Bought Airbrush Essentials...Now What?


B

bigB

Active Member
Hello,

Well I took the plunge and picked up a compressor and Im getting a Harbor Freight Airbrush for Father's Day. Did some searching online and decided to buy a water filter for the compressor as well.

I also did some research on paints--thinning it, what type to buy,etc.

I believe I have decided to go with acrylics. I have an upcoming project that I want to get started on, but between now and then I plan on doing alot of experimenting/get to know the brush.

I know enough to be dangerous I think. 20-30 psi, 60/40- 70/30 paint thinner mix, use distilled water or household products for thinning acrylics, etc. Clean everything after.

Ive done alot of searching on this forum, youtube, and google and alot of good but conflicting info has come up.

Anyone got any info/pointers? Im planning on starting with some PolyScale Acrylics bc they have the colors for my project. Like I said, Im going to get comfortable with the brush before I tackle the project.

Thanks,

Brad
 
bigB said:
Ive done alot of searching on this forum, youtube, and google and alot of good but conflicting info has come up.
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You've gotta love the interweb, huh?!...... There will always be "disagreement" in one form or another.....

My 02c;

- I'm with you on acrylics only thru the thing - Much easier to clean. And clean you need to - *Immediately* after you're done. Not after you've had a smoke and admired your work etc - *Immediately* :)
- Buy many paint jars that fit the gun. You will never have enough!
- Paint should typically be the consistency of skimmed milk - Very much depends on the paint how much thinner is needed. Some would say I waste money by using the specific manufacturers thinner - In the scheme of things it's cheap, and I know will work properly.
- As often said; "many light coats is better than a few heavy ones."
- In addition to the moisture trap you should also have an oil trap - These are often combined in one.
- Practice, practice, practice! ;)

Good luck, HTH,
Cheers,
Ian
 
If you don't have a spray booth, at least cut open a large cardboard box, to stop the overspray - it will travel a long way! Don't try painting one of your prized models at first, practice a whole lot on empty boxes or junk models, learning all the time.

Have fun!
 
Thanks for the advice guys, I really appreciate it.

Yep, Im going to be practicing on a bunch of junk first.
 
bigB said:
....Yep, Im going to be practicing on a bunch of junk first.
Click to expand...

Very good.

Remember that "preparation is everything!"

For valid results, that junk had better be prepared with the same care as your $1000 brass loco........

Cheers,
Ian
 
One other thing that I could suggest is a filter that goes in the airbrush bottle. Badger sells them. Nothing worse then a hunk of crud from the paint itself.
 
Well to have fun and get some practice, get a bottle of Pollyscale Rail Tie Brown and weather some cheap cars. That'll give you some practice at using the dual action nature of the airbrush. Once you get things going, you'll find it to be easy and enjoyable. Also when masking models, try the new Green Frog tape or the Dow Blue Painters Tape with "Edgelock". These tapes are designed to block paint from getting under the tape at small gaps around details, a big problem with most masking tapes.
 
Practice is the key. Get to know the gun. Kids coloring books are great to practice on, and cheaper than even junk freight cars.

You'll do fine.
 
funnelfan said:
Well to have fun and get some practice, get a bottle of Pollyscale Rail Tie Brown and weather some cheap cars. That'll give you some practice at using the dual action nature of the airbrush. Once you get things going, you'll find it to be easy and enjoyable. Also when masking models, try the new Green Frog tape or the Dow Blue Painters Tape with "Edgelock". These tapes are designed to block paint from getting under the tape at small gaps around details, a big problem with most masking tapes.
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Good idea on the rail tie brown. Ill try it.

Saw the frog tape the other day. looks like good stuff. I have some of the ultra nice Dow tape.

Thanks
 
Pretty good article. One tip: For oranges, yellows and other light colors, prime with Floquil foundation, or if you can't find that, Testors silver works great. It goes on very thin and covers well. And don't let anyone tell you that a single action gun is all you need. Airbrushes are very much a matter of taste, what feels good in your hand and is comfortable to use goes lots further than a particular brand or price point. If you like the HF cheapie, or like airbrushing, try a gravity feed airbrush. They are very easy to clean, no bottles or separate cups, and you can use just a few drops of paint if you want.
 
After reading the MRH article listed I couldn't help but wonder, nine coats of UP yellow? That had to be an impressive amount of film build. I have sprayed a lot of UP yellow and have almost never used more than two coats. Of course I spray a coat of MOW gray first as a base and I'm using Scalecoat II not acrylics. In my line of work, (I own an auto body shop) yellow is the most miserable of the bunch for coverage, but with the proper color undercoat, usually white or light gray, it's manageable.
I'm usually leery of magazine experts, some are very knowledgeable, others not so much. MR had an article about painting a brass caboose many, many moons ago, where the expert was telling you the "correct" way to paint brass, only to find out at the end of the article the caboose in question was his first brass car.
 
