Defeating Dust!!!

I hear ya cries salty!

Soon I plan to do a Sabre, and at that time I also plan too make an enclosed spray booth, with a filtered inlet and outlet, and just enough room at the front for my hands too move and control the air brush.

Nothing fancy mind you, 5 pieces of thick cardboard, covered with some glad wrap, and a couple of fans, and a plastic front.

It's so dusty here I really have no other option.

I don;t know if my suggestion helps, but I have a room that I keep my collection in: one bedroom of a two-bedroom condo that my wife and I share. I keep the door closed and run an air-cleaning filter unit 24-7. Even if dust does settle, I will dust off my model right in from of the filter intake so the dust gets sucked in and filtered out. The air suction isn't powerful enough to pull in parts that might break off so there's no danger in losing them that way.

Again, this only works of you have one dedicated room to hold your hobby in where you can keep the door closed.

Good luck Salty, I'm right beside you in the battle against Dust!

Don't know how to defeat dust. Sounds like you're doing everything possible. On my builds, I decided a few specks of dust just give them more Character. Yeah, right .

Hey Duke,
I'd like to hear more about your air cleaning filter!! Like where did you get it, the cost and such!! I might be able to pull that off!!! Because the dust and things that settle drive me batty!!! I've only got a couple handful of kits!! I know for those of ya'll with massive builds under you belts and kits abound!! It could become completely out of hand and I won't make it that long if I don't solve that dasterdly dust equation!! Thanks!!! Keep the suggestions coming!!! Cheers Every1
Kelley

I do all of my spraying in a wood shop so I getting rid of the dust is a real challenge. I've come to cleaning the area I paint in some time before I want to paint so the dust has time to settle before painting. Washing bare plastic in warm water helps since plastic has a slight static charge. I model in 1-87 so dust on my pieces looks like a cherry on a cream pie. Buffing or cleaning with a dry rag between coats is also not advised because of the aforementioned static .

QUOTE: Originally posted by lilBEAR Hey Duke, I'd like to hear more about your air cleaning filter!! Like where did you get it, the cost and such!! I might be able to pull that off!!! Because the dust and things that settle drive me batty!!! I've only got a couple handful of kits!! I know for those of ya'll with massive builds under you belts and kits abound!! It could become completely out of hand and I won't make it that long if I don't solve that dasterdly dust equation!! Thanks!!! Keep the suggestions coming!!! Cheers Every1 Kelley

Sounds good Kelley, I'll try to get the info for you and post it here soon.

Anybody remember those anti-static guns you used on your phonograph records? (For you youngsters out there, that's how we used to have to listen to music.) You'd just aim the gun at the record and all the static built up on the vinyl went away. Girlfriends would borrow it for their pantyhose. I'm sure they're still used for something, and if you haven't noticed how the plastic bags stick to the sprues when you open a kit, our models can store static electricity, and I notice they retain it even after paint is on. So dust is drawn to them like it is to a TV screen, though for different reasons. Anyway, it's a thought. Those guns were cheap, as I recall, and I saw one advertised in a minitool catalogue recently. Too bad those tiny wire static dischargers I put on the trailing edge of my 148 F-16 don't work like the real ones. The principle's the same.

Sharkskin,

That tool was called a "Zerostat" gun and I still have one somewhere around here.

Mike

Years ago I had a brush for cleaning phonograph records (yeah, I remember them well and still have stacks of them!) that had a radioactive isotope in it The isotope did basically the same thing, it put a charge on the record that repelled dust. I'm pretty sure they are off the market by now!

Kelley, I have that info on the Air Cleaner you wanted.

I use a Holmes HAP240 model Air Purifier/Ionizer. Mine is probably a little larger than my hobby room really needs, but hey, it works! It cost me about $20.00 or so US at Sears Roebuck about 8-10 years ago. It takes filter cartridges that usually come on packs of two for about 5 dollars. The first few times, I was changing the cartridge pretty frequently; later, they lasted longer as the room cleared up. It runs fairly quietly too, I barely even know it's there.

Anyway, I hope this helps. Good luck with what you go with!

I have read about car modelers putting the car body in the microwave in between coats. Just make sure nobody turns the thing on while you are using it. It seems kind of a funny thing to do but it is a pretty dust free area.

I told SaltyDog in an email earlier tonight about an idea I had at work today while thinking about painting NMF or other gloss finishes that dust can be problematic.
I was wondering how one of these sandblasting booths from Harbor Freight would work for this?



It has rubber gloves built in so the model in the cabinet would be completely free of dust if it was cleaned and maybe had the walls of the inside of the booth wet with a water spray bottle prior to putting the model in there for painting.

Mike

Thats the type of thing I plan to make Mike.

Of course it wont look as schmik, but as long as it works, who cares!

The biggest problem I see is that you'd be opening it all the time to turn the model around to spray different areas. Putting a turntable inside so you could turn it around eassily would help in one dimension though.

QUOTE: Originally posted by MusicCity The biggest problem I see is that you'd be opening it all the time to turn the model around to spray different areas. Putting a turntable inside so you could turn it around eassily would help in one dimension though.

Good point Music, glad you mentioned that

And some sort of 'ball joint' clamping device, so you can rotate it on all axis.

Hmmmmmmmm.
Gonna have to try this, make it a little more permanent than cardboard.

QUOTE: Originally posted by MusicCity The biggest problem I see is that you'd be opening it all the time to turn the model around to spray different areas. Putting a turntable inside so you could turn it around eassily would help in one dimension though.

You could put a stick in the exhaust port of a jet for instance and be able to rotate it any direction with the stick without opening the box. Put a small clamp of some sort inside the box to hold it while it dries and it would work great. You could even make it double as a drying booth with a couple of 60 or 100 watt bulbs in it.
You would have to modify it though so that the paint would exhaust somehow.

Mike

I put my car models in either the microwave or the oven between coats, just be sure to tell whoever you live with not to turn them on.

Of course one could pretty much eliminate the need for this discussion at all by switching to automotive lacquers. The amount of paint I use on a model usually dries completely in a matter of a few minutes. Witness what happens when painting with Alcad and how quickly you can pick up the piece. The dust doesn't have a chance to stick to a dry surface. Touch up bottles are cheap and the thinner is way cheaper by the gallon.