Painting in heat and humidity

Well there is a plus, static cling will be way less. Creature comfort of working in high humidity sucks if you're not used to it. Skip the lacquers in the highest humidity. Expect considerably slower flash times between coats with pretty much all paints. I move mine inside if I've shot it out of the house but too that's where my dehydrator is for drying my finishes.

Other than slower flash times enamels and acrylics shouldn't be affected much. Lacquers take a hit with the blushing.

What's the problem with humidity and lacquers? Would that include Tamiya spray cans?

The problem with high humidity is called blush.  It is a white layer forming over the paint.

Lacquer dries so rapidly that the evaporation cools the surface, causes water condensation on the paint (actually dew or frost).  That is then frozen into the top layer of the paint.  It happens so rapidly that I don't think you would have time to bring it into the house.  I have had the blush occur faster than I could move a piece from my spray booth into my heated drying chamber.

jeffpez

What's the problem with humidity and lacquers? Would that include Tamiya spray cans?

 

I would tend to think all the more so with spray cans than airbrush. With airbrush you at least gain some control by using slower thinners or even retarder.

But this isn't just about high relative humidity so much as dew points and temp.

I've found that flat enamels are unaffected by high humidity. I'm not sure about gloss though. Get a dehumidifier.

JMorgan

I've found that flat enamels are unaffected by high humidity. I'm not sure about gloss though. Get a dehumidifier.

 

How can you dehumidify a hot garage,if you close the door,you will really bake inside if you leave the door open,your fighting an uphill battle and will never win.For your suggestion to work, he would have to insulate and air condition the garage.

I appreciate the responses and think that with a little planning it should not be a problem. What I'm assuming I'll do is bring the painted parts back into the house as soon as I'm done. There's a room immediatly adjacent to trhe garage where I can leave the wet parts that can be closed off so I don't smell up the house with fumes. It's the price I expect to pay for an 80% reduction in property taxes!

Is there a reason why you can't put a spray booth in the climate controlled house someplace, maybe that room next to the garage ? It solves both your fumes and humidity issues.

You can't get out of the humidity fast enough before the blushing occurs, which has already been mentioned. Or if you don't want blush to deal with move away from lacquers is another option.

The room I mentioned is a small laundry room without a window so there's no place to exhaust fumes. The relatively small amount of odor that will occur after painting shouldn't be a problem in there but actually painting won't work. Is blushing really a problem when using Tamiya spray cans? I've been reading the forums for seemingly decades and don't recall anyone complaining about it before.

jeffpez

The room I mentioned is a small laundry room without a window so there's no place to exhaust fumes. The relatively small amount of odor that will occur after painting shouldn't be a problem in there but actually painting won't work. Is blushing really a problem when using Tamiya spray cans? I've been reading the forums for seemingly decades and don't recall anyone complaining about it before.

 

I have to defer to others here since I've never used Tamiya spray cans at all in any iteration or condition.

jeffpez

Is blushing really a problem when using Tamiya spray cans? I've been reading the forums for seemingly decades and don't recall anyone complaining about it before.