Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you: No adverts like this in the forums anymore. Times and dates in your local timezone. Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance. Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely. Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net. If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

How long do you folks let your brushed on paint dry before painting on top of it? Both second coat to even out the color, and building up highlights?

Trying to get as much crammed into this weekend as I can but don't want to get sloppy...

I can't estimate, because I jump around between models.

I usually assembly line my guys. 10 at a time, get 1 color out and do them all. Get another color out, start back at model #1, and do it again. Lather. rinse, repeat. By the time I cycle once, the models I'm about to pick up again are dry.

If you're in a hurry and assembly line doesn't tickle your fancy, head down to the local dollar store and grab the cheapest hair dryer there (or steal your moms/gfs/wifes), and use that to help speed up the process. Take into consideration that you're putting heat on plastic though, so don't hold it so long that you start melting your guys. Keep moving the air flow around, seems to go even faster still.

I usually wait atleast 15 min.

Thanks for the replies! I'm doing 30-60 minutes right now, so hopefully that should work out.

Generally you should keep your coats of paint thin, which keeps it from getting clumpy and ugly. This also means it dries faster, so if you have problems with paint drying try using thinner coats.

I'm using (thinned) "base" and "layer" (GW) paints, it doesn't take much time. I say 10 mns tops. Shades takes a longer time to dry completely. Even if it looks dry, I give it at least 15-20 mns. I learnt it the hard way.

P.S: The wait time is only a big problem when you are focusing on one model, like a HQ or test model.

If you do models in batches of 3-5, you can finish a layer on one guy, move to the next in the line, and the first will be dry when it's time to do the next color. Makes finishing squads a little faster to do them that way.

Once it looks dry (loses the glossy, wet look and is a uniform color), I consider it safe to paint over. Gentle brushwork with more acrylics isn't particularly rough on the underlying layers, so you needn't wait until they really start to cure. Better to be safe than sorry, of course, but 30 minutes is more than you'll likely ever need, let alone a full hour. The solvent in most acrylics is plain old water, so apparent wetness or dryness is all you really need concern yourself with. More is going on during curing, chemically, than meets the eye, but it's of no practical concern if you just want to add another layer.

for Primers you should wait at least 24 hours.

For regular acrylics, waiting until the last layer's no longer wet is sufficient...in most cases this is a matter of less than a minute if the paint is thinned well enough.

When you're just putting on layers of paints for detail work, etc. there's no real need to wait for 15+ minutes. primers are bonding on a chemical level with the model....acrylics don't work in the same way. The drying process for acrylics is really just a matter of waiting for the moisture agent (in this case water) to leave once it is painted onto the model. No need to wait for it to form a chemical bond. (And I'm not sure that it ever would anyway)

Short reply:you won't hurt your models by painting another layer over them after just a minute or two.

Hairdryer FTW!

Agreed with BrotherVord. Unless you're really slopping it on there, it's dried in a couple of minutes. This is also why I say never paint with the pot open. It will make the paint a lot thicker and annoying to deal with.

Until it doesn't look wet anymore, and if your not sure if it's wet or dry than its wet