Painting in the snow

[Rob McKee]

Does anyone have any tips for painting when it is cooler out.

I am spraying tamiya laquer which isn't something I can't do inside. The smell is to stong and I get complaints from my significant other. I prep the body, warm the paint, and step outside to spray bringing the car back inside to dry. The gloss finish doesn't turn out the way I would like it to. It is really flat in some areas and shiney in other areas. Not shiney all over.

Has anyone else experienced this?

[John Pol]

Sometimes what I do if I paint in the cold is to warm up the body at the same time. But spray your first mist coat than go in back and forth till you have the whole body painted.

John Pol

[Rob McKee]

IT SOUNDS LIKE TO ME,............You had better get that stove installed there Rob,...lol...lol...lol...lol..

Ian

ya ya, rub it in.

I had it all, big house, nice man cave, fireplace. All gone.

[scalenut]

I've never painted in the snow , but I can write my name .

[Ben]

Hey Rob, the main thing needing to be done is to get a pan of very warm water (not boiling!) Just hot tap water. Place your spray cans in that water and pull them out every few minutes to shake them up. As long as the parts your spraying are at room temp when you go to spray, it should be fine. Spray your light coats, taking the model back in to where it's warm between coats. Under a warm lamp would be a good place to let it warm up.

[SuperStockAndy]

Hey Rob, the main thing needing to be done is to get a pan of very warm water (not boiling!) Just hot tap water. Place your spray cans in that water and pull them out every few minutes to shake them up. As long as the parts your spraying are at room temp when you go to spray, it should be fine. Spray your light coats, taking the model back in to where it's warm between coats. Under a warm lamp would be a good place to let it warm up.

^^Indeed. That method has worked for me lots of times.

[Erik Smith]

I used to have to paint outside when I lived In Montana - so, winters were cold. I used a box (one end open, like a paint booth but no fan) on the porch with an incandescent light bulb in it. I would warm the paint inside, turn the light on outside to get a little warmth in the box. Then put the body in the box and warm it with the bulb, spray, and leave it uner the warm lamp. My standards were different then I can not remember how good or bad the paint was, but it worked. It could be dangerous too, but I only exploded once. No, I never exploded, but don't say I told you to try it.

Edited January 14, 2012 by Erik Smith

[crazyjim]

Don't eat yellow snow!

[Haubenschild]

I might have to do some painting in the snow today , how much snow did you get Rob?

[Rob McKee]

Hi Liam, we only got a couple of inches but it is cool out here in Coquitlam.

Thanks guys for all of the suggestions.

So, if I have this straight I should:

1. Write my name in the snow.
   
2. Avoid eating it.
   
3. Warm the paint.
   
4. Warm the body to be painted.
   
5. Spray quickly out side.
   
6. Light coats
   
7. Bring it in as soon as possible and keep it warm.
   

I have tried steps 3 - 7 with the primer and waiting for that to set up. Once it does, I'll try the black gloss coat.

Thanks again guys!

Rob

[Tony T]

Besides not eating the yellow snow...I warm the spray can under tap water, the model is at room temperature already, then take the model and the can outside (we have a mudroom/laundry room in our house that leads to the garage and a door from the garage to the backyard) spray, then bring it inside. If the paint is smelly when drying, I leave the model in the cold garage for a while before bringing it inside. Bright colours can leave interesting overspray on the snow!

[Rob McKee]

Actually, nothing gets said by my significant other if I bring it in right away so I have been doing that.

I am going to let the primer gas out until tomorrow. Just to be safe.

[SuperStockAndy]

Don't eat yellow snow!

But sometimes...the color lies

[brett]

Rob, we quite often have that problem down under, (paint issue) not sure about the yellow snow . Once the paint is dry, a light polish removes the haze to restore a nice even glossy sheen all over, might be worth a crack. You could always practise writing your name while waiting for the paint to dry

[Rob McKee]

LOL,

Maybe later I'll try writing in the snow after a couple of brews.

This is where I need Paul's expertise here. I'm going to spray it tomorrow with the gloss black. I'll likely try to give her a buff anyway but I like to start with a shine. I would think after a buff and some clear coat would all be well but I haven't tried this before. I used to have a nice warm garage to work in and never ran into issues with the weather before. Now I am working with a cardboard box.

Did you talk to your doc about the gout?

[SuperStockAndy]

Thanks for explaining that Steve, I always have that problem in winter whenever I'm spraying only gloss black...

[Rob McKee]

Humm ,,, I seen the heading "painting in the snow" ,, then seen you'r from the Vancouver area ,,

Good one . LOL

Seriously though, the flat looking areas is called "blushing" and is caused by humidity. The change in temprature attracts the humidity to the fresh paint.

