Does testors, not the master series, take a while to cure? Mine still is tacky at 12hours. It’s been humid where I live as well. Would that have something to do with it? I also think it’s a little thick. Can it be thinned out some? Does anyone have a recipe they can share? It hasn’t covered up any detail on the model but I’m afraid it might. thanks
Depends on whether it is gloss or flat. The flats usually dry in an hour or so. The gloss sometimes takes a couple of days, and is very weather dependent. After years of struggling with the long drying time of Testors gloss enamels, I have built myself a drying chamber. Now twelve hours is the longest I have waited, sometimes good in 6 hours.
Can you mix testors paints? I got a grey that is too grey. Can I lighten it up like I can with acrylics but just adding some white to it?
Yes, they’ll mix fine.
I’m sure that you know this already, but just in case, dont mix acrylics and enamels.
In all honesty, I would give enamels a good 5 days minimum. It’s really worth it in particular if you are going to mask it. Just find something else to do. Often I’ll paint a bunch of models at once. Say you have cockpit green or tire black in your air brush. Go though all your unbuilt kits and spray the parts on the sprues. Even though you may well later paint them again or touch up the points of attachment with a brush. it’s a good way to be efficient with paint and clean up.
Stripping and repainting is really the seventh circle. And touch up repairs are really hard.
Sure, mixing paint works well. Usually you want to darken a mixture, not lighten it.
I’d start with a little white and add your gray to it. Otherwise you may end up adding a lot of white and get a cup of paint before you are happy with the results.
Yes, you can thin Testors paints if they are too thick. Generic hardware store paint thinner works just fine with their enamels. Thickness will affect drying time, as will temperature and humidity. Especially with Gloss Enamels. One other point that will come into play- how well the paint is mixed. Stir them thoroughly to insure proper mix between pigment and carrier, and you will reduce drying time.
Yeah, what pretty much every once else said; I’m assuming you’re talking about a gloss color and, yes, they do take a while to “cure”. The Testors website FAQ section even says “Enamels require 48-72 hours for a full cure. To avoid possible wrinkling, recoat withing 3 hours or after 48 hours.” I usually give gloss coats a good week to cure before I try to repaint or mask them.
uhhgg…Testors is turning into a real pain the in keester. I was going to hit my model with dull coat anyways so I’ll mover over to flats.
thanks for the input.
I’ve also noticed that testors is rather thick. Is there a brand that’s thinner and spreads more evenly?
To be honest with you all I’m using testors cause it’s what I thought it was a paint specially designed for plastic models. What’s to stop me from going back to my old acrylics I used for metal minis?