Airbrush recommendations

[uncletony]

No rubber/teflon seals on a VL -- at least not in the forward section -- I haven't used an H in a loooong time (high school art department had some) -- I don't remember them having such? Or maybe they've changed.

There might be a rubber seal in the air valve (part 25 below) -- I can't remember, been awhile since I took the air inlet valve apart (usually not necessary) -- but it stays out of the hot sauce always.



Here's an H diagram -- possibly part 5 is not metal? Hard to believe they would make it out of something that isn't impervious to solvent on the hot end of the thing...

EDIT: OOOOH I see, there is an O-ring, part 2. Depends on what it is made of, or keep a large supply of those on hand if they start to swell (hopefully a common size you can get in bulk from somewhere like McMaster Carr etc)

[pepperman42]

Thanks Bo - yup rubber o ring on the H. I use blow back with Laq thin but the o ring is far enough back that it doesnt goo- i - fy. The all metal VL does appeal though.....they make a sound, robust airbrush.

[IvotB]

I guess all useful advice has already been given in this thread. I can only add my own experience. I have been using a Badger 150 for more than 15 years until it had to be replaced as the thing couldn't be put together again. I used to clean this airbrush after every session by taking it apart. That was the only way for me to keep it working without problems. I did find that this airbrush was very sensitive for the correct thickness of the paint. If it wasn't thinned enough it started to clog the outer part of the brush, which was mostly followed with splashes of paint.

I had to buy a new one anyway, so I went to the local airbrush dealer who gave me a lot of useful advice. I wanted to by a Harder and Steenbeck as I had read a lot of positive reviews about this brand. My dealer however strongly advised against it, because he had had a lot of complaints and parts failure. He then demonstrated an Iwata Eclipse HP-BCSo me and I bought this one. Since then I enjoyed airbrushing much more than before. It is easy to handle, is much less sensitive to the correct thinning of the paint and it extremely easy to maintain. Just let a little bit of thinner spray through the brush after every session, then hold your finger to the top and let the air bubbles flow through the thinner bottle, thus drying the airbrush. Only once a year I take the brush apart and even then I am really amazed at how clean this airbrush stays.

So I can really recommend this airbrush. It is not suited for spraying thin lines for a pre shading job, but it is excellent for any other purpose.

regards,
Ivo

[lcarroll]

Bo,
    What make is your spray booth?
     I'm sort of shopping around presently and looking for recommendations. Some details on size, lighting etc would be great as well.
Cheers,
Lance

[uncletony]

That one is from Micromark.  I have to admit I was lazy and I didn't shop around very much as I wanted to get on with it, and it looked the part. I got tired of packing up little parcels of parts and paint to haul them out to the shop building to paint. It wasn't cheap though -- seems like it was around $450. It is a nice size, 30" x ~15" deep. It is very well made, two large brushless motors and fairly quiet. I think it is actually a solid value, seems like it will last forever.

However, I think if you shop around you can find  cheaper options. Look to industrial supply places, places that cater to graphics arts, that sort of thing. As I mentioned I made my own (somewhat, but not gigantically) larger hood fan for my shop out of stuff lying around: sheetmetal from an old kids swimming pool, a box fan, some filter materials. it is super effective; in theory the box fan is a fire/explosion hazard (brushes on the motor) but as they showed on the "Matt Damon/ Gas Filled Room / Toaster" episode of Mythbusters, in practice getting the correct stoichiometric for an explosion is well nigh impossible... so far I haven't blown the place up or burned it down. Not that I am recommending anything ;-)

[uncletony]

Forgot to mention -- the micromark booth does not come with a light -- it does have a plexiglass top window. I used a old shop light I had lying around that has a magnetic base. CFL bulb so it doesn't get hot. You could also get an inexpensive 24" fluorescent fixture to mount on it or above it, or even inside it.

and, just a quick search on Blick came up with this, maybe will give you some ideas:

http://www.dickblick.com/search/?q=booth&x=0&y=0&sp_cs=UTF-8

[lcarroll]

Bo,
   Thanks for all the info. Chris Johnson and I have been comparing notes and looking around, we both really like one by an outfit in the US called Bob Pace Industries or Limited. Catch is we can't find a Canadian vendor and figure the Border Guys would really soak us with the Duty and Brokerage fees. You are right about the prices, they don't come cheap. We are also looking at making our own; Gary (Trackpad) here is giving us some hints however I am a little nervous about turning myself to heat and light if I get something wrong!
Cheers,
Lance

[uncletony]

The heat and light outcome is totally avoided if you use fans with brushless motors. If you saw the unit from Micromark up close you would see how simple it actually is, and how easy it would be to make an equivalent out of mostly scrap materials. The only magic ingredients are the filters (the Micromark has three stages of filters: a disposable paper outer, a two stage inner and finally a carbon filter.) But these are simply sheets of material that lay on top of one another -- so you could buy these from a specialist vendor. Brushless motors are very easy to find -- look to PC parts vendors like Newegg or Tiger Direct or Ebay or whatever. They are cheap -- I am sure you could get all the suck you needed for under $25.

