Specific psi for spraying enamels?

I would... 30 psi is a little higher than most people spray... depending on which airbrush you have the spraying pressures usually are a bit lower.  For properly thinned paint with a siphon fed airbrush and general coverage I would say 20sih PSI is about right for me, gravity fed I would go from 12 to 20.  For detail: 15 for gravity fed, 5ish to 10 for gravity fed.  Everybody has their own "sweet spot" for the different types of brushes and painting I described but a regulator will help.

Now... just to confuse you... there are two schools of thought on doing detail...  high pressure low volume.. or low pressure high volume.  either are great but you have to find which works for you.  the first uses just a tiny bit of paint sprayed on at a higher pressure (20-30) the second a bit more paint sprayed on with a lower pressure (<5 to 10psi).  You'll have to find which works for you... I found after I got the regulator on my first compressor, that primering a milk jug and "going crazy on it" gave me a feel for how I liked the pressure/thinning mix...  A good article on this can be found at:  http://www.craigcentral.com/models/pressure.asp

Good luck!  Basically what I meant to infer was that yes.. a regulator will do you good...

tho9900 wrote:

Now... just to confuse you... there are two schools of thought on doing detail...  high pressure low volume.. or low pressure high volume.  Good luck!  Basically what I meant to infer was that yes.. a regulator will do you good...

Im a high volume low pressure kinda guy.  Basically I trust my brush and regulator more then 1 of my clumsy, drunken apendages to lay down a nice thin coat of paint. Yeah I can see the results  now after going to the mexican resturaunt on "margarita monday" with the wife and then try to AB my latest build with high volume...  Aint going to happen folks and I admire those that can do it.

There is no specific pressure for spraying ANYTHING.  The pressure used will vary with the brand of paint, how old it is, how many times it has been opened, how thin it is, the particular airbrush in use (as well as the specific needle and head in the airbrush), the distance from the surface, and probably several other things I have forgotten.  I pick the pressure I want to spray at and then thin my paint to accomodate that pressure.

As the others have mentioned, I think 30 psi is a bit much for models.  Also, as has been mentioned, it's a matter of personal preference and you need to find something that you like.  Personally the only time I spray anything above about 12-15 psi is when I'm cleaning out my airbrush.  Most of my spraying is done around 10 psi.

Scott is correct.
The main advantage to higher pressures is that the paint atomizes better but it is hard to control overspray.