Problem with non-drying paint
Posted: Thu Mar 31, 2016 11:34 am
Having a bit of a problem with some paintwork, and would appreciate thoughts on where I am going wrong.
I have a completed Johnson Bogie Tank ready to receive its black livery, together with a D&S 6 wheel fish van in same state of completion which I am now using as a guinea pig so far as application of paint is concerned. The problem can be seen in the attached picture of the fish van: the coat of supposedly dull black enamel applied to the underframe has partly failed to dry 18 to 24 hours after being applied by airbrush. Note that in some areas, however, the paint has dried to a full matt finish. Judging by the manufacturer’s dab of paint on the tin lid, the finish may, indeed, be too matt. Precision drew a distinction between a dull finish and a matt finish.
The fish van has been primed with Phoenix Precision 2-part etch primer which has been allowed to dry for about 36 hours prior to application of the black to the underframe. The black is Precision Paints Dull Black B52. It is, admittedly, quite an elderly tin, but has been throroughly mixed with an electrically powered paddle and appears to have suffered no deterioration through age. For airbrushing, it was mixed with white spirit thinners to the consistency of milk before application with the result illustrated.
I suspected that I might have obtained a dry, fully matt finish on part of the fish van’s underframe by airbrushing at a distance at which the paint mist is almost dry as it hits the target surface. However, my second shot attached shows a scrap test piece of unprimed brass where the paint was airbrushed on at distances of 6” and 1” (as marked). In both cases the finish is fully matt rather than dull, and when sprayed at 1” was visibly wet as it hit. This suggests to me that the distance from which I was airbrushing was not affecting the finish.
I can live with a uniformly matt rather than dull finish, but a paint coat that doesn’t dry fully is a disaster, and has led to the Bogie Tank having to be stripped back to bare metal once already. I really don’t want to have to do that again, so would be grateful for views on how to avoid a repeat of this. Ditch the tin of Dull Black? Or is it possible that this is a problem of the paint reacting with the etch primer? Or was the 36 hour drying/etching allowance for the primer not enough?
I have a completed Johnson Bogie Tank ready to receive its black livery, together with a D&S 6 wheel fish van in same state of completion which I am now using as a guinea pig so far as application of paint is concerned. The problem can be seen in the attached picture of the fish van: the coat of supposedly dull black enamel applied to the underframe has partly failed to dry 18 to 24 hours after being applied by airbrush. Note that in some areas, however, the paint has dried to a full matt finish. Judging by the manufacturer’s dab of paint on the tin lid, the finish may, indeed, be too matt. Precision drew a distinction between a dull finish and a matt finish.
The fish van has been primed with Phoenix Precision 2-part etch primer which has been allowed to dry for about 36 hours prior to application of the black to the underframe. The black is Precision Paints Dull Black B52. It is, admittedly, quite an elderly tin, but has been throroughly mixed with an electrically powered paddle and appears to have suffered no deterioration through age. For airbrushing, it was mixed with white spirit thinners to the consistency of milk before application with the result illustrated.
I suspected that I might have obtained a dry, fully matt finish on part of the fish van’s underframe by airbrushing at a distance at which the paint mist is almost dry as it hits the target surface. However, my second shot attached shows a scrap test piece of unprimed brass where the paint was airbrushed on at distances of 6” and 1” (as marked). In both cases the finish is fully matt rather than dull, and when sprayed at 1” was visibly wet as it hit. This suggests to me that the distance from which I was airbrushing was not affecting the finish.
I can live with a uniformly matt rather than dull finish, but a paint coat that doesn’t dry fully is a disaster, and has led to the Bogie Tank having to be stripped back to bare metal once already. I really don’t want to have to do that again, so would be grateful for views on how to avoid a repeat of this. Ditch the tin of Dull Black? Or is it possible that this is a problem of the paint reacting with the etch primer? Or was the 36 hour drying/etching allowance for the primer not enough?