How to make oil paints dry faster............................

Japan Dryer

Available at the arts & crafts store.  Will accelerate the drying time for oils & enamels

Bless you Ed, that goes on the shopping list for this weekend.

Thanks for the tip,

cheers, Julian

Thanks once again for the advice. This weekend will be the purchase and evaluate stage

Julian

reklein wrote:

A cautionary note. I think Japan dryer needs to be added to the paint while you are using it. Not sure if one can just apply it over the top. Art supply stotres handle the stuff in smaller amounts.

also if you use to much you can alter the color and the paint could crack over time. you should mix it in.

I am using "Van Gogh"and "Windsor and Newton's" (with a preference for the WinTon's). Both apparently linseed oil based. Do waterbase oils work and spread the same as, er, oil based oils?

Julian

Grem56 wrote:

I am using "Van Gogh"and "Windsor and Newton's" (with a preference for the WinTon's). Both apparently linseed oil based. Do waterbase oils work and spread the same as, er, oil based oils? Julian

technically they are not water based. there is a detergant that is added that allows the paint and oil to bond with water instead of repel it. Yes they spread the same. you can even mix the two without issues. the main difference is just how they clean up and how long they take to dry. Grumbacher makes some pretty good paints.

Ummmm ... don't use them?

Seriously, after using oils on my first ocean base attempt, after a week of waiting for it to dry so I could overcoat with acrylic gel medium, I scraped it off and went with straight acrylics. The base was painted, textured and completely dry in three days. 

Noooooooooo............................ That's too easy Seriously, I prefer the oils but would like the ease of acrylics.

Julian

Other than military miniatures (meaning figures) I can't honestly see how one would use oils to base paint effectively on a model, or I would be doing it. I have a lot of experience as an oil painter (artist) on canvas.

The pigment in oil paints is very fine and one can get tremendous color variation that can only be approximated using MM enamels (which are my model paint of choice). Acrylics are even more difficult to approximate oil pigment and I rarely use them. 

I use oil washes to weather to great effect of course, and they dry almost within 5 minutes, because of the thinner ratio.

Japan dryer will crack paint , as previously mentioned, if not used properly and the stuff has a wicked strong odor and purplish tint.

Hi

I've used oils a lot in the past for painting figures and aircraft (the whole job - not just washes).  I use distilled turpentine to thin the paint and it also seems to speed up the drying process.  Also try to avoid the 'oil' which is in tube when you sometimes get separation of the oil and pigment in the tube.  And use good quality paint (not the cheapest 'student' quality).

Al

No Japan drier in town, will try again next weekend in Amsterdam. Have found something by Talens called fast drying paint medium and this brings the drying time down to about a day but leaves a deep, gloss coat (which is good if you want a deep, gloss coat ).

Julian

It's been a while since I last used oils so I'm no expert.

 I used to use cardboard (the inside surface of a cereal box) as a palette. The cardboard absorbed the oil in the paint and seemed to make it dry quicker. I used to scrape it off on to a proper palette after about 30 mins, you just need to experiment with the time you leave it on the board.

Grem,

I use acetone to thin ALL my paints except White.  Acetone evaporates quick halfing the drying time. On gloass paint it will bring down the gloss effect a bit but without a doubt the paint will dry faster, try it on a piece of sprue.  The stuff is cheap to 1 gallon is only about $12-13 dollars and will last you a long time.

 Jake

I'll give the cardboard and the aceton a try as well. Thanks for the tips.

How is the Heller Chebeck coming on Jake? Any chance of some new photo's on your site?

cheers,

Julian

Julian,

You need not mess with Japan driers or turpentine.   Go to any art materials store and purchase an alkyd medium for whatever artist oil paints you chose.   It usually contains a cocktail of driers, ie zirconium, calcium, and cobalt that will dry both through the coat and on the surface.   Use oderless mineral spirits if you are doing a lot of this in your house as it is less volatile than turps and has a higher permissable exposure level (PEL).   Your paint will be workable for hours and be dry overnight, depending on how much alkyd you use, the speed of drying of the pigments you are painting with and the binder that is used in the oil paint.  The alkyd is not the key, its the "milder" driers contained in them that you need.  

 Keeping the model warm, ie with a heat lamp or a bulb in a large box, will simply speed up the rate of oxidation of the paints, but be careful of hot bulbs and combustaible cardboard.   For the most part, you will not need these when using alkyds.

 Richard

Julian

   Winsor&Newton make a product called Liquin it will speed up drying and also help with brush strokes.Dab your brush in the Liquin then into your paint.I've also found putting your paint on paper plate or paper towel helps draw out some of the oil. This will help with drying.

Rod

Thanks Millard and Hstry,

Two more tips to try out. At the moment I am getting best results with Artist quality white spirit by Rembrandt although the aceton did give me a nice buzz (yes ! ventilate the room when using this).

cheers,

Julian