Bought Airbrush Essentials...Now What?


i started off with a HF cheap thingy. it actually worked well for what i needed to. later i received a box of old gravity fed badgers and wow! like Alan said so much easier to work with, clean and less wasted paint. once you get used to it consider getting gravity fed brush.

very good advice on spray booth. in my case i used carton box, cut out a hole for cheapest toilet vent from menards, put filter in front of it. during use the flexible air pipe discharges the fumes outside via crack open garage door.
 
Got some floquil enamels the other day. Experimenting around, and I got a bit of a grainy finish on some of my pieces. Any ideas whats causing that? I have a moisture filter hooked up to my compressor. Maybe impurities in the paint? I cleaned and primed my painting surface.

Thanks
 
Do you have a picture? It could be any number of issues, to include overspray falling back onto the model, especially if you aren't using a booth. Could be to heavy of a paint mixture, needing more thinner ... but it will depend on the photo.
 
A grainy finish sounds like too much air -- the paint is drying before it reaches the surface of the work. You could either reduce the air pressure slightly or adjust the needle so the brush sprays a little 'wetter."

I had a couple covered hoppers that came out looking like velour once.


Joe in Portland
 
The picture I took was just with my phone, and it doesnt show much detail. Alright, Ill turn down the pressure from 25psi to 20 and see what happens. The paint looks to be thinned well enough (looks like whole milk and thinned per manufacturers instructions and products).

Thanks,

Brad
 
20 psi ought to be enough for Floquil; you could even drop to 15 and see how it sprays. Acrylics are more dense and take more air to spray.

Jeff Wilson's airbrushing book from Kalmbach has very good trouble-shooting steps and initial settings for most popular paints. At $4 a bottle, it's paid for itself in not-wasted paint at my house.
 
Dry spray. You're too far from the work surface and the paint is drying before it hits the surface. The paint should go on wet, but not so heavy that it runs. 25 psi is fine for Floquil. I shoot it there. Try getting the gun tip around 2-3 inches from the surface you're painting. Experiment a little. you'll pick up the touch. Floquil is a flat finish paint. You'll have to apply a clear gloss coat if you want a shiny finish for decaling.
 
Excellent, thanks Alan and all. Appreciate it!

As luck would have it, I had to leave my house for 3 days so Ill have to wait til I get back Sunday to experiment some more.

Take care,



Brad
 
Ok, I got back from my trip and got the airbrush out this AM. Applied everyone's pointers and I have much improved results. Awesome results actually. Ive started to paint my undecorated engine now and its underway. Ill post some pictures when its done/nearing completion.

Thanks again,

Brad
 
Pictures dont do it justice. Its not perfect, but Im really happy with it.

Started life as an undecorated HO Kato SD70MAC. Turning into a CSX YN/3 Flared Radiator #4732 with Tsunami Sound.
 
sorry, this way it is really hard to appreciate the work done. pictured don't do justice since they don't show the part at all. look carefully, instead of focusing on the subject you did so on the background (table behind). how about putting the part on something instead of holding it. try enabling macro focus. you also may want to try and put your camera on something.

it is a digital cam, no film used. for the same cost of 0$ you could have attempted to correct and shoot again :)
 
Sorry about that. Those pictures sucked, taken with a Blackberry, quick and dirty.

Here are some better ones that hopefully show better detail.
 
Nice

As long as it's smooth and even, you're gold.

I often keep a cast-off carbody handy before starting a critical project like a detailed locomotive. It lets you see how the paint lays down on prepped styrene before committing to the 'big' project. Some people can spray on a sheet of card and tell how the airbrush is behaving.

It's a good feeling to know you're not dependent on the manufacturers to produce the equipment you want.
 
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