Of course I know there’s no such thing as a stupid question, only stupid people, so to get right to it:
I have begun following the advice of several modelers on this forum and elsewhere of putting Testors spray cans in a bowl of hot water a few minutes before painting (paritcularly the clear coats - Dullcoat or Gloss coat).
Either it does actualy work, or I have deluded myself into believing it actually works, but none-the-less the resultant finishes do look smoother and more even.
One thing it certifiably does do is get the label soggy enough that it’s ready to fall off - not pleasant.
I was thinking people who heat up their paint in said manner must wrap the can in something to prevent this, but is there a better method? If so, please do tell…
Place it in a sealable plastic bag?
Please stop with the stupid comments. Not needed.
Remove the label and mark with Magic Marker or permanent marker of some kind.
Rich
Rich:
I’m sorry, I don’t get the “stupid comments” reference.
Placing similar products inside a plastic bag and then placing the bag in hot water works very well. I used this technique last fall when I was applying some caulking outdoors in cold weather. The first tube I placed directly into the hot water and left it for about 20 minutes. That was enough time for the cardboard to go soft so when I went to use it the tube expanded and I had caulking everywhere but where I wanted it![banghead] My wife suggested putting the tubes in a simple plastic grocery shopping bag before immersing them, which worked just fine. Obviously you have to keep the top of the bag above the water and make sure there are no leaks in the bag before you use it.
I’m sure the same thing would work for spray cans.
Using a zip lock might be safer.
Dave
I use Krylon
I’m not sure about the “stupid comments” either - the thing is, practical solutions should be obvious (as opposed to say “wrap it up” -OK, what method), but for whatever reason it was not occuring to me, hence I’m the stupid person in this case.
Anyway, plastic bags do seem a good idea, but since the grocery bags I get tend to be full or holes, I may have to go with the resealable bag concept (unless there are other good suggestions out there).
BTW, nowadays the Testor’s clear coats (Gloss, Dull, Clear, etc.) put the label of what it is on the (clear) plastic cap of the rattle can, not on the can itself (on the label it does say “Clear Coat” - on the part of the label that you have to slice off to the cap loose as a anti-vandalism technique - why? Graffitti artists would just rip the label off anyway - and why would they use clear coat). So…if you were spraying dull-coat, and then gloss coat on two different models, and just managed to switch or misplace the caps - how would you know what you’re spraying next time? Remember, looking at the nozzle won’t tell you much for clear-coats…
You could try something I’ve done. I spray the label with a sealer such as Clear Coat or Gloss Coat. If neither is available try painting the label with shellac.
Maybe wrap some clear packing tape around the can ?
Mark.
In the event, I used a small store-brand plastic sandwich bag (the 3oz Model Master “Lusterless” rattle can fit right in), and 3/4 submerged it in a bowl of hot water for a few minutes. Label & spray can seemed reasonably dry (a few drips as I took the can out of the bag, careful as I tried to be), certainly not soggy. I’ll see how things work out over following sessions, but so far small plastic sandwich bag wins…
The warming works great but is only neccisary as the weather turns colder.
I had to laugh at this. A member of our club wanted to put end numbers on a box car. So I told him about getting decals and decal setting solution. Then I told him about using dullcoat to seal everything when he was done. So he went to our local train shop, was directed to the spray can rack, and picked a can out of the dullcoat slot. He brought the car to the club and asked how to correct the new problem that he had. We asked him why he had sprayed the car end white. Unfortunately he had not read the label on the spray can.
Somehow he just didn’t seem to see the humor in the situation.