"Anyone Use A Nail UV Lamp To Accelerate Drying Time Of Paint" Topic

I've been thinking of picking up a nail uv lamp like the ones listed here link

My time to paint is now restricted to a few hours a week (4 tops) and I like to use oils and enamels for weathering a lot. I just want to speed up the dry time, as I only concentrate on two subjects at a time, one afv/gun and a stand of infantry. Want to be able to continue on an afv with all the weathering and not worry about waiting about a week before I can do another step.

Does anyone use one of these? Pros? Cons? Any info on what to look for would be appreciated also.

I've used a small heat gun or hair dryer in the past. Seemed to work quite well.

I don't think you understand what the nail UV lamps are for and how nail varnish differs from paint.

UV light will only work if the paint contains a monomer that polymerises during drying and is of a type that will absorb uv light and the absorption of uv speeds the polymerisation and the uv light doesn't affect the pigments in the paint.

Model paint is not like the gel polishes used in modern nail varnishes that contain methacrylate. The latter does not dry until it is cured under an ultraviolet or ultraviolet LED lamp. Paints dry by evaporation of the solvent involved be it water, oil or spirit.

UV light is not a replacement for heat drying. You run a real risk of zapping your paint pigments and initiating colour changes that otherwise would take years to appear.

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Martin Stephenson
The Waving Flag | Twitter | eBay

Vexilia is correct. UV light is liable to cause chemical changes in some pigments and I would avoid it.
Also UV does not heat things. Infrared might.

Vexillia and Winston, thanks for the info. Did not know that and thank goodness I asked before spending money on it. I'll look into a heat gun instead of a hair dryer (the constant noise would just bother me).

Once again thanks for the info.

I paint using a daylight bulb and magnifier gadget I have noticed the heat from the light decreases the drying times on Acrylics so heat will probably help a lot.

Back in the day I used to use a desk lamp to bake brush-on Polly-S sealer onto the minis. Was it any better than spray coats? Maybe, but its hard to tell if the baking or just being carefully applied and slightly goopy sealer was the difference.

I use a large plastic cake container which has two clip on clasps for a tight fit and a carrying handle on top.

I drilled (3/8 Bit) holes at an angle (to avoid dust) around the top for air flow and I lined the bottom with aluminum foil.

The figures are placed inside and dry much faster than if left 'outside'.

Another alternative is to use a light box: 100.watt bulb fixture mounted on the top inside of a simple wooden box.

If you paint bigger batches of stuff the first coat is dry before you start the second. This was one batch painted, a few hours a day, over the period of a week:

In the short term your painting will seem to slow. Over the medium to long term the product will increase. That's how you paint quite large collections in the least time. This lot (my Punic Wars collection) took me just over two years:

It might be worth a thought.

Good point: I tend to paint (similar figures) in large batches too-but-one also has to have the room for it.

Figs I paint only using acrylics and the dry time is basically negligible. Its the AFV and guns that I use oils and enamels to do all my weathering with. It's this dry time that would not be dry in the small time I have to paint. I'll be going with the suggestion to create a box or even use a desk lamp.

Thanks everyone for your suggestions and insight into the folly of purchasing a UV lamp.

Most acrylics dry too fast for me to worry about this, but I may want to hurry a thick coat of something or a heavy wash or a varnish. Or an enamel coat.

In these cases . . .

On a warm dry sunny day, I put the figures on a metal baking sheet in the sun. The air temperature and dryness plus warmth radiating from the metal baking sheet work together to speed drying.

At all other times I put the model under my spray hood and turn on the fan. This increases air flow over the figure which is what you want. No heat necessary. Things under the hood definitely dry faster. (What, you thought I got the spray hood just for airbrushing?)

You could simulate this by pointing a fan directly at the figures but you could potentially blow dust onto them or if the paint is very wet and the fan pushes enough air, you might distort the paint layer in the leading face of the model. It might work well to point the fan just above the figures, but I haven't tried it. Or to place in a bathroom with the exhaust fan on.

For oil-/solvent-based paints, I put them into a $20 USD (Wal-Mart) slow-cooker/crock pot, on low (170 F), for 30 minutes. After that, they are fully cured, and ready for a matte clear coat (I use The Dip, so the matte clear coat is the next step, and then they are ready for the tabletop). Cheers!

30 minutes in a crock pot on low cures the Dip? I may have to invest in a cheap crock pot. My wife would put me in the slow cooker if I use the one we have now…