Spray painting, how cold is too cold temperature wise?

So here we are, end of summer.:sad: I bought several more Estes kits to keep me busy through the fall/winter season. I was wondering how cold is too cold a temperature for painting. I know recommended temps are usually printed on the spray can, but i have a certain brand where temps ARE NOT printed on the can. Spraying INDOORS is out of the question for me, over spray goes every where. I'm in Eastern Ontario, Canada, so temps are getting quite cooler as the days go by. Any you guys get bad results spraying outdoors in colder than ideal temps? Temps around here right now are hovering around 50-60 degrees F, BUT will get MUCH colder by the time i finish some rockets i have that will be ready for paint. Any advice? At least in colder temps, you don't get bugs stuck in the paint!

Can you tell us what paint you're using? Perhaps we can help you locate an MSDS or other literature that would help with your specific paint.

Generally speaking, I test conditions for the day on a piece of scrap, and evaluate from there. Every day is different, with temp and humidity, even from morning to noon to evening. The only way to know for sure is to test.

I can tell you what works for me during Texas winters; hopefully some of the regular Canadian posters will chime in here (paging sodmeister !). Anyway I've found that the key is preparation and mobility.

Preparation:

heat a pot of water, not boiling, not even scalding, just hot. Remove from heat and place the spray paint can in the pot for about 5 minutes or so.

prepare a drying space inside, I have a bathroom with an electric vent in my house. A garage with a space heater would probably work as well. Some place other than outside.


mobility:

keep the piece inside until you're ready to go, then grab a heated spray can and the piece to be painted. Go outside and have at it, then back to your prepared drying area. The idea is to limit the amount of time the painted parts are in the raw elements.

Hope this helps.


FYI. Rustoleum Painter's Touch instructions say:

Use when temperature is between 50-90°F (10-
32°C) and humidity is below 65% to ensure proper drying.

Some past threads on this topic:

https://www.rocketryforum.com/showthread.php?121248-Painting-in-Cold-Weather

https://www.rocketryforum.com/showthread.php?16980-Cold-Weather-Painting-Solutions

https://www.rocketryforum.com/showthread.php?112240-Painting-when-it-is-cold

Thank you for the helpful replies so far!

I have painted outside in 10 degree (Fahrenheit) weather A LOT over the past few years. As long as it's not snowing or blowing, I just step out the back door, shoot a coat on the model and step back inside the house. Never being out there more than 5 minutes or so. As long as the model and the spray paint (Rust-Oleum Painters Touch 2x exclusively) are at room temp (70-75 degrees) I've never really had an issue.

Nice member name by-the-way :wink:

I've sprayed down to about 20 degrees with no ill effects. The difference is the method. I spray on my back porch blocked by the wind on sunny days. I set the rocket outside right before I spray--in the sun---Works just fine with darker to middle shade colors, I'd be leary about white or really light colors though.