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Enamels and lacquers in cold climates


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#1 Pablo

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Posted 17 December 2022 - 11:46 PM

Not sure how to word this, first time in my life I now live in a land where it's cold in winter. Acrylics are no problem, I do it in my hobby room.

 

But rattle can enamels for motor cans and lacquers for Lexan bodies are a challenge. How do I ventilate a paint space when the air temps are close to freezing?

 

Yes I know the trick of warming the cans, but that doesn't change the fact the spray hits cold air. I'm not looking to make this a habit, I just need to occasionally squirt things.

 

Thanks


Paul Wolcott





#2 Dominator

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Posted 18 December 2022 - 08:46 AM

Hey Pablo,

 

I found this one on amazon.  With a little work you could vent it outside.  if you set up close to a window you could install a piece of plywood under one of the sashes (just like a window A/C) and cut a circular hole in the wood for the vent.  Then just remove when you are not painting. 


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#3 Pablo

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Posted 18 December 2022 - 10:14 AM

Thanks Dom, that's a great idea, I'll check into it. I'd probably get one with a hose already attached to blow straight out the window.

 

I'd be curious if it's efficient enough to blow the enamel and lacquer fumes out well enough so the house doesn't smell. At all.

Also wondering if it's safe to blow flammable fumes past an electric motor? 


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#4 Bill Breck

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Posted 18 December 2022 - 10:36 AM

Model builders spray enamel and lacquer inside all the time. They typically use a spray booth like the one Dom linked to. You could also use a respirator if you're concerned about the toxicity of the paint.

 

There's plenty of videos on youtube that show how to build a spray booth if you want to go that route.

 

You might also want to investigate using water based acrylics for painting Lexan bodies. I use Createx paints with their #4011 reducer as well as craft store type paints (FolkArt, Apple Barrel) on Lexan bodies with good results.



#5 Aeropro

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Posted 18 December 2022 - 11:34 AM

For whatever it may be worth....

 

I don't know about cold weather (I'm in Florida), but for my production body painting I built a spray hood of plywood with plexiglass front and top, with a small gap at workbench level just big enough to reach my hands through. I vented it with a team of 3 small 12-volt explosion-proof marine bilge-blower fans powered with standard automotive battery chargers. Fumes were piped to a nearby window using standard pvc plumbing pipe. I would raise the window just high enough to extend the pipe out, and block the rest with towels to keep the fumes and outside weather from getting in.


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#6 Brian Czeiner

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Posted 18 December 2022 - 01:20 PM

Pablo,

 

With all due respect to Dominator, don't waste your money. I had one of those little spray booths and it was just too small. It certainly didn't exhaust the fumes out of the house the way it was advertised. To be fair, I was painting 20 plus bodies at one time so maybe for one or two items it would be ok.

 

My next experiment with venting was a smaller two fan window unit. It did noticeably better. But still stunk up the house.

 

For the building I went with a cheap 20" window fan and put an AC filter in front to catch over spray. A thicker filter (like from a home heater unit) caught more paint but moved less air. I start the fan about 10 minutes before painting to help get the airflow moving across the whole building.

 

This one is built into the wall. You may want to use some cushion foam to close up the space around your window for maximum efficiency yet still be removable. The filter is hung using a hole punch into the border and a couple of screws. Be sure to space the screws away from the rotating circumference of the blades.

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#7 Pablo

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Posted 18 December 2022 - 07:33 PM

Thanks guys for the ideas  :)


Paul Wolcott


#8 Martin

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Posted 18 December 2022 - 09:31 PM

Just a thought, don't you want to pull filtered air over your work. In the samples you show these fans pull house air, dust, pet hair, etc over your work and out the window.

 

Maybe not a problem with clear bodies but with hard bodies it may be?

 

The best plan would be to have a sealed booth with filtered air coming into the booth over the work and then pulled out the window.


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#9 Pablo

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Posted 18 December 2022 - 11:31 PM

Good point Martin.

 

I measured the temp of my garage today. House is 70 degrees/45% humidity, garage is 50 degrees with 65% humidity. In warmer weather I could just go to the garage, squirt, then run back in the house. And still a lacquered body stinks up the house.

 

In the end I may just wait for warmer weather. I see they sell acrylic rattle can paints now. But I don't think they are just acrylic - most seem to be an acrylic/enamel blend. The times they are a changing  :D

 

I'm not going to construct a paint booth for an occasional squirt on a can or a one-race body. Maybe a space heater for the garage, get it nice n toasty, go squirt, turn heater off, open garage door, rush back in the house  :laugh2:


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#10 brnursebmt

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Posted 19 December 2022 - 09:51 AM

Pablo,

 

What type of rattle can paint do you use for lexan bodies?  And where do you get it?  I have had trouble getting paint as there are no hobby stores where I live.

