Why Airbrush?

There are several reasons for airbrushing over spray cans- Paint control, more even coverage, ability to do shading,fading, and other paint effects (to name a few.)  I doubt Dupli-color makes many colors needed other than the basic ones.  Try to paint free hand fine-line camoflage with a spray can - It cant be done.  Dont give up on your airbrush.  Like any tool, it takes time to learn how to use it.  There are variables that come into play (thinning ratios, paint types, air pressure, needle sizes, distance from surface, spray angles) but after a little time you should be able to get the basics down, and once you learn to use it you will wonder why you used spray cans in the first place.   Bottom line is you can not achieve the results with spray cans that you can with an airbrush.

Popcop45 wrote:

Is there some sort of anvantage to airbrush over aerosol? If so I hav'nt found it.

 

yes....yes......the answer is in getting a custom color.....with aerosol, you can't mix

There are many advantages to an airbrush.

An airbrush will deliver much finer atomisation of paint than a typical spray can. This means you can lay down a much thinner coat and not obscure moulded detail. As mentioned above, you can adjust paint and air flow, giving you the ability to paint very fine lines, or apply subtle shading/fading. This can be quite apparent when you look at military models with multi-colour camouflage, and "faded" or aged paint and someof these effects are all but impossible to paint "freehand" with a spray can (yes, you can mask to an extent, but that's another story).

When you walk into a hobby store, you will see racks and racks of literally hundreds of shades of paint. You can use any and all of these, plus anything in between (by mixing) in your airbrush.

Due to variances in manufacturing batches, different characteristics of  colours within a manufacturer's range, and a whole lot of other factors, thinning ratios for airbrushing really tend to be imprecise, and are best considered a "rough guide" rather than something set in stone. Personally, I tend to use the "it looks about right" method. I prefer thin paint, but if I mix too thin, then I just adjust my technique to compensate - less "trigger" and spray another coat or two.

Yes, it all comes down to practice.

Many people think that just by picking up an airbrush, they expect to start producing models like they see in magazines and on this site. Some can, but often they are discouraged because it's not the "magic bullet" that they were hoping for. In many cases, the models you see here and in magazines are done by people who have been airbrushing for years.

The first rule of airbrushing: Practice
The second rule of airbrushing: See Rule #1

As with many things in life, if you approach it with a negative attitude, you will get negative results.

Now having said that, ther are certain modelling applications where spray cans may arguably yield a better result. For example, in car modelling, where you have (relatively) large areas of single, solid colours, spray cans may be preferable, especially when you can get an exact manufacturer's match for certain car colours off the shelf "in the can" eg. DupliColor. Many car modellers do use spray cans for their body work.

If you can be specific about the problems you are experiencing, perhaps giving us some example photos, I'm sure we can offer some assistance in correcting these problems. 

KAYSEE88 wrote:

Popcop45 wrote: Is there some sort of anvantage to airbrush over aerosol? If so I hav'nt found it.   yes....yes......the answer is in getting a custom color.....with aerosol, you can't mix

 . I have just a cheapo Testors AB from wal-mart ($15 or so), it sprays only slightly better than a can, but I can mix colors.

To me the question is.. why would you want to do anything but airbrush, particularly for smaller scale models? I used to use rattle cans and had dozens of them laying around. Lots of money to buy, mediocre and inconsistent results, clogged nozzles, wasted paint (and money) etc.

The only spray cans I have now (3 cans) of Krylon Rust Brown Primer. I use them primarily on my 1:20.3 train models - Krylon sprays consistently and is a great match for D&RGW red/brown. However, for my 1:35 models, I will only use an airbrush. The control you have with an airbrush re. when and where you want to lay down paint can't be matched!

 

Thank you guys for all the support. I am currently trying to fix the crappy paint job I did on my model.

I'm curious, which model Master airbrush did you get? Looking at their prices, I'm guessing even the best are mid-range in quality and the economy line really wouldn't be worth the shipping cost.

Popcop45 wrote:

I recently purchased a quality Master airbrush. I hate to give up my master. If practice makes perfect: that's some pretty expensive practice.

If you bought one of the "Master Performance" series AB, even the cheapest model ($40 Master G22) should work reasonably well. The Master airbrushs are by no mean expensive. Yes, it needs practice, practice and practice. Don't give up. The benefit is much more than just mixing colors.

The Master G-44 airbrush had received some pretty good user feedback.

It takes time to master your skills to use your airbrush set.  Instead of doing it by myself, I signed up for airbrushing class at a local Hobby Lobby store and it was a valuable experience learning how to use it effectively before I bought my own airbrush kit.  I took 8 classes for 2.5 hours each once a week for only $125.  Maybe this is something you can look into because in the long run it has been a fun experience learning from the airbrushing masters.