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Hi guys, I am returning to the hobby after an absence of many years and am looking to take my painting to a semi-professional level.

I could really use your advice on drying times, namely-

1. What is your typical drying time after applying a 1-1 citadel base/water coat?
2. Do you use any special method to determine if the coat is dry?
3. How do Lahmian Medium and Vallejo Airbrush Thinner affect drying times vs the equivalent amount of water?
4. Is there anything I can do to speed up drying times without risking the paint drying unevenly?
5. Slightly different area but does the cleanliness of your palette matter, ie. is it best not to mix on top of old dried coats of paint?
6. Any reason I would want to slow drying by using a retarder other than for wet blending?

Many thanks for your help guys.

Some of the paint jobs on display in this forum are absolutely jaw dropping and hugely inspiring. Also the emoticons are the most badass EVER!

1. What is your typical drying time after applying a 1-1 citadel base/water coat?
Drying time depends on a lot of factors, such as humidity in the air, the thickness of the coat etc... Acrylics usually only take a few minutes (or just seconds) to dry though, thicker watery coats and washes might take a lot longer if the paint has pooled somewhere.

2. Do you use any special method to determine if the coat is dry?
If something looks dry, but I'm worried it might not be 100%, then I will sometimes blast it with a hairdryer to make sure (careful doing this to resin though as it will go floppy)

3. How do Lahmian Medium and Vallejo Airbrush Thinner affect drying times vs the equivalent amount of water?
I'm not sure about Lahmain Medium, Airbrush Thinner should evaporate faster than water though.

4. Is there anything I can do to speed up drying times without risking the paint drying unevenly?
Leave in warm dry place (low humidity), finish off with hair dryer.

5. Slightly different area but does the cleanliness of your palette matter, ie. is it best not to mix on top of old dried coats of paint?
Yes and no. Old layers of paint on the palette are unlikely to interfere with fresh paint, but if you leave your palette out, it will start to collect dust and lint and other debris, which you don't want in your paint. Probably best to keep it clean.

6. Any reason I would want to slow drying by using a retarder other than for wet blending?
Yes. For fine detail work, you would be using small brushes and very small amounts of paint. Because the amounts are so small the paint can dry on the brush in just a few seconds. You obviously want to prevent this as it makes the paint hard to transfer, puts you under time pressure, and ruins your brushes. There might be some other reasons (possibly working with a leveling agent) but fine detail would be a big one.

 Smacks wrote:
1. What is your typical drying time after applying a 1-1 citadel base/water coat?
6. Any reason I would want to slow drying by using a retarder other than for wet blending?
[color=orange]Yes. For fine detail work, you would be using small brushes and very small amounts of paint. Because the amounts are so small the paint can dry on the brush in just a few seconds. You obviously want to prevent this as it makes the paint hard to transfer, puts you under time pressure, and ruins your brushes. There might be some other reasons (possibly working with a leveling agent) but fine detail would be a big one.

Do you have any product suggestions for retarder? I've been running into this issue and am in the same getting the rust off phase as the OP and never thought to try this...

I use Liquitex Acrylic Mediums Slow-Dri Fluid Retarder. Matte Medium also has drying retarder in it. Does the same thing that Lahmain Medium.

Yea i use Liquitex matte medium already, maybe ive just been borking the ratios.

 FearPeteySodes wrote:
Do you have any product suggestions for retarder? I've been running into this issue and am in the same getting the rust off phase as the OP and never thought to try this...

I don't think it matters too much, some are more gel like and need to be watered down. I personally use the Winsor & Newton Galeria: Fluid Retarder. Winsor & Newton have a whole line of effects mediums in the same range, such as gloss, iridescent etc... which can be fun to play with, and they are quite affordable.

