Quicker way to cure Tamiya X22 Acrylic Clear?

[mickbench]

Does anyone know of any fancy tricks to speed up the drying time for Tamiya X22 Acrylic clear? Other then using a food dehydrator, as I don’t own one. I sprayed my ducati cowlings many coats of X22 clear last night to protect the decals, and I got some dusk specks in the final wet coats.

Talking of which, every time I use X22 acrylic clear, it takes something like 6 – 7 coats to get it to shine up. The X22 always seems to go VERY dull over the decals until you get to around the 5 – 6th coats. I don’t know what causes this.

I use X22, as I’m far too scared to use anything else. But it takes like a month to fully cure off. I was “hoping” to get away with not having to polish, as sometimes you can get away with it, but I’ve got to level the dust out. So I’ll have to rub it with Tamiya compound, and I really would like to see if anyone has learnt a cool trick to get this cured faster, so as I can level it out quicker. I’ve used X22 on 4 models now and I’ve always waited 4 weeks before I polish it out if needed.

I’ve got it sat near a patio window at the moment, baking in the “little” sun where I am has. Also, I always apply X22 with a little electric heater running, to try and take out any moisture, as I’ve noticed without this, it clouds. Obviously humidity problems… If I’ve got heat and the parts a warmer I get no clouding. Odd stuff X22, but it’s safer on decals, the only reason I tolerate the stuff.

Thanks for any help you can all give.

[bvia]

Sorry, nope. The only acrylic gloss coat that I use is Future. It cures in minutes.

[ZoomZoomMX-5]

There are no "tricks" other than to cure the paint in a warmer/drier environment than room temperature.

The reason a dehydrator works is because for every 10 degree increase in temperature over ambient temperature, the drying time is cut in half.

So if you use a dehydrator that is 110 degrees vs. a room temperature of 70 degrees, instead of 4 weeks to cure it takes 42 hours.

That's the main reason that a dehydrator has been one of my most-used tools in the past 13 years. I cannot live without it! I would be back in the dark ages of modeling if I couldn't speed up the process of drying primer, paint, putty, decals.

So anything you can do to put the part in a warmer/drier environment will help a lot. People have been known to use a kitchen oven-the lightbulb inside is sufficient to make a good dehydrator if nobody turns the actual oven on. People have also been known to put a cardboard box over a small lamp to make a nice warm/safe enclosure to speed-dry a model.

Also the comment above about Future is true. It sprays like thinned-down X22; I like to reduce it via the dehydrator before spraying so it's not as thin; it's a bit difficult to spray it in really thin coats to avoid runs (but they tend to shrink down by about 90% as they dry). But it dries incredibly fast. Polishes well but do not wetsand it. Also Gunze B-501 acrylic gloss paint from a spray can is incredible stuff, it sprays very nicely and dries very fast and glossy, polishes up very well. They're both very safe clears that won't react with underlying paint and decals.

[MPWR]

4 Weeks??!! Man, you're patient. I leave mine about a week before polishing it.

I'm currently X22ing a build now, so I can go into my prefered tecnique in some detail. I cut it with plenty of Tamiya thinner- for X22, I find it makes all the difference. It sprays much better, and I think it helps the clear to dry a bit faster and harder. I'm using it thinned close to 1:1- rather wet. I apply first a mist coat to the whole body, and then I start in with light thin wet coats- spray it on just until the surface looks wet, no more, move on to paint another panel. Sprayed this thin, it tends to be self leveling, so I don't get any orange peel. As long as you're careful to avoid runs you're fine. It will show a shine after the first wet coat. I put on 2-3 wet coats at once, wich is about the capacity of my airbrush's color cup. Then, let it sit. After an hour or two, I look it over and sand out any dust with the rough end of a polishing stick. It scratches up the finish in the effected area, but the scratches disappear with the next wet coat. Then, more clear, repeat as necessary. I often use a whole large bottle on a body if the decals are thick.

Let it cure for a week on a shelf somewhere safe, than polish. Polishing X22 for me is sanding it with 4000 micromesh, and buffing it out with McGuire's (not how it's spelled, I know) ScratchX. I like to wear photographer's lab gloves to avoid fingerprints.

That's pretty much it!

[ZoomZoomMX-5]

I have a question for X22 users. How durable is it after it's cured?

I've had models painted (via airbrush) with old/original Testors acrylic (Boyd's, which was discontinued shortly after it arrived), and Gunze bottle acrylics, and the paint is very susceptible to damage if it comes in contact with anything over time-say storing it in a box, or wrapping it in something. Very susceptible to moisture damage as well. It can and will happen even on paintjobs that are years old. I cannot trust Gunze bottle clear for that reason alone, and it seemed to be very much like X22 clear.

This problem hasn't occured w/either Future or Gunze B-501 from a spray can. I shied away from Tamiya acrylics after some of them cracked on me (and that happened from their first batch sent to the US in the 80's before it was reformulated). So is Tamiya X22 now as durable as lacquer/urethane after it's dry?

[mickbench]

MPWR, yep I like to ensure my clear is rock hard before I polish it out… LOL

No really, I actually thin it down to almost water. 2:1 bordering on 1:1 for me as well. I tend to empty the full bottle of X22 into a mixing jar, and fill the empty bottle up with X20A thinner, and then mix them both together in the same mixing jar. I apply about 3 – 4 mists before I start to work up to the wetter coats. 6 – 7 coats of X22 I find with my thinned down versions is like only a few wet coats of say X18. It’s pretty thin, reasons I think it doesn’t shine so well until you get to the 5 – 6th coats.

It does however cover smoothly. You tend to get “some” texture, and I use Tamiya compound, and it cuts pretty fast, and smoothes out without using any micromesh. In fact, I agree do not sand it, as it cannot take it, you burn through. The good thing is though, dust cuts right out with compound, so I never worry too much about getting dust in my final coat, as like I’ve got now.

I’ve got it sat in the sun, shame it’s actually raining at the moment. I’ve looked into future, but it’s too thin. I’ll perhaps learn the methods to use it, but I do like X22, it’s just a shame it takes so long to cure. I don’t think I can get a dehydrator in the UK, I’ve not seen any. But then again, I don’t tend to look at kitchen appliances all too often.

As to how durable the stuff is. I’ve had a Honda RA271 cleared with X22 for 7 months now, it hasn’t gone yellow and it did actually eventually go pretty hard. My Cobra was cleared with X22 as well. In fact when decals are concerned, it’s my clear of choice. I’ve not had any cracking; I do find as it dries, it does take on a texture though. Sometimes it isn’t too bad, but other times it does need a cutback with compound.

X22 is also cheap, and a 10ml bottle when thinned 2:1 or thinner can actually do 8 coats on a full 1/24 body, and then have half left. Very economical paint, consider a 100ml TS13 can just about cover the same surface in less coats.

[cfcrules]

I've read about people putting them tupperware containers and then putting them in the airing cupboard but I don't have one so I couldn't tell you. For polishing if I'm using clear laquer then I'll leave it about 2 to 3 days and its rock hard, I've given up on the Tamiya stuff it always bubbles for me.