confined living space, in need of lots of suggestions

Wow, Chicagoland people have all gathered in this one thread!  I agree, it was way to cold to be outside painting anything today.  I think we got to 18 degrees.  Jeff, I'm just down the road from you in the Round Lake area.

I myself model in a small corner of the basement using a card table, and luckily, the old kitchen table we replaced a while back.  Still working on a solution for airbrushing and venting the fumes effectively out the window-well.  Definitely leaning towards the box fan idea, but might be able to build a booth so I can use a dryer vent hose to direct the fumes a little more effectively.  

 

There are several model clubs listed on the Finescale site for the Chicagoland area.  Look under resources, click on Clubs, drop in Illinois for the location, and you'll get several listed.  Not sure how active the model club scene is (as I lurk in the aforementioned basement) but you'll probably find a couple that active. 

Citadelgrad87 wrote:

firesmacker wrote: TRIdoc, First of all. Are you by any chance stationed at Great Lakes? If so, I have some spare tools, paints, etc I can part with and a can or 2 of compressed air that I don't use anymore since I bought a compressor. I can toss a couple kits your way to keep you busy as well. If this is the case, shoot me a PM or just reply here and we can meet up. Regards, Jeff  Edit: As far as suggestions, there is really no way you can spray paint in your room. Even if there were exhaust vents, its recirculating air which means it just goes to other parts of the building before it finally goes outside. Mostly likely first stop is your neighbors room... Check with the base hobby shop and see if they have a place you can spray paint. You are going to need to find something indoors because whether you are in KC or Chicago, going outside to paint will not be an option here in the near future and for at least the next 4 or 5 months. Hope this helps.   You, sir, are a class act.  Posts like this confirm the notion that this is a group of people I am proud to associate with.

Thanks.

Too bad I never heard from the guy...

Jeff

thespaniard180 wrote:

I have a very similar problem. Could I avoid nasty fumes and reduce the mess by getting an airbrush rather than using spray cans? How significant will the reduction be? I was thinking that using an airbrush with acrylic paints could work? The airbrush would provide for a tremendous amount of control where I wouldn't really have to worry about getting paint anywhere except my intended subject. Maybe a makeshift booth with cardboard walls would be enough? Would I have to worry about fumes when using an acrylic paint and airbrush?

 

The reduction in fumes and the cloud of overyspray is leaps and bounds less with an airbrush... There's lots of acryllics for airbrushes out there as well.  You won't believe the difference between cans and an AB..

firesmacker wrote:

TRIdoc, First of all. Are you by any chance stationed at Great Lakes? If so, I have some spare tools, paints, etc I can part with and a can or 2 of compressed air that I don't use anymore since I bought a compressor. I can toss a couple kits your way to keep you busy as well. If this is the case, shoot me a PM or just reply here and we can meet up. Regards, Jeff  Edit: As far as suggestions, there is really no way you can spray paint in your room. Even if there were exhaust vents, its recirculating air which means it just goes to other parts of the building before it finally goes outside. Mostly likely first stop is your neighbors room... Check with the base hobby shop and see if they have a place you can spray paint. You are going to need to find something indoors because whether you are in KC or Chicago, going outside to paint will not be an option here in the near future and for at least the next 4 or 5 months. Hope this helps.

 

You, sir, are a class act.  Posts like this confirm the notion that this is a group of people I am proud to associate with.

I have a very similar problem.

Could I avoid nasty fumes and reduce the mess by getting an airbrush rather than using spray cans? How significant will the reduction be?

I was thinking that using an airbrush with acrylic paints could work? The airbrush would provide for a tremendous amount of control where I wouldn't really have to worry about getting paint anywhere except my intended subject. Maybe a makeshift booth with cardboard walls would be enough? Would I have to worry about fumes when using an acrylic paint and airbrush?

TRIdoc,

First of all. Are you by any chance stationed at Great Lakes? If so, I have some spare tools, paints, etc I can part with and a can or 2 of compressed air that I don't use anymore since I bought a compressor. I can toss a couple kits your way to keep you busy as well. If this is the case, shoot me a PM or just reply here and we can meet up.

Regards,

Jeff 

Edit: As far as suggestions, there is really no way you can spray paint in your room. Even if there were exhaust vents, its recirculating air which means it just goes to other parts of the building before it finally goes outside. Mostly likely first stop is your neighbors room...

Check with the base hobby shop and see if they have a place you can spray paint. You are going to need to find something indoors because whether you are in KC or Chicago, going outside to paint will not be an option here in the near future and for at least the next 4 or 5 months. Hope this helps.

Welcome to the forum.

Have you thought about starting a model club on your base. Talk to someone about letting you use a room on base or a building for the club. Contact every manufacturer in the model industry, every model club, every hobby shop, the Red Cross and the USO and request them to donate kits and supplies. Once it reaches critical mass it will be self sustaining. It will last long after your gone.

When I was a Marine we had a model club that was started back in the 60's. All the kits and supplies were donated, we never ran out. It was located in a old garage on base and was open from 1630 to 2100 daily and all day Saturday and Sunday. We would have 10 to 20 people building models everyday. I only wish that I had the internet back then, I would have started model clubs on every base in the Corps and Navy.

 

Hey, don't let your lack of space discourage you.  I did the military barracks living for 4 years.  I fully understand your problem.  I currently model on the kitchen table.  Don't you think for a second that you need some big, elaborate setup to make fine, outstanding models.  Here's some suggestions I have:

• Get a small, plastic toolbox to store your tools in.  I use a $5.00 toolbox I bought from Home Depot.
• Use acrylic paints for airbrushing.  That don't smell as bad as enamels.  They also dry quickly and are easier to clean.  You can clean up in the sink with water and soap.  I suggest Tamiya or Polly Scale.  Polly Scale is my favorite.
• Get a decent gravity feed airbrush like a Badger 100LG or Badger 200.  Since they are gravity feed, you won't need as much air pressure for spraying.  Therefore, you won't be making a plum of paint in the air.
• Get a small compressor like a Paasche DA300R.  The compressor isn't that loud unlike a compressor used to drive nail guns and such.  They aren't that big either.  Maybe about the size of shoe box.
• If you can't get a compressor, use compressed air in can.  Have 2 on hand at all times.  They are more expensive in the long run, but they are quiet.

The spray booth is an entirely different problem for you.  I have Paasche's HSSB spray booth.  The sides and top fold down flat.  The motor on the other hand, sticks up about 10 inches.  I could take some pictures of it if you're interested.  Another option is to buy a box fan, tape a furnace filter to the back side of it and have it blow out of your room via a window.  Just spray behind it and most of the fumes will go outside.  Just use acylics only for this, not enamels or lacquers.  Lastly, you could just spray outside.  Get a good size box and cut it so one large end is open.  Put you model inside the box and spray.  This will help keep down the wind messing up your paint job.  After you're down painting, collapse the box down and put it in your wall locker.  Are there any storage rooms in your barracks you could paint in?  Maybe that's an option too.

Hope this helps,

Jesse

About holding parts while painting....NEVER GLUE when you don't have too! You can fold over some masking tape, use some modeling clay or other tacky material to hold parts, clamp them with small clamps mounted on the end of sticks or cables...

Paint what you can while the parts are still attached to the sprues. 

If space is an issue, look at getting yourself a computer Amore to make into a modeling workspace. I once used an old mobility tool cabinet we used for unit deployments that I salvaged before it hit the dumpster.