How many of you still use Paint Brushes?

TB-  My Mom had one of her Postmaster friends who built bamboo rods make one for my birthday...I think I was 12.  9 foot, 4 piece, with a "new fangled" automatic reel. That would have been around '65.  Still have it, but haven't dug it out of the cloth bag and hard case in years...and 67 now.

That thing was deadly on rainbows and browns with Royal Coachman, mosquitoes, and black ant flys.

I have a Iwata Eclipse air brush, I have found that I only use it to paint large areas, such as the hull, etc. The reason being is that to paint with the air brush is a big production, not having a paint booth, I have to set up in the garage, start the air compressor, properly mix the paint with thinner and other colors if needed ( and usually I do not properly calculated the amount I need, so I always wind up short ), then clean the whole mess after I am done, including expending a good 1/2 hour just cleaning the air brush itself. I like the finish provided with the air brush, and, once started, painting the items only takes seconds.

When I open a kit, then finding several trees full of parts, and with no idea as to what color goes were, some are large pieces that share the same color, I try to paint those with the air brush, but, there is always a piece that needed to be paint that I miss. Then there is the situation were one tree of parts may have parts that require different colors, so, time has to be expended masking up.

So, at the end I find myself painting with a regular brush, those parts that were too small, I missed the first time, or simply did them with the wrong color.

I you guys have some tips as to how to use the air brush more efficiently, I would like to hear them.

Thanks

Joe

Speaking of paint brushes…

I have been using Artists Loft paint brushes; Artists Loft is a Michaels brand name. Two are wide ones with angled bristles, one is a medium sized one with a "filbert" oval tip, and one a medium-sized round one that comes to an amazingly "sharp" tip.

Based on comments in this thread about cross contamination of various paints, thinners, and cleaners, I decided last night that I needed to buy some more of the same brushes and dedicate each to a particular type of paint — acrylics, enamels, and decanted Tamiya spray paints. So I went to the internet to see if my local Michaels store had the brushes in stock. Nope. Not a one. Nor do any of the other three other Michaels stores in Vancouver.

I wasn't surprised — when I was at Michaels last week I couldn't help but notice that their scale-modelling shelves were virtually empy. That's not surprising. On the same trip, I also noticed that there were hardly any paint brushes in the art supplies section of the store. Clearly, the novel coronavirus pandemic has seriously damaged the supply lines that we have come to depend on, and not just for paint brushes. Several times recently, I have tried and failed to find other modelling supplies on line.

Bob

Goldhammer;

     Talking about Bamboo rods made me go in the garage and dig through for stuff. Found my fly tyng vise and the tool kit.YAY. Still have a handful of Blackflies left. Went to the park and tested the old stuff out. Not a keeper, But I did Catch a SmallMouth Bass. Little guy, I definitely let him go.

      I wound up staying till the sun disappeared from view and that funny dim big light in the sky showed up. Caught another one, oops! He was a keeper and delicious!

    This has showed me one thing. Old good gear doesn't need replacing, it just needs using! This includes the wielder of the equipment! I felt so good and checked. I needed to re-new my Fishing License anyway. So I did!

Tanker-Builder

Goldhammer;

     Talking about Bamboo rods made me go in the garage and dig through for stuff. Found my fly tyng vise and the tool kit.YAY. Still have a handful of Blackflies left. Went to the park and tested the old stuff out. Not a keeper, But I did Catch a SmallMouth Bass. Little guy, I definitely let him go.

      I wound up staying till the sun disappeared from view and that funny dim big light in the sky showed up. Caught another one, oops! He was a keeper and delicious!

    This has showed me one thing. Old good gear doesn't need replacing, it just needs using! This includes the wielder of the equipment! I felt so good and checked. I needed to re-new my Fishing License anyway. So I did!

 

Wow, I haven't kept up with this thread ! Good going TB !!

And GH, the Royal Coachman is one of my favorite flies to tie and fish, even more so the RW. They aren't so hot around home here but great on our trips to northern Maine.

Back on brushes. I find taklon to be a good compromise bristle material between different types of paint, seriously. And hey, anyone ever tie mayflies using artificial tailing material ? Try brush bristles. Again Seriously, especially for BWO ( Blue Wing Olives).

These days, about the only time I use a paintbrush is for either painting knobs and switches in a cockpit, or for doing a pin wash.  I just like the thin, smooth finish with crisp edges that a combo of airbrush and liquid masking fluid gives me.  I've even gotten to the point where I'm masking and airbrushing instrument panels and all I can say is that I wish I had tried that years ago.  

Funny;

 I wasn't really sure my little Blackflies would work. Gees, I went and made two more since I posted last. Now, The Lake. The Big Lakes. Sam Rayburn and LadyBird Beware! Doc's gotchya in his sights!