One product I would suggest getting would be a glaze medium. Glaze mediums make layer blending very easy, and even wet blending is easier if you blend into a clear glaze, rather than a wet colour. It can also be useful for softening the edges of highlights and toning now colours to reduce your palette. I find it especially useful when highlighting reds, as it means you can highlight with white instead of yellow. White is brighter and usually covers better than yellow, but it makes reds look pink. However, with the glaze medium, you can just go over the top with orange and you're back to a nice fiery red with yellow/orange highlights, and without all the pain of trying to wet-blend yellows.

Thanks ill check it out!

Really great answers, Smacks!

Just to add -- if you aren't using a drying retarder, GW and Vallejo paints, even mixed with water or Lahmian medium, dry really quickly after applied, unless you gob it on thick. If I'm layering, as soon as it looks dry (seconds), I'm good to go for another layer.

 Smacks wrote:
1. What is your typical drying time after applying a 1-1 citadel base/water coat?
Drying time depends on a lot of factors, such as humidity in the air, the thickness of the coat etc... Acrylics usually only take a few minutes (or just seconds) to dry though, thicker watery coats and washes might take a lot longer if the paint has pooled somewhere.

2. Do you use any special method to determine if the coat is dry?
If something looks dry, but I'm worried it might not be 100%, then I will sometimes blast it with a hairdryer to make sure (careful doing this to resin though as it will go floppy)

3. How do Lahmian Medium and Vallejo Airbrush Thinner affect drying times vs the equivalent amount of water?
I'm not sure about Lahmain Medium, Airbrush Thinner should evaporate faster than water though.

4. Is there anything I can do to speed up drying times without risking the paint drying unevenly?
Leave in warm dry place (low humidity), finish off with hair dryer.

5. Slightly different area but does the cleanliness of your palette matter, ie. is it best not to mix on top of old dried coats of paint?
Yes and no. Old layers of paint on the palette are unlikely to interfere with fresh paint, but if you leave your palette out, it will start to collect dust and lint and other debris, which you don't want in your paint. Probably best to keep it clean.

6. Any reason I would want to slow drying by using a retarder other than for wet blending?
Yes. For fine detail work, you would be using small brushes and very small amounts of paint. Because the amounts are so small the paint can dry on the brush in just a few seconds. You obviously want to prevent this as it makes the paint hard to transfer, puts you under time pressure, and ruins your brushes. There might be some other reasons (possibly working with a leveling agent) but fine detail would be a big one.

Thankyou so much for your awesome answers Smacks. You've helped me out enormously.

Sorry to trouble you but is there any chance you could answer a couple more I have please?

1. What are your drying times typically like for varnishes? I have read to allow paint to cure for 24 hours before applying the first coat.
2. Would three coats of gloss varnish be sufficient for minis that are frequently handled -potentially roughly- by children?
3. Do you ever make use of flow improver? It sounds like it could possibly be used instead of retarder for the detail highlights scenario you mentioned.
4. Is using a hairdryer to quickly dry your minis potentially detrimental?
5. How many coats of primer do you typically apply and do you allow it to dry for 24 hours?
6. Does the type of plastic or metal you're painting on affect drying times and how thickly you apply paint?

Thanks again for your help.

Minimachine wrote:
Thankyou so much for your awesome answers Smacks. You've helped me out enormously.

Sorry to trouble you but is there any chance you could answer a couple more I have please?

Of course, you are very welcome, and I'm happy to help

1. What are your drying times typically like for varnishes? I have read to allow paint to cure for 24 hours before applying the first coat.
Yeah, generally speaking, you want avoid covering a wet layer with something that is going to trap the moisture inside and prevent it from drying out. This is more of an issue when working with oil paints. I have painted acrylic straight over wet oil (when I was young and reckless haha), it causes the top layer to crack. I have never had that kind of problem covering acrylics. I can think of lots of times when I certainly didn't wait 24 hours, and nothing bad happened, and I use gloss varnish a lot during painting to provide a smooth layer for things like washes and decals. I think if you want to be on the extra safe side, it certainly wouldn't hurt to wait 24 hours. There are so many different types of vanishes and a lot are intended for varnishing canvas paintings (which probably would take 24+ hours to dry fully). I would suggest following the instructions on the side of whatever one you pick up.