[N.C.S.E]

Okay, the airbrush has arrived! But the compressor has yet to arrive as yet so I've yet to utterly destroy my model fooling around with it. But I'll be having a good look through this thread to get tips and suggestions, thanks for all this guys.

[N.C.S.E]

The compressor now also has arrived, however, we didn't receive a lead for the air to go into the airbrush and we've been unable to find anything which will fit. Suggestions please? Where will I be able to find one suitable?

[Des]

Try here, this is the hose I use, the fittings have to be 1/8 x 1/8

Des.

[N.C.S.E]

Okay, so, I've got the cord, everything is ready to go, test it a few times on some spare pieces of cardboard, looking good so far, so I have a go at painting the wings of my Gotha. This is where things go down hill. The airbrush either doesn't give any paint at all or in tiny amounts, I give the paint more water, okay I get a large coverage and lots of paint moving, but then it just becomes a giant wash. So far, it hasn't been $120 dollars well spent. So far it appears I might as well have kept to brush painting white. Of course since I've got the paint all mixed up I need to use it all, so I'm busy fooling around with all the settings I can find, then things look good and the coverage looks nice until it all flows into the cracks and it look terrible.
In short, I really don't know what I'm doing wrong, I'm getting to the point of stuffing up a WnW Gotha before its been started and I'm beginning to think you chaps chant spells rather then paint to get your nice even coverage. Help please.

[Dekenba]

I had similar problems when I started - it's most infuriating!

I made a right hash of it, so much so that I had to disassemble the airbrush as there was paint everywhere - even behind the trigger.

In the end  - using Tamiya acrylics - I used around 25psi with a 1:1 mix of X20 thinners & paint and using several, light passes I got the desired effect.

I'm afraid that it just takes practice and patience to get the hang of it - I know most modellers go through what you are experiencing to start.

I bought a cheap Airfix 1:72 Spitfire, chucked it together and used that to practice on for a good few days first.

[uncletony]

Don't panic!

There are several factors that need to be taken to account when airbrushing:

1) properly mixed paint
2) correct pressure
3) correct aperture/needle setting
4) correct technique

Generally you want to thin the paint to a "skim milk" consistency. (You are minding the viscosity of the fluid, not the opacity.)

Pressure: start with about 15psi.

Aperture/needle setting -- this controls the fluid / air ratio and thus controls the density of the spray pattern. Most times you want a fine or medium setting.

That leaves technique. Main points:

Orientation. At all times the airbrush should be pointed exactly perpendicular to the surface you are painting. As you move across the work, you should adjust the angle of the airbrush as necessary to maintain this perpendicularilty. Doing so insures that the paint is applied uniformly. Paint applied obliquely will be difficult to control for either runs or overspray. Practice moving the airbrush over the work while minding this until you are comfortable, before pulling the trigger.

Correct distance and speed. In most cases, you want the paint to go on wet (not dry on contact) but not running. This is controlled by the distance to the workpiece as well as the speed in which you move the gun. Too slow/close and the paint will puddle and run. Too fast / too far and the paint will hit the work dry. Note that you can trade speed and distance as necessary to get the desired result. The hardest finish to obtain is a uniform high gloss (like car paint) without runs, orange peel or flat spots. Once you can achieve that you should be able to do anything. Fortunately we seldom need uniform high gloss finishes!

Generally you want to start spraying away from the work and move the gun over it, rather than opening the trigger while over the workpiece; the latter risks a puddle where you start as your arm isn't moving yet. In all cases you want to avoid fanning -- that is blowing air or paint over wet paint. This just produces a mess that is seldom the effect you desire.

Practice practice practice on scrap plastic first until you get the hang of it. I remember when I first got my airbrush years ago and thinking about the same things you must be, but I quickly got the hang of it and you will too.

[uncletony]

Picking up on what Dekenba said, you didn't mention what brand of paint you are using, but if it is Tamiya, I recommend thinning with their thinner, not water; water is ok for cleanup but doesn't really seem to suspend the paint very well.

I have had good results with Gunze Sangyo thinning with isopropyl alcohol.

Post an example of your results and we might be better able to tell you what's going wrong.