Well, I’ve been playing with my airbrush for a while now and I must say for the most part I have had tremendous success with it. The first thing I did was hang a piece of 18" x 8’ hardboard that I have up in the garage. I took the roller and painted it blue just like my backdrop. I then proceeded to airbrush the Alberta foothills/ Rockies along its entire length. Neither myself, my wife or rotten[swg] kids believed I had painted it. [wow]. I then rolled over it with the blue to try to do something similar again. HOLY COW! It looked like a kindergarten class was going at it with finger painting. [sigh] Anyway I have gone on to paint other things such as landscape foliage, structures and track etc. I have been very pleased with the results and my learning curve.
The one thing I wonder about is the P.S.I. settings. I have been setting mine at about 35 Lbs. P.S.I. and it seems to work well. Do you guys use different P.S.I. settings for painting different things or just use the same settings for painting everything. The reason I am asking is I was painting some foliage on the layout and things nearby were getting blown away.
So what are the lows and highs and what sort of applications do you use those settings for?
As for PSI settings I think to each his own. I have painted alot and I tend to use a higher PSI than most. I have also painted alot of full size automobiles so I have used 45 + psi at the gun, Old school gun. New HVLP guns use lower pressure to keep the overspray down. so I guess what I am saying is that if it works for you then do it.
The modeler standard seems to be around 25 psi with thinned hobby paints. However, I also spray at 30-35 psi. The paint atomizes better. Some jobs need less pressure and some need more, so just set it where it works best for you.
What perfect timing for an airbrush thread. Mine was acting up today, pulsating, even when flowing just water so I know it’s not a paint problem. Read somewhere that it may be seals going bad???
I realize in the end I will choose what works for me, however I thought I might get some starting points from the more experienced among us. Such as for structures I use …pressure, or for foliage I use …pressure. Or does one pressure fit all. Also do different paints require different pressure. Suggestions from others will hopefully speed up my learning proccess.
There is no single answer. It all depends on the paint you’re using, how it is thinned, how humid it is and what the ambient temperature is. Your best bet is to have a sample of the item you want to paint and play with the pressure setting until you are satisfied. Also, always remember to thuroughly clean out the airbrush everytime you use it.
Brent, have you looked through youtube videos? There are a LOT of great how to videos. I looked for acrylic based videos as I only can use non solvent paints.
Do a search in youtube for the “airbrush consortium”. Kind of a counter-cultural dude, but very instructive. He’s also a modeler primarily, so his stuff pertains to what we do.
There are a lot of similar people posting and it’s great to see what pressures and how thin they go, and what brands they use.
Maybe you’ve already done this, but if not, there’s always something cool to see.