Dortoh1 said:
... MR had an article about painting a brass caboose many, many moons ago, where the expert was telling you the "correct" way to paint brass, only to find out at the end of the article the caboose in question was his first brass car.
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I remember that article, wasn't it part of the paintshop series? I had many questions and most of my questions from the article, as I read it was, "Why did he do that?". There was no way, I felt at the time and still do, that any painter with any real experience would have done the job as he did it.

I wrote a somewhat crusty letter to the editor, mostly about what he did, when he did it and how it was done. Needless to say, it wasn't answered.
 
The nine coats surprised me, and I applied them, over a Lark Lettering Light Gray primer. This was pretty early Polly Scale, after Polly S disappeared, and despite thorough mixing, it didn't even start to cover until about the fourth coat. Because I was trying to avoid build-up, the coats were very, very light. I built up coats until I couldn't see the intensity of the color change.

Scalecoat II covers much better, and Polly Scale bought more recently has covered better.

Here are easier-to-see photos: http://www.flickr.com/photos/74312783@N00/5325084186/in/set-72157623115283234 and http://www.flickr.com/photos/74312783@N00/5327181795/in/set-72157623115283234/

You'll note the delicate grille details aren't filled with yellow, or blocked up -- the coats went on light to avoid flooding them.

My '72 MG, fresh from the factory, had paint on the hood (bonnet) about an eighth of an inch thick. That was buildup.
 
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Cjcrescent said:
I wrote a somewhat crusty letter to the editor, mostly about what he did, when he did it and how it was done. Needless to say, it wasn't answered.
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I'm very familiar with "crusty" letters to MR. About a dozen years ago I helped a friend submit this, and about a dozen other photos of his layout to MR with the hope of someday getting the layout in the magazine, we received a letter from Andy Sperandeo saying that we needed to "bring the layout up to the next level". What you see in the photo is just a small part of a large basement sized layout. I've seen many layouts in MR that don't come anywhere near this one.
I did receive a letter back after I wrote several "crusty" letters complaining that all you ever saw in MR at the time were modules that had been photographed outside. Andy told me that it's harder to photograph outside than in. I replied that if it's easier inside, why bother taking the module outside in the first place. By this time I was heading the letters it "Module Railroader" Don't get me wrong there is nothing wrong with a module. I was just tired of seeing them win the photo contest over and over again.
Sorry to hijack this thread it is just a sore subject with me.


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Hey how are most of you guys cleaning your airbrush? Water after acyrlics and just plain thinner/whatever you use for thinner with enamels/lacquers?

Thanks,

Brad
 
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I empty the gun, spray thinner until it shoots clear, then pull the needle and wipe it off. I seldom disassemble the gun, and then only if I make a mistake, like getting called away for what I thought was going to be a minute or two and turned into two hours. :eek:

Many folks here seem to be using the Harbor freight El-Cheapo which is a siphon feed gun. On these you also have to make sure the coupling and the cup or bottle is clean.

I have switched over to gravity feed except for very large jobs. The cup is on top of the gun. You can shoot at lower pressures and just put in a couple of drops of paint if you want. There is much finer control, and they are easier to clean.

If shooting solvent based paints, I use lacquer thinner. With acrylics I use either ammonia free windex or alcohol, sepending on the paint. Polyscale and the Badger paints get windex. Tamiya gets alcohol. This depends on what thinner the paint manufacturer uses. If all else fails and you aren't sure, you can buy their thinner, or you can put some unthinned paint on a toothpick and dip it in the thinner you want to try. If the paint stays on the toothpick, try another thinner. Water does work on acrylics but takes longer and does not flush out residual particles as well.

Note that this is what works for me. Other painters may have their own methods that work just as well for them.
 
A few more things. If your using solvent based paints wear nitrile gloves. Some solvent will go right through latex. You are probably never going to use enough to hurt you, but why risk it. You also stay nice and clean. If you think you are going to do much painting build yourself a cheap spray booth.
Here is one I built. It does not need to be this fancy, wood will do just fine.
View attachment 26488 View attachment 26489
 
Got home today and got the HF Airbrush out. Realized I needed an male/female adapter for it so ran to HF and bought $15 of more stuff for it and some paint supplies. Practiced with water for awhile, then practiced mixing up some acrylic paint. Just made a simple 'fade' type white with a dab of burnt umber with it. Practiced on cardboard for a bit. Then took an crappy gondola I have and practiced on it.

Man, Im sold! Its alot of fun.

Clean up was easy.

For anyone sitting on the fence on airbrushing, I say go for it. It is a great tool and is so far pretty easy to use.
 
Good deal!!! Best piece of advice I can add to all of the previous, patience!!! Light coats, don't try to rush it, let it dry overnight, slow and steady.
 
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