Painting in Winter?

[Ian_Gsi16V]

I am hoping to paint my Monster Beetle in the next couple of weeks but have read a few things that concern me regarding Winter painting, I have painted a few lexan bodies during December / January but I've done them in the kitchen on newspaper which is easy enough as you are only spraying inside the body.

What have people done to combat the cold? I was thinking of getting a bit cardboard box and setting myself some sort of mini paint booth up in my spare room as it will be warm like the rest of the house? I don't really want to have to wait until the weather outside gets up to the mid teens  

Thoughts? 

[SNAKEBITE]

I wouldn't have thought it would be much of an issue, I'd be more concerned about overspray than the paint drying!

Just spray in the kitchen and then move the body to your spare room if you are concerned.

 

I have been painting bits over the last couple of weeks in my flat, and that's fairly cold, with no issues at all.

[Ian_Gsi16V]

1 minute ago, SNAKEBITE said:

I wouldn't have thought it would be much of an issue, I'd be more concerned about overspray than the paint drying!

Just spray in the kitchen and then move the body to your spare room if you are concerned.

 

I have been painting bits over the last couple of weeks in my flat, and that's fairly cold, with no issues at all.

Yep, overspray is the initial worry as the Monster Beetle requires painting on the inside and outside of the body. From what I have read it is the lacquer that goes a bit funny in the cold. 

No doubt i'll give it a go anyway, patience is not my strong point 

[Butler]

I need to paint this week. I assumed as long as you get the paint and shell warm first I could go outside and add a coat, then bring in to dry and repeat. I may or may not be right. 

[Percymon]

I'd be shot if i painted in the house !   The amount of overspray from an aerosol can gets everywhere.

I paint in the garage, warmed with a 2Kw fan heater - the garage never exactly gets toasty, but i warm the paint cans in hand hot water beforehand and also warm the shell in front of the heater.  Heater off when spraying but then back on for drying (ca 3feet from the shell, and then i rotate the shell 90' every 30 seconds for the first 5 minutes of drying time.  Then inside the house to cure (much to annoyance of other half - she hates paint fumes lol!).

 

I've known member here use one of those small roll front pvc green houses as a spray booth - they do have advantages, better containment of overspray than using a box,  after spraying you can close the front panel to prevent any paint mist escaping and any dirt getting in.

 

[topforcein]

I'm with you the same on that percymon I used to use the kitchen also but I ain't worth the ear bashing even though I clean the overspray.

I also tend to stand outside the back door to apply paint when I do the poly shells but for the abs shells I us my shed  have a big cardboard box set up with a rotating stand on my worksurface and us a fan heater to get it hot in there but seeing I have just ordered custom paint cans with a 2k clear coat for my merc truck shell I might wait until it gets warmer as I only have a time scale of 2.5 hours with the 2k clear coat before the can is no good to use after that.

You need to be care full as the clear coat can go cloudy at this time of year 

[Newsh]

I paint in the garage, using half a cardboard box to catch the overspray

I don't use laquer/clear when its cold though, it can sometimes go a bit funny and there's nothing worse than doing a nice paint job and then the clear coat wrecks it

[Ian_Gsi16V]

Yes, the clear coat is my worry, I will probably try and hold out I guess, even though it is a basher, I would still like to made a good job of it and cloudy clear coat can ruin a good colour coat very easily. 

Thanks for the input

 

 

[Jason1145]

What's the best way to cut wheel wells out of a hard body ABS body? Would regular lexan scissors be worth a shot?

[Ian_Gsi16V]

1 minute ago, Jason1145 said:

What's the best way to cut wheel wells out of a hard body ABS body? Would regular lexan scissors be worth a shot?

Would have thought you would need something like a Dremel. Scissors are not going to touch an ABS body. 

[Jason1145]

55 minutes ago, Ian_Gsi16V said:

Would have thought you would need something like a Dremel. Scissors are not going to touch an ABS body. 

I did buy a dremel type tool ages ago but recall it didn't cut the mustard... might dig it out to try it again and see if it can help out then.

[Terz1]

I'm in the same boat. I've got 2 shells I need to paint but can't do it over the winter. I haven't got a garage so I'm stuck really. One year I did a monster beetle shell during the winter in the spare room. Wow what a smell, it was horrendous. I'd never spray inside again. It stunk the room out and began working it's way downstairs.

Unfortunately for me I've got to wait for the warmer weather to arrive. 

[Buggyjam]

This topic is so relevant to me. Glad you asked it. I've got a lunch box and clod buster to paint. I can't paint in the house and don't have a shed/garage. So it's outside, but it's cold and damp so I'm concerned about orange peeling. First time using TS paints for me

[Gnarly Old Dog]

Whenever I use rattle cans I place them in a jug of recently boiled water first to help warm the can and therefore the paint which helps it flow.  It will also increase the pressure in the can so it has to be done EXTREMELY CAREFULLY.  But I will warm it until it's warm to touch (about 20-30seconds in the jug of water) and then hit a coat of paint lightly outdoors and then bring the shell back into the warm to help it flash off.

You do have to be very very careful though as you don't want to over pressurise the can but as you use the paint up  and the paint level drops in the can, so does the pressure and that can lead to spitting and poor spray performance.

