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Originally Posted by Clayton J. Beck III
. . . I am not a chemist . . .
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Ah! "The Rest of the Story". True enough. Oxygen is absorbed, resulting in the polymerization of paint vehicles. Though Mr. Beck offers the disclaimer, I'm confident we may rely on the fact he presents, i.e., absorption of oxygen results in a measurable gain in weight in a drying layer of paint.
The question, however, was not whether the paint gains
weight as it takes on oxygen in drying, but whether it gains
volume enough through the absorbption of oxygen to cause cracks to appear in a paint film. His subsequent observation, that the paint loses
mass with continued "drying" seems to preclude that a surface "skin" of dry paint would be brittle enough to crack at such point as the wet paint is readily absorbing ambient oxygen,
if that corresponds to an increase in physical volume.
I am not a chemist either, but I know what I have repeatedly observed in coatings of paint, and so gently refer you to the experiment I offered in a previous post.
Realizing some may find this nit-picking over detail a bit onerous (frankly, I'm annoyed at myself for pursuing it) I appeal to readers who do have a background in paint chemistry for their input.
Mr. Beck, your Buick is safe from me. You are a helluva fine painter!