Question from a Newbie to Airbrushing

when I was starting, I had a cardboard box (and I still do as my 'spray booth') that I would test with just water, to see how pressure and trigger affected things.  I could see clearly where and to what degree the cardboard got wet.  Something I still do (I wear nitrile gloves when I paint) is test the pattern on the palm of my glove as I am painting, to make sure I have the volume of paint that I want.  When I paint, I do so with thin, very light layers.  Personally, as I spray at my glove, I want that point where paint just starts to show up when I hold the airbrush there for a few seconds.  I am fond of doing several very light layers, just to avoid runs and spiders.  This also helps with shading and weathering for me.  I suppose that is the biggest trick I've learned, is thinning ratio, volume of paint sprayed and pressure.  I've found what works for me, which I'm sure is different than what works for everyone else, and it took a lot of time and practice.  

That's about the best advice I can offer.  Remember, the thinner it is, the less air pressure you need, the lower the air pressure the wider a 'fan' of spray you achieve and the higher the pressure the finer a line you achieve, if you apply a large wet area you risk runs and spiders.  Everything depends upon the look you want to achieve.  One of the biggest tricks to master with airbrushing, in my opinion, is masking.

used paint,but practiced on old models or cardboard.

First I stuck with one color models,then two toned with a hard mask,like the upper and lower surfaces of an a/c,then eventually some freehand camo patterns.

You need to experiment with mixes and psi to see how it acts

Great guys, thanks for the information! :)

I have been running tests on various undercoats for alclad. I am trying things other than just gloss black (things like semi-gloss black, and gloss blue and brown) to see what the appearance is after I put down the Alclad.  I often run tests before applying different paints over one another.

Poster board is my choice for practice and setup since its relatively cheap, comes in white and colors including black, and has two useful sides. I haven't used the food coloring method because I prefer to use something that's the same consistency as model paint including; older bottles of artist acrylic ink or crafts store acrylics and even remnant model paints. That way I can work on tip size, thinning and pressure at one sitting.

BTW, you won't get much love in these forums for Paasche airbrushes, but I learned on a VL, and have used my "new" Talon for three years and am really happy with it. Enjoy!

mike  

I taped plain white paper to the inside of my spray booth. I then used tamiya acylics to practice with.

I had not thought of the food color idea at the time, though that would be a great way tosimply get the hang of the airbrush.

The best method for me now is the use of note cards. I almost always hold the model when painting, so it works good for me to get the mixes, distances and pressures right for whatever type of paint I am using. Some guys use a "mule" to practice, which is an old model or a ruined one, etc.

The one thing I found when practicing on cardboard, plain paper, or even a paper towel is that the paint "sticks" differently than on the plastic.  A too runny mix of paint will look a lot different on a piece of cardboard where the paint can soak into the surface as opposed to styrene.

I use them all to practice, but I did get a couple of surprises when I was practicing fine lines that seemed to be great on cardboard, but ran and splattered on plastic.  I keep an old 1/35 scale Tiger model around to test on when I need to.

Practice is the only way:)

John

Thanks Mike.  I've seen people don't really like the Paasche airbrushes but since it's my first and I got it for cheap.  So far I like it a lot and will use it until I get another one. :)

Slyder69

Thanks Mike.  I've seen people don't really like the Paasche airbrushes but since it's my first and I got it for cheap.  So far I like it a lot and will use it until I get another one. :)

Aww, don't worry about those people.  Use what you like, and what works well for you.  I've painted more than 40 models with a single-action Paasche H; single colors, multi-color camo  and NMF as well.   Old school will still do the deed...

Gary

Slyder, I can't offer anything different in the way of practicing or testing with your airbrush but I'll echo what Mike and Gary said regarding Paasche. You'll see a lot of mention on here about Badger and Iwata airbrushes...as well as others. Both are good brands but Passche is just as good in my opinion. I also started with Paasche VLs. And I have the Talon as well. It's an excellent airbrush. I have a Paasche H as well. The AB I'm primarily using right now is the Neo for Iwata because I need a new needle for my Talon. The only place I can find to get it is the Paasche website and I just haven't taken the time yet to set up an account to order it. But once I get another needle I'll be hooking up the Talon again.

Texgunner

Slyder69

Thanks Mike.  I've seen people don't really like the Paasche airbrushes but since it's my first and I got it for cheap.  So far I like it a lot and will use it until I get another one. :)

Aww, don't worry about those people.  Use what you like, and what works well for you.  <snip>..

Gary

Couldn't agree more Gary. AB's are, I think, a very personal thing - just how it 'feels' when you use it is more important than 'brand' I, too, have an older Paasche H and it still works fine after many years. If it were gravity feed I'd probably use it more. And, to be On Topic, I've used all the methods posted but my current one is a sheet of white styrene I bought for something or other and I pick it up to test spray when I'm starting any new painting job. It's one ugly piece of plastic right now but I do clean it off with thinner sometime. It's really handy when I want to test a color over a primer  or want to PRACTICE mottling (I spend more time practicing than painting)