About to Take the Plunge

1)   No booth needed.  But wear a mask.

2)    Internal mix.  

3)   Double action.  Trust me on this one.

4)   The Iwata Smart compressor I got off Ebay for $110  has all the bells and whistles such as an airbrush holder, auto shut off, air vale, and water-trap.   And it is silent. 

GeorgeA

3) My wife wants this one. Will the compressor be loud?  Again, close-ups with no sound, so I really don't know. Loudness is relative, so let's say can you hold a normal conversation while using the airbrush? 

Compressor comes in all forms and shapes. It varies from very loud to whisper quiet. The Silentaire chart below gives some clues:

Most airbrush compressors with a noise rating of 59 dBA should allow you to hold a normal conversation while airbrushing. Make sure to get one with sufficient air flow at your operating pressure with some margin. Reliability is another issue. Name brands are usually reliable, but tends to be on the expensive side. Expect to spend about $200 for one.

The Sparmax TC-2000 is a good choice if you have a Hobby Lobby Store nearby. They have the 40% off coupon this week.

BearAir and TCP Global have some house brand compressor that look quite good at reasonable price. They are both established sellers in this field.

While I have a good spraybooth, I do not use it when airbrushing. I airbrush right at my modeling bench (the spraybooth is on  the opposite wall).  There is so little overspray from airbrushing that I don't feel I need to use the spraybooth.

Yes, most compressors are loud. You can buy quiet ones, but you pay quite a premium.  I used to use a big compressor out in the garage, with the air piped down into my basement workshop.  For convenience I bought one of those little one gallon "pancake" compressors. It is loud. I keep a pair of those cup type headphones that cover the whole ear near the compressor, and plug them into my radio when I get ready to airbrush.  Wife doesn't complain, so it must not sound so bad upstairs.

One final piece of advise that I am sure many will agree with- practice!  Do not try out the brush on a good model kit. I recommend a solid hour of airbrushing before using on a model.  Practice on old sprue, scrap plastic- whatever.  Mix up a couple of cups worth of paint to get practice thinning.  There are manual skills to learn- there is a motion you need, and you need to learn the visible appearance of paint on pieces as you airbrush, to be able to stop just before it runs, etc.

As far as spray booths, it depends on how you use the airbrush.  If you blast it out, like putting a clear coat on a car model, then yes.  Watch the guy in the videos on this page.  Notice that he doesn't need a booth.

Don

Don Wheeler

Watch the guy in the videos on this page.  Notice that he doesn't need a booth.

Don

Notice that the guy wears a lab coat. Good idea. An old, discarded shirt will do too. I will also recommend wearing a latex glove too. (No need for a pair.)

You definitely need a respirator to protect you from breathing the fumes.  A dust mask won't do.  You need a NIOSH approved organic vapor respirator.

I use a 3M model 6001 half facepiece respirator, which I bought at Lowe's for about $30.  It is easy to use, comfortable, and very effective.  I cannot smell the solvent I am spraying, no matter what, even MEK or naptha- works for all laquers, enamels, and acrylics.

I don't have a booth, but I spray into a large cardboard box set up on end on my workbench.  This keeps the overspray from migrating throughout the workshop to a minimum.

An artist friend of mine painted many fine WWII aircraft pictures over the years, and never used respiratory protection.  He recently died as a result of inhaling paint particals and fumes over the years.

You guys are being very helpful. Looks like I'll be setting up in the garage. (No spare room with two kids in the house.) I already have a good vent system there for all the spray cans I've been using.

Here is my setup

http://www.happinessismandatory.com/misc/Tools/Compressor.htm
I got the Compress or and Airbrush from Harbor Freight all for under 90$

The compress is quite enough I can airbrush while the kids are asleep in the next room.  My wife can hear it but it does not bother her watching TV or sleeping.  The guy at harbor freight was nice enough to hook it up before i bought it so I could hear the loudness.  I can easily talk over it.

The airbrush is a great starter brush and only cost about 15$ if you buy it by itself.  It is interal mix and Dual action.  I don't see the need to have a single action brush.  I have upgrade to and Iwata but if you want do bulk painting like clear coat, Primer or terrain it is great.  It should do most of the things I wanted it to do, but I need a bit lower pressure to fine lines so I switched to a Iwata HC-S for the gravity feed and extreme fine lines.  I did buy additional Habor Freight brush for oil and a "test" brush so I don't mess up my iwata.

I am building a spray booth but I don't think you need it.  In the mean time I use a box fan in the window I paint in front.  Is sucks it all out.  I am thinking of sticking with it.  If I do put a card board box with both ends open some times if I am priming or cleaning due the stink or mess.  hard to beat a 10$ spray booth.