have to put food on my table and materials cost are a dominant issue. Currently my epoxy casting has allowed me to start thinking about content again as I have felt like it was the best overall product to use with a combination of other plaster cement products when backing strength and a solid fill are required. My favorite item has been faux bricks, or brick panels that I make using old silk screens from my screen printing business. I have been making frame structures and mounting sets of these that could be used as a wall or fence. Since I also have spray painted designs and made patterns in the molds it takes on a decorative tile like effect with the brick wall concept as the background motif. To test these walls for strength my son uses his lacrosse stick and ball and pounds it to see which pieces are strong enough to survive. Surviving the durability test is only part of the problem; it's the invisible destroyers that are hard at work weakening and destroying the look and materials. Water and sun are the most evil environmental hazards that must be stopped from wearing away the internal structure and allowing the piece to move inside the frame where it can eventually break out if not kept in a poorly lighted dry space. Ideally the pigments I've been using would provide a barrier to the elements, but now I have started making some transparent castings and I like the clear coat and the depth provided in the molds. Realistically there may be nothing I can do that isn't going to add expense to the project, but I have to consider the damaging effects of UV at a minimum. I've left some clear coated epoxy pieces outside they've turned yellowish pretty quickly, as well as, had some delaminating problems with clear coated epoxy finished that weren't anchored with cloth. So, what to do? Putting a Varathane or Ultra Violet clear coating on top of the epoxy finish is the first and easiest suggestion that is basically a painted coat that does change the hue of the surface and will eventually wear away anyway, so what is the point. I don't want to have to re-coat pieces or expect people to varnish their artwork like it is a wooden boat. Next I was told about a two part urethane, similar to what is used to paint cars, that can be applied in a thin layer and create a good strong UV protected surface. It sounds glossy and troublesome as mixing and setting epoxy is enough work already. Plus I may have to spray the urethane paint to make it apply smoothly. I don't think so. The only other manual method of resolving this issue would be to put a piece of polarized glass on top of the surface which would defeat the idea of making a relief to begin with. This leaves the only option which is to work with colored epoxy, so that the pigments can do the work of resisting weathering. Oh, what to do, what to do?