Humbrol satin paint will not dry.

garrymartin

garrymartin

My Family,Railways, Beer and the Seaside
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I have recently painted a LGB tender to match my Regner Wilma. I initially sprayed it with grey primer before painting the underframes with Humbrol satin black & the tender body with Humbrol satin red, using a fresh can of red. The black paint dried overnight but the red remains tacky after some 36 hours. It was applied as a thin coat at room temprature.
Anyone have any idea what is going on here ? The paint has not dried on the stick I used to mix it with or the sheet of newspaper I stood the model on.
 
Did you not stir the paint? Shaking is sometimes not enough if a tin has stood for a long time (you have no way of knowing when it was made). Red can sometimes be more suseptable to this than other colours, something to do with the particle settlement. All paints have a drying agent added. This settlement is the reason "rattle" cans contain a pair of ball bearings to return the particles into suspension.
 
I remember from the mists of time modellers baking painted models in a warm oven. Maybe that might help (but don't shoot me if it turns out to be a disaster). I wonder if the airing cupboard might be a less traumatic solution.

Rik
 
I am assuming that you are using enamel. I would say that the paint has n't been stirred long enough. Humbrol needs thoroughly stirring or this can happen. I have found that mixing some pure turpentine (not white spirit) prior to stirring also makes for a better results. As for stirring I use a piece of wire bent into a G shape at the bottom placed in my pedestal drill. The tinlet is held in the drill vice and then the drill switched on (low speed).

Go away and have a cup of tea and leave it churning for 10 mins minimum. It sounds OTT, but some of these paint pots have been sitting around on shelves for a long time. It's the only way I found to get sucessful results. The first few goes I had with varnish were just the same as you decribed. This cures it. Makes sure its pure turps from an artist shop though.
 
I concure with the onrable gentleman in previous post, i have hundreds of little pots from gained from collections i use to paint my figures, now and again i get one that takes an age to dry and its normally one that is well seperated and and even bigger stir cures it I know your using spray but i "can" (pun) only think that is the case and needs an extra shake

tony
 
Woderwick said:
I am assuming that you are using enamel. I would say that the paint has n't been stirred long enough. Humbrol needs thoroughly stirring or this can happen. I have found that mixing some pure turpentine (not white spirit) prior to stirring also makes for a better results. As for stirring I use a piece of wire bent into a G shape at the bottom placed in my pedestal drill. The tinlet is held in the drill vice and then the drill switched on (low speed).

Go away and have a cup of tea and leave it churning for 10 mins minimum. It sounds OTT, but some of these paint pots have been sitting around on shelves for a long time. It's the only way I found to get sucessful results. The first few goes I had with varnish were just the same as you decribed. This cures it. Makes sure its pure turps from an artist shop though.
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Apart from the mechanised stiring............ I thought that was what I said?????????????????????
 
Are these the pots airbrushed on, or the rattle can spray cans?
It sounds like it's not mixed well, I've had similar issues in the past. I found that a second application worked and I've also used a varnish coat to seal and harden and dry.
 
ROSS said:
Someone on another forum suggested using one of those vibrating backward and forward sanders with the tin strapped to it...or a jigsaw/fret saw with tin/bottle fixed to blade.
Yet someone else suggests that Humbrol should be stirred not shaken as the paint really settles thickly on the bottom of the can. Horses for courses?
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I think the point (paint?) here, is that hand stirred, is more effective (and quicker), than hand shaken. If you want to resort to mechanical means, there are many, but most carry the risk of spillage/splatter or possibly even injury. Many paint manufacturers recommend stirring on their tins rather than shaking, but then we're blokes.............we don't do "Instructions"! :bigsmile:
 
Thanks for the advice gentlemen , it was stirred for at least 5 minuites, as I made a point of timing it. James mentioned a second coat. I will stir it for 10 minuites this time, apply , then place it in the airing cupboard for a couple of days and see what happens.
 
garrymartin said:
Thanks for the advice gentlemen , it was stirred for at least 5 minuites, as I made a point of timing it. James mentioned a second coat. I will stir it for 10 minuites this time, apply , then place it in the airing cupboard for a couple of days and see what happens.
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Garry if it still hasn't dried I would be very carefull about brushing a second coat on as the thinners in the new one will soften the old one with the action of the brush, and tend to lift it making thick streaky bits and a bit of a mess. You could add a touch of 'driers' to the paint if you have any available. Otherwise I would advise patience, it will dry eventually. If you're airbrushing then no worries.

Edit} The length of time stirring is not so important as making sure all the sollids have broken up and are back in suspension. Be sure to get into the corner round the bottom.
 
Hi Garry , i think the problem, as said on here is the stirring as it has happened to me before to dry the model i used a hair dryer about a foot away, so that the model has warm air only for a few mins also use your other hand by the model so that you dont over do it -might have to do it 2 or 3 times leave about 2hrs between each go - hope this helps regards Dave
 
Good tip Dave, but make sure it's done in a dust free area, otherwise it'll look like scale pebbble dash.
 
On reflection I will bung it in the airing cupboard until the week end then see how I stand.
 
How it ended.
Well I took it out of the airing cupboard today & it had dried. I chucked the pot of paint away & purchased a rattle can of Humbrol gloss red. The paint surface whilst dry did not seem to have a consistant layer of paint on it, some areas appearing almost translucent. Any way 6 or 7 coats of the gloss was applied over the top.the results were not good. I anticipated having to spray with a satin varnish afterwards but this was not needed. The surface of the finished job took on sort of water pattern effect, despite using light coats & keeping the recommendeed 20/30 cms away. It will stand the 6 foot view but not by much. On the plus side it looks well with the Regner. First project for next winter, strip it off then start again from scratch.
The can was shaken prior to use for 15 minutes, I timed it & my arm still aches!:(
 
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