Do you use an airbrush for larger areas or just detail?

beeryboats

I've been doing research on airbrushing and I have decided the Badger siphon draw dual stage I bought a decade ago may not have been my best choice. I'm looking at the Badger Patriot now, but my reading the posts here brought up another issue. I see how fine they can paint a line, but do you use them for larger areas? Like the inside of a cockpit? Or a whole airframe? Or do you use pre-canned aerosols to prime then use the airbrush to add shading. I've seen videos of where they darken the panel lines, then change to a couple different shades of the base color for the overall color.  As you can tell, newby here needing help.

Jat

Most modern airbrush design can do both fine line and large area. But they have different trigger/needle/nozzle characteristics.

The Patriot and all other airbrushes in the Badger NH (New Head) series have sensitive, quick release type control which makes them very convenient in painting larger area. You can do fine line too, but it will take more practices to build up the skill for it.

The Badger Krome and others in their Renegade series have a fine, long stroke type trigger that provides the user more control and makes them easier to learn from. They can also do large area just fine.

My favorite for a single all-purpose airbrush will be the Iwata Eclipse HP-CS. The Badger Krome and H&S Evolution Silverliner are all good choices. I have all of them.

The selection of an airbrush is subjective and personal. Personally, I do not like the quick release type trigger of the Patriot. I bearly touch the trigger, paint comes out in a rush. But many Patriot owner love theirs.

I love airbrushes because, to me, they are the sexiest tool.

I use:

Paasche H for spraying Vallejo primer and varnish (Vallejo can be a pain to clean).

Iwata SAR for spraying base coats, filters and Future

Iwata HP-CS for fine work & shading

Iwata HP-B+ for super fine work. I haven't used this AB much and probably don't need it. But it's a helluva AB for fine work.

If I were allowed to have only one AB, it would be my HP-CS.

I use mine for large areas as well as detail parts.  I do use a Badger siphon feed.  As long as I thin it properly I can use as low as 7-9 psi.

But, here is the big thing. It takes awhile.  An airbrush is not a spray gun.  Attempts to back too far away from surface and cover a large area all at once can result in rough, poor quality paint surface.  You need to think of an airbrush as a brush that puts down paint with no brushmarks.  So you need to be reasonably close, and it takes awhile to cover a large model.  I have done 1:350 aircraft carriers, but it takes awhile.  It takes some practice to cover a large area with a small pattern and not see shading.  But you can reduce shading by making two (or more) passes, with passes at 90 degree angles.  For that matter, some actually like the shading- since large objects do not always weather uniformly, or some areas get repainted and others do not.  Also, for large areas I often let paint dry and do a second complete coat later, sanding in between coats. I find the paint goes down nicer on top of another coat of the same paint than over primer.

I always prime large areas. I believe I get more uniform coats over primer than over large areas.

I use mine for both detail and large areas.

I don't use the siphon feed bottle very often, anymore. There are two reasons for this. I like to use the lowest pressure I possibly can, so I use the Badger snap in paint cup, since it is "almost" a real gravity feed, I can use lower pressure than with a bottle.

I like to keep the spray pattern fairly small, even for large areas, to cut overspray down to the least possible amount. (I learned that when I first came to FSM forums)  When you use very low pressure, Acrylics, and a narrow spray pattern, you don't need the bigger volume of the siphon bottle, the gravity cup is enough volume.

Drewe Manton posted this link over on the 72ndScaleAircraft forum, he intended to show us how quickly an airbrush can be cleaned,,,but, it illustrates how much coverage you can get from a small volume of paint, with very little overspray  www.youtube.com/watch

So, for me, it is now, low pressure, small volume, low overspray, with quick airbrush cleaning,,,,,,,,,,soooo much more fun than when I first started with lots of paint, high pressure and clouds of paint everywhere, lol

hope this is of some help

Rex

I have several Badger's and use the syphon feeds (probably a 200 i'd guess) for larger areas. The main reason for that is the volume of paint you can get in the bottle. I've painted some pretty big areas like that, as long as the whole coat if still wet it will all dry at the same time and it can take quite a while for paint to fully dry or cure. The Patriot is a great airbrush but the reservoir may be a bit small for a larger area.

Either way your in the best place to ask questions

Phil

Jat, I use the Patriot pretty much extensively for all my airbrushing needs. It is an excellent all purpose airbrush. It paints fine lines as well as large coverage quite well. It is very easy to clean and maintain. Like Mick alluded to, the key is practicing with air pressure, thinning ratios and distance from model. I have sprayed Tamiya and Lifecolor acrylics as well as Model Master, Humbrol and Mr. Color enamels with my Patriot  with excellent results. For very thin lines I use a Badger Renegade. I hope this helps.

 Joe

Hi Jat.

The 105 and most other similar ab's will spray a pencil line up to about 3 inches, it depends on needle size and how far away from the job you are and of course how skilled you are and paint thickness. For cockpits, air frames etc the Patriot will be fine. Cans are fine also for large area's but I never use them.

Darkening panel lines before spraying the main colour's is called pre shading, I think that's what your referring to.

Here's a good site to bookmark.

https://sites.google.com/site/donsairbrushtips/

Cheers from Mick.