$9 airbrush!

[RMax1]

I went to Harbor Freight and looked at a compressor. On the shelf was an airbrush kit for $9??? I bought one and gave it a try. I didn’t want to jump in and use my Aztek , it has been a long time since I used an airbrush. I was impressed for $9 not too bad.

I gave the car a dose of grey can primer and tried airbrushing on some Polly Scale rust. The car is going to be used as a storage shed with it trucks removed.

RMax

[Bis]

Bought the same air brush and hooked it up to my nail gun compressure. Works great for large areas. I just bought their fancy one for $26 ( I think) and am trying to get it to work right, I am sure it is an operator problem.

[jrbernier]

I bought one of the ‘dual action’ ones(on sale for something like $16.99 last month). It took some looking around to find a quick disconnect fitting for my Badger air hose, but it works pretty good. The slide control is not as smooth as my Badger ‘Patriot’, but is a good air brush for a beginner to start with.

To the second poster - A Dual Action air brush really needs to have the paint thinned to the consistency of ‘2% milk’. You will find that Floquil paints(both the standard solvent based and the acrylic based) need to be thinned, depending on the pigment. Some Floquil colors are sort of ‘air brush ready’, but for the most part, thinning is going to need to be done. Just thin them with lacquer thinner(solvent based) or filtered water or 71/91% isopropyl alcohol for the acrylic based POLLY Scale version.

The acrylic will spray at around 22-25 lbs pressure with no problem. Try to keep the pressure low as it dries very fast and may ‘orange peel’ if it is dry before it hot the models surface. If you mess up the mixing, take the air brush apart and clean it with lacquer thinner - then start over. The lacquer thinner will cut even dried acrylic paint. And make sure you clean out the air brush immediately after shooting the model - That paint dries fast and you will be doing the entire ‘field strip and clean’ routine if you wait too long!

I have 3 air brushes:

• Badger 200 internal mix(single action) - Over 40 years old
• Badger 105 Patriot internal mix(dual action) - about 3 years old
• Harbor Freight internal mix(dual action) - about a month old

I use a W. R. Brown compressor with a Badger braided hose. I have Badger ‘quick-disconnects’ on all three air brushed so I can swap air brushes without un-threading the air connections The compressor came with a threaded regulator, and Badger q

[Bis]

Jim Thanks for the info.

I may have the air pressure to high. I have been trying it at 35/40 PSI. I am only using Folk Art acrylic paint ,I don’t want to deal with the mess of oil base paints.

Is it possible to thin the paint to much?

Thanks again.

Ken

[chutton01]

I may have the air pressure to high. I have been trying it at 35/40 PSI. I am only using Folk Art acrylic paint ,I don’t want to deal with the mess of oil base paints.
Is it possible to thin the paint to much?
Thanks again.

Folk Art and similiar (Apple Barrel, Cermacoat) Acrylic Craft paints may be a whole different topic than model-specific Acrylics like PollyScale or Model Master Acrylics. To me, it seems the Craft paints are thicker, and while I know people have successfully sprayed such paints, not sure the correct thinning levels or pressure - maybe check on craft and hobby forums? Such as this:

I’ve used the Apple Barrel, Delta Ceramcoat, and Folk Art cheapo paints in an air brush with much success. It takes practice to get it thinned out to just the right amount. I use alchohol because it evaporates quicker than water and doesn’t give the paint a chance to bead up or anything. It lays down in a decent flat finish, you can sand it very lightly with 1000 grit to smooth it and then gloss coat it. I’ve used it for base coats, dry brushing, weathering, etc. It drys quick and its easy to clean up. Plus it’s cheap so you can afford to screw up more often. The only down side I can think of is that if your working on plastic or any similar medium, you have to prime it. The paint just wont stick if you don’t.

Thin the paint too thin, it covers poorly and may run a lot.

[cedarwoodron]

The “better” Harbor Freight airbrush- the dual action one, is nothing to sneeze at (or because of). I started with that one and found it very good. Of course, when I was able to get a Paasche air brush, I began using it. But, that Harbor Freight one is not shabby, by a long shot. Easy to hold, easy to use and easy to clean! As an inexpensive option, I would highly recommend itI Cedarwoodron

[rrinker]

Hmm, might be time for me to get in on this, I’ve never owned or used an airbrush, but I have some projects that would probably come out better if I used an airbrush instead of rattle cans.

What I really need is a spray booth, I really don;t have room for one though. Most anything beyond small surface brush painting I only do in spring and fall when it’s warm but not too hot and not too humid, and just take it outside and use a carboard box to handle overspray. Not so easy to haul an airbrush outside.

–Randy

[rrebell]

Very easy, I am sure you can still get cans of compressed air or some usefilled tubes from car tires.

[Bis]

I thought acrylic pain was acrylic paint. The only difference was some are gloss, some are flat and some are for outdoor or indoor use.