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Drying paint/wash


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So we've all experienced paint drying too quickly on the model when it's warm and dry weather, or with central heating etc.

When it's humid though, there are times when we wish paint would dry faster.

Just wondering if there are any tips to how best to achieve this, without risk to the paint quality or even the model.

For example, hair dryers, special heat tools used in watercolour craft, heat lamps. All seem like a quick way to dry paint, but beyond the obvious such as avoiding melting your finecast or blowing pigment into unwanted places; does applying direct heat do anything bad to the paint like change its texture? Are there any unwanted marks left behind?

Just wondering what the best methods are.

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I've tried "quick-drying" washes with various methods - warm air, under a lamp, etc - and none worked as intended. Washes has tendency to dry up with ugly "watermarks", where some of the wash is thicker than other places, and what should be a nice gradient between colours tends to dry up into ugly stains, etc. I've given up on the fast dry methods, and just let them air dry. It looks much better, and I can always work on something else while they dry. 

 

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You have to be careful fast drying stuff, but one of the many things an airbrush is useful for is supplying a consistent jet of controllable air to quick dry shades. In fact I like doing that for heavy washes because it stops them pooling. You just have to run the airbrush at a pressure low enough to avoid breaking the surface tension of the wash.

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Key thing I've found with a hairdryer is that you want it on a low blow at a distance - if you can see it rippling the wash then you're too close or have it on too high a setting.  It will slightly change how it dries too, so you may get a heavier wash coverage on the outer areas of the wash pool

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