I do prefer to use an airbrush but I would primer up with a rattle can and the TS paints are some of the best to paint with.  Clearcoat though - that's a whole different can of worms.  Not properly mastered that yet as it can gas off and react if hit too thickly.

[Biz73]

I've been keeping the paint cans I'm going to use in the house so they are already warm, then just go outside to spray the paint. Bring it inside to dry and you're set. There are fumes for a short while, but you can put it next to a window slightly cracked to let it air out quicker(don't open it too much or you let the cold in and it defeats the purpose). It's worked well for me so far. Of course, I don't have anyone to get mad at me about it, so maybe it's a worse smell than I realize

[Buggyjam]

Even with pre warming cans the way the weather is in the UK with cool air and humidity I wonder if the paint will "gloop" when it exits the can as a spray when outside. I darent try it. If anyone else tries it with TS paint outside in northern England this week let me know ha :-)

[Buggyjam]

Even with pre warming cans the way the weather is in the UK with cool air and humidity I wonder if the paint will "gloop" when it exits the can as a spray when outside. I darent try it. If anyone else tries it with TS paint outside in northern England this week let me know ha :-)

[Pumesta]

Embarrassed to say but this is how I got my Mad Bull painted a week or so ago

I was getting a bit done on my 1:1 car so it cost a whole £7 to get the shell done

[Nobbi1977]

1 hour ago, Buggyjam said:

Even with pre warming cans the way the weather is in the UK with cool air and humidity I wonder if the paint will "gloop" when it exits the can as a spray when outside. I darent try it. If anyone else tries it with TS paint outside in northern England this week let me know ha :-)

Not had an issue with this. I keep cans inside and just pop out, stick a coat on and then come back in. Repeat as needed.

Not sure air temp is a huge issue apart from when it is very hot and the solvent disappears before the paint hits the body

[Buggyjam]

2 hours ago, Nobbi1977 said:

Not had an issue with this. I keep cans inside and just pop out, stick a coat on and then come back in. Repeat as needed.

Not sure air temp is a huge issue apart from when it is very hot and the solvent disappears before the paint hits the body

On hard bodies do you clear coat then flat and polish? Got my lunchbox to do. Was thinking to clear over the stickers with Tamiya clear then flat back and polish. Never tried it.

[Newsh]

I painted the colour on my Lunchbox, using a gloss Yellow, clear coated then applied the decals. I then clear coated over the whole lot.

I did start by using the Tamiya TS yellow, but I found it very inconsistent and prone to running so I switched to Humbrol Gloss Yellow acrylic spray.

[Nobbi1977]

6 hours ago, Buggyjam said:

On hard bodies do you clear coat then flat and polish? Got my lunchbox to do. Was thinking to clear over the stickers with Tamiya clear then flat back and polish. Never tried it.

I tend to use £1 store paint on hard bodies and then flat the roof on concrete as it rolls. 

I have mainly painted clear bodies and found you can get a reasonable finish with Tamiya paint and a little prep.

[Jason1145]

1 hour ago, Nobbi1977 said:

I tend to use £1 store paint on hard bodies and then flat the roof on concrete as it rolls. 

I have mainly painted clear bodies and found you can get a reasonable finish with Tamiya paint and a little prep.

Wow I would love to find £1 paints... are those spray cans??

I'm thinking I need to buy a Halfords Plastic Primer spray can , then some more Halfords car colour spray cans... and finally finish with some Tamiya clear coat for my first ever ABS body.

There are a few tutorials on the net if that mention wet sanding is required... not sure what wet sanding is..... is it using wet sandpaper.. or wetting the plastic first as you use the sand paper??

[Ian_Gsi16V]

2 minutes ago, Jason1145 said:

Wow I would love to find £1 paints... are those spray cans??

I'm thinking I need to buy a Halfords Plastic Primer spray can , then some more Halfords car colour spray cans... and finally finish with some Tamiya clear coat for my first ever ABS body.

There are a few tutorials on the net if that mention wet sanding is required... not sure what wet sanding is..... is it using wet sandpaper.. or wetting the plastic first as you use the sand paper??

I painted my original Monster Beetle using all Halfords plastic primer / paint / lacquer and it came out great. Wet sanding is using wet and dry paper while keeping the paper and body wet (generally by dumping it in soapy water). 

My latest Beetle is being done with Halfords plastic primer but this time I have bought a custom paint online which came with free lacquer so a lot cheaper than Halfords! 

[Newsh]

5 hours ago, Jason1145 said:

Wow I would love to find £1 paints... are those spray cans??

I'm thinking I need to buy a Halfords Plastic Primer spray can , then some more Halfords car colour spray cans... and finally finish with some Tamiya clear coat for my first ever ABS body.

There are a few tutorials on the net if that mention wet sanding is required... not sure what wet sanding is..... is it using wet sandpaper.. or wetting the plastic first as you use the sand paper??

Halfords primer is a great but it does need smoothing down with some fine Wet and Dry

Halfords colours are also good but as the are designed for use on cars, sometimes the spray isn't quite as fine you need for model painting, so multiple light coats are needed.

Humbrol acrylic sprays are quite cheap, and cover well

Edited January 17, 2017 by Newsh
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