Multi brands of AB's, 1 air compressor... hookup...?

seckone wrote:

Hippy-Ed wrote: Yup, it is quite since  word has it thar some fella by the name of A.G. Spanos bought up the property to build more houses. (he owns aot of this city & the S.D. Chargers)  I knew that NH had a few tracks but, not that many! There's a couple in the areathat I know of (Altamont Speedway & Believe Modesto has one) When I was in Reno & got to spray a T-shirt up there, the gal had 6 Iwata Eclipse A/Bs at the ready so, I s'pose it's good for doin' T-shirts im a beginner in air brush and im thinking of buying a aircompressor (in harborfrieght) im not tryiing 2 spend too much cuz im a beginer so which one should i get the 30psi or 40 psi..... im basically using it to draw on tee shirts (clothing) and maybe draw on ma sheetrocked room? and would that compressor handle the job ?

which ever one has the adjustable air flow regulator  should do the trick but, don't run it for long periods of time. In other words, don't go painting for an hour as the compressor will heat up on ya & will cause it to burn out sooner.  I've had mine for 2 yrs now & it works good & I don't spray more than 15-20 minutes spraying at any given time.

Hippy-Ed wrote:

Yup, it is quite since  word has it thar some fella by the name of A.G. Spanos bought up the property to build more houses. (he owns aot of this city & the S.D. Chargers)  I knew that NH had a few tracks but, not that many! There's a couple in the areathat I know of (Altamont Speedway & Believe Modesto has one) When I was in Reno & got to spray a T-shirt up there, the gal had 6 Iwata Eclipse A/Bs at the ready so, I s'pose it's good for doin' T-shirts

im a beginner in air brush and im thinking of buying a aircompressor (in harborfrieght) im not tryiing 2 spend too much cuz im a beginer so which one should i get the 30psi or 40 psi..... im basically using it to draw on tee shirts (clothing) and maybe draw on ma sheetrocked room? and would that compressor handle the job ?

Good luck Ed. 

Yer Jim I just talked to my mother & when she gets around to talking to my aunt Cindy she said she'd have my aunt call me. (she changed her phone #) Mom seems to think that aunt Cindy sold her equipment to her step brother a few yrs. ago but, we'll see what happens.

Thanks Ed, you have me curious now, LOL. 

Jim, thanks for the feedback. I think I'll ask my aunt about it some time when I see her. I recall we had placed the screen over the shirt & threw some paint in & used a spreader to get it where we wanted it.
I've been quite busy lately & when I do get ahold of herI'll let ya know what I find out.

Eddie

Sorry it took so long Ed...

Had to try and think about this one a bit. I never got into silk screening or learned too much about it, but I believe the templates used where cutouts to lay over the design to fill in the next color. Working from the bottom or base color towards the top final details.

But someone once told me that the templates where like a screen and they forced the paint through with like a squeegee, so I'm not totally sure what's up. 

I would think you could use the templates. Templates are used all the time with AB'ing.

It's worth a shot especially if your aunt isn't going to do anything with them. She might even be able to answer some questions or give you some pointers... ?? Best to ask her really.

Duh... sorry. I really wasn't any help. 

I was just takin' a stroll down Memory Lane today & recall helping my aunt Cindy with her  Home based Silk Screen T-shirt biz back in 1990 and I helped out when she was in poor health for about a month. My thought was this, would one be able to use an A/B with silk screen patterns/ templates? Just got a wild hair... If so, I'll ask her if she still has the stuff since she is retired & unable to do that work anymore.

jhande wrote:

Hey Ed, Don's site is the one I read about the Createx paints. I was trying to find it again for you... thanks for beating me to it and sparking my memory hehe. Thanks Mike, I'll go check out that link also. The wife and I need all the help we can get.

I got it bookmarked as well.Yer  The articles are great! Lots of info there too.

Hey Ed, Don's site is the one I read about the Createx paints. I was trying to find it again for you... thanks for beating me to it and sparking my memory hehe.

Thanks Mike, I'll go check out that link also. The wife and I need all the help we can get. 

Thanks Mike, I got it bookmarked I was doing some surfin' late last night & came across some of Pat Gaines' work. Impressive Also, some  A/B site called "airhead airbrush"?which I found informative on how-to...  found the link "How TO A/B"
http://www.howtoairbrush.com/airbrush-t-shirt.htm

Ed,

Check out this forum and you can have all of your questions answered.

This is mainly a T-shirt airbrushing forum owned by Pat Gaines who is a well-known airbrush artist who owns several West Coast Airbrush stores.

http://www.westcoastairbrush.com/airbrushforum/index.php

Createx, Golden & Dr. Ph. Martin's are sold at Dixie Art and, they have something mentioned on the Createx formula being changed
http://www.dixieart.com/Createx.html

I just read at another forum that Createx has been playing games with their paints. They have thinned them out and are still in the process of changing the consistency, so whenever you re-order the paint might be thinner or thicker.

