Painting Question

modlvr wrote:

Airbrushing with acrylics.   How log should I wait between coats of paint?   Thanks

 

Call me a risk taker but I don't wait. According to what I've read acryls dry quickly. If I want to recoat I just do it, no wait. Lastnight (and tonight) I painted a plane yellow (). Yellow don't cover to well so by the time I got to the other side of the kit I just started over again at the beginning. And so it goes. I actually started the job with enamels but didn't get very far when my ab clogged and I discovered the paint was bad. Long story short I switched to Tamiya XF-4 and went to it, right over the freshly sprayed enamel. I had no problems.

It's normal for me to paint over another color with no wait time actually. I do it a lot and have not had any problems. However, I would not try that with gloss paints.

 

I tend to thin my (Tamiya) paints somewhat more than what's considered "normal", preferring to paint base coats in multiple layers to get the required colour depth. This means my individual paint layers tend to be very thin.

I will often lay down a layer and then just use air through the airbrush to "surface dry" the paint (which happens in seconds) to gauge whether it's enough. If I need more paint, I'll apply more. When I do this, I consider it a single coat overall because if the very short timeframe.

When it comes to additional colours, particularly if masking is involved, I'll let it cure fully (at least 8 hours) before starting to work on the next colour.

Though acrylics appear to "surface dry" very quickly, they are actually quite fragile until fully hardened.

A lot depends on what exactly are you going to do. 

If you brush thin layers, you can start a layer of the next color right after the first layer get dry a bit - say, in 15 minutes. Obviously, you can't, say, put masking tape on a paint after only 15 minutes. It will simply lift the paint.

Mind you, I also do not recommend painting the second layer after 15 minutes. You can do it, but do you really need it? :)

I usually let acrylics to cure overnight before I'm starting painting different color, using masking tape, or after a thick layer of paint. However, theoretically, you can wait for 2 hours, if you don't mind a higher risk of lifting the paint and paing being less durable then as with proper curing.

In a perfect world, to achieve complete dryness, acrylic paints need at least 24 hours.

So, depending on what is more important to you, in my experience, variant are: 15 minutes - no masking, 2 hours - risky, 4+ hours - standard, 24+ hours - proper full dryness.

Experiment. :) Some people take shortcuts with their work; some don't. I do. :)

I was thinking different colors.

 

Thanks

Depends on exactly what you mean between coats. Are you applying the same color over again or are you talking about a different color. I suggest waiting several hours in either case. Acrylics seem to take longer to out gas (cure) than do properly thinned lacquers or enamels. Patience is key to a first class paint job, never rush the most crucial step.