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.

Good tidings to thee, Dakka.
My friend and I were talking about painting the other day when we started to think about how our climate effects our paints. We live in Colorado which is 5,000 feet above sea level and very dry year round. Temperatures in the summer regularly hit 100 degrees and -10 during the winter, and over the last few years we have primed models outside (under the cover of our eaves) in all sorts of weather ranging from blizzards and hail to windstorms and heatwaves but we noticed that no matter what, spray-on primer would dry completely in under 15 seconds and that while painting inside whatever we mixed on a palette would dry within minutes, even when we began thinning our paints with water around a year ago.

I suppose my question is, what is priming / painting like at lower altitudes, more humid climates, or more temperate ones? This is purely for curiosity's sake, and I appreciate any input!
Game on!
Meatwave

I live in Oregon, elevation around 50 feet. I have seen high humidity cause primers/sealers to get hazy. On hotter dry days I have to watch the over spray. The paint drys mid air giving the model a gritty texture. I generally only prime on nice days and avoid the humidity. Many very thin layers seems to work well.

Well, here in York, UK, we are only 10-15m above sea level. It's normally about 13-18 degrees on a sunny day, and in the winter it's normally about -5ish degrees. The lowest recorded temperature in the county is -19 degrees...

We also have a low pollution rate, but a high pollen rate (but that probably doesn't even matter )

When priming my models, it will normally take anywhere between 10 minutes and 40 mins. Paint on my pallet can last only 15 mins, but it can also go on for hours without drying

Do yourself a favor, Meatwave, and whip up a wet palette (can buy them, but they're so darned easy and cheap to make, yourself). Will keep your paints workable much longer, without having to bother with drying retarder (which can, of course, still be used in conjunction).

As for your sprays drying so quickly, I would imagine that's a combined product of the altitude and low humidity. Low air pressure lowers boiling points, leading the solvent to off-gas faster than usual. Dry air has no trouble sucking up what is trying to evaporate, so it leaves and the paint dries quickly. It won't be fully cured so soon, but definitely lose its wet sheen and potentially be safe to carefully handle.

I had problems with paint drying on the palette (before my wet palette switch, I mean), living in relatively temperate and not-too-high areas of NJ and NY. Unless you're painting in a rainforest, I think that's pretty universal. The degree will vary, somewhat, from place to place and weather to weather, but acrylic paints are designed to dry relatively quickly. Modern climate control also comes into play, as indoor humidity generally drops when either heating or air conditioning is on.

Hard to say exactly how my sprays are affected, as I've yet to have an aerosol spray job go bad. I also tend to leave the models until they've finished off-gassing, to avoid trailing the stink around, so I'm not sure exactly how long they generally take to be dry to the touch. Since I tend not to try and spray in the worst of weather (gauged more by humidity than temperature, as the temp of the can matters more than the air), spray distance, dry time, etc. are more likely to be affected by the specific product I'm using than the weather.

That said, I tend to spray somewhat closer than recommended, moving very quickly to avoid overloading the model. This gives the ambient conditions less time to affect the atomized spray, e.g. avoiding the chalkiness caused by partially cured droplets clumping on the surface when spraying in hot/dry conditions.

Thanks for the responses, guys! I was talking about your responses with my friend last night and when I told him how long it took progreen10's primer / paint to dry, the jealousy was palpable!

@Oadie - I am looking into making a wet palette now, thank you for the advice as I didn't even know those existed.