discussion Airbrushing?

[Guest]

Alan I found the actual spraying bit OK. The bit that is more difficult is regulating the amount of paint you release at which distance. Also to see infinite progress in one session & find the curtains forming in the paint.

Next keep the brush more than scruplously clean stir the paint & get the right consistency of paint by thinning. If you get this right you are a good way home.

And another. Make sure that the part to be painted is free from grease & clean. I use a tack rag just before airbrushing which I lightly dust over the surface to pick up hairs.

In short get the above right & it is nearly a "doddle". It is all simple stuff but needs all the above

Every one who uses an airbrush will give out practice practice practice & much more practice.

It is a challenge, I found, but as Colin says it is really worth all that & what you can do as seen by the experts. Go for it Alan as you will be very pleased.

Just a thought. My opinion go for two stage brush with gravity feed. Started with one exactly the opposite single stage & the paint pot underneath the brush pulling the paint up. Complete frustration (for me).

Laurie

 

[Guest]

Have just seen a tank compressor with two airbrushes on eBay for under £70. Perhaps a good way to start? Here's the link

This compressor looks exactly like the one that I bought in March (from somewhere else). It is excellent, and very popular with lots of sellers. The eBay deal includes a hose and two ABs. The price is good.

My compressor came with a free AB which would have cost £16 separately. It was quite cheaply made but it worked OK for practicing on but after I had used it for a couple of months I got a much better one which was easier to clean and just better made but the cheaper one was useful for learning on. The larger of the two ABs has a 0.35 mm nozzle. Most advice here says to use a 0.4 mm size for a beginner because it blocks less easily (for example, if you haven't cleaned the AB after each use or not thinned the paint when it needed thinning). But 0.35 mm seems OK. Both have dual action which is good.

The deal on eBay looks very good to me, if you have the £66.49. I would go for it, myself.

Even with a compressor (compared to a gas can) airbrushing is a technique to be learned with practice. It took me a few months but, in some miraculous way, it just came together and I can reliably apply colour paint (I use acrylics) to produce a very good smooth finish (although varnish took longer to master). Thin the paint by about 10% to a "milk consistency", use about 20 PSI pressure from the compressor, pull the trigger back fully (or almost) and hold the AB about 9 inches from the model (or practice surface). Start the spray away from the part and keep spraying after you have made the last pass. This is to reduce sputtering which, (for me at least) tends to happen when the paint stream starts or stops. For colour (varnish is different) spray a light coat then when it has more-or-less dried, after 5 minutes (for acrylic) give a second then perhaps a third coat. Don't let a colour coat look wet. If it does, you have overdone it.

 

[Guest]

This compressor looks exactly like the one that I bought in ...........

I have just noticed that the AB with the jar (rather than the cup in the other one) has the larger nozzle (0.35). I have no experience of using an AB with a jar but I think it behaves like one with a cup.( I think the jar is used by people using a lot of paint at one time, more than a scale modeller would normally use.)