Dual Action airbrush from Home depot?????

Model Railroader Layouts and layout building
1

HI,

I am a beginner and want to start using the airbrush for structures & weathering cars. I know a lot of people said not to go with Dual-Action right away, but some say, don’t waste the money when your going to up-grade anyways. Can someone comment on this airbrush from Home depot. Is this sufficient for what I need it for? Also, what accessories do I need with it?

One last thing, do I really need a spray booth? or do people just use it in the basement?

http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?jspStoreDir=hdus&catalogId=10053&productId=202201820&navFlow=3&keyword=airbrush&langId=-1&searchRedirect=airbrush&storeId=10051&endecaDataBean=com.homedepot.sa.el.wc.integration.endeca.EndecaDataBean%403b96cb46&ddkey=Search

Thanks.

2

I don’t know about that airbrush, I have a cheapy testors model I would like to upgrade, so those that say spend the extra money to begin with are correct.

BUT: you should have a spray booth VENTED TO THE OUTSIDE, ESPECIALLy if you use laquer paints. DON’T “just use it in the basement”

You can build a spray booth out of a large double corugated cardboard boX like I did attatch a hi flow exhaust fan to it to the outside through a winow or other opening. Be sure to put a filter in front of the fan to keep from gunking it up, and a lamp in the booth so you can see.

I only use my box outside as I don’t have a way to vent to the otside and live in a trailer.

3

Get a name brand that you can buy parts and accessories for. Get a Paasche Professional VL Airbrush Kit or something similar. This will spray acrylics and solvent based paints by changing the needles and tips. Most cheap airbrushes are set up for solvent based paints only.

4

I am just starting to learn to airrush. What I have learned so far:

  1. I like it.

  2. I wish I had the top gravity flow type and a place to clean it. Doing small jobs with multiple colors is a pain with having to change the bottle and clean the brush with each color.

  3. I have a single stage and it seems ok, but I have friends who say you can do more with the double stage, though they didn’t tell me that when I was buying stuff.

  4. I built a spray booth and used a stove exhaust fan with a filter and use it inside, BUT, I don’t spray solvent paints. Friends tell me that this could explode if I sprayed a lot of solvent based paints, so I don’t.

  5. I bought my little compressor from Harbor Freights and it seems to be fine.

5

For the price, it looks good. They key here is if will spray a very fine pattern. It does look like a re-packaged Badger brush. All of the normal air brushes will spray solvent or acrylic paints. Mixing the paints is the key to getting them airbrush ready. From my experience, solvent based paints have been my first choice. I have been using acrylic for the past year and and really like them. Floquil sprays good, but you must thin it down with lacquer thinner to a ‘milky’ consistancey. Floquil is all over as far as ‘air brush’ ready. Each color is different(and that goes for their acrylic Polly S paint as well).

My favorite paint right now is Badger acrylic - it is ‘air brush ready’ out of the bottle. They key with any acrylic is to clean up the air brush as soon as you stop painting The acrylic dries very fast and is hard to clean out out later(I know). The best part of acrylic is the loss of ‘fumes’. If you are painting with solvent based paint, you will need an exhaust hood. Mine is home made using an old kitchen range hood - I never had an ‘explosion’ in the 20+ years of spraying solvent based paint. Just start the blower before you paint. With acrylic, an old cardboard box will work. But, a good exhaust hood is really the best way to paint.

Jim

6

As others have stated here, get a good quality airbrush right off of the hop, and READ the instructions.

I built my booth from plywood, installed lighting, and used a 200CFM exhaust fan I scrounged from my
“bad parts” box. Make it big enough to satisfy your needs. I also found it neccessary, in my case, to install some flood lighting outside pointing into the enclosure. Take care not to induce shadows, as this will aggravate hell out of you!
One thing I will mention: If you do build a booth, it might be a wise idea to make provisions to seal the light; especially if you are using solvent materials that are flammable. If you are really gung ho about it, look up NEC art 500, wshich deals with hazardous materials. Also, do keep the booth clean; which means wiping the inside down and vacuuming it out periodically, lest some peice of “stuff” falls onto your work, immensely ruining your day; that is because cleanliness is next to Godliness…(COL)

Back to brushes again: Paasche is an excellent investment, as they work very well and tend to leave you alone as long as they are kept clean. If you can, get the two styles they have, as well as spare needles, o-rings, etc, as these parts will wear out. Get yourself a supply of surgical rubber latex gloves also (I steal mine from the hoispital), as well as a really good respirator. Make sure you also have a decent supply of clean air. Lastly, do NOT spray alcohol. This stuff can creep up on you and really make life bad for you.

Happy Motoring

Rich

EF-3 yellowjacket

7

Thanks for all the reply’s. I will start off by making a box, but don’t have the vent hood yet.

Can I spray cheap Acrylic paints from Walmart?, I would just thin these down with water right? Otherwise I will look into that Badger Acrylics, but don’t have anywhere around here to get them.

Thanks,

mj

8

Before you jump too far into this, I suggest you start out with the simple material. You mentioned Badger acrylics. That is a good choice! As you get acclimated into this stuff, you can become adventurous; but for now, stick with simplicity; you won’t get discouraged.

