Painting in hot weather?

[ERIK88]

Is it ok to paint in hot weather when humidity is low?

[cobraman]

In the summer here in Arizona those are daily conditions. What I do is to paint early in the morning like at 6 am and then let the paint "bake" in the garage. If I would try and paint say at 3 pm or so the paint seems to dry almost before it hits the plastic.

[Ace-Garageguy]

Should be fine, but it depends on a lot of factors. Paints will tend to 'flash' faster as the temperature climbs, so if you're airbrushing, a LITTLE more thinner MAY help paint flow out, depending on the material. You may also find you'll need to shoot your paint 'wetter', closer to the model and moving a little more slowly.

As always, TEST on something else BEFORE you paint your model, to make sure you know and understand how it's going to work. 65 to 80 deg. F is where I personally prefer to paint, so Ray's recommendation to do it in the morning if you live somewhere really hot is a good idea.

[High octane]

My better half went to work so I spread out a flat sheet and covered a few other items, laid down newspaper and stunk up the house. With air-conditioning and the help of a ceiling fan, the paint smell goes away in about three hours. I'll do it again tomorrow morning as I've got to clear-coat the painted body.

[vypurr59]

My better half went to work so I spread out a flat sheet and covered a few other items, laid down newspaper and stunk up the house. With air-conditioning and the help of a ceiling fan, the paint smell goes away in about three hours. I'll do it again tomorrow morning as I've got to clear-coat the painted body.

We have all at one time or another, had to work under those conditions. We won't squeal on ya. Go ahead and paint away.

[mikemodeler]

Is it ok to paint in hot weather when humidity is low?

Some great answers already given and I would just add that you will get varying results depending on where you are painting. If it is in the garage like many of us, then early morning before a lot of heat builds in there and dust is generally less helps get a better result. While I haven't tried it yet, there have been a lot good things posted and written about using food dehydrators to help speed up the drying process and that could be a help.

I would like to get one and try it myself considering it is usually pretty humid here in NC for a good part of the year and anything that helps speed up the drying process is a benefit.

[Russell C]

In the summer here in Arizona those are daily conditions.......

"Hot" being a somewhat relative term. Earlier this week when some weather was cooling things down a bit, I was thinking of putting on my long sleeve shirt. Can't say I've encountered problems with warmth & low humidity, but it is annoying to see the ol' stored bottle paint has turned into dry rocks....