Intimindated by Airbrush

I agree with the practice but once you get the hang of it, you'll be spoiled. The mess and operation is minimal. No reason to be intimidated at all. They don't bite........hard

Andy 

What they said. The hardest part about airbrushing with me is seeing all of the outstanding results I see on here. I have to keep reminding myself that those results are from HOURS of practice. Just keep plugging away. Try and make it a "Journey" and not a "Destination". 

Whatever you do, DO NOT try and judge your work against folks on here who have been doing airbrushing for years. That way leads to nothing but madness and frustration. 

You'll have your good days and bad. I've had times where my AB does just seems to do what I want it to with little effort, and others where I swear it looks like I just dumped a gallon of paint on the model.

Regards,

Jeff 

Go out and buy some acrylics, they wash off with soap and water, and can be completely removed, even when dry, with Windex with Ammonia. Then buy the cheapest kit you can get your hands on and build it without trying to detail it. It's going to be your practice target.

Then practice, practice and practice. Then wash all the paint off with the Windex and practice some more. Spray wide area, and narrow area, play with the airbrush and see what it can do. The acrylics are easier to clean up and dry fast, so you don't have to wait to do multiple coats. They also tend not to annoy SWMBO like the smell of enamels do, though your results may vary.

This will give you the confidence you need to do a "real" model.

And don't forget to practice! 

Sorry!

SWMBO = She Who Must Be Obeyed. AKA the Chief Financial Officer. AKA The Gate-Keeper. AKA the Wife.

I know it sounds a bit crazy, sometimes when I've got a little spaying to do, I just get a bunch of newpapers and start drawing lines, filling in the ads etc.  I'll spend a 1/2 hour to an hour just messing around painting on the newsprint.  My confidence level has increased as well as my skills.  I'm certainly not a world class painter, but just a little practice goes a long way. 

D

Almost nothing can be done well without practice.  Just know you'll have good days and bad days.  When you have bad days think about what you could do differently.

And just keep saying to yourself, 'dumber people than me have figured out how to do this'.

Jodet wrote:

And just keep saying to yourself, 'dumber people than me have figured out how to do this'.

Hey! You talkin' about me?

Seriously- give airbrushing a try! What's the worst that can happen? You have some plastic painted funny!

Yeah! There are tiger striped Mig-21's out there!

namrednef wrote:

Yeah! There are tiger striped Mig-21's out there!

ROTFL

Yeah- watch out fer them crazy folks!

OK, OK...You have talked me into it. I will just have to give it a try on a cheap model.  Hopefully this weekend holiday and all.....

Thanks again.........

Bgrigg wrote:

While I agree that practicing on paper will help teach you the basics of using an airbrush, I will caution that styrene does not react like paper. What you learn on paper can be very difficult to transfer to plastic!

That is true Bill!

Paper absorbs the paint so you are far less likely to get spidering and other things that happen on smoother surfaces like plastic and metal. I think it is far better to practice on an old model as that is what you are trying to learn to paint on.

MikeV wrote:

Bgrigg wrote: While I agree that practicing on paper will help teach you the basics of using an airbrush, I will caution that styrene does not react like paper. What you learn on paper can be very difficult to transfer to plastic! That is true Bill! Paper absorbs the paint so you are far less likely to get spidering and other things that happen on smoother surfaces like plastic and metal. I think it is far better to practice on an old model as that is what you are trying to learn to paint on.

Or practice on an old milk bottle.

smokinguns3 wrote:

MikeV wrote:  Bgrigg wrote: While I agree that practicing on paper will help teach you the basics of using an airbrush, I will caution that styrene does not react like paper. What you learn on paper can be very difficult to transfer to plastic! That is true Bill! Paper absorbs the paint so you are far less likely to get spidering and other things that happen on smoother surfaces like plastic and metal. I think it is far better to practice on an old model as that is what you are trying to learn to paint on. Or practice on an old milk bottle.

Yes you can do that as well although I have no milk bottles in my display case.

Had not thought about using the milk jugs that I usually recycle. Next one emptied will be clean up and shot up. I ordered a Paasche single action airbrush from BearAir. Will have to try that when I get it. By the way on compressors. I saw one at Walmart yesterday that said it could be used for airbrushing. I believe it was a Causfield, something like that. Would that be on that could be used for this type of airbrushing?

Thanks..

Sounds like a plan on the cheap models. I just happen to have a 1/72 A4 and a MIG25 that were built up but was not happy with. The A4 already has a couple of layers of paint (acrylic) and the MIG has an experiment with BMF. I could do test runs on them. I currently have a can of air that I could use for my air source and do have plenty of paints.

What would be best to thin acrylics (modelmaster, pollyscale, tamiya) for the airbrush? I have some mineral spirits, alcohol, future. I have some enamels as well. I have some MR COLOR thinner.

cmixson wrote:

I saw one at Walmart yesterday that said it could be used for airbrushing. I believe it was a Causfield, something like that. Would that be on that could be used for this type of airbrushing?

Yes, that compressor would work just fine.   Also any of the compressors from Sears, Lowes,  Home Depot or the like.   The rap against these compressors will be their noise versus a high-end airbrush only compressor.    Also, stay away from the 12v auto tire inflator type of compressor.  

You will need a regulator (also available from the above) to step-down the pressure to what will be useable by the airbrush.   Fittings to hook the whole thinga up are also needed (also from the above sources.

Canned air will do in a pinch, but in the long run they are an expensive proposition.   Better to invest in a compressor than the canned air route

Another good item to use for practicing paint on is Ping Pong balls. I like using them for color chips because they give a better three dimensional subject versus a flat one. You can source really cheap practice balls on the web. I got a box of 100 for dirt cheap.

And! I used a couple inside a fuselage for support and alignment! 

I don't use milk jugs due to the texture they have making my paint look weird.  I do keep V8 jugs, fruit juice, etc, anything that comes in smooth plastic with some compound curves.  Primer it, and shoot away!  This will let you see how a color looks over the undercoat color, and even test a few mixes side by side, as well as making sure paint is not spidering or orange peeling BEFORE you shoot it on your model!

Good luck, and spray away!

Chris

Cmixson

I can relate to your story because I was in the same boat. I bought my airbruse a little over three months ago. I kept using evey excuse in the book to not do it. Especially time. Just last night I fianally broke down, hooked everything up and gave it a shot. I picked the area of my basement near the bilco doors (for ventalation) and setup on a card board box.

I tested out my spray pattern on the flat base of the model i'm building and then set out on the real thing. Except for what I call spitting from the brush it turned out very well. Of course it was flat paint so I feel it's more forgiving. The paint process lasted maybe 20 minutes.  maybe an hour and a half from opening the box on the airbrush to the time I closed the box on the airbrush. There was no smell and no over spry to speak of. That could be because of the amount of pait I have going through the brush. I have a habit of over doing everything so in this instance I (thanks to the double action of the brush) kept the paint flow to a minimum.

I was also afraid of the cleanup. Bgrigg has a great regiment for cleaning the brush.

I feel the project I chose to start with my brush is way over my head but i guess after this everything else will be easy. Its an intricate pattern I'm paitning on the hull of a ship. Its going to be a Lot of time taping, minutes spraying, lots of cleanup. lol.  

But after last night I can't wait to get back to it.

dirkpit,

Well, I guess I will get started when my airbrush arrives. BearAir backordered it so it will be later this month before it get it. I will have to use the canned air I already have for the first test though. Since I just bought a new vehicle I suppose my model building will be a little subdued for a short while. Thanks for the info on how it went for you. It keeps my hopes up. I have some 1/48 aircraft that I eventually want to try the airbrush on in the future...