Ok I took the plunge and bought an air brush
http://www.ares-server.com/Ares/Ares.asp?MerchantID=RET01229&Action=Catalog&Type=Product&ID=81426SP
Now while I wait for UPS
I need a crash course
Do you prefer to paint with water based paints ?
Do you always thin the paint or use it straight ?
Will shaking the paint in the bottle cause it to have air bubbles ?
That’s all i can think of now
TIA
Waiting Waiting Waiting
[:-^]
Most paints (water based or otherwise) will need to be thinned to nearly the consistancy of water (usually about 50/50)! If you want an example, take a can of spray paint and spray it into a small container until you get a puddle of the stuff - that is what you are aiming for.
Bubbles from shaking shouldn’t be a problem.
I always strain my paints by running them through a filter made out of a piece of one of my wife’s old nylons before I use them. I just cover the top of the airbrush bottle with a piece of nylon and pour the paint through that.
Always, always, always clean your brush right after use by running pure thinner or “airbrush cleaner” through it.
-George
I’m like you, I finally took the “airbrush plunge” a couple of months ago, and I couldn’t be happier. I thin my paints 60/40 (paint/thinner). I found that using rubbing alcohol as a thinner helps the paint flow better. Now, I’ve heard the Polly Scale paints can be sprayed straight from the bottle. One thing I did get was a small paint stirrer sold by Micro-Mark. It works great. Just remember to let the stirrer stop COMPLETELY before taking it out of the paint (don’t ask how I know this). [D)]
Your choice of water based paint or solvent based paint will depend on what material you are painting. Plastics will get a fuzzy texture when you spray solvents on them. Wood will swell and get fuzzy with water based paints. You can “seal” your work prior to painting and use either type after that.
Remember to use a breathing mask to protect your lungs too.
WOW thanks bruce didn’t even think about that
and since i had my larynx removed i now breathe thru a trachea
so i’ll need to get a Stoma cover to act as a filter
or just tie a bandana around my neck
Especially if you’re using lacquer-based paints like Floquil, you’ll need more than a bandanna. For these types of paint, a two-stage respirator is required - these contain a paper filter element to remove the paint particles and dust, and an activated charcoal section which removes the organic solvents and volatile fumes. I’m not sure how you’d go about this, given your situation.
Properly thinned and applied, both water-based and lacquer-based paints will give a satisfactory finish on just about any surface. The “fuzzy” texture sounds like the paint is partially drying before it hits the surface of the plastic - try spraying from closer range, or use a retarder in the thinned paint. If the wood is swelling, you’re applying too much paint with each pass. Either adjust the needle to allow less paint past it, or make your passes more quickly.
Most paint manufacturers will have suggestions for their paint regarding thinning and spray pressures - a good place to start, even if you want to experiment beyond those suggestions. When you move on to weathering with your airbrush, I find that severe thinning of the paint (up to 90% thinner) will give you a much greater degree of control over the final results, allowing you to build up the effects gradually, without obscuring details.
Wayne
You heard wrong, it’s Modelflex that usually can be sprayed without thinning, not PollyScale. PollyScale always requires thinning.
I don’t get this problem so many people have about thinning paint, if your going to be airbrushing, you’re going to be thinning paint, get used to it. The connsistency you want is that of whole milk and about 20 to 30 psi. Experiment from there. Use a medium (No. 3) tip with acrylic paints.
PollyScale and Modelflex are non-toxic, (they meet California’s standards), but you should still use some kind of dust filtration. Nearly all the brand name acrylic paints can be intermixed to get custom colors
In your situation I would stick with the acrylics.
If you can find it, pick up the Model Railroader video Aitbrushing for Beginners. (came out in the late 80’s) It is a great primer for airbrushing.
As mentioned, BADGER Modelflex or ACCUflex has a wide range of colors, shoots right from the bottle, and rarely needs thinning. Goes on silky smooth and ready for decals.
I miss the quality finish of the old Floquil solvent based paints, but I’m sure my lungs and nervous system don’t.
Poly S, you really have to find the right balance of thinner to paint, and each color wants something different. You will spend the most time at your booth unclogging your airbrush with this brand. Make sure you paint on a scrap piece first before moving to your intended project.
As far as I know, Polly S paint hasn’t been made for years - it was superseded by Polly Scale paint, which, in my opinion is an improvement. While I much prefer Floquil for airbrushing, I have found that Polly Scale seems to spray with less clogging at lower pressures, the opposite of what I would have expected. You should use a two-stage respirator when spraying any paint, and also use a spray booth vented to the outside.
Wayne
Thanks all for responding I’m learning a lot about
painting with an air brush
I think i should have bought some extras with the air brush
like a cleaning kit
maybe a paint stirrer
something to hold car bodys
and a turntable
I’ll just keep it brief:
Cleaning Kit: You likely already have the needed items at home.
For water based paints - flush at 30psi or higher with a narrow fan setting using 2 parts distiled water mixed with 1 part of 70% Isopropyl alcohol. After flushing, remove the needle and aircap and wipe them with a cloth soaked with alcohol.
