Polly Scale Gloss drying time?

Daywalker wrote:

Thanks Ross.  Do you have a recommended technique for the bulb in the box?

Yes, I do…it's called a forced air food dehydrator—I bought my wife one, and I get to use it for models when she isn't dehydrating something. Works like a charm.

I hate to describe the technique of the lightbulb-in-a-box because it is an obvious fire hazard…or apparently, not so obvious to some… 

Get a large, sturdy cardboard box. Wood or metal will also work. Lay the box on one side, with the model in it. Put a 40 watt lamp just in front of the opening with a small fan blowing past it, or put the lamp just inside the box. The box must not approach within six inches of the lamp at any point, especially over the lamp.

An alternative, seeing as we both live in the Great Baking Midwest, is to put the model in  a smaller box in front of a west window. Put some small holes in the top and around the bottom sides of the box, and leave it there for a few hours. If you have a portable thermometer, use it to monitor the temperature in the box. You want it about 100 to 150° F, absolutely no higher.

When done baking, allow the model to return to room temperature before handling it, as the elevated temperature will soften even well cured paint. 

Should be dry too touch very quickly. I see several possiblilities from what you report.

How long did you wait for the Gunze to cure? Gunze tends become tack-free quickly, but cures relatively slowly, and outgasses solvent for quite a while. It is possible that solvents (mostly alcohols) slowly migrating from the Gunze is softening the PollyScale gloss.

It is also possible that you sprayed the Pollyscale too heavily, and over-coated too soon. This can produce the same results. PollyScale responds well to multiple, light coats. Their flats can be overcoated fairly quickly, but glosses (almost all gloss paints) require longer to become tack free, dry to touch, and to cure.

If you used an acrylic retarder, it is also possible that you used a little too much.

The cure for all of the above is time, with an assist from elevated temperature. Use the low-watt-bulb-in-a-box-or-in-front-of-a-fan trick.