What other people said about bringing it back in as soon as it's painted will probably help.

I've also found that if you can get it in quick enough, hold it over a heat source before the paint starts to set the blush will go away. I just hold mine over a baseboard heater to remove the fogging.

Think of it in the same way as defogging your car's windshield. Your paint it fogged up but if you don't defog it before it starts to set up it stays that way. Maybe take a hair drier to it when you bring it in to make shure there's no fog on it when it starts to dry.

Yup, we have snow here today. lol

Steve, that is a great idea. I recall an old friend of mine said he would hold a hair dryer over his wet paint and I sure do remember some fine paint jobs by him. Thanks, I'll give that a try tomorrow when I paint the gloss black.

[Greg Wann]

When I was a kid, I'm now 54, I used to spraypaint model bodies in the old smokehouse. I grew up on a farm. I typically always used testors paint. I never washed a body, I never primed a body. I would just shake the can really well and go out and set the body on another paint can and paint it. I would apply decals and then clear it too. I packed all my old original models around until about 2004 and ebayed them. Most still looked pretty good for just being hauled around in their original boxes over the years. If you managed to have bought one of my old builds from Ebay seller hairyhosebib that was me. I was never a big detailer but did a good job spray painting a body for a kid. It was not long after I sold them all that I found a model club. I regret selling them now. I was more interested in building models than doing homework. I ended up graduating second in my high school class..........from the bottom! LOL Now I'm a plumber.

Edited January 15, 2012 by Greg Wann

[Rob McKee]

When I was a kid, I'm now 54, I used to spraypaint model bodies in the old smokehouse. I grew up on a farm. I typically always used testors paint. I never washed a body, I never primed a body. I would just shake the can really well and go out and set the body on another paint can and paint it. I would apply decals and then clear it too. I packed all my old original models around until about 2004 and ebayed them. Most still looked pretty good for just being hauled around in their original boxes over the years. If you managed to have bought one of my old builds from Ebay seller hairyhosebib that was me. I was never a big detailer but did a good job spray painting a body for a kid. It was not long after I sold them all that I found a model club. I regret selling them now. I was more interested in building models than doing homework. I ended up graduating second in my high school class..........from the bottom! LOL Now I'm a plumber.

It's funny you say that Greg. I would do same except it was in the basement of my parents house. I would use any spray bomb my dad had laying around to paint my models. Most of the time it would be tremclad rust paint but it seemed to work. I painted a Chevelle with Tremclad Black, no prep at all and it was super shiney. Do you think I can do that now?

It must be the humidity here in BC.

[brett]

LOL,

Maybe later I'll try writing in the snow after a couple of brews.

This is where I need Paul's expertise here. I'm going to spray it tomorrow with the gloss black. I'll likely try to give her a buff anyway but I like to start with a shine. I would think after a buff and some clear coat would all be well but I haven't tried this before. I used to have a nice warm garage to work in and never ran into issues with the weather before. Now I am working with a cardboard box.

Did you talk to your doc about the gout?

I live a couple hours south of Paul and humidity is always an isue here, so polishing the haze out is almost always a necessity . No havent seen the Doc yet,got some other stuf to carry me through till I see him. Its supposed to be nasty stuff but looks like candy compared to the side effects of what your on . Good luck with the paint

[philo426]

I use Tamiya Acrylics and Model Master Acryl so I can paint year round with no smell issues.The quality of the paint is fine and when cured for a few days can be polished out with no problems.I mix the paint if I can't find the color I want so its all good!

[Agent G]

What's "snow"?

G

[Junkman]

What's "snow"?

G

It's what you ski on.

BTT: Painting outside in winter: Don't. Unless you live on the southern hemisphere that is.

[Agent G]

The one issue I see is condensation effecting the paint. In and out of the cold will cause moisture. I think.................

BTW, I ski on a lake

Is snow similar to water?

G

[mikemodeler]

The one issue I see is condensation effecting the paint. In and out of the cold will cause moisture. I think.................

BTW, I ski on a lake

Is snow similar to water?

G

G,

1 inch of rain= 10 inches of snow. Think of that lake having a lot of melted snow in it!

Lived in Northern Illinois for 41 years, got tired of snow and cold, moved to Charlotte 7 years ago, now I use my snow shovel to scoop up leaves in the fall !

back on topic- I remember having this problem when I lived up north and short of a heated garage, the advice the guys have given about keeping everything warm is the best way to get a decent shine. I would let it gas out and dry and then polish it out to see if the blushing disappears.