For solvent based paints - flush with lacquer thinner and wipe the airbrush components with thinner in the same fashion as above.
Stirrers - Those 7" long white coffee stirrers from McDonalds work great! Next time you go to one, be courteous and ask the manager if you can have 10 of them. Most of them will give them to you freely.
I’ve found that another useful tool for cleaning an airbrush is pipecleaners: dip the tip in thinner, then run the cleaner through the paint and air passages, including the paint siphon tube.
Also, I want to emphasise the suggestion to clean the airbrush as soon as you’ve finished using it, and don’t take shortcuts: well cared-for, this is a tool that should last a lifetime. [swg]
Wayne
The only reason for clogged airbrushes is operator error not the paint. Four ways to prevent clogging:
After mixing, always strain the paint. You can use stockings or other fine mesh material. There are always small particles that dry around the bottle cap and drop into the paint when you open the bottle.
Thin acrylics to a milky consistency, solvent paints should be more like water in consistency.
Keep your airbrush clean.
Use the proper air pressure.
For a turntable, get one from Wal-mart or someplace that sells RuberMaid. They have one cheap that will work. You may have to use a small box to set the model on while spraying.
MicroMark has in-bottle paint strainers that I use when spraying from the bottle.
Model Flex paints should be thinned to the consistancy of skim milk. I use distilled water.
For Model Flex clean up you can use a common household window cleaner that has amonia in it. I use a shoe box size plastic container to clean my AB in.
I didn’t know badger made paint
I wonder if Michaels carrys it ?
C&OF:
I E-mailed 3M to ask them about protective gear for spray painting, considering your requirements, and here is what they said in reply:
This would be an awfully expensive way to go. Lungs aren’t cheap, of course, but a solution isn’t worth anything if the user can’t afford it. But you do need to be very careful - more than usual, because you don’t even have the filtering the nose provides, breathing through a tracheostome. I think you are taking a big risk if you use makeshifts like bandannas.
Here’s an idea - think about it another way. Don’t enclose the worker, enclose the workpiece. At a former job, I sandblasted parts with a small handheld blaster that was permanently enclosed in a glovebox (something like those you see used for working with radioactive mat
I am following this with interest. I don’t want to suggest the obvious, but couldn’t a person just take steps to plan their airbrushing on a nice day…outdoors? It may not be convenient, but the price would sure be right. When the right day comes along, you take the hour you’ll need to quickly set up, do the spraying, clean, and move on to other things. A gently breeze before it gets too hot or humid on any one day should suffice to waft dangerous stuff away from the user. Or, get used to holding a breath, moving in to do a couple of steady swipes, and then step back two paces. Maybe clogging would become a problem…I dunno, I don’t use one of these things.
If one did this several times each week, or for a living, I could see the need for proper and convenient (expensive) safety equipment. But for those of us who weather or paint two or three items a month, what’s the big deal?
-Crandell
s:
There may be something in that. Outdoors you do have lots of airflow, and in fact nearly everybody does spray paint outdoors with spray bombs with no ill effect except for getting overspray on the BBQ…but in this case I think special caution is needed here, even outside.
-The nose has some filtering ability for overspray dust. I’m sure some of you have experienced “rust colored boogers” after grinding rust off your first car in your immortal younger days when dust masks just weren’t happenin’ man. Imagine all that in the lungs instead.
-C&OF may have diminished or absent sense of smell, so he may have a harder time knowing when he’s breathing vapors.
I’m sure there are lots of people out there who know more about trach-related issues than I do; I’m just trying to point this out.
I spray Polly Scale almost exclusively. In my area, few hobby shops carry Modelflex because there have been instances of the paint drying in the bottle before sale.
For Polly Scale, I thin about 1/3 thinner to 2/3 paint. Pour the paint into a small plastic measuring cup (I think Tamiya offers about 50 cheap), then add the thinner by sight.
I have tried all number of pressure settings and find that for my airbrush (Badger single action internal mix) that 15-18 psi works best. Higher settings tend to spatter the paint.
Conversely, lower settings allow you do very fine weathering affects. By lower pressures I mean in the range of 4-5 psi. This gives you much better control of paint flow FOR WEATHERING. You wouldn’t want to spray at this pressure for body colors. You would be doing it until tomorrw at this time!
I have found that I can weather with much greater control of the final product than with a double action airbrush I had. I had a Badger Model 155 double action brush and found that the amount of paint spray was not at all linear. A very minor movement of the button caused a minor amount of paint to flow; a slightly greater movement caused a whole lot more paint to flow than I thought was normal. I am pretty sure there was nothing wrong with the brush; maybe just with my expectations.
The problem with outdoors is that solvent based paint tends to attract “critters” that leave noticable footprints in the paint, or get angry and want to sting you for fooling them. Also, if there is dust or pollen present, even if you cannot see it, it will become imbedded in your paint causing odd bumps and hairs on the model.