Dry Time

One more question about Tamiya Acrylics and then I think I'm happy...
How long will it take a good coat (like 3 thin coats) of paint or clear to dry in a dehydrator? There is a fair in one week and I am laying down clear coat tomorrow; I hope to put the model in the fair but need the paint to dry in less than a week so I can polish and do final assembly. Please advise.

Alex

Then give it as long as you can.

I like to leave clearcoat a week before messing with it, but I've certainly polished Tamiya acrylic clear in less time with good results.

Avoid touching the clearcoat as much as possible when polishing- if it's still soft it can take fingerprints. :uhoh:

Thanks, you've been very helpful.

Alex

Well thanks again for all the help. I applied the clear coat using the various pointers given to me and it went on VERY well. I still need to polish but I think I can go 6000 > Fine > Finish; there is no orange peel whatsoever. I won't be able to finish in time for the fair due to time constraints and yesterday's oral surgery, but I will still be able to wrap up this Firebird model before I leave for college. I will be sure to post my progress and finished pics! Those of you who have been following the WIP, I'll be putting up a big post on Saturday, if all goes as planned. Thanks again!

Alex

Happy to help! Glad to hear it went well for you.

For polishing it, consider skipping the 6000 and use a coarse polishing compound (like Tamiya course) instead. If you don't have surface texture to deal with, coarse compound won't scratch the surface like micromesh. It's really nice to be able to shine the surface without worrying about fine scratch haze removal. Even when running micromesh polishing all the way through 12000, often the inital scratches never are really fully removed.

Looking forward to seeing pics.