Into the oven it goes?!

[moparmadness]

Good afternoon folks. This may be a dumb question but I’m just going to throw it out there. It has been ridiculously humid and wet in the Dallas/Fort Worth area for the past two or three weeks. I have four kits in the queue for painting and weathering. However, my acrylics are taking forever to dry. I’m talking days. Even then the paint is soft and still has a sweet odor. I’ve read as acrylics cure, the sweet odor goes away. Would plastic withstand a few minutes in a 125° oven? I can only use acrylics, and I need a good dry heat to fully cure what I’ve painted thus far.

[Tojo72]

Are you keeping them in the humid environment or do you have them in your air conditioned living space,if they are,it doesn't matter what's going o/s it should be between 45-50% humidiy in your a/c space which is dry enough.

[moparmadness]

My wife is cold blooded so we keep the A/C off most of the time in the spring. I’m sure that has a lot to do with it.

[jeaton01]

Seems like a dehumidifier with a little heat would be the best.  Does such a thing exist?  Way back when I was in A&P school we did our dope work in a room that was both humidity and temperature controlled.

[reserve]

You can make a drying box, perhaps 24"x24"x24". Line it with foil and put a 60 watt incandecent bulb or two in the top. Put the model(s) in, turn on the light(s) and leave it overnight and this should make a big difference. Just don't get the model(s) too close to the bulb(s)

[tcoat]

Take a far braver soul than I to put a model in an oven or heated box. The margin for error is just too small for my liking. I have heard of good results from inexpensive food dehydrators but I have never had a need.

[eaglecash867]

I have been using a small Oster toaster oven a lot lately for baking painted model parts. I usually set it just under 150 degrees and leave the parts in it for a few hours. It even makes Testors enamels hard as a rock in a matter of hours. I went from a wet coat of Testors square bottle gloss black to being able to polish with Novus in just 2 days, and the car hood I painted with it looked beautiful. Just to be safe, each time I want to use it, I plug it in and turn it on without anything in it but its little metal tray. Then I give it about 20 minutes to heat everything up and then grab the metal tray that's in there. If I can hold onto the tray without discomfort, then the oven is safe. I just use the general rule of thumb for handling plastics: If it's too hot for your hands, then it's too hot for the plastic

This is the one I use. Got one of my own for modeling after I saw our structures guy at work using this model of toaster oven for curing paint on small parts for 1:1 aircraft cockpits. He said it was the only toaster oven he knew of that could be adjusted low enough for that purpose. Works like a champ. Even recently put my entire Boss 351 Mustang car body in there...decals and all...to cure the Testors paint on the rear valance.

www.amazon.com/Oster-Toaster-Slice-Black-TSSTTVVG01/dp/B00451B7TI/ref=sr_1_10?crid=ZOH8I9236IV3&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.sXkrrI1dGkllFzTJbtZJ65NMHPTlXFy_VU750yg0CSTIJoK6yU55sHJEyV3iFuz562dOpvjXfJkLO8IDoitpWpZKM_GnUbqYWLSNvZmGS2ayJZ09jW8y2HFDyOy1TDYG9N753SnZPac5uB5vb366PnjxGuhPjDA7efITcIHdgiuwuDYIngv_kPrL9DiO4oh0uMDrJjdrX8hG2X4T4axWQSSol-PY4i0ggme3mrBP0AE.42Drk-JLVNUIgJvbADNW9hEceejnhNVmBcg57c_NgRc&dib_tag=se&keywords=oster%2Btoaster%2Boven&qid=1715599281&sprefix=oster%2Btoaster%2Boven%2Caps%2C115&sr=8-10&th=1

[moparmadness]

Thank you everyone for the advice!

[brandonk]

I always place painted parts, regardless of paint type, in my dehydrator for a few hours. It takes what would take days or longer down to a few hours to fully cure. It's well worth the minor investment for something that will shorten the curing time so much.

This is the one I use. You can find them on sale frequently for south of $100. www.amazon.com/Ivation-Premium-Electric-Dehydrator-Machine/dp/B072JZLPBC/ref=sr_1_52?crid=YCS71LS5YLN7&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.b6LGSX8e-xOgUJ-sSHlSFsQCRfSv1b-LGWS66eP0ZcOxooDDb1ufGExEaJiKmfgCa8hxIQhFpUVwKz0wuIllYQu-olZLVB9m8RIpX0jV2FWXLqG-GdM08yZQimf76jocEcSugYpLkJ9rLZhZEeDpYG-hoBTmUrlOYoKzM2mpTnu2GIOjKnbg6n8XDQBJlNUl.yY2af9GS6z0-O99QakjQ9JqwgKY1EDvgF3axiibHb-c&dib_tag=se&keywords=food%2Bdehydrator&qid=1715609149&sprefix=dyhydrator%2Caps%2C174&sr=8-52&th=1