2. Would three coats of gloss varnish be sufficient for minis that are frequently handled -potentially roughly- by children?
Heh, yeah for plastic that sounds like plenty, though the cool thing about varnish is that it doesn't really obscure detail, so you can do as may layers as you like. You can also cover gloss varnish with a matte finish if you don't want your stuff looking all shiny. I have my own mixture of 5:1 matte/gloss varnish that I use for finishing stuff. It leaves a nice satin effect. Metal minis will tend to chip more if they are dropped or roughed about, just because of the weight.

3. Do you ever make use of flow improver? It sounds like it could possibly be used instead of retarder for the detail highlights scenario you mentioned.
Flow improver is primarily to break the surface tension. People use it for making washes, and airbrushing, and it's supposed to make the paint do something special... I personally don't find it very useful, but lots of people like it.

4. Is using a hairdryer to quickly dry your minis potentially detrimental?
If the paint is still runny it will blow it around and leave streaks. I usually just use it on a warm setting before applying the next layer (and only if the previous layer is very wet and slow drying). I've noticed that if I am doing very thin layer-blending with lots of water. layers can look dry but they aren't, and when I add another layer of water, it starts to wipe the previous layer off, which is really annoying. I don't think the hairdryer does any harm, and it helps to blow away any dust or lint before applying the next layer. Obviously, you should be careful not to get the miniature too hot (especially with resin). The idea is just to dry the paint out a bit faster, not cook it.

5. How many coats of primer do you typically apply and do you allow it to dry for 24 hours?
I always try to use fewer layers of paint where possible, so as not to obscure detail. On plastic I don't use primer at all, unless I happen to have a primer in the colour I'm basing with. Paint adheres quite well to plastic without it (so long as the miniature has been washed). I feel it's just an unnecessary layer. On metal I use one layer of primer, just to give the other paints something to grip. I wouldn't normally wait 24 hours (it would take all week to get anything done). Just wait long enough for the paint to dry.

6. Does the type of plastic or metal you're painting on affect drying times and how thickly you apply paint?
No, it shouldn't do. Sometimes miniatures have grease and mold-release left on them from the manufacturing process, so it's important to make sure that gets washed off with warm soapy water before you start painting, as that will prevent paint going on in thin layers.

1. What is your typical drying time after applying a 1-1 citadel base/water coat? As quick as i can get the hairdryer
2. Do you use any special method to determine if the coat is dry? track the wet area as it evaporates while using the hairdryer
3. How do Lahmian Medium and Vallejo Airbrush Thinner affect drying times vs the equivalent amount of water? it doesn't for me.
4. Is there anything I can do to speed up drying times without risking the paint drying unevenly? paint evenly in the first place uneven drying wont be a big issue unless it pooled somewhere.
5. Slightly different area but does the cleanliness of your palette matter, ie. is it best not to mix on top of old dried coats of paint? dont paint in a dusty place or there will be dust in your paint and stuff. keep it clean. also watchout for metalic paint particals getting into other stuff. (i have had my washs go sparkly because i put it into a pallet that had some metalics in it before hand.
6. Any reason I would want to slow drying by using a retarder other than for wet blending? not that i can think of. edit: Derp smacks has it right.

 Smacks wrote:


6. Any reason I would want to slow drying by using a retarder other than for wet blending?
Yes. For fine detail work, you would be using small brushes and very small amounts of paint. Because the amounts are so small the paint can dry on the brush in just a few seconds. You obviously want to prevent this as it makes the paint hard to transfer, puts you under time pressure, and ruins your brushes. There might be some other reasons (possibly working with a leveling agent) but fine detail would be a big one.

Why have I never thought of this!!!

Great idea, I always have this problem when I do eyes. Then I get my paint so watery its annoying.