Rich

9

I know you’ll hear all kinds of pros and cons about using water vs alcohol. I thin my acrylics with rubbing alcohol. I find that the paint flows better than using water. The paint DOES dry faster, especially around the spray nozzle. It cleans right up with alcohol, pipe cleaners and Q-tips, though. The cheap acrylics from Walmart work well, but they require more thinning than the modeling paints. I use one of those paint stirrers from Micro-Mark; they work great!!

10

My strong recommendation before you spend any money is get yourself on an airbrush course. There are plenty of courses specifically for models be it railroading, cars, military, airplanes etc.

Get some professional advice as to what’s best for you given your circumstances, (e.g. how much do you want to spend, where will you be airbrushing, how often will you paint, how many cars will you weather etc.).

Practice with their brushes and their paints. And ask as many questions as you can whilst you’re there.

Best, Ian

11

I have a Badger “Crescendo” bottom feed dual-action internal mix airbrush & set that I used a 50% off coupon from Michaels. At the time it was listed at $109. so it was $54.50 + tax. I know it is listed for more as this was about 7yrs ago, but still if you use the 50% off coupon you get a great airbrush + all that comes in the set, hose, jars, color cup, different nozzles ect.

12

Hi Tomkat,

Thanks for the info, I just looked and in my Sunday paper there is a coupon for a 50% off at Michaels. I will do that. Do you know which model you have? 155, or 175? Also, Should i get the moisture & regulator?

Thanks,

mj

13

Regulator is a must, moisture trap is a super good idea, especially when using a compressor. The regulator keeps you from using way too much pressure, and when using a compressor, you WILL pick up moisture from the air and eventually get droplets mixed in with the paint, which can make a mess of the paint job.

14

Just putting in my $.02. I bought a single action which was ok. Bought the Harbor Freight Dual action for about $30. Even though I’m far from an expert, I found it relatively easy to use and would recommend going with the dual action. It takes a little experimentation and practice but for simple painting and weathering you should figure it out pretty quickly. Not only experimenting with the air brush andair pressure, but also learning to thin the paint and adjusting technique accordingly.

Besides Harbor Freight I believe the Badger website has used or rebuilt airbrushes for sale at good prices.

As for a compressor I bought a oil less compressor with a 2 1/2 gallon resivoir and regulator for under $100 at Home Depot. Didn’t have any particular make in mind only looked for what was on sale. I run it till the resivoir is at about 100 psi, turn it off and I have plenty of air to do painting. Being able to regulate the air pressure as well as controlling it from the air brush has improved the quality of my work.

Mark

15

Ok, went and bought myself the Badger Crescendo 175-7 today [8D]. I have this air compressor

http://www.homedepot.com/h_d1/N-5yc1vZ1xkk/R-100672214/h_d2/ProductDisplay?langId=-1&storeId=10051&catalogId=10053

This does have a regulator on it, where I can go down to whatever I would like. Do I have to buy a separate one, or can I just use the regulator on the compressor?

Thanks.

16

Just use the regulator on the compressor if it is capable of going between 20 and 30 psi you should be good to go.

Chris

17

I have an instructional article on airbrushing that suggests starting practice with the airbrush using art inks, such as India ink instead of paints. Might be cheaper that way while learning the brush operation, especially with double acting airbrushes. They also suggest after learning how to control path widths, try doing some drawing and writing.

18

I have a second pressure regulator mounted on top of my spray booth so it makes it very convenient to adjust the pressure without having to go to the compressor. The second regulator is much more finely tuned than the compressor regulator so small adjustments are easy. It came with a Badger 200.3 airbrush (a long time ago).

The one thing that I don’t see in the Home Depot offering is a moisture trap. When your compressor is compressing air it also has the effect of ‘squeezing’ moisture out of the air. This moisture accumulates in the air tank. At times the turbulance in the air tank will force some of the water into the output line. Without a moisture trap that water will come through the air brush resulting in droplets of water being deposited on the surface you are painting. If you are using solvent based paints the result is a disaster! Even if you are using water based paints the droplets will ruin the finish. Moisture traps are not expensive but they do prevent a lot of problems.

By the way, one of the things you should do with your compressor each time you use it is to open the drain cock on the bottom of the tank and let off the pressure. This will also drain any moisture in the tank. If you leave the moisture in the tank it may cause rust which could block your air flow and render the compressor useless. When draining the tank, leave the valve open for a while. The escaping air has the tendancy to drop the temperature of the valve rapidly with the result that the escaping moisture will freeze thus blocking the air flow. The air will apparently stop flowing because of the frost but if you leave it for a few seconds the frost will melt and the air will continue to release. This cycle will continue until the tank is empty.

Dave

19

Hi guys,

Thanks so much for all the information. I will be getting both the regulator & the moisture trap. I just didn’t know I needed them. I was going to use the valve on the bottom to get rid of the moisture, but why not for the price, plus I didn’t know if it would work really. Is there a specific one I should get?

I tried it last night with just air, and the compressor seems to work perfectly, I dialed it around 23psi & it works great. I’m really excited to paint. FOR THOSE OF YOU THAT USE CHEAP ACRYLIC PAINT, PLEASE LET ME KNOW THE OPTIMUM MIXING SOLUTION.

Thanks.

20

Dave;

Go to Micromark’s catalogue and you will, I believe, find moisture traps there. They are an important part of good airbrushing.

RIch