Priming disaster

[Doug Sundseth]

If you're careful, you can bake miniatures to help primer to dry fully. 30 minutes at 200-250 degrees F should do it. (Note that the relative humidity drops as the temperature rises for a given water/air mix. The air in a warm oven is relatively much drier than the same air at ambient temperature.)

 

Caveats:

• Preheat the oven; prolonged periods with the heating filaments energized (as when the oven is coming up to operating temp) can cause localized temperatures much higher than the nominal oven temperature.
  
• Make sure the paint is mostly dry before you stick the figure in the oven; if you boil the solvent away rapidly, it will damage the coat badly.
  
• Let the figure cool slowly; rapid cooling can cause different problems with the surface (crazing, wrinkling).
  
• Be careful when you get the figures out of the oven.
  
• It's probably wise to hold the figures on a cookie sheet that is not used for cooking.
  

[drjsallison]

If you're careful, you can bake miniatures to help primer to dry fully. 30 minutes at 200-250 degrees F should do it. (Note that the relative humidity drops as the temperature rises for a given water/air mix. The air in a warm oven is relatively much drier than the same air at ambient temperature.)

 

Caveats:

• Preheat the oven; prolonged periods with the heating filaments energized (as when the oven is coming up to operating temp) can cause localized temperatures much higher than the nominal oven temperature.
  
• Make sure the paint is mostly dry before you stick the figure in the oven; if you boil the solvent away rapidly, it will damage the coat badly.
  
• Let the figure cool slowly; rapid cooling can cause different problems with the surface (crazing, wrinkling).
  
• Be careful when you get the figures out of the oven.
  
• It's probably wise to hold the figures on a cookie sheet that is not used for cooking.
  

 

 

I strongly suggest care in using this technique. Most metal minis, especially Reaper are made of a tin alloy (90-96% typically). The melting point of tin is 449 degrees and some alloys can lower that point to as low as 394 degrees. The "cure point" tends to be around 250 degrees for most of these alloys. In a 250 degree oven, it can be possible to distort the details on the mini if the metal has lost its cure. On the other hand, I have used this type of dry curing method on tin before to ensure a smooth phosphorus coat before electoless copper coating. 200 degrees should be theoretically safe, though.

[Whizard Hlavaz]

So Darin, do you actually paint after priming? Or do you just prime these days?

 

 

Oh, I've been painting some minis these days. I just haven't shown YOU yet...

 

That is to say... I haven't taken any pics.

[pae]

Speaking of which, did you get the e-mail I sent you with evidence that I've painted recently?

[Kang]

...Let me clarify.

 

I generally spray each "face" of the mini to create a complete "coat". So the front straight-on, shake, shake, shake, the left side, shake, shake, shake, the rear... the right side... the top. This is a coat for me. It's important to note that each pass is light. No pools. Try to avoid a "wet" sheen. Just spritz each side to complete a coat. I then let this sit and dry... maybe five minutes in the summer sun, maybe an hour under a light in the winter. Then i begin again, but this time from an angle from below... front... shake... side... shake... etc. Again... five minutes in the summer sun... Finally, I do a "touch up" or two...

Thanks for the clarifications! Do you ever wait for the primer to dry between spraying faces in a given coat, so as to avoid wet-on-wet grit issues where the spray from adjacent faces overlaps? I take it you haven't found it to be an issue, though I'm not 100% clear on why that would be different than waiting for it to dry between coats. Maybe I'm just splitting hairs here... I do tend to obsess over minutiae (a common trait in this hobby, I'd guess).

 

Thanks again,

 

Kang

[eastman]

Speaking of which, did you get the e-mail I sent you with evidence that I've painted recently?

 

Someone took pictures of you painting at ReaperCon?

 

 

[Whizard Hlavaz]

Speaking of which, did you get the e-mail I sent you with evidence that I've painted recently?

 

I did. I've been meaning to get back to you. But I'm pretty bad about answering e-mail. Doing too much priming.

[Whizard Hlavaz]

Thanks for the clarifications! Do you ever wait for the primer to dry between spraying faces in a given coat, so as to avoid wet-on-wet grit issues where the spray from adjacent faces overlaps? I take it you haven't found it to be an issue, though I'm not 100% clear on why that would be different than waiting for it to dry between coats. Maybe I'm just splitting hairs here... I do tend to obsess over minutiae (a common trait in this hobby, I'd guess).

 

Obsessing over the minutiae is the name of the game.

 

OK... The short answer is "No. I never wait for the primer to dry between spraying faces of a mini during a coat." But it wouldn't hurt if you were to wait, especially if humidity is high. Again... time is your friend.

 

All that said, I guess I can't offer a satisfactory answer as to why overlapping when spraying adjacent faces is different than waiting for the primer to dry between coats. I would guess it's because my coats are very light... almost a misting... and I try not to allow a wet sheen to develop. But that's a guess. It could be because the first face hasn't begun to set and gas out yet, too. Each face is sprayed relatively quickly and none have begun to dry. Again... a guess. The real answer could be I'm lucky... I've done it enough over the years to know how to avoid the grits.... conditions have always been right.... I don't know. I really can't offer a satisfactory answer, Kang. Sorry. It just works. But I'll say it again... Time is your riend. If you're nervous or have high humidity... just take your time until you have a better feel for the whole process.

 

Good luck.

 

-Darin.

[psyberwolfe1]

I thought I would add that the rubberized sanding blocks that manicurists and carpenters use for fine sanding are great for knocking orange peel/ powdery primer down. Mind you I do this on my table top stuff and not on my competiotion stuff. Also I have moved to pushing MSP primers through an airbrush and it works great.