So you might want to concider using - Golden, Dr. Ph. Martin's or Aqua Flow.
The other forum listed info for Aqua Flow: 1-800-335-2710 the website couldn't be found -  www.aquaflow.htm

Thanks Mike, I'll keep you in mind when the time comes. I have my twin tank "Contractor's Grade" compressor which has good pressure (if I crank 'er open she'll put out 100-125psi) noisy thing tho

Hippy-Ed wrote:

jhande wrote: I here ya, have fun and keep on practing man... it's all good.  you know it!! Might need a little advice on paints,etc on doing T-shirts some time you know, an inventory (itemized) list of what's needed

Ed,

First thing is that you need a compressor that can handle 60 psi constantly.
I use 1/8" hardboard that you buy at Home Depot and cut it to fit into a T-shirt.
Cut it slightly smaller than the inside dimensions of the T-shirt and round the top corners off.
You can make different sized ones for different shirts.
Make sure the shirt is NOT stretched as the painting will look funny when taken off the board.
It works great and paint does not bleed through it and you can put a Teflon sheet or wax paper over the shirt while still on the board and iron it that way.
You really need a heat press to set the paint well enough but they are expensive.
Createx is good paint as is Aqua-Flow so either will work well.
I know a lot of tricks and such for that hobby so shoot me some questions and I will see if I can help.
I have several VHS tapes here on doing T-shirt airbrushing by Terry Hill who is one of the best, as well as others.

Thanks Jim, that's basically what I wantd to know. I did read something recently on it but, needed to know the basics which weren't given other than the paint & A/B. I like your wife's idea about the added padding on the edges of the backing board
It is food for thought. Thank you.

Hey Ed, no problem. But neither my wife nor I am anywhere near truely knowledgeable enough to be giving advice. We are only going by what I have read in some books and info gathered at some websites. With that said, here's what has been working for my wife and my one or two shirts so far.

We started with Createx paints, check this at - Dixie Art first.
Since I had this easel for my architectural displays, we used it for holding the T-shirts.
We made cardboard inserts for the T-shirts. You have to protect the back side of the shirt from the paint bleeding through. My wife took it one step further, she used some of that cheap pillow stuffing and formed a slight ridge around the edge so the spraying area of the shirt won't touch the card board.
Besides the airbrush and air supply, those are the main items I can think of to get started. Besides of course the paint and airbrush cleaning solution.
For cleaning my wife has used - windex, water & alchohol mix, windshield washer fluid (similar to windex but cheaper) and I think a few other things. She prefers the windshield washer fluid, she sprays that through the AB followed by water then changes her colors. At the end of the day she strips down the AB and cleans it real good.

Hope that gives you something to start with. 

Maybe Mike has something to add? 

jhande wrote:

I here ya, have fun and keep on practing man... it's all good.

you know it!! Might need a little advice on paints,etc on doing T-shirts some time you know, an inventory (itemized) list of what's needed

I here ya, have fun and keep on practing man... it's all good. 

jhande wrote:

Yes Ed, the HP-C Plus & the Eclipse CS are both gravity-feed with the larger 1/3 oz. cup. So very true, none are the "Holy Grail" One has to match an AB to ones needs as each brush has it's unique area of best performance. After all, it's a tool designed to do a specific task. Badger AB's are also very good. It's just that when I tried the Iwata's at my friends garage after trying some of his Badgers, I prefered the Iwata's feel and spray atomization. I bought the Iwata straight off because I wanted to practice with one of the AB's that I'd be working with. Since each AB has it's own characteristics I didn't want to learn with one and then have to switch and learn how to handle things with another AB.

Yup, seeing how I'm just getting into the world of A/Bs I can say I'm finding out what my needs are The HF cheapy was good for gen. coverage & will be used for spraying Future the Badger is basically all I need to do my models with so far & once I get my skills down to something better than what they are....

Yes Ed, the HP-C Plus & the Eclipse CS are both gravity-feed with the larger 1/3 oz. cup.

So very true, none are the "Holy Grail"
One has to match an AB to ones needs as each brush has it's unique area of best performance. After all, it's a tool designed to do a specific task.

Badger AB's are also very good. It's just that when I tried the Iwata's at my friends garage after trying some of his Badgers, I prefered the Iwata's feel and spray atomization.

I bought the Iwata straight off because I wanted to practice with one of the AB's that I'd be working with. Since each AB has it's own characteristics I didn't want to learn with one and then have to switch and learn how to handle things with another AB.

