Drying models

Biskup

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Aug 27, 2010
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Many of us have quite big collection of kit’s that are waiting to be made and in many case the number of kits to be maid is greater then the number of made kits. Lack of time that most of us can spend on modeling. That’s why we want to use this time more efficiently. But during painting after applying one color or one layer of paint we need to put the model aside for the paint to fully dry. That prevents us from working any more on this kit for some time.
Way of eliminating this is to use a drier for model kits. First time I saw this machine was in Plamo Tsukurou modeling series, in which the speed that the modelers presented there make their kits is outrages. After some research I found the drier that was presented there but the cost of it was really high plus I would need to add shipping charge and cost of transformer as it’s prepared for different voltage.
So I did some searching for something equally good I have found that some modelers use driers for fruits and vegetables. In the market there are many types of those dries some of them have temperature control some of them don’t. Unfortunately I couldn’t find the one with the control that would be available in Poland. But after consulting a forum friend I decided to by Zelmer 36Z011. This model has two settings normal one and the strong one. Normal mode gives you temperature of 30 degrees Celsius and the strong one gives 45 degrees Celsius. For safety I decided to test it on many modeling material like different types of plastic, white metal, resin and Styrofoam. I left it inside for 4 hours on strong setting. After that amount of time I found no misshaped element or damaged in any way.
5900215011608F1.jpg
So after this test I was sure that this is a safe way to Speer up drying process. People how want to put inside bigger or taller elements can either cut out the net from one of the trays or like me make a tall ring out of polycarbonate or Plexiglas.
P1010004.jpg

Its worth to remember that rising drying temperature by 10 degrease Celsius cut’s the drying time in half. Thanks to equipment like this we can use our hobby time more efficiently.

If you have any questions feel free to ask on PM or e-mail ([email protected])
Cheers
Lukasz Ziolkowski
 
It's very useful think :) Helps a lot when for example you're take part in some kind of contest and you have 3 months to build a kit ;)
 
One question.... I just seen your EXTENTION set up for larger parts! Which was one of my questions.... I find your solution “Original” and to the point ! So I have another one for you !

Is this thing “Blowing” warm air in ? or is it just, Warm Air “Rising” ? Cuz I would hate to have dust blown in over my paints ! Not that I don’t have that issue now in my Spray booth…. I thought it was worth asking…. !!!
I am sure it’s worth having for the Speed builders among us !!! and if using “Enamel paints” that takes for ever to dry !!!
 
I could swear I read a post somewhere where a guy melted his parts in one of those things. Don't seem to remember where I read it.
 
There are basically 2 types of dehydrators, one is just a heating element, essentially drying things out, the other more expensive ones have a fan in them. The ones with the fan work better/faster, and less risk of melting your model. The ones without a fan you do have to be careful you don't come back to a puddle of goo.
 
Tanks for the Clarification Scott M.

Last thing I won't is gooy plastic parts ! LOL

I am sure that toy can be useful to some here! Now they know which one to keep an eye on! LOL
 
Sorry for the very late response but I just noticed that there was question asked.
Yes it blows a hot air inside. No it won't melt the kit as the temperature is too low. And no it won't blow any dust on the model as it has a filter installed that picks up all the particles so the air blown inside is dust free.
Regards
Lukasz
 
This one escaped me all together here.
Good evening everyone.
I built one altogether different, and not to hi-jack a thread by
Any means. Maybe some help.
The concern with melting is fair enough. Here's the tip.

Plastic starts to get funky at about 120*F This is the lower
End of sondes zone, your mileage maybe different. At
140*F your done.
To safeguard or at least to check your temps, what you
need is what we used to call a 'pulp thermometer' is used. The
reason is, they are adjustable. Place in a glass of ice H20 and
they should read 33*. If not adjust the nut on the back.
These are the ones with the upper scale that may go to
200-250*F anything above that and we are roasting duck
and not drying paint. Lol.
 
So this machine in the USA would be called a dehydrator ? Like the dehydrator that we use to make deer jerkey lol ?
 

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