Painting Techniques

[Hospital_Rocket]

As I live in balmy New England, I need to do a bunch of my building indoors. This includes painting and since my Central HVAC is right next to my workshop, I really can't use sprays. (The household management resents the smell. So, how many of you have tried airbrushes and to what level of success?

Thanx

Al

 

[Silverleaf]

Howdy Al,

Airbrushing is the way to go in your situation, and with a little practice, you'll see that it gives excellent coverage. Besides normal coverage, you can quickly learn how to paint fine lines, and al sorts of excellent designs.

The one thing to remember is once you have your paint mixed to the proper consistency, is to write down the fomula so that you know what to use in the future.

Too thin you get runs, too thick you get splotching. Most Airbrush's come with recommendations for mixing, so its fairly easy to use them.

Sorry had to run to the printer.. Aditional info follows:

You can start with the smaller kit that has a can of pressurized air, so you can judge for yourself just how nice and beneficial an airbrush can be. My local store has an airbrush set with can of air ( funny that ) for 49.95 - good price and the airbrush set is top-notch.

A top of the line airbrush will cost you 75 to 120 bucks, but again, you get what you pay for.

Most brushes come with a single nozzle attachment for smaller projects, and a larger bottle attachment for more spray time. There are two types of brushes - Gravity and Siphon feed -but the page that explains this easier than me writing it all out is here :

Must read basics:
https://cidwebs.com/armorinscale/airbrush.htm

As long as you stay with the manufactures suggested recommendations for paint and mixture, you'll be fine.

There are also many sites online that deal with airbrushing and give recommendations and tutorials. Here are a few can't miss sites for information:

A large list of links:
https://www.sumaleth.com/links/

Good site:
https://www.epilogue.net/art/tech/

My two favorites:
https://www.huntfor.com/design/tutorials/airbrush.htm
https://div.dyndns.org/EK/tutorial/

The larger expense is an air compressor, but to be honest the first time you use it you'll be glad you bought it.

Hope that helps a bit,

 

[gpoehlein]

I've looked, but no one has actually answered this question here - has anyone ever run the Apple Barrel brand (or similar labels) acrylic paint through an airbrush. I picked up a cheap (one of the lo end Badger external mix) brushes to use for overall painting, but I haven't tried it yet. I was concerned that the pigment grain in the AB type paints might be too large to thin down to work with the air brush. I do have another couple of brushes for doing finer work (haven't used them in years), but I thought the cheapo brush would be a good substitute for spray cans. (besides, with the 50% coupon I had from Michaels, it was even cheaper!)

Greg

 

[Silverleaf]

I've not used Apple Barrel products in my airbrush, simply because I love the way Model Master acrylic works. Distilled water makes for the best mixture with it, although alcohol will dry faster, the down side to using alchol to thin is that it will dry very quickly on your brush, hence causing some splotching if not careful. I'm no expert with airbrushing with different mediums though, simply because I'm too stubborn. lol

Seriously though, if that paint has larger grain, then unless you spend a ton of time mixing it will cause splotching and sputtering.

If I had the product in front of me I'd try it out just to see. I have heard good things about Apple Barrel products for other sorts of projects.

Hope that helps,

 

[astronboy]

Hospital, I am in upstate NY, so I hear you!!

I have a Badger 200 that I inherited from my father. It is about 40 years old and still sprays like a champ!! For years I have used cans of compressed air, but a recent SEARS sale led me to purchase a compressor with a small tank. I just LOVE this setup.

Overspray is minimized with an airbrush, but the thinner smell is not. I would suggest that you build a cardboard spray booth with an exhaust fan. This way, the fumes will be sent outside where they belong!! I have never used anything but enamels and laquers, so I am afraid I cannot assist in the acrylic area.

 

[Hospital_Rocket]

I understand that the thinner would stll cause some problem with solvent fumes..

I have considered a spray booth using one of two exhauast schemes:

1) Use a shop vac with an exhaust hose to lead out the window. The advantage is the air velocity on would assist in getting the fumes. The downside is the noise.

2) Use a axial (fan) or squirrel cage blower and get creative with some dryer hose. Advantage is gentler air flow. Disadvantage is the fumes may linger around the house. Of course I could try a charcoal filter....

Decisions decisions....

On another thread, if anyone is interested, I am discussing chucking the whole paint thing and going with Monokote.

 

[Ray Dunakin]

Originally posted by Hospital_Rocket
On another thread, if anyone is interested, I am discussing chucking the whole paint thing and going with Monokote.

I've been using adhesive vinyl on my rockets lately. So far I've only tried it on the tubular airframe section, not the tail section and fins. It's the stuff that sign shops use, and can be purchased pretty reasonably online at this site:

https://www.lettersunlimited.com/

It's fairly easy to use, looks good and is more durable than paint. Lots of colors available too, including fluorescent colors and highly reflective varieties. I use the reflective vinyl for decorative trim which also makes the rocket very easy to find after dark if you can't find it during the day. A good flashlight will pick it out from a long distance.