Having recently acquired the Badger 175 [from a friend here on the boards] I have enjoyed the feel of it in my hands. The Eclipse I had the pleasure of using in Reno was a very nice "fit" as well. Both are pretty good brushes from what I've been hearing & from my own experience (which says alot since the only other A/B I've used is the $5.00 special from Harbor Freight) I think if I were to get another A/B it would be the Iwata but, I've gotta get some use outta this one first I need to practice some more
There are alot of decent A/Bs out there & none are the Holy Grail of A/Bs each has it's advantages... iirc the HP-C Plus is a gravity feed? I believe that's the one I've been reading alot about here...

**EDIT**

I think it is what I thought. Just popped over to dixieart.com
http://www.dixieart.com/Eclipse.html   think their prices are a bit lower & of course, anything over $45 is free shipping They are good at getting their orders out.

Hippy-Ed wrote:

I was talking with a guy yesterday about the different things one can do with an A/B as he's into R/C and has done a little bit with the A/Bs.

Before I bought my Iwata Eclipse HP-BCS I was doing tons of research and talking with lot's of people. I realized you can't get one AB to do everything, but I wanted something that my family and I could experiment with doing different subjects. After testing out a bunch of AB's at the guys garage, at first I was going to go with a Badger, until he stuck the BCS in my hand. It felt a little more comfortable and I seemed to get a slightly better spray from it. I found out that the BCS was considered a very good "general-purpose" AB that could handle everything we wanted to try doing. After some price checking it wasn't much more expensive then a Badger equivalent.

So now that we've had a chance to get our feet wet and try a few things to see what we like doing with an AB, I'm getting a couple more to help us along.

Have: Iwata Eclipse HP-BCS for general spraying - $79.00 (Kit - $299.98)
In the mail: Vega 600 (sold out) to spray base/top coats or large areas - $20.00 ($5. S&H)
Next to purchase: Iwata Eclipse HP-CS for finer detail work - $109.97
- OR - the Iwata HP-C Plus for finer detail work - $159.00

The wife and I figured as a Christmas gift to each other last year, we got the $299.98 Kit. She could try her occassional canvas paintings, my son and I could do our models and my daughter could try what she wants. Ok, so it was mostly for Dad LOL. So now we're thinking, for an investment of $213.97 plus paints we can try to expand our spraying and possibly make a few bucks with it too. [I'm not counting the hobby compressor as we'll use my garage compressor for serious spraying and save the hobby compressor for models and stuff]. If not, I'll have fun spraying everything around the house and maybe even my truck.

Oh I stopped in at the local Marina while out shopping today. I found out what paints they use on canoes, humm... 

LoL Jim, ya better git yer butt back ta bed before the wifey thinks yer upto no good Come to think of it,... isn't that why you're in here anyways?
Yup, I hear it all the time... Practice, Practice, Practice and when ya think ya got it down,... Practice some more
I do recall that posting as well. Think that was the one I was thinking of when I edited one of my earlier posts here...

I was talking with a guy yesterday about the different things one can do with an A/B as he's into R/C and has done a little bit with the A/Bs.

Hippy-Ed wrote:

Jim, that's about the same as I was told by the gal in Reno. I wont forget the experience either. She left an impression on me & I look foreward to my next trip up there so I can learn some more from her She is quite talented & friendly too and I think what surprised me the most was the fact she handed me the Iwata & set up a T-sirt for me to try it out! I was totally floored by that. She said I showed "promise" at it so, I s'pose I did a good job.

Ed, I had a similar experience with a guy I met up here not long ago in my LHS. You might remember me posting about it. He over heard me asking about the Aztek airbrushes in the LHS. He was buying some model paint next to were the AB's were and kept shaking his head no. He waited for me outside and talked with me for about 30 minutes. Explained that the Azteks were really junk and for the same price or less on the internet I could get Iwata Eclipse series. He invited me to his body shop to see his equipment and some of his work. He let me feel some of his AB's, he even loaded a few with paint and let me spray some scrap medal to see how I liked the feel of them. He had Badger's, Paasche's, a couple of SATA's and quite a few Iwata's. I've been there quite a few times now. He let's me practice whenever I want - I have my own hood leaning against a wall hehe. He's been showing me some tips & tricks, how to work with stencils and masks and different types of newer paints. Imagine... water based paints on a car!    And he said you can drive it in the rain and wash it after it dries too. LOL

Oh yeah, we build the same type of model car subjects too. 

I was amazed how that entire scenario went down. I mean, I'm from more of a city area, people aren't normally that friendly - unless they are gay and, well, not me, forget... But he's married, noticed I was a car modeler, I was interested in getting a quality AB and over heard me mention about spraying real cars. So he did the right neighborly thing and help a person out with like interest. After all, that's what they do up here.

Don't forget Ed... practice, practice, practice. 

Oh,oh... 4:43 am I better sneak into bed or the wife be having a fit. I'm supposed to go shopping with her after the kids get on the school bus at 7:30 and I have to see my rehabilitation counselor at 11. Maybe I can sleep tomorrow... I mean tonight.

