Hi

I've never used oil paint before so I thought I'd do a test, wise thinking ;-)

I applied my acrylic paint, sprayed my "multi surface wax", applied my lovely oil washes... wow, that looks smart. Seems dry to the touch. A quick coat of "multi surface wax" and, oh, its gone like oil on water, or more accurately water on oil.

So how long would you leave it before applying the "multi surface wax" formerly known as klear?

Thanks

I would let the oil set for 72 hours. May I ask why you are trying to put a gloss over the oil? Normally, this is done before the wash with a flat coat over it.

Hi

Thanks for the reply

I'm applying a two colour oil filter, glossing it, then applying oil streaks. It's a two stage oil application. Or is that daft?

Andy, not entirely clear what you mean, but depending on whether you thinned / mixed the oil paint with anything, and how thickly it was applied, Matt's suggested 72 hours may not be anywhere near long enough. Straight oil paint out of the tube can take weeks to dry.

There's a thread just below this one about oil paints that covers similar issues... take a look. Putting the oil paint onto a piece of coarse cardboard (like cut from a corrugated box) for a few minutes before using it can absorb a lot of the oil from the paint and make it dry faster; mixing it with white spirit / turps can also help drying time. Windsor and Newton Liquin can be mixed with it and that will also speed up drying times. Drying it somewhere warm (and dust free - again, see that other thread) can also speed things up. All in all it is possible to get oil paint drying in 72 hours, but if you've done none of these suggested things it may well take longer.

If you look at artist's picture varnish, it will tell you not to varnish an oil painting for 6 months! Then again artists tend to use a lot more oil paint than modellers, and where it is thick it can take months to dry.

Has to be said too, that oil dries with a fairly satin sheen a lot of the time, so the Klear might not be necessary as a final coat - unless you juse want to protect it. In any case - I suggest you give it a bit longer to dry... patience definitely can help in model making!

After I apply the basic acrylic color coats, I seal them with Pledge. Then I start my various oil washes. These washes are 90% Mineral Spirits, so they dry fairly quickly. I usually give each coat 24 hours to dry. I don't seal between the various washes as I want the blending of each color to some degree. Once they're dry, I then seal these washes, and apply pin washes. Then seal with Dullcoat. Now I apply dry brushing, and any other acrylic application. Then comes diluted coats of dust, sand, earth, etc. A final sealing with Dullcoat.