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Bring on the GoT jokes.

In all seriousness though, winter IS coming, and I just started a brand new imperial fists army. In Idaho it gets very cold, sometimes close to 0. My question is how and what do you guys do do spray paint/ varnish in the winter time. I do have a garage, but even in the summer it hasn't got good air circulation and caused a powdery effect on my models and ruined the paint job, so heating it and painting in there might be risky. The garage is away from the house, its not attached. So id also have to get a space heater. Im trying to see if you guys have better options.


Thanks.

Store your paint in the house, put your models in a box or on a surface you can easily more, step outside, spray your models, then bring them back inside immediately.

I've sprayed aerosols (flat enamel paint, acrylic gloss varnish, and matte lacquer varnish) in sub-freezing temperature a number of times with perfectly serviceable results. It's more important to keep the paints, not the ambient conditions, within an acceptable temperature range. Warm the paint thoroughly by intermittently shaking the can between soaks in hot water and you'll be able to use it in any temperature you'd consider going out in, yourself (unless you're some sort of freaky man-yeti).

Spraying closer to the model (and moving faster, to compensate for the higher paint concentration at the base of the spray cone) helps guarantee your desired results, whether working in extreme heat or cold, by giving the ambient conditions less time to affect the paint. If it's a) not frozen and b) still sufficiently dissolved in the solvent when it hits the model, the paint will settle nicely on the surface, instead of hitting it in the tiny, half-dry globules that result in the dreaded chalky look.

Also worth noting is that poor circulation isn't an issue for the spray, it's only a potential hazard for you. If you were spraying in the summer, chances are that heat, low humidity, or a combination of the two was the primary culprit (both facilitate rapid evaporation of the solvent, resulting in those damnable micro-globs that give the rough texture) in your prior mishap.

If all else fails, there's always the brush-on option - Vallejo PU primers, gesso, etc. More labor-intensive, but lets you stay inside. Airbrushing on a primer does, as well, but requires quite a bit more monetary investment (I'm assuming you don't already have an airbrush, as I imagine it would have already occurred to you as an obvious solution).

Perhaps just get the old box fan out and a common air filter, tape the air filter on the fan, set up a cardboard box spray station in front of the fan so the fan pulls the overspray through the filter. This way you'll be able to spray prime and varnish your kits in the garage.


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Still though, wear a protective filtered mask while you spray indoors.

Alternatively you can apply vallejo airbrush primer by brush and it gives fantastic results. No fuss.

 ScootyPuffJunior wrote:
Store your paint in the house, put your models in a box or on a surface you can easily more, step outside, spray your models, then bring them back inside immediately.

This^^^. Gets mighty chilly here in the Chicago area as well. I've been doing what Scooty recommends for a few decades now. Works fine.

 ScootyPuffJunior wrote:
Store your paint in the house, put your models in a box or on a surface you can easily more, step outside, spray your models, then bring them back inside immediately.

I do this whether it's 95 or 19 degrees out. It works really well.

If I'm spraying in heat I tend to spray closer and faster passes to avoid the powdery effect you're talking about. In cold I usually spray a bit further back, but still do quick passes and allow more time between passes as the paint will not dry as fast and be more susceptible to pooling.

I've never tried spraying in sub freezing temperature though... so not really sure there. I imagine as long as it's not so cold that the paint freezes in the air, it'd be the same basic rule as spraying in cold (further away and quick passes).

I live in the great white north so I have to deal with -40 C weather in the winter so it does pose a challenge for painting.

What I've been doing is spraying in my garage but its still very cold. I leave my spray cans inside and then bring the models outside and spray them one by one and bring them in right after I spray one.

With your situation you could get one of those little ceramic space heaters and use it on a bench or something just so that small area gets warm.