Recommendation for super tight budget and noob?

If you only want a way to paint without spending a lot of money, use rattle cans. No need to invest in tools that you'll never use if you decide you don't want to pursue the hobby.

Well, the thing is, I want to do very specific exterior and interior colors.

Would something like this http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&I=LXGUZ4&P=W work, or would it only frustrate me?

You can get an airbrush and compressor at Harbor Freight for about $69 with the 20% coupon thet have online or in magazines.

http://www.harborfreight.com/1-5-hp-58-psi-compressor-and-airbrush-kit-95630.html

If you're going to be building cars, you probably will be doing single colour schemes. Just get a basic, external mix airbrush, and mix paints. Either way, I hope yo stay with this hobby!

So, tbhalomaster, are you saying the harbor freight thing linked to is what I need or is more than what I need? I'd really like to stay under $50 for now. Just finished grad school, so...well you know the rest.

Oh, and how loud would a compressor like that be? I live in an apartment and would like to do this at night.

marlinspike

Would something like this http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&I=LXGUZ4&P=W work, or would it only frustrate me?

That type of airbrush would work fine if it's of decent quality.  It's a copy of the Badger 350.  A lot of car guys use the Paasche H.  You can get it at Coast Airbrush complete with hose, bottles and cup for $46.  There are reviews of the 350 and the Paasche H on my web site.  The Harbor Freight brush has a smaller nozzle and coverage area and would require thinning the paint more.

Don

Nice website. After reading a bit on there, I think I'm going to go wit the Paasce H kit and use air cans. A bit over budget from what I wanted, but not by much.

marlinspike

Nice website. After reading a bit on there, I think I'm going to go wit the Paasce H kit and use air cans. A bit over budget from what I wanted, but not by much.

Don't use air cans. use an air canister/tank you can refill at the gas station. A spare tire is a better choice than the cans.

E

Either way a air flow regulator of some type(even a screw or ball valve)that fits your air lines is something you will need.

Good luck and have fun.

Dr

Hmmm...the spare tire from my car does live in my apartment (dead weight = no thanks)...does the air hose that comes with these have a schrader valve?

marlinspike

Hmmm...the spare tire from my car does live in my apartment (dead weight = no thanks)...does the air hose that comes with these have a schrader valve?

I don't know about your dead weight. But the can fitting (the badger type in the old days)used to be a schrader valve fitting with a screw type regulator for air flow. That's how I started, a spare tire. then moved up to a air tank 2 paydays later.

Dr

With all the needed accessories (regulator, and I imagine a gauge or the regulator doesn't have much use), this quickly became too expensive. I guess I'll just leave the body the grey plastic color it comes as and try to have a very skilled hand for the interior.

You can get am adaptor to make the air can "regulator" fit a tyre valve. It shouldn't be more than a  few dollars. Downside is that the air that comes out of the spare tyre smells like cat pee.....

Iknew I should of stoped when someone mentioned "rattle can".

Do I really need a regulator? Can't I just set the 205/70 tire to 20psi and keep a pretty stable pressure that way? I figure the tire provides so much more air than I need that it is more or less its own regulator, no?

Well, Dr. Faust, I am unemployed until my job starts in 2 months, so money is what it is. I have friends who rattle can real cars (obviously beater cars), and if I could find the exact color in a rattle can I'd have no problem with that.

This airbrush will be just fine to do the airbrushing your planning on doing.

It works the on the same principle as a Paasce H which dates back to the 1930s The Badger 350 uses this same nozzle type to. The Hobbico appears to be a sort of clone of a Badger 350. I paid $39 in 1977 for a Badger 350 with similar accessories and I still use it often because it is so simple to clean and set aside.

As for using cans of propellant, that will expensive and as well as frustrating, since you asked about a compressor in an apartment its obvious you know cheapest air source for the Hobbico Airbrush. As the others mentioned an automotive air tank, a 5 gallon tank filled to the maximum recommend pressure. The cheapest air pressure regulator I can find is TRF- 2000 for $19.95 at the top of this web page 

http://www.tcpglobal.com/airbrushdepot/abfilter.aspx

Since you said you won't be starting your job for another 2 months it might be best to be patient and persistent for now. Holding off on spending your cash on anything that is not a necessity until your getting regular pay checks??

Welcome to this form.

