Painting and dust

[Anglian]

I've been attempting to brush paint with thinned enamel. The paint is fine and is drying but the problem I'm having is with dust. I've hoovered and cleaned as much as I can but I'm still getting dust on the paint. I'm using satin black.

I've never ever had this problem before when using matt enamels and don't understand how to avoid it. Do I need to buy a spray booth so the dust is drawn away from the painted surface or does satin paint just attract dust?

It's now driving me mad – please could you tell me how you set up to paint with enamels either by brush or airbrush. Thanks in advance.

[The Johnster]

Try running a vacuum cleaner in the vicinity of the work; it should attract any airborne dust in it's direction away from the surface being painted.  Noisy though!

[wirey33]

You have two options....

 

Remove all the dust from your chosen workspace - workshop/garage/kitchen/front room etc.

 

or

 

Remove the painted item from the dusty environments of your workshop/garage/kitchen/front room etc.

 

(i.e put it in a sealed plastic box as soon as you've finished painting it.)

[johnb]

Once I've got the paint on I put the model in one of those seed trays/propagators with a lid. Usually works for me when I'm brush painting. I work in a standard household environment where there is not too much air movement to stir up dust. We've no cats these days which were a bit of an issue at times.

 

John

[Anglian]

Thanks – the issue I'm getting is dust as I'm painting. Will try another hoover session then keep it running while I paint. Oddly I'm not getting dust settling having painted it's always a case of it getting attracted while I'm painting.

[Jol Wilkinson]

You possibly had dust in the air when painting with matt paint. Matt dries faster and has a"rough" surface that doesn't show minor dust particles so readily. I have found the, with brush or airbrush painting, dirt/dust already on the model is the biggest cause of inclusions. Brushing off before painting is important.

 

It is difficult to know what the real cause is. Airborne dust is difficult to control. You may be able to minimise the problem by wearing fluff free clothing, walking on a hard surface, etc. but that seems a bit extreme. As you are brush painting, are you sure the paint is free of impurities?

[Anglian]

Jol,

 

I really don't know what the solution is. My next attempt, after serious hoovering and dusting, more hoovering and then having the hoover running whilst painting was a disaster. Worse than before. I think the solution might be to use a spray booth. Normally I would use acrylics which touch dry very rapidly.

The paint is a new tin of Humbrol enamel that I'd thinned with Humbrol's enamel thinner. It was stirred for ages and seemed to be of a very even consistency. Perhaps if I go back to only spraying outside on hot days a super thin coat of paint thinned with lighter fuel and wafted on with the airbrush might do the trick. Another answer may be to use matt for the undercoats, to enjoy the more forgiving nature that you describe, reserving the satin for the final coat.

[The White Rabbit]

I hope it works for you. 

 

When painting 1:1 coaches, our problem was not dust but insects, hundreds of the little pests would land on our freshly painted coach side and stick there. Some days it looked like we were preparing for a naturalists' special! 

[Guest teacupteacup]

Jol,

 

I really don't know what the solution is. My next attempt, after serious hoovering and dusting, more hoovering and then having the hoover running whilst painting was a disaster. Worse than before. I think the solution might be to use a spray booth. Normally I would use acrylics which touch dry very rapidly.

 

The paint is a new tin of Humbrol enamel that I'd thinned with Humbrol's enamel thinner. It was stirred for ages and seemed to be of a very even consistency. Perhaps if I go back to only spraying outside on hot days a super thin coat of paint thinned with lighter fuel and wafted on with the airbrush might do the trick. Another answer may be to use matt for the undercoats, to enjoy the more forgiving nature that you describe, reserving the satin for the final coat.

If you are getting dust on the surface whilst painting, it does suggest that the environment you are painting in is dusty or there is dust on the model.  Blow air over it and let the air settle for a couple of minutes before opening any paint.  Running a hoover whilst painting is a no-no as the hoover vent is blowing air around, therefore moving dust about.

 

If possible, run a cold tap whilst painting (esp if spraying) or if on a lino/laminate surface, dampen it.  I was told this many years ago and have stuck by it.  A spray booth is invaluable, I got my latest one for £50 recently.

 

Avoid Humbrol like the plague!!! (used to swear by them but wont touch them with a barge pole now)

Edited February 16, 2018 by teacupteacup

[DCB]

Just wondering what sort of dust laden atmosphere you are painting in. I don't seem to get much dust in the shed, but there is little fabric there and neither have I found much trouble with Humbrol enamel though I seldom thin it.  Main problem I have is getting a decent satin finish as it keeps going gloss.   I must admit to getting reasonably good satin black finish on cast kits from Poundland Satin Black rattle cans.  Unfortunately they don't do Brunswick Green

[Andy Hayter]

Just a thought: how clean are your brushes?

Have you tried brushing with a brand new, just removed from its wrapper brush?

[ian@stenochs]

Make the dust settle in your painting room and keep it there while you paint!

 

Before I had a dedicated painting booth I used the kitchen which had no fluffy curtains or carpets only hard surfaces. It was also quite small and easy to heat.

 

Boil a kettle or pan of water and let the room get a bit steamy. Let the steam condense out on the work surfaces where it traps any airborne dust. Keep the doors shut to stop more blowing in. Wear fluff free clothing, cotton shirt etc, NO woolly jumpers!

 

When the air is clear paint your model and place it under a shoe box immediately until dry.

 

Best done when other half is out!

 

Ian.

[Anglian]

Thanks all for your advice – it's really appreciated. I've tried painting in the bathroom as I'm told that is generally the least dusty atmosphere. The thing is there is no visible dust on any surface in the room – it's just tiny airborne particles. Point taken about jumpers etc.

I have given another room a really deep clean and hoovered it to a silly level of 'detail'! I painted thinned matt white – no dust at all. But in this room I'm sitting at a desk – I think this may help – it's easy to perfectly dust a desk surface. I wonder if it has been my arms in a jumper stirring up or generating fluff into the air.

[ian@stenochs]

I should add that if you are getting close to your model and have a lot of hair dust can descend from your mop! One advantage of being bald but otherwise wear a net or mop cap. How we suffer for our art!

 

Ian

[The Johnster]

As can skin particles, which are I believe a major component of household dust.  Exfoliate, exfoliate, exfoliate, and moisturise, advice I never suspected I'd be giving on a model railway site...

 

I don't seem to have much of a dust issue, despite the layout and work table being in a softly furnished bedroom, complete with the squeeze's teddy bear, sadly not a Class 14.

[spikey]

Could at least part of the problem be down to static?  If so, not sure what the solution might be apart from avoid wearing synthetic clothing and earthing yourself via a wrist-strap as per standard procedure when working with static-sensitive electronics.

[Anglian]

Spikey,

 

An interesting thought and an aspect I'd not considered. I'll check the jumper to see if it's pure wool or a blend.

Edited February 18, 2018 by Anglian

[Nile_Griffith]

OK! In real danger of talking out of my rear exhaust with this one but I seem to recall an old colleague of mine who used to hand paint Brass American Loco's (in something larger than O' Gauge) using a couple of electrostatic devices placed next to where he would be hand painting. If I recall correctly he told me that each device, a column about and inch and a half in diameter and about twelve inches high (there were two of them) would attract dust from the air around where he was painting and onto the rods due to the static charge generated on the surface.

 

I do know that certain clean rooms use electrostatic filters to.... I presume achieve similar results....... But it's been a long week and I could have it completely wrong, but the theory stacks up.