Brand New Testors Paint Just Won't Dry

What did you use to thin it for spraying; I assume you sprayed this on ?

It is likely the material you painted on, a chemical reaction is causing the paint not to dry. I have run across that problem in the past too.

I'm just using a very tiny brush painting some small clothing/face/hand detail on a reproduction Lionel 3562 barrel car figure. Flat black dried in a few hours, all of the other colors I used are still very tacky two weeks later.

Second for what Chuck says....you’re having a reaction with the material that figure is made of....it’s not the Testor’s paint....it’s going to stay in a perpetual state of gum...doubt you’ll be able to save that little guy either...next time, maybe try acrylics....I’ve never tried to paint those figures, so maybe somebody else can say what works.....Pat

Try putting it in front of a space heater for a while - might "cook" it dry; nothing to lose at this point.

Testors  paint is  oil based paint, it may use a VOC to be the carrier to the pigment, if the Voc is not there, (it out gassed) the paint will not dry.   suggest you find a store which has a high turnover on paint to get fresh paint.  Call the MFG for info.  My liquid electrical tape was always going bad, until I called the MFG and was told to add some Acetone or MEK as a solvent  to the paint.

Did you clean of the figure first?
There may be a mold release that was used?

Maybe try a water based model paint?

This is a common problem when brush painting with model enamels. What is happening is the paint was put on thick (a problem with brush painting). This will cause the top layer of the paint to flash over (dry) that will not allow the paint that is under that layer to dry and stay soft and tacky. Along with the thickness of the paint what adds to this problem is a temperature under 70 or a high humidity condition.

At this point you have 2 choices to try and fix the problem.

What works sometimes it to spray a lacquer based clearcoat over the part. The reducers in the Lacquer will soften the enamel top layer allowing it to dry.

Second is to strip the parts by using Lacquer thinner or Easy Off over cleaner. Test one first to make sure that the plastic will not melt.

If you repaint next time add some Lacquer thinner to the Testors paint it will thin the paint and speed up the drying time. It is also a good practice to clean any parts you are going to paint with Dish Soap to clean off any mold release compound that is used in the making of plastic parts.