Im in the middle of building this kit and have painted the body, i decided to go yellow, the only problem is 36 hours later the paint is still tacky and im sat waiting to carry on building it. is this a fault with the paint make (revell) or the colour. any ideas?.

How humid is it outside?

not humid at all really.

I'll sometimes let a piece sit for a week before handling. Depends on how thick the paint went on. Some people put them in the microwave I've read, but I'd be afraid to try that. Maybe experiment on a piece of scrap.

Did you spray one heavy coat or did you mist it on in 5-10 minute increments? Heavy wet coats will be tacky for quite sometime.
I'm not a fan of the microwave or oven techniques either. I bought a food dehydrator that speeds the cure time up quite a lot. It is what I would recommend to help the paint gas out. Otherwise if you have a 100 watt bulb you could set it underneath that at least 1 foot away and periodically turn or move it to make sure it doesn't melt or distort the body. Some body shops here in the USA use heating lamps on real cars similarly.

Chris

I actually melted an indy car car in a food dehydrator about 15 years ago. I'd never had any trouble up to that point, but the smaller body panels and the suspension were too fine even for the low-grade heat. Great tech tip, but be careful with what you put in there!

This also will not completely "gas out" the paint, but it will speed up the drying time between coats. Be aware that the paint may be dry to the touch, but succeeding coats still carry solvent which will soften the underlying paint. I still allow roughly 4 weeks for total "gas out" prior to polishing.

Also if your paint was done in light coats but remains tacky, did you make sure that all of the mold release was removed from the kit before painting? But its nature, it will be somewhat oily and will impede (if not outright prohibit) the paint curing.

ive only been building for a few months so things like spray or mist mean nothing to me, i use a brush. is this why it takes forever to dry? I think i need to look into different ways of painting before i go any further. thanks for the tips.

Next time you're at the hobby shop pick up a can of some glossy model paint and a few sheets of stock styrene and experiment with it. Or an inexpensive model (more fun).

Once upon a time they loaded up model paints with "leveling agents" that helped them dry and dry smooth when brushed on. Not so anymore: to get a glossy finish you pretty much have to use spray (either spray can or "airbrush") and then polish when completely cured (dry).

You can also strip paint off with caustic soda (lye) or any product that contains it (drain cleaner, oven cleaner, paint remover, etc) and try try again...

cheers, will pick some up next time im there.

What type of paint did you use? If it was enamel, you have to stir it really well. When it's left for a long time sometimes it seperates and the pigment and dryer settles on the bottom of the can or jar. If it isn't dry soon, I'd strip the paint and start again. There are paint strippers that will remove paint without damaging plastic. There's a stripper called Easy Lift Off that I use, but if you search around, you'll find info all over the net on stripping paint from plastic kits. DON"T use automotive strippers.
The easiest way to get a good finish is to use spray cans. Tamiya makes a spray lacquer that gives a nice shine straight from the can. Spray the paint on lightly and use as many coats as you need to get a nice finish. Make sure you wait a few minutes between coats to avoid runs.

Chris.:)