Airbrush 101

Great post, John, spot on suggestions, well organized thoughts. Thanks.

Patrick  

When I got back into this a couple of years ago, I learned some lessons along the way.  I am no expert, but here is what I found.  I have three airburshes; a Badger Patriot with a .5mm needle which I use for priming and gloss/dull coats; a Badger Krome with a .3mm needle for about 80% of my work, and a Harder and Steenbeck with a .2mm needle for some of the fine line work.  All work just fine, so I don't put a whole lot of stock in the airbrush makes all the difference argument.  Maybe to a professional who is paid to achieve a certain look, but for me at least they all give me good results.  Hopefully this will help you get started with a minimum of frustration.

The "process" for me is a combination of three things:

1. Paint thickness (ie the mixture)
2. Air pressure
3. Distance

If you thin the paint too much and use too much pressure from too close to the model, you get splatters and runs.  If you use too thick a paint at too low a pressure you may not get anything out of the airbrush at any distance.  So for me the most important thing to start with was to get the mixture right.  Properly thinned paint will spray better and you can vary distance and pressure.  Much has been said about the 2% milk look.  I thin the paint by eyeballing it and seeing how it runs down the side of the airbrush.  From  lots of practice I know what consistency I am looking for.

The air pressure is the next thing as you want a good spray that works for you.  I have three "standards" that I use.  First for primers I do 25 to 30psi.  For general coverage I use 15 to 18psi.  For sharp thin line detail, I use about 10 psi.  You have to expiriment with the mixture at each pressure setting as the lower the pressure the thinner the paint.

The distance is also very important as you don't want to spay primer at 1/2" from the surface and you don't want to try to pain a pencil thin mottling at 12" either.

Remember to practice on a surface that is the same as the model.  Spryaing on a paper towel or piece of cardboard is nothing like dry hard plastic.  You can get a piece or two of blank styrene and prime it and spray away and the prime back over it and keep practicing.  I started with just about pure thinner to see how low I could get the pressure and then slowly added the color in to see how things reacted .  One day it all started to click.  Now some paints need thinned more than others so that is another variable.

As everyone has said; PRACTICE. There is no substitute.  I also try to get pretty solid at one component before I start on the next.  So I didn't expect to be very good at fine lines and mottling a Bf-109 until I could get the base coat down.  YouTube has some great videos as folks have said.  Dive in and enjoy the learning curve.  Again, these are thoughts that worked for me and I am sure many have different stories to tell.

John

Ok

Thank you.

I'm by no means an expert and I'm just practicing my skills on 3 inexpensive models that I've built out-of-the-box.  I found an armor stash for sale at local train store and bought the whole pile for under $10 box.  I got a couple of gems but mostly some practice material.   So that would be my suggestion, build something inexpensive and have some fun and realistic practice with painting and weathering.  I'm actually having some airbrush problems and will post a question myself.

Actually depends on what you are doing. But better to follow manufacturers recommended thinning ratios.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GduiWyWmoiM

I use Revell Aqua, Humbrol Acrylics and Xtracrylics all thinned with water and Flow Improver added. For any kind of paint supplys I use artist supply source.I ditched Tamiya acrylics as I found they only like to be thinned with IPA or Tamiyas own thinner which as you say is extra expense and for me working indoors is not an acceptable atmosphere.

I have never done it but I read a great suggestion once for practicing. The suggestion was to use empty plastic bottles such as soda or soap bottles to paint on. They are much more the shape of aircraft (what I model) than a flat board.

Chris

Don is precisely on point, I recommend using some gloss printed cardboard or scrap plastic sheet, to test spray a lot before trying to paint a model. So many variables, temp, humidity, paint batch consistency, etc. Even now, when getting prepped to paint a model I mix up plenty of paint, then spray on test material to ensure I have the desired mix ratio. I also recommend sticking with the manufacturers proprietary brand thinners, until you have become familiar with other options.

For mixing enamels and lacquers, I'm personally comfortable with those thinners from the PAINT store, not the hardware store, unless you're confident of the brand. Hardware stores often carry very questionable brands, paint stores carry Du Pont and other major suppliers with consistent quality and suitability. Enjoy the process, best of luck.

Patrick

Biggest thing is to practice on scrap, do not do first use of brush on a good kit.

Lots of YouTube tutorials on airbrushing:

www.youtube.com/results

Use the paint manufacturer's suggested thinner. The cost of such a thinner is next to nothing compared to kit prices.

Go by the manufacturers recommended thinning ratios as a baseline, but don't be surprised if you have to do a bit of testing going up/down with the ratios to get something that you are happy with. Different equipment, pressure & environmental variables mean that the recommended ratios may not work perfectly, but they shouldn't be far away.

Best bet to start with is to use thinner from same brand of paint.  Later, as you get more experience, you can try other thinners.