 Smacks wrote:

Minimachine wrote:
Thankyou so much for your awesome answers Smacks. You've helped me out enormously.

Sorry to trouble you but is there any chance you could answer a couple more I have please?

Of course, you are very welcome, and I'm happy to help

1. What are your drying times typically like for varnishes? I have read to allow paint to cure for 24 hours before applying the first coat.
Yeah, generally speaking, you want avoid covering a wet layer with something that is going to trap the moisture inside and prevent it from drying out. This is more of an issue when working with oil paints. I have painted acrylic straight over wet oil (when I was young and reckless haha), it causes the top layer to crack. I have never had that kind of problem covering acrylics. I can think of lots of times when I certainly didn't wait 24 hours, and nothing bad happened, and I use gloss varnish a lot during painting to provide a smooth layer for things like washes and decals. I think if you want to be on the extra safe side, it certainly wouldn't hurt to wait 24 hours. There are so many different types of vanishes and a lot are intended for varnishing canvas paintings (which probably would take 24+ hours to dry fully). I would suggest following the instructions on the side of whatever one you pick up.

2. Would three coats of gloss varnish be sufficient for minis that are frequently handled -potentially roughly- by children?
Heh, yeah for plastic that sounds like plenty, though the cool thing about varnish is that it doesn't really obscure detail, so you can do as may layers as you like. You can also cover gloss varnish with a matte finish if you don't want your stuff looking all shiny. I have my own mixture of 5:1 matte/gloss varnish that I use for finishing stuff. It leaves a nice satin effect. Metal minis will tend to chip more if they are dropped or roughed about, just because of the weight.

3. Do you ever make use of flow improver? It sounds like it could possibly be used instead of retarder for the detail highlights scenario you mentioned.
Flow improver is primarily to break the surface tension. People use it for making washes, and airbrushing, and it's supposed to make the paint do something special... I personally don't find it very useful, but lots of people like it.

4. Is using a hairdryer to quickly dry your minis potentially detrimental?
If the paint is still runny it will blow it around and leave streaks. I usually just use it on a warm setting before applying the next layer (and only if the previous layer is very wet and slow drying). I've noticed that if I am doing very thin layer-blending with lots of water. layers can look dry but they aren't, and when I add another layer of water, it starts to wipe the previous layer off, which is really annoying. I don't think the hairdryer does any harm, and it helps to blow away any dust or lint before applying the next layer. Obviously, you should be careful not to get the miniature too hot (especially with resin). The idea is just to dry the paint out a bit faster, not cook it.

5. How many coats of primer do you typically apply and do you allow it to dry for 24 hours?
I always try to use fewer layers of paint where possible, so as not to obscure detail. On plastic I don't use primer at all, unless I happen to have a primer in the colour I'm basing with. Paint adheres quite well to plastic without it (so long as the miniature has been washed). I feel it's just an unnecessary layer. On metal I use one layer of primer, just to give the other paints something to grip. I wouldn't normally wait 24 hours (it would take all week to get anything done). Just wait long enough for the paint to dry.

6. Does the type of plastic or metal you're painting on affect drying times and how thickly you apply paint?
No, it shouldn't do. Sometimes miniatures have grease and mold-release left on them from the manufacturing process, so it's important to make sure that gets washed off with warm soapy water before you start painting, as that will prevent paint going on in thin layers.

Thankyou so much Smacks, you answered my questions perfectly!

1. What are your drying times typically like for varnishes? I have read to allow paint to cure for 24 hours before applying the first coat.

Lots of good info here, but I wanted to add something very important on this one - YOU MUST let the paint dry well before applying a varnish - or you will get what is commonly known as "frosting" - where it turns white and with speckles. I would always suggest at least 24 hours before applying a coat of varnish, and almost as much between coats of varnish.

best of luck!

Probably in some cases that frosting will happen that way.

But i find that frosting happens when its just humid