Trouble getting Tamiya TS lacquer to fully cure

I tend to agree that it's a primer compatability problem.  I never have a problem when I use Tamiya Fine Scale primer, or Mr. Hobby Surfacer Primer.

I concur with the others about the primer being the possible culprit.  Can't go wrong with the Tamiya or Mr. Hobby Surfacer primers.

OK, well so far, there seems to be concensus regarding the problem - it's the primer.  Interesting, because I initially chose the Duplicolor because of searches on this forum and other members using it.  

Either way... the question remains:  What do I do now?  Is it a matter of giving it longer to cure?  Should I invest in a dehydrator?  

If it is a compatibility problem between the paint and primer, its likely that the paint will never cure properly.  You may have to strip everything clean with isopropyl alcohol and start over.  But, since others have had success with the primer you used, maybe someone will have a better suggestion for you.

Eaglecash867

If it is a compatibility problem between the paint and primer, its likely that the paint will never cure properly.  You may have to strip everything clean with isopropyl alcohol and start over.  But, since others have had success with the primer you used, maybe someone will have a better suggestion for you.

 

bamaguy

OK, well so far, there seems to be concensus regarding the problem - it's the primer.  Interesting, because I initially chose the Duplicolor because of searches on this forum and other members using it.  

Based on my own experiences, Tamiya TS over Duplicolor primer is iffy at best. It may work on kit plastic, but resin tends to be another story.  I must admit that your finding that Duplicolor was even mentioned in your search results surprises me.

Just Google "scale modeling Duplicolor primer" and there are many threads that come up of people using it with no problem.  Some on this forum and some on other modeling fora.  

People are mentioning the resin, but the doors, hood, and trunklid are all metal and the problem is the same.  I wonder if it is because of spraying the extreme humidity we have had here in Alabama.  While I'm spraying I stand outside on my back porch and as soon as I finish spraying I bring the part inside to dry.  Although, having worked at an automotive plant, their paint shops have elevated humidity intentionally.  

I'm surprised noboby has mentioned a dehydrator yet.

Ah well... it's certainly not soft to the touch, and I am not inclined to strip everything.  What is the prevailing wisdom on setting painted parts in the sun to cure?

Modeltruckbuilder

Sounds to me that you pretty much have your mind made up with a solution for your problem, best of luck with your build.

 

Any primer that doesn't fulfill your need I suppose could be considered trash or junk in that need. It doesn't mean it's bad primer but bad for that combo. I doubt Duplicolor is junk any more than Tamiya TS is junk. But the combo may make them combined together both junk for your purpose. Course I don't really know, I do know model paints come at inflated prices but suspect that is more due to fluid volumes and packaging sold. I also know from years of modeling and 3 decades of shooting 1/1 that some products simply don't belong near other products. And some products don't belong over others without a barrier coat. It happens.

As to the dehydrator: if you manage to get this paint dried is it ever going to be an acceptable finish for your purpose ? If so it might be worth a shot. But then will the bond hold the test of time ? I stripped more than one part, model, 1/1 piece back to the bone because it just wasn't ever going to cut it or satisfy me. Last year I had everything all painted and half a model put together and ended up stripping it to components that all went into the purple pond and completely refinished it except the interior !! It was weeks of work back to base center lol. Sometimes you just bite the bullet and go for it.

oldermodelguy

 Sometimes you just bite the bullet and go for it.

 

@oldermodelguy - Thanks for your response. I've had to use the purple bath before and if that's what it comes down to this time, I will do it again.  

And, yes, Duplicolor is not junk paint.  The reason why I and many others have used it 
(or Rustoleum for that matter) is because we need a feather fill product - that is, a sandable primer specifically designed to fill in flaws and imperfections and then sanded to a smooth surface.  As you know from your painting 1:1 (and I worked at an automotive plant), the Tamiya primer and most primer/surfacers are for paint adhesion.  They not only don't fill light scratches and flaws, they transmit them.  The Tamiya primers are specifically designed to transmit surface details (like panel line or rivets, etc.) - not fill imperfections.  Getting a primer - like the Duplicolor - that specifically states "sandable" and that it fills, is exactly what my kit needed.  This is because, while MFH kits are generally excellent, the body panel surfaces are covered with scratches and flaws, and not just the metal parts, but also the resin.  Pre-paint sanding helps, but it doesn't get the deeper scratches and flaws.  The alternative to a filler primer is to putty the whole surface, and I try to minimize putty to the greatest extent possible, though I did have to use it some with this project as well.  Using Duplicolor for me and many others has nothing to do with cost - if Tamiya made a filler primer, I likely would have used that.

I did dry parts in the sun between primer coats at one point.  I'm wondering if that may have had an impact as it was quite humid.  Automotive plants keep their paint shops fairly humid intentionally, but usually not more than about 60% or so.  It was fairly humid that day, so I don't know if that had an impact.  Either way, like I said, I'm going to try more air drying and perhaps more hair dryer treatments and if that doesn't cure up the softness, then I will have to bite the bullet and prepare the purple bath.  

To my dear friend @modeltruckbuilder and your sanctimonious, assumption-filled, judgmental contribution to this thread, Good For You.   

bamaguy

To my dear friend @modeltruckbuilder and your sanctimonious, assumption-filled, judgmental contribution to this thread, Good For You.   

 

bamaguy

@oldermodelguy - Thanks for your response. I've had to use the purple bath before and if that's what it comes down to this time, I will do it again.  

And, yes, Duplicolor is not junk paint. 

 

 

1/1: I had my turn in the apple cart with nitro sanding surfacer, sanding sealer, glazing puddy, clear sealers etc. So I'm hearing ya............... Also Zink and phosfate primers for aluminum parts. At the end self etching two parts.

Dew point when shooting outdoors to me is more relevent than relative humidity. I'm not a fan of much over mid 50's dew point for lacquers. Enamel doesn't matter  as much. Poly basically not at all except for initial tacking up. Once that stuff kicks it's all set especially with an accelerator in it ( by the way, it's basically all set in your lungs too if you inhale it, which is why I switched from over all refinishing to repairs and decorating / truck/fleet logos and such). Imron was my limit but in small doses.

At the Mercedes plant where I worked in engineering, we had an e-coat full immersion dip followed by an over, then seam sealer, then primer surfacer - primer oven - then topcoat, followed by a topcoat flash oven.  All robots and bells and all water based.  The clear was a 2k, also robots and bells and then a long finish oven.  All of these booths were sealed up air tight and no team members except when not spraying.  The touch-up booths required SCBA for safety.    

When I did the paint prep for one of my old Corvettes, it was sand and strip, then two rounds of quidecoat with lots of sanding (I wore a respirator - a real one - the whole time because that fiberglass gets right in your lungs otherwise), then sealer, feather-fill primer, lots more sanding, final primer, then off to my friends paint booth.  

I don't do anymore of my own paint prep on 1:1 project cars.  I leave it to those who are much better at it than I am.  It's amazing how, after you've been sanding your face off and you spray another round of guidecoat, you still see so many flaws - especially where you've been trying to feather in putty/filler spots.