Cold-Weather Basing: Spray Paint...In the House!?

OK, so it is time to get moving on some Hessian basing...but I realize I've no bases ready. 

I scrounge around, and find ten bases 2x3" which I think will suit, per last post. However, they are not painted. As they are little more than compressed cardboard / wood / mdf? whatever, I am sure that a good wetting will ruin them, and I don't want that. For their flaws with the beveling [looks cool, hard to pick up] the plastic FoW bases are at least build to last.

So, my goal is to get good bases, seal them properly with paint, then make them worth looking at long-term! My poison of choice is still "Make it Suade!" for that "oh so 70s" look, but it happens to exactly match my gaming cloth that I typically use, and the browns make the greens and other highlights "POP!" on camera for the blog etc.

One problem - it is snowing, and the temperature is in the 'teens this whole week. Yet, it is New Year's Day and I want to make a big splash with moving forward on gaming projects! Yet spray painting "Make it Suade!" in the house is not a great idea b/c it stinks like heck! I could heat the garage up with a space heater for a couple hours, but that only gets it into the 50s, and it takes forever - plus it makes me nervous not being able to see what's going on with a space heater personally. 

I need a better solution that will insure maximum drying time yet not get me into trouble with Home 6. Thinking...

In the garage is a huge piece of cardboard...in the furnace room there's a small fan,,,first floor bathroom is rarely used...hmmmm.

Cardboard is in bathroom, it opens up on the one side like a double-door.


Cut in half and stacked it makes a nice little chute to channel spray paint stink out the window. I need something to hold this contraption up at window level and grab Home 6s drying rack which is just the right height! Flip the other half of the box and now have a tunnel.
    

Still, this will stink. Counter-stink measures include: Sandlewood scented candle in nearby kitchen, cinnamon candle in nearly living room, and mistletoe scented candle in even closer dining room. OK OK, so it will be a confounded melange of scent, but who cares???



OK, some cross-venting will do, from the foyer to the dining room...just 2" or so...


What a confounded idjit! I set all this up and now can't reach the window to open it...and it is locked...I grab an old crutch we have laying in the play room [kid likes playing with it...really!] and ta-daaa! latch is open, window is open [note snow falling], fan is placed. I also place small space heater next to me, creating a waft of hot air heading to the window where the fan is blowing it out. I spray the bases on the diagonal, as it is more efficient - I only have to do one side on diagonal then the other.
  
Of course, I flip bases over after an hour as I want no side of the base to be vulnerable to moisture. The space heater is perfect, makes the air very hot and very dry, and somehow wins over the fresh air wafting in from outside. I spray again.

Another hour later, the second side is dry. They still smell a funny, but that can be helped. I put the dry bases [they are dry, but still the paint is "settling" you might say] in the furnace room on fresh cardboard on top of the returned drying rack. The one with paint and stink on it goes - outside.


I fold up the cardboard, remove the fan, tidy up and ta-daaa! Bathroom looks fine!


Just don't look in the shower, please!


This worked very well! total time was about 3-4 hours to set up, spray two sides, and have the items dry enough to handle, ie not tacky at all.

We never use the downstairs shower, so I can just leave all this in there. I've now got a few more spray projects in the works [including 15mm WWII and modern micro armor], and it really doesn't take long at all!

So to summarize:

1. small room, easily vented to outside with small fan.
2. space heater, cardboard "tunnel" to channel the spray "mist" outside.
3. good height to window...a drying rack worked here.
4. Open window, turn on fan, spray  with door closed. Exit upon completion.
5. Drying time about an hour.
6. Spray other side. Drying time another hour.
7. Once dry enough to handle, leave overnight in furnace room to really get the paint dried out.
8. Next day, ready to use!

Wife arrived home from trip, didn't comment on any funny smells at all. Not that she's particularly blessed to have a keen power of scent, but still, "Make it Suade!" is the Blackbeard's Delight of paint scents, so...

Mission Accomplished!