Story and Photos by George Riley
While today’s hobby shop shelves are filled with finely detailed ready to run models that look amazing straight out of the box, there are still plenty of modelers who use detail parts, paints, and decals to make their own custom models.Detailing, finishing, and painting models is still an important and fulfilling segment of the hobby.
Regardless of the type used, paint consists of three basic components including pigment, a carrier medium that hardens and dries, and a solvent. Most pigments consist of a finely ground substance which determines the final hue of the paint. The medium is determined by the category of paint. It can have an oil like linseed or petroleum that is used for solvent-based enamels, while modern lacquers use a cellulose or resin base. Acrylic paints use a synthetic acrylic resin medium with latex-based products having a water-soluble resin.
Solvents for each category of paint range from mineral spirits to acetone, alcohol to water. Solvent-type paints like enamels, lacquers, and latex paints “dry” by their solvent evaporating, allowing their medium to harden and dry. Epoxy and true acrylic-based paints rely on a chemical reaction to set and harden. This explains why many early model railroad acrylic paints frequently dried up in their jars before being used.
For every paint type, controlling the temperature and humidity is crucial for the proper setting (drying) and curing of the coating. Nearly all categories require a minimum temperature of 50°F (10°C) and a low relative humidity. Since model railroading is by and large an indoor activity, maintaining the minimum temperature is not as great an issue as is lowering the humidity. Raising the temperature is the main way a modeler can lower the relative humidity in the painting area.
The Micro-Make Doctor DryBooth cabinet allows its user to easily accomplish this, thereby reducing the drying time of all paint types. The 10 ½” wide by 13 ¾” high by 7 ½” deep enameled metal cabinet will accommodate nearly every scale from HO on down and subassemblies of O and S scale models…
