Airbrushing

[AirMedical]

Hey Gang,

I finally picked up a dbl. action airbrush. After a few years of talking about it, I done, did, do it.

All those years of canning it will be a thing of the past.

So, I have some questions once again. The same questions I have asked way, way, ways back. So I will throw out a series of questions. Here we go!

1.) Thinning paint. Is there a viscosity dip gauge that is available? or how do you go about obtain the apropriate viscosity airbrushing?

2.) After the final painting and decaling. What is the best for sealing the model? Is it typical clear finish coats? (gloss, satin, etc.)

3.) How many jars do you have for spraying different colors? (Curious)

4.) Has anyone ever used automotive paints with success? Laqurs or urethanes? Any problems with it attacking the plastic? It's hard to find pretty colors in hobby paints. LOL!

5.) Do you use single action airbrushes for common solid base coatings? (primer, white, etc.)

I don't have a spray booth nor will I afford one any time soon so I will have to do my airbrushing out in the garage and not in the basement. Yes, I have a mask and goggles and access to huge boxes which would make a great non-vented spray booth.

Anything else you might be able to shed some light on; It would be helpful to me.

Thanks in advance!

John

Moving on to the next step of ultimate model building!!!

Edited January 30, 2010 by AirMedical

[shark 64]

Hey Gang,

I finally picked up a dbl. action airbrush. After a few years of talking about it, I done, did, do it.

All those years of canning it will be a thing of the past.

So, I have some questions once again. The same questions I have asked way, way, ways back. So I will throw out a series of questions. Here we go!

1.) Thinning paint. Is there a viscosity dip gauge that is available? or how do you go about obtain the apropriate viscosity airbrushing?

2.) After the final painting and decaling. What is the best for sealing the model? Is it typical clear finish coats? (gloss, satin, etc.)

3.) How many jars do you have for spraying different colors? (Curious)

4.) Has anyone ever used automotive paints with success? Laqurs or urethanes? Any problems with it attacking the plastic? It's hard to find pretty colors in hobby paints. LOL!

5.) Do you use single action airbrushes for common solid base coatings? (primer, white, etc.)

I don't have a spray booth nor will I afford one any time soon so I will have to do my airbrushing out in the garage and not in the basement. Yes, I have a mask and goggles and access to huge boxes which would make a great non-vented spray booth.

Anything else you might be able to shed some light on; It would be helpful to me.

Thanks in advance!

John

Moving on to the next step of ultimate model building!!!

Hi John.

A new world just opened for you. You are probably going to get a lot of different tips on this thread( i sure hope so) .

I will answer the questions , please keep in mind that these answers are connected to the way I do my painting and the way I use my airbrush.

1/ When i am mixing paint I always refer to being close to viscosity of coffee. Please dont mix color in your airbrush jar.

2/ After decals I always seal with a glossy finish then do the wash then I will use a flat coat all over my model.

3/ Depends on how many colors you are painting.

4/ never used auto paint or lacquers or any oli based paints.

5/ all my paint work is used with a double action airbrush. A 0.35 needle does most of the tricks.

I dont have a spray booth either. You are to be careful with dust in a garage...might end up on your paint job. If paiting in garage I would vave some kinf plastic container to cover model after paint job.

There is some exercises you can do with airbrushes. I would get a book on airbrush 101. Know you airbrush( taking it apart. cleaning, storage ect...) And practice, practice, practice.

Good luck. BTW what airbrush did you get.? Are you using Co2 tank or compressor ?

Oliver

[Albert Moore]

As with anything else, your mileage may vary;

#1- I mix my paints in a 30% thinner to 70% paint when comes to flats, a 50-50 mix for glosses. I look for a milk-like consistency more or less. Also, I use mainly lacquer thinner for my solvent based paints.

#2- It depends on the subject. Military models get a flat coat (unless it's a glossy scheme), production cars get a high gloss clear coat (for waxing and high luster shine- just a preference of mine), and race car models never get a gloss coat (keeps a realistic finish between the glossy car paint and the semi-gloss/matte graphics). I like to use Model Master Acryl clear flat, and auto based lacquer gloss coats.

#3 I have around seven or eight jars that get used at various times.

#4 I prefer automotive lacquers for my car models as it dries harder, take well to polishing with various grade polishing clothes, and its gas out/cure rate is much faster than enamels. Hotter paints (i.e. lacquers and the like) do attack the plastic, so a primer coat/sealer is necessary to protect the plastic.