Later

MikeV wrote:

Same here Jim. People told me that I could be a good artist if I wanted but I just don't have that drive to be that. I sure wish I did as I would prefer that to operating heavy equipment for a living.

Those T-shirts looked really nice Mike! I'd have to say you have it in you.

I started as a mechanic in a Buick dealership after my military tour. We only had one guy in the body shop and when he became really busy the boss would send me in because I knew about body work and spraying cars already. Besides just collision repair, our body shop would do some custom work too. I watched as the other guy (Pete) used the airbrush. There was a lot of after-hours jobs for the custom stuff and I stayed to make the extra money (I loved filling my roll-a-round toolbox back then). Things finally slowed down at nights and I started bringing in my '66 Nova. When I finally finished it come fall I showed it to the Pete. He liked the car and asked where I had it done. I told him here, at night, I did it. His jaw hit the floor - "No way, I never even let you touch the airbrush". Well I practiced and took my time, if I screwed up I would sand it off and spray again. Pete said I had a knack for it and should keep doing it.

Instead I bounced from auto mechanic to carpentry to architectural designer / CAD operator and back to mechanic. 

Now at a somewhat disabled 47 years old, I'm dabbling in it again. 

Humm... almost full circle 

P.S. I got to play with my artistic abilities again doing the architectural designer. Just in a different way than with an AB, LOL.

jhande wrote:

At a mall in CT there was a small booth setup with a talented guy doing T-shirts. He only had a few AB's, if memory servers correctly (been years), I think he had 3 gravity-feeds and 3 siphon-feeds. But he did have lots of bottles loaded and ready to go, plus bottles of colors to load the paint cups. I watched him for awhile, he was spraying a '57 Chevy with a sunset background. He sprayed, cleaned, swapped colors and had that shirt done in about 15 to 20 minutes. I couldn't believe my eyes, it was gorgeous. His second shirt was a portrait of the girl who ordered the shirt, again same thing, done in 15 to 20 minutes. I remember asking him when he wasn't busy - "How the heck do you spray so quick and they look so great?" He said - "Years of practice my friend and gallons of paint". I then asked him - "Why 6 airbrushes, wouldn't one work or a few more so you wouldn't have to change colors?" I remember he kind of chuckled at me and said - "Most shirts I try to paint with roughly 6 colors, if I need more it's easy and quick enough to clean and swap colors. Besides, at about $100. an airbrush I think I have enough invested for now". Well, the questions & answers are pretty darn close to how I remember them.  I'll never forget that experience, it left an impression for sure. That was the second thing I've seen that really sparked my interest long ago in airbrushing. The first was watching someone doing a mural on the side of a van. Absolutely amazing... I was hooked. Just wish I stayed with it. Oh well, getting a second chance LOL.

Jim, that's about the same as I was told by the gal in Reno. I wont forget the experience either. She left an impression on me & I look foreward to my next trip up there so I can learn some more from her She is quite talented & friendly too and I think what surprised me the most was the fact she handed me the Iwata & set up a T-sirt for me to try it out! I was totally floored by that. She said I showed "promise" at it so, I s'pose I did a good job.

jhande wrote:

At a mall in CT there was a small booth setup with a talented guy doing T-shirts. He only had a few AB's, if memory servers correctly (been years), I think he had 3 gravity-feeds and 3 siphon-feeds. But he did have lots of bottles loaded and ready to go, plus bottles of colors to load the paint cups. I watched him for awhile, he was spraying a '57 Chevy with a sunset background. He sprayed, cleaned, swapped colors and had that shirt done in about 15 to 20 minutes. I couldn't believe my eyes, it was gorgeous. His second shirt was a portrait of the girl who ordered the shirt, again same thing, done in 15 to 20 minutes. I remember asking him when he wasn't busy - "How the heck do you spray so quick and they look so great?" He said - "Years of practice my friend and gallons of paint". I then asked him - "Why 6 airbrushes, wouldn't one work or a few more so you wouldn't have to change colors?" I remember he kind of chuckled at me and said - "Most shirts I try to paint with roughly 6 colors, if I need more it's easy and quick enough to clean and swap colors. Besides, at about $100. an airbrush I think I have enough invested for now". Well, the questions & answers are pretty darn close to how I remember them.  I'll never forget that experience, it left an impression for sure. That was the second thing I've seen that really sparked my interest long ago in airbrushing. The first was watching someone doing a mural on the side of a van. Absolutely amazing... I was hooked. Just wish I stayed with it. Oh well, getting a second chance LOL.

Same here Jim.

People told me that I could be a good artist if I wanted but I just don't have that drive to be that.
I sure wish I did as I would prefer that to operating heavy equipment for a living.