 

Thanks,

Bobby


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#11 Pablo

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Posted 19 December 2022 - 10:11 AM

Lacquers. I like Tamiya best. The cans say "For polycarbonate bodies". Stay away from enamels for race bodies, it takes forever to dry.

 

Here is one I recently painted for a vintage car with Fasred (Parma acrylic water-based) with airbrush in my hobby room. The best thing about acrylics, for me, is I'm able to put the waterslide decals inside

 

IMG_1807.JPG  


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#12 Pablo

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Posted 04 January 2023 - 03:07 AM

The saga continues. We had one day of dry warm low humidity weather so I Tamiya rattle canned a Lexan Betta Chappy 2D on my back deck.

Worked fine. Exterior flat black details are acrylics airbrushed inside the house

 

IMG_1897.JPG

 

I'm sure we will get more bad weather paint days. Walmart delivered a space heater for my garage. I'll test it next opportunity

 

 


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Paul Wolcott


#13 Martin

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Posted 04 January 2023 - 12:27 PM

Nice looking 2D. Where did you get those number sevens. Are they decals or stickers. Are they on the outside? They look great. :good:

 

Not sure why the Champion sponsor decal is all jacked up? :crazy:


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#14 Pablo

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Posted 04 January 2023 - 07:36 PM

Waterslide Chappy 2D decals from Professor Motor. Outside the body. The only way to do insides is with acrylics, as lacquer eats waterslides instantly.

 

Those Champion decals come that way on the card. I assume they made them like that. Maybe it's a factory defect, I don't know.

 

Noose interior

 

IMG_1902.JPG


Paul Wolcott


#15 Richie

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Posted 04 January 2023 - 09:54 PM

Fine work as usual sir!

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#16 Richie

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Posted 04 January 2023 - 09:55 PM

Bobby,

I stock up on Traxxas cans when I go to Bill's track (The Raceway) in Tennessee .... they work well.

 

Pablo,
 
What type of rattle can paint do you use for lexan bodies?  And where do you get it?  I have had trouble getting paint as there are no hobby stores where I live.
 
Thanks,
Bobby


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#17 Pablo

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Posted 04 January 2023 - 10:27 PM

:good:


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#18 Pablo

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Posted 06 January 2023 - 12:25 PM

Bought a space heater for the garage to test my "heat up the garage" theory in cold weather. Failure. It would take a very large powerful heater to bring a poorly insulated garage up to a good warm temp. The heat just dissipates; wasted electricity  :crazy:

 

I could construct a proper dedicated paint room (I'm not doing that) or just wait for warm dry weather. 

 

The heater I bought isn't wasted money. It has auto shut-off and remote control. You never know when your central unit could fail and need to keep your bedroom toasty   :D


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#19 dc-65x

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Posted 06 January 2023 - 01:02 PM

I could construct a proper dedicated paint room (I'm not doing that) or just wait for warm dry weather. 

 

I'm in the same boat Pablo. I have been successful rattle can painting enamels in cold weather by:

 

1.  Spray can heated in hot water initially and between coats

 

2.  Whatever to be painted is in the warm house under a incandescent 100W lamp

 

OK, the paint and what's to be painted are warm and happy.

 

3.  Haul butt outside and IMMEDIATELY blow on a light coat of paint (I only have to go a few steps before I can start spraying)

 

4.  Haul butt back inside and set the item under the lamp and the paint back in the hot water

 

5.  Repeat the above until you are happy.

 

Now all the argumentative theorist can say the paint will still get too cold in the split seconds it travels from the can to the item to be painted.

 

All I can say is I have done this successfully with enamels on butyrate and PET clear bodies and motor cans. I haven't tried it with lacquers on the outside of hard bodies.....yet.

 

You can test this out on a "scrapper" to see if it works for you. You are not out much if it doesn't and if it does you are back in business.


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#20 Pablo

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Posted 06 January 2023 - 01:43 PM

Thanks Rick, that's exactly the direction I'm headed. My driver Courtney has been coaching me on the hot water thing. 

 

Weather is weird science. Todays forecast, hour by hour, shows 51 degrees. But my instrument shows 73 degrees and 39% on my back deck. I thought maybe it was the direct sunlight giving a false reading. Repositioned the instrument in shade - 73 degrees. No time to ask why, I heated up the primer and shot 2 dust coats 5 minutes apart. Ran back inside and the (motor) can was dry and smooth.

 

The learning never stops!


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