#5 I use the same airbrush for all applications.

#6 I do not have a spray booth either. I do all of my major painting in my hobby room, with the windows open and when everyone is gone. I hope to invest in a spray booth one of these days.

Like Oliver said, the big thing is to practice, practice, and practice before tackling a major project. Use water for practice at first to get a feel for how to spray and how to operate your airbrush so that way you become familiar with how it works. Also, maintenance is just as important. Make sure you clean it out every time it is used. I just spray thinner through it while I'm working generally but once a project is completed, I take mine apart and clean it thoroughly.

Once you get it figured out you'll wonder how you ever got by without an airbrush.

HTH,

Alby

Edited January 31, 2010 by Albert Moore

[Joseph Osborn]

John,

Here's a line of automotive-grade paints that work great for airbrushing models:

http://www.autoaircolors.com/

You may be able to find some suitable paints to replicate those colorful helicopters that you like to build

Joseph

[Tank]

As for decals,I hand brush Future,let cure for 2 days,then shoot flat or semi-gloss clear to seal them up.

One of the guys in my club does not like future, so he mixes in 25% Polly Scale, Clear Gloss with his flat colors. After the decals he sprays a mixture of 50% Polly Scale, Clear Flat and Clear Satin on the model. Most of things I have finished (yes, I have finished a few) I use dry transfers so I have not played with either method.

Another small trick that was told to me that does work. I was having issues getting a good flow with the airbrush. Seems I was not mixing the paint in the jar well enough before adding it to my airbrush cup. I was using a round toothpick for the job. Another club member suggested a nail. I mixed a little bit longer but for me it did the trick to get results I like better.

HTH

[Leon]

Hello John,

You are about to rediscover modelling, such a big difference does an airbrush make..

There are about as many opinions and "preferred" techniques as there are airbrushes, because each airbrush has it's quirks, do's and dont's, and advantages and drawbacks.

I would like to add from my experience, with only a few of my opninions:

1. Thin to consistancy of skimmed to semi-skimmed (is that the term?) milk.

2. Lower airpressure is better.

3. Prime your model. It brings out the little flaws that cannot be seen before a layer of paint is applied.

4. A few thin layers give a better result than one thick one.

5. Let your brush blow air against your cheek just before you add paint to the cup. That way you will develop a 'feel' for the correct airpressure, and in time will be able to set ik correctly just by feeling the air against your cheek.

Some of the things I use:

-Tamiya acrylics thinned with Tamiya thinner, or Isopropyl alcohol. In any case, I always add a tiny amount of retarder. The exception is Mr. Surfacer 1200, which I thin to almost watery cinsistancy for priming my models. For all of these, I clean the airbrush with acetone.

-Humbrol, Revell, Heller, and Xtracolor thinned with paint thinner (the strong 'hot' stuff). I clean with the same thinner or terpentine.

-Xtracrylics with brand thinner, or Tamiya thinner. I clean with acetone.

-Gloss coat with un-thinned decanted Krylon gloss (the most underrated modelling product of all times), I clean with acetone.

-I disassemble and completely clean my airbrush (Harder & Steenbeck Infinity) about once everey ten sessions.

HTH,

Cheers,

Leon

[AirMedical]

Hey Guys

Thanks so much for taking the time to reply to my question. I am grateful!!!

For years I have wanted to airbrush. Since the 80's. I have an old single action badger my brother gave me from the mid 80's. It just sat in storage.

Then I picked up a Dbl. Action Central Pneumatic back in the 90's to give it a shot. That too ended up in my clutter of storage. (I nevr had or got an air compressor) This past Janurary, I read an atricle in an airbrush magazine wirrten by a young man (Chris) in my town, who I remembered in the 80's when he was a little guy, I was always watching his late father (Jim) for years on the fair circuit doing t-shirts and his dad having a local airbrush store in the 90's.

Chris wrote an interesting article on the $15 Central Pneumatic Deluxe Dbl. action airbrush. He compared it to a cross between the Iwata and the Pacshae airbrush. His review was highly recommended. He now uses it for his professional work as does another airbrush artist he mentiontd it to. There was another article in the magazine he wrote show step illustrasions in which he also used the Central Pnumatic. I was sold! I picked up the db. action Central Pneumatic Deluxe. I will me picking up a 1/4 in. reducer, some M/FM quick connects, extra jars and lids and some extra hose. I may pick up a small air compressor as the one I have is a pig 10 gallon.

