safety with enamels

This is about the best overall safety page I've spotted on the web:

http://www.ipmscanada.com/safety.html

However, IMHO, 90% of the safety practices (other than common sense) that are professed on the web are completely unneccessary unless a modeler has specific health issues that modeling could aggrivate (i.e. Asthma, allergies, chemical sensitivity, etc.) Again, this is only my opinion and I'm a stubborn modeler. I also eat rare red meat, drink full-sugar soft drinks, only use real butter when cooking, smoke two packs a day, and wash grease off my hands with gasoline. So I may not be the best advice giver in the world.

I've used enamels exclusively - first between the ages of 11 and 20, and now between 40 and 42. I've never owned a respirator, dust mask, or paint booth. I have done, and do 100% of my painting indoors, usually with a fan going, but rarely with a window open. Call me an unneccessary risk-taker, but I feel that if I needed to use a respirator, latex gloves, safety goggles, and a chemical apron, modeling would cease to be a hobby and would become a job. That's just me. Everyone needs to evaluate their own situation and determine what safety measures are right for them.

I hope this web site helps.

Enjoy your modeling...

Enamel paints don't have a high fume level under ordinary conditions for brush painting in my experience. I will run a cieling fan for better ventilation but don't open a window. I do all of my airbrushing outdoors though for both safety and cleanup reasons. I don't wear a painting mask when working outdoors.

The only time I wear a mask is when I'm working with artist pastels and weathering powders as they are extremely fine and easily inhaled. The same is true if I'm doing fine sanding.

Well I dont really have any health problems that would be aggrivated by the enamels, but I do have a tracheostomy which is why I was mainly concerned. Seems like my set up should work fine then, thanks guys.

I follow a routine when I'm getting ready to airbrush. It's kinda like a baseball player who goes through all thier rituals and superstitions before a game or going up to bat. I set up compressor, use a certain set of straws for getting paint out of bottles, set up the table just right, drink 12oz of water, recite some prayers, do an irish jig, bow to the 4 cardinal directions, do 17 jumping jacks, (just kidding I don't do all that extra stuff )..., and finally put on my respirator. It's kinda like the batting helmet for me. The respirator doesn't bother me at all, in fact it gets me more focused and primed (pun intended ).

I'm not gonna tell you what to do, just sharing what I do

There's probably more of a risk from the stuff you dilute enamel with or clean the brushes with than from the enamel itself. I use some Low Odour Thinners I bought at an art materials shop.

Darren

whenever I spray paint or airbrush i always make sure to wear my respirator. I never even knew they made low odor thinners, im gonna have to get over to Michaels. im using mineral spirits now and that stuff is just nasty. Thanks for sharing Darren.