Light bulb for paint drying?

[Bullitt]

I do my modeling in the basement, & find that the paint takes a long time to dry. I have an electric heater in my room along with a dehumidifier, the room is approx 12' x 30', with the assorted basement junk & clutter along with my modeling desk. I have built a paint booth from 3/8" plywood, 18" high x 24" deep, with only the front open, 2 led lights in it & a fan at the back for exhaust. I am thinking of putting a light fixture in the ceiling of the paint booth, with maybe a 40 or 60 watt light bulb. After painting I would turn the light on to help dry the paint. Any ideas or suggestions on this idea?

[wayne swayze]

From personal experience,  I would say DON'T do it!  Be patient and let your paint dry naturally.  Ihad a set up much like yours, and the heat from the bulb could melt the styrene!

[Bullitt]

Thanks

[Toner283]

Check out threads on here explaining about dehydrators. I finally broke down and bought one a couple of years ago and wish I had bought it 20 years ago. Mine is one of the powered ones with a fan and a heater in it but you can also get ones that do not use any electricity at all. Just make sure if you get one you also get a small thermometer to put inside of it to keep an eye on the temperature. If it gets too hot it WILL melt the styrene. 

[fseva]

I do my modeling in the basement, & find that the paint takes a long time to dry. I have an electric heater in my room along with a dehumidifier, the room is approx 12' x 30', with the assorted basement junk & clutter along with my modeling desk. I have built a paint booth from 3/8" plywood, 18" high x 24" deep, with only the front open, 2 led lights in it & a fan at the back for exhaust. I am thinking of putting a light fixture in the ceiling of the paint booth, with maybe a 40 or 60 watt light bulb. After painting I would turn the light on to help dry the paint. Any ideas or suggestions on this idea?

I hear ya! I decided to spend the money and get a food dehydrator. It takes room air, filters it, warms it up (I'm using it set at 115 degrees right now) and then circulates that air down and out of the unit. My unit has several shelves that needed to be modified in order to get the height needed for models. The FD has been a godsend, and I use lacquer a lot, which dries pretty fast...  but I love how I can come back after a couple of hours and start working with my model again.

[Toner283]

Check this thread out. Lots of great info. 

Mine is a Nesco American Harvest with the temp control. Frank may run his at 115° but I keep mine at 105°. 115° is a little too close to the warpy droopy temperature for styrene for my comfort. I have a $7 walmart digital thermometer that I leave inside my unit.

[Art Anderson]

Incandescent light bulbs throw out an awful lot of infrared heat, which can (and WILL)  warm up some areas of a paint job more than others, particularly with multicolor paint jobs.  I learned that lesson way back in the spring of 1970, in my dorm room at college, when I had diligently masked and painted the black & white checkered paint scheme for a Bardahl sponsored 1968 Gurney Eagle (MPC kit).  I put two study lamps on it, about 18" away, in open air--turned them on, came back about an hour later, only to find that several of the black checkers had softened, and warped irreparably.

 

Food dehydrators won't do what those 75W light bulbs did.

Art

[JohnU]

I built a down draft paint booth that uses the same filter as my furnace 1 x 16 x 25 inches. The working area above is about 20 - 25 inches and the front is slightly slanted so I can lay a piece of plexiglass over the front without it falling off. I mounted a ceramic light fixture to a small piece of wood that can easily be removed from my booth when I'm painting. To dry paint I use a 100 watt lightbulb. The fixture is mounted as high as I can get it in the booth on the back wall so it's not too close to my parts. Using an outdoor liquid thermometer inside the booth with the light and closed with the plexiglass, the temperature only gets to 97 degrees. To be sure, I tested the heated space with a junker body and it survived no melting after sitting over night. May have got lucky because it works great for drying enamal piant in about 2 to 3 days! But then, I use Donn Yosts paint method too!? Lately it been getting more difficult to get 100 watt bulbs may try 75's instead

[High octane]

Since I don't "crank out" one model build a week, I'm in no hurry for paint to dry and I always have other projects I can work on. Yes I let my bodies, chassis, parts, etc. "air-dry" and it works for me. I don't have to spend money on a dehydrator or find a place to put it either. I guess my model building is rather simplified, but it works for me.

[peteski]

One word: dehydrator. 

Get a food dehydrator with temperature control or one which does not go over 120 deg. F.  Once you start using one you will wonder how you ever got by without one.

[Bullitt]

I purchased a food dehydrater on Friday, has to go back. It has about 7 racks but none high enough to hold a body let alone parts. Looks like it was just meant to hold strips of food. Back on the hunt for a different one.

[High octane]

I purchased a food dehydrater on Friday, has to go back. It has about 7 racks but none high enough to hold a body let alone parts. Looks like it was just meant to hold strips of food. Back on the hunt for a different one.

I think that some of the guys omit using all of the racks, or cut the bottoms of some racks so they can get a car body in there.

[TedD]

I only recently started building plastic model cars as a hobby. One of my first purchases was the dehydrator for paint drying purposes..

I order this one from Amazon - http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B008H2OENC?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o07_s00 in addition to the extra trays- http://www.amazon.com/Presto-06306-Electric-Dehydrator-Dehydrating/dp/B008HPVOAU/ref=pd_bxgy_79_img_3?ie=UTF8&refRID=10KHY1A2F4611E5QQMBF

Once you trim out the bottoms of the trays, you have plenty of clearance. I also added the thermometer to the top and it maintains a temp of 105 perfectly.

 

 

 

[crazyjim]

I lined a cardboard box with tin foil.  After shooting 2 part urethane clear, the parts go in the box and I turn on 2 60 watt bulbs for about an hour.  That procedure seems to get the clear to lay down very nicely.

[JTalmage]

I have actually had paint peel off masking tape before after trying to cure it with heat/light. Peeled an entire fender of flames off. 

[Toner283]

I purchased a food dehydrater on Friday, has to go back. It has about 7 racks but none high enough to hold a body let alone parts. Looks like it was just meant to hold strips of food. Back on the hunt for a different one.

They are meant to hold food. You need to cut the centers out of all of the racks except the lowest one. I bought 4 extra trays for my nesco to make it high enough to hold a body on a holder. Any one you buy will need modified for paint drying. I can't stress this enough, put a thermometer in the dehydrator with the model. Much above 105° and you risk this: http://www.modelcarsmag.com/forums/topic/107741-what-not-to-do/

The first time I ran mine I ran it with nothing but the thermometer for a couple of hours so I could fiddle with the temperature to get it in the sweet spot without risking a body.

[Bullitt]

Much appreciated.