I don't know exactly what took me so long. Boy, the information you all provided is very helpful. This is going to be fun. I'm clearly going to have to make an airbrush file and copy and past all the information you guys posted. Since I got back into the modeling, you all have always been a wealth of knowledge.

I can't wait to get up and running and pratice, practice, practice! I hope to post more finished work soon.

KEEP THE RESPONSES COMING!!!

Thanks again

Warm regards always

John

Edited January 31, 2010 by AirMedical

[Tank]

I would try to reach out to Chris and see if he can help. It is one thing to read about how to, it's another to get hands on help.

[AirMedical]

LOL! I called and spoke with Chris lastnight. Real nice guy!

Helpful on basics, equipment, accesories and automotive paints But he's not a model builder.

He's wanting to see some of my work when I'm up and running.

Cheers :)

[Retired GunPilot]

Hey Gang,

I finally picked up a dbl. action airbrush. After a few years of talking about it, I done, did, do it.

All those years of canning it will be a thing of the past.

So, I have some questions once again. The same questions I have asked way, way, ways back. So I will throw out a series of questions. Here we go!

1.) Thinning paint. Is there a viscosity dip gauge that is available? or how do you go about obtain the apropriate viscosity airbrushing?

Hello John. Your question on thinning paint is a good question and took me forever to figure it out; and I doubt I have it down to a science yet. Anyway, when you ask that basic question, you always get replies like get it to the same viscosity of 2 percent milk or other exotic receipe. Well my question is how do you determine the same viscosity? I have found the easiest way to figure that out is get you a small cup of 2% milk and when you are mixing your paint, dip a toothpick in the milk and use another toothpick to dip into your paint as you thin it. When the two toothpicks drip equally, you basically have the same viscousity. Once I figured that out my air brushing improved dramatically. I noticed that a 2% milk viscousity about equals no dripping as you pull the toothpick out of the solution..the viscousity is so thin that very little liguid adheres to the toothpick to drip off as it is pulled from the solution. I hope this information helps you out.

Goodluck

Charlie

[hooknladderno1]

Hi John,

I too have been playing around with airbrushes off and on for years. Got really comfortable with spray cans for my automotive emergency vehicle subjects. As I am now seriously getting into rotorcraft, I have been investigating and playing around with the airbrushes. I actually have three... There is a wealth of information both in the Tools n' Tips section here, and the Finescale Modeler website under Painting. I have been enjoying learning with Tamiya paints, Polly Scale clears, and some of the Testors Acryls and Enamels. I have also recently looked into Vallejo paints, as they have a shade that I believe is close to a match for the project of the aircraft that I fly on. There is also a company called Model Car World Automotive Finishes. Obviously, they focus on automotive subjects, but they can custom mix lacquer paints in 2 oz. pre-thinned jars for airbrushing. The challenge is that they can sometimes not find a match for certain colors. I am waiting to hear back to see if they can match the above mentioned project. One thing that I have done is begun practicing on empty water bottles. For the acrylic paints, I have found that adding a retarder and flow aid to ease the airbrushing of them. There are several posts on the subject. Look forward to seeing updates on your projects!

David

Edited February 1, 2010 by hooknladderno1

[Anthony in NZ]

Hi John

Sorry mate, I only just saw this thread.

Most has already been said and I dont have anything much extra to add.

One thing I will say is that I use automotive laquers or Mr Color laquer. I find that their pigment is super fine and leaves a silky smooth finish if sprayed correctly. You really cant go wrong if you spray it at a low pressure (I usually spray about 20psi) and thinned right down. I have no formulas to thinning, generally I can kinda tell (sorry that is not much help) but it is pretty thin, almost waterlike. The beauty with laquers is that it is quite an opaque paint and you can get great dense coverage without being too thick, thin it even more and you can do amazing post shading that can be almost indecernable, to quite prominent. Experiment is the name of the game.

I also spray with a AAA laquer thinner. The AAA dries a squillienth of a second slower than AA and so settles nicely on the surface. Be warned though that you will have to have a near perfect surface as laquers show every mark and imperfection.......but well worth the result as well as being super hard on the surface and instantly dry. I have often been asked how I get my finishes so smooth. I have often sprayed enamel over top and even finished with a final satin coat of a mix of Poly Scale matt and satin.

