should i airbrush during bad weather?

I live in Vancouver,BC, where it rains all the time, too. one day during the summer it was pouring rain, and I painted a large model with acrylic paints. I had the airbrush running for like 3 minutes straight and never had a single moisure problem. and i didn't use a water trap!!

Later that day I wanted to test if the water trap was really necessary, so I ran the airbrush 'dry' and drained the air from my 5-gallon air tank, which I use as an air source. it ran for about a little more than 10 minutes against a piece of paper, and it didn't get wet at all. So take it from me, water traps aren't that necessary (maybe it's because of my air source, but i don't see myself getting a water trap).

QUOTE: Building models outside????? who would have thought it possible

Not in the winter where I live. Everything would freeze!

Building models outside????? who would have thought it possible

Well rainy season lasts for about 6 months here but that does not stop me. I use mainly acrylics and so far I don't have problems with drying.

Just get a bigger umbrella

Note: The amount of moisture in the air is directly related to the air tempreture. The higher the temp the more moisture it can hold. Thus 80% humidity in the Northwest is less moisture than 80% humidity in Florida. A compressor works like a still. The compressor takes in moist air,squeezes it and in the process heat up the air ( one of those physics things). When the air goes through the airhose it cools and the moisture condenses inside the airhose just like an old moonshine still. Being from Florida and living in the Northwest. In Florida I used a compressor inside in an airconditioned room when we had fair weather. Here in Washington state I could paint on most days without to much problems. I solved all of my problems with moisture in the air when I started using a CO2 cylinder insted of a compressor. NO MORE WATER in my airbrush hose.

I'm another Pacific Northwesterner and have had no problems. Just make sure that the room you spray in is at a decent room temperature to aid in the drying. Also important to make sure the paints you use are at the same room temperature.

I have found that High Humidity levels do cause some problems w/ acrylics but this is easily solved by painting indoors, just my experience though.

I’m with Glenn here in the Pacific NW and it’s never been an issue. I paint in a finished garage. I do however use it as an excuse not to paint when there is something else I want to do.

I agree with Glenn, the biggest concern during bad weather is a power failure. We have some pretty humid weather in the summer and it can cause some trouble from time to time, but I don't worry about it much.

Of course, this all depends on where you are painting, indoors vs. outdoors...for the obvious reasons!

Regarding humidity, this also seems to matter more or less depending on what type of paint you are using. I work exclusively in enamels and have found their drying time between coats to be a little higher as a result and the potential for orange peeling is also somewhat higher. With acrylics, I imagine this would be more magnified since they are water based to begin with.

Of course, I live in a desert so anything over 30% humidity would be considered "high" on most days. My biggest weather factor is often the wind rather than the rain...

Its always raining in UK if we stopped building and painting we would never get anything finished

I live in the Pacific Northwest, just 15 miles north of Seattle. This part of the USA is known for rainy weather. I've never experienced any problems with airbrushing while it was raining outside. I do not use a moisture trap, although at times I've thought about getting one, but haven't so far. During really bad weather I'm more concerned with the possibilty of the power going off than anything else.

Glenn

If the humidity is high it might affect your paint-job, if you got a moisture-trap keep your eye on it as it might need emptying more often.

Where I am we often get VERY high humidity and because of that I bought a drying booth. Said that I am also planning on adding a humidity extractor above the work-desk to cut down on possible problems during painting and resin casting.