16 replies to this topic

[Foxden Racing]

That time of year is almost upon us again...what are the various ways anyone uses to get through the winter months of painting? Is anything done differently thanks to the different temperatures? If sprays are used, what types of places are adequately ventilated without being exposed to the cold, damp, and/or snowy outdoors? If primers/clears are brushed on, bristle brushes or foam? For that matter...has anyone tried foam brushes for any step of the painting process?

I'd really rather not run out of paintable minis partway through the winter this year.

[Marsya]

At home in the winter I often spray in my basement in the winter with an open window. However I work in a body shop and am quite used to the fumes. If it is a piece I really want to go smoothly I'll take it to work and spray in our paint booth which is both humidity controlled and heated. But you can always heat the metal up with a blow dryer and the sealant goes on better even in the cold.

I never used foam brushes but would also be interested in how they work for primers and such.

[Jen]

I pre-prime a bunch of stuff heading in to winter so I won't run out. If a mini or two comes up over the course of the winter months that I just have to do right away, I'll use brush-on primer. For sealing, I store everything away safely until spring returns and it's OK to spray outside again.

If I absolutely must spray something over the winter, I have a booth in the basement that I use, and make sure to wear my mask. I really try to avoid that, though, because the fumes still end up in the house.

[joshuaslater]

I pre-prime a bunch of stuff heading in to winter so I won't run out. If a mini or two comes up over the course of the winter months that I just have to do right away, I'll use brush-on primer. For sealing, I store everything away safely until spring returns and it's OK to spray outside again.

If I absolutely must spray something over the winter, I have a booth in the basement that I use, and make sure to wear my mask. I really try to avoid that, though, because the fumes still end up in the house.

Me too. Prime early. Get enough squirreled away to get you through. Ant, or Grasshopper?

[Inarah]

We spray prime in our garage year round using a large empty box to catch overspray. Because our garage is under the house it never quite gets cold enough to cause a problem. Just make sure you keep the primer/gloss/dullcote in the house.

The only real 'issue' I have in winter is that the air is so dry that the paint dries that much faster as I am working on the figure. I typically have to use less paint and paint small areas more quickly than in summer when it is humid.

[captenglish]

I live in LA, so winter is ideal painting season for me, it's summer that sucks

[Bruunwald]

Here on the SF Bay Area Peninsula, there are many days during the winter months where primer dries awfully slowly, and sometimes can gunk up, or pool. But we do have a lot more better days than people in a lot of other areas. So it is possible to get a few things primed the old fashioned way. Spray sealer is what you want to be careful with, because when it's cold here, it's very moist, and matte sealers will gloss up from the moisture.

The real issue is having to cast anything (plaster, resin, whatever). Between November and about April (sometimes early May, depending on whether it's a cold, wet year or not), you can expect any casting you do, in whatever medium, to take anywhere from twice as long as normal to cure, to pretty much hours and hours.

I will only clean a mini outside, so I just tough it out on the porch, where it's covered. But for priming and sealing, for the most part I do as I do when I am on the road in a motel, selling stuff at conventions. I prime with Gesso, and I seal with Vallejo's brush-on matte varnish.

[Doug Sundseth]

I just trust to the fact that it takes time for metal to cool when I take it outside. (And it doesn't get down below 0 all that often here.) I haven't had much problem at 40F.

[Baphomet69]

I live in LA, so winter is ideal painting season for me, it's summer that sucks

Ditto. I can finally spray matte sealer again without frosting everything...

[ClauseRose]

I am not the best to be asking about sprayong on the winter, since I do it down in the basement and then wonder why I feel light-headed later in the day. Also, I tend to change my colour palatte in the winter from reds and browns to deep blues and violets.

[Qwyksilver]

We have a walk out basement, so I just open the basement doors and spray in the stairwell and wear a respirator. The roof and external door provides protection from the elements. There's enough heat in the basement that the cold isn't an issue, even with the doors being opened.

But I also use brush on.

Edited by Qwyksilver, 06 November 2011 - 03:31 PM.

[Foxden Racing]

On the advice of many northerners here, I took it last night and bit the bullet with the various minis I've assembled over the past two weeks. Even at one figure a week, I've got enough to last me into the new year. 9 minis primed in one sitting, leaving with me a decent pile.

1 to touch up and clear: a modified Brock Battlebow [turned into a rifleman]

1 on the wall of shame: a mostly-finished Chain Fighter that may be dipped, or if I can figure out how 'unpaint' a few specific sections.

10 primed: 4 CAVs [Nightshade, Mantis, Jaguar, Sabretooth], 3 Battlemechs [O-bakemono, Buccaneer, Legacy], and 3 Reapers [Charon w/o boat, Gossamer, and an evil-looking knight with a dragon-wing shield].

2 Flashed/Assembled: Charon's boat, and a Mad Dog battlemech. Both waiting for glue to cure, as one of Charon's lanterns came undone while washing and the 'mech was freshly assembled.

At least 4 with blisters so old the glue gave up, and should be flashed/assembled/primed/painted before parts go missing.

[Qwyksilver]

1 on the wall of shame: a mostly-finished Chain Fighter that may be dipped, or if I can figure out how 'unpaint' a few specific sections.

Depending on how thick you lay on the paint, you should be able to easily paint over the current areas with either a brush on primer, or start with a new layer of undercoat and work back up to something you like. Spot stripping can be hazardous to the rest of the paint job if it's something you want to keep.

[Foxden Racing]

That's why I'm looking at dipping/spot-stripping...I've painted over some of the sections so many times it's lost its detail. I've tried no less than 5 skin tones, still don't like it, and now the hands are more like oven mitts. Sucks, too...they're the best eyes I've ever done (they're no Anne, but neither am I), which is why spot-stripping is attractive.

Thankfully I don't have much to lose...it never made it past basecoats and picking out details [such as belts and buckles]. I'm still learning to wash and glaze, none of which I'm trying on this figure; too small. It'll be simple even when it's completely finished.

If I had it to do over, I'd swap the colors [put the bright blue as primary and dark green as secondary] for the armor, but they're by no means bad as-is...the only thing I'd get rid of is the bright gold trim pieces. I can always use that scheme for a different figure, and have plenty it'd look good on.

[Qwyksilver]

Buy another copy of the guy you like. Keep this piece as inspiration for the parts you like, examples of what not to do for the parts you don't. Paint up the new one in your updated style/skill set and then keep the two as a comparison so you can track your progress as a painter. Maybe even pick up a couple copies and do one every so often as you grow in painting to act as a timeline.