I ended up with laquers as I never really had sucess with Acrylics, and I had a friend who used laquers with great results, so I use mostly laquers and sometimes enamels.

Oh and like the others said............a thin layer of primer sprayed on first is a good idea. I use thinned Mr Surfacer 1200...........mmmm I didnt think I had much to add????

Welcome to the world of airbrushing, you will never go back!

Cheers

Anthony

[ice225]

First I have to say, that I'm an airbrush-noob, too since I started airbrushing last autumn.

1.) Thinning paint. Is there a viscosity dip gauge that is available? or how do you go about obtain the apropriate viscosity airbrushing?

Like milk - or thinner.

2.) After the final painting and decaling. What is the best for sealing the model? Is it typical clear finish coats? (gloss, satin, etc.)

A shiny coat can easily look a bit toy-like. Nevertheless some models will need it. I prefer Flat or satin varnish and my actual weapon of choice are the varnishes from xtracrylics. Easy to handle and hard as stone after drying.

3.) How many jars do you have for spraying different colors? (Curious)

None - I use syringes. You have a scale to measure the amount of color and thinner and you can even use them to store mixed colour by closing them with a toothpick.

4.) Has anyone ever used automotive paints with success? Laqurs or urethanes? Any problems with it attacking the plastic? It's hard to find pretty colors in hobby paints. LOL!

Nope.

5.) Do you use single action airbrushes for common solid base coatings? (primer, white, etc.)

Nope - I use my Harder & Steenbeck Evolution for all jobs. For primer or future I sometimes use the bigger nozzle.

I don't have a spray booth nor will I afford one any time soon so I will have to do my airbrushing out in the garage and not in the basement. Yes, I have a mask and goggles and access to huge boxes which would make a great non-vented spray booth.

I can only recommend a spray booth. I use a foldable spray booth in my apartment and have no problems with color-dust flying around.

Anything else you might be able to shed some light on; It would be helpful to me.

- I clean the whole model with Isopropanol before laying the first layer of paint. It will remove grease and oil and will make the color stick much better to the model.

[AirMedical]

Hey Gang,

I just wanted to thank everyone again for taking the time to reply to my inquire and sharing their experiance and techniques. All have been a very helpful in getting me started and am looking forward to putting your help to use. I just picked up some extra bottles and other airbrushing goodies today. So hopefully and I do mean hopefully, within the next couple months, I'll be up and running.

Thanks again everyone! I'm very grateful!

Cheers

John

Edited February 13, 2010 by AirMedical

[richuk]

Something I've always wondered about airbrushing is don't you go through loads more paint as you musn't use all the paint in the pot. Do you store it , in which case you must end up with loads of pots of mixed paints. As you can guess, I use bristles.

Rich

[Patrick_Nevin]

Something I've always wondered about airbrushing is don't you go through loads more paint as you musn't use all the paint in the pot. Do you store it , in which case you must end up with loads of pots of mixed paints. As you can guess, I use bristles.

Rich

I'd imagine measuring the stuff accurately is one of those skills you acquire with experience. Personally, I haven't got this yet and hence own a small tray of 35mm film canisters with various quantities of thinned paint in them. Most seem to be re-usable for quite a while afterward (so actually this is a good thing) though admittedly some brands/colours do seem to deteriorate when kept thinned...

I seem to use about as much paint airbrushing as when I was brush painting. It's just mottling etc is a whole lot more fun. Either way, paint costs are nothing compared to the effects of cyano glue going off, in my opinion. Now that IS irritating :)

Patrick

[richuk]

Do you have to have special airbrush paints? Most of my paints are Valejo but just the normal kind, so could you use these?

Rich

[Tank]

Do you have to have special airbrush paints? Most of my paints are Valejo but just the normal kind, so could you use these?

Rich

I would think you could but you would have to thin it more. Their model air line works very nice, IMHO.

[richuk]

Sorry to hi-jack your post again John, but while we're on the subject of airbrushes, what do the experienced airbrushers out there think of this deal on Ebay. I'm thinking of buying it but not sure if the products are any good.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie...e=STRK:MEWAX:IT

Many thanks,

Rich

[AirMedical]

LOL! It's cool. Keep it going. I'm learning too.

Cheers