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So I am stuck here at Ft Knox and the humidity has been ilranging from 75-95% over the last week. I have a few models that I need to seal but I don't want them frosting over.

What's the highest humidity I should spray seal at? If it helps I'm using army painters matt varnish.

If you bring them inside immediately after spraying (do a test model, it's been a while since I've had to deal with humidity), you shouldn't have any problems. This is assuming that indoors is air conditioned (which removes a fair amount of humidity). It won't smell nice indoor drying, but it won't be exposed to the humidity which can cloud up the finish.

An alternative would be to get brush on matte, or invest in an airbrush. Working with acrylic airbrush mediums has far fewer smelly chemicals.

Also, check your weather forecasts. Looks like tomorrow(60%) and Thursday(52%) are better for you. Would be best to wait till then and go at it.

Is this the reason for clouding? I suffer with is terrible, its a 50-50 chance i take, i've had it happen indoors and out. made me not want to use purity seal.

Ive had good results and bad results, its a shame as it can ruin models.

with the army painters matte varnish just use short sprays up close. usually humidity isnt really a problem with TAP.

Thanks for the replys everyone. I'll try a test base today after work (don't have a random model at the moment, strange as that really is).

personally I never varnish above 40. I prefer 35 or lower. I use wunderground.com and I then put in my town and click on hourly report/forecast to track the humidity level within a 4 window. really helps. vanish is a tricky bastard. I live out in California and wrote to a local weatherman, this is what he had to say (keep in mind he was writing for central California):



You will experience the lowest humidity during the hottest part of the afternoon.



Dew point temperature is the temperature an air mass needs to cool in order to reach saturation. In an average weather pattern, the daily diurnal cycle of temperatures means you will find the highest humidity in the morning when the temperature and dew point temperature are nearly the same with the opposite true in the afternoon.



Another aspect to consider is which way is the wind blowing. When the sea breeze (on shore wind) reaches your city, whether it is day or night, the humidity will be higher. Our driest days tend to fall in September and October when we experience more land breezes (off shore wind). A land breeze can occur any time of the year. The fall is exceptionally dry as the ground and vegetation are now parched from a lack of rain for the last 4 to 6 moths. This is also when we experience our greatest wild fire threat.



From the conditions you require, the best time to spray would be in the morning before 10 during a land breeze event.

leroy233 wrote:Is this the reason for clouding? I suffer with is terrible, its a 50-50 chance i take, i've had it happen indoors and out. made me not want to use purity seal.

Ive had good results and bad results, its a shame as it can ruin models.

It doesn't ruin models. Spray them again with gloss varnish and it eats off the cloudy varnish.

I just spray outside and bring inside to an air conditioned room immediately. It's worked every time.

I just use Testors after having this happen with Army Painter. The AP stuff seems to be more susceptable to wheater condintions. Best bet would be to do as Xenobond says, bring them inside right away.

OK fingers crossed I just checked and it is 33% humidity outside, just hit them with the spray varnish and brought them inside to dry..... Will see here soon of it worked.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
So the models are drying and there is no sign of frosting. I'll post some pics tomorrow. Thanks for your help and advise everyone.