green stuff drying time, when can I paint?

[TKNY]

I\'m doing some green stuff for the first time, I\'m wondering at what point can I start priming/painting? Does the chemical reaction need to breath? Thanks!!

 

[Wren]

I\'m far from an expert on this, but I think you can paint whenever you\'d like, though you risk marking the GS if it\'s still pretty soft. The curing is based on a reaction between the two parts of the GS, I don\'t think it needs oxygen or anything at all. I\'ve primed and painted GS as early as four hours after mixing it. Heat does affect the reaction, and it\'ll cure faster if you put it under a hot lamp (you can even make an \'oven\' by putting a lamp over a coffee can). This can melt plastic mini parts, so you might not want to try to speed things up if you\'ve got plastic parts. If you keep your house on the cool side it might slow down the curing a bit.

 

[freakinacage]

yeah wren is right iirc. i\'d leave it a little bit so you don\'t deform it, put it on a radiator for an hour or so

 

[Dragonsreach]

You are probably safest allowing a full 24 hours to see if there\'s any damage to the GS before Priming/Painting.
That way if there is anything wrong it\'s easier to repair.

 

[DaN]

Wren is right about the curing process being anaerobic - so far as I know, GS will cure underwater, in a vacuum, etc etc

Heat, as with most chemical reactions, will speed up the process, but I dunno about making it too hot, as I don\'t know what temperature GS burns or melts or whether such a process might weakn it.

Paint-wise, I would leave it at least a couple of hours.

 

[Wren]

That\'s a good point DaN, now that you mention it I\'ve heard of people causing GS to sort of puff up and go a little weird by overheating it. If you do a search for oven on this section of the forums you\'ll probably find more detailed info on speeding the curing.

 

[Einion]

Originally posted by TKNY
I\'m doing some green stuff for the first time, I\'m wondering at what point can I start priming/painting?

If you absolutely had to you could paint it before the putty has \'hardened\', but I wouldn\'t recommend it.

As mentioned it\'s probably best to wait for it to fully cure before priming or painting.

Originally posted by TKNY
Does the chemical reaction need to breath?

Not so\'s you\'d notice.

Einion

 

[TKNY]

Thanks for all the input, very helpful.

 

[bullfrog]

I usually speed up GS by putting it in an oven that is capable of low temps and I have found that when I accidentally pressed a button higher than 40.C it sort of scorched the GS on one side. IT didnt disform the shape but more discoloured it and made it brittle.