Stick with the rattle cans. At this point you'll have to find an air brush then learn how to use it. DONT practice on your model. You can find a huge slection of spray can colors at hobby shops, Michaels, Home Depot and Pep Boys. If youre not sure about the hobby and costs, keep it simple. IMHO.  If you go with canned air and an air brush, you'll need to keep the can in warm water while spraying, otherwise it will freeze up on you, due to some phenamenon of physics that I slept thru in 10th grade.  

I defer all "super tight budget" questions to von Hammer...

I think Hogzilla did it for me.

This gun http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=160497051487&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT

This regulator http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=120636891336&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT

And I can get this tank locally http://www.harborfreight.com/5-gallon-portable-air-tank-65594.html

Put the regulator on the tank and then the hose that comes with the gun on the regulator. Looks like that's everything I need. I've got some things I can practice on until I get the hang of airbrushing. I can't imagine it's that different from rattle can except you don't have to start and stop off the item and you need more coats...I'll figure it out. I have a friend who has a body shop who used to build these in his spare time and he suggested I do everything a foot away to save beginner's mistakes from showing up as easily.

Hogzilla

Since you said you won't be starting your job for another 2 months it might be best to be patient and persistent for now. Holding off on spending your cash on anything that is not a necessity until your getting regular pay checks??

Welcome to this form.

Personally, I think the above is the best advice for you right here. YOu're asking to do something even half correctly, but for a budget that won't really allow it. What if you do get into it, but find out that what you're using is completely inadequate; personally this would be a big determining factor on whether you do stay in it or not.

The harbor freight air compressor plus airbrush really is your best bet. For a bit of time, I'd stick with using rattle cans, since that will be cheap, and brush-painting the interiors. I did that for years when I was building car kits. Then go for something like the link provided above, which will be a solid performer for a basic setup, will last, and won't give you any frustrations with performance.

Using tires, air tanks, finding regulators, custom fittings, blah blah blah, you still end up spending half if not your whole budget, and if it turns out you do like it, very soon you will want to upgrade anyways.

Save your money, do what you can now, and get a half-decent setup for the $70 posted above when you can.

Well, I have money put away, it's just that now is not the time to be spending 3 figures on the air brush setup alone. I'm not worried about future upgrading, once I'm getting the paycheck that won't be a problem. I can afford the harbor freight setup, but two questions:

1) will that compressor be too noisy to use at night in an apartment community?

2) Is that a better set up over one made from the three links I posted?

marlinspike

I think Hogzilla did it for me.

This gun http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=160497051487&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT

For $15, you have another option for an dual action, internal mix airbrush.

Maybe I just had to hear it in person, but I'm going to go the route that some people here suggested: rattle can. I went to the hobby store to get paints, and the guy there (it's not a mega-lo-mart type chain store but a store where the salesman is also the owners, same as his father was), after looking at the kit, my budget, and my experience, said I'd be better off using a rattlecan for the body if there is one in a color I'd like to do and stick to brushes on the interior. This was even after I mentioned the harbor freight price So, I've gone from anthracite metallic (which I realize I probably could have ordered online) on burgundy to black on palomino. He showed me a model he had done with the Taimya rattle can, and it looked pretty good to me, and I have a decent rattle-can-hand, so this may be the best route.

I dunno, we'll see. If I find I'm not into this, it's no big deal, and if I am into this, well, it's not like this is going to be the last one I ever build, so I'm not going to sweat the small stuff.

I picked up a very very basic kit on eBay a while back for very little money.  It includes a Master Airbrush Model S68 Dual Action Syphon Feed airbrush, a 5' braided hose, and a TC-16 compressor.  Keep in mind that just about any compressor makes a certain amount of noise, so unless your neighbors are all deaf, then consider an air can instead of a compressor.  Especially if you might not use it more than once.

marlinspike

With all the needed accessories (regulator, and I imagine a gauge or the regulator doesn't have much use), this quickly became too expensive. I guess I'll just leave the body the grey plastic color it comes as and try to have a very skilled hand for the interior.

Badger has their 200nh on sale for $28 and change in the Garage Sale section of their site.  Now I have no experience with this model but I am a fan of their 155 and 100 models.  I suspect the one that I am referring too is very similar to the 350 which is given a pretty decent review on Don Wheelers site.  You also might want to check out a local Michael's or Hobby Lobby and see what they have in stock.   Michael's carries Badger and Hobby Lobby carries Paasche and Iwata.  Both stores often have 40% coupons.  I used to use the Michael's coupons to get cans of propellant before I had my compressors.  With the coupons they were something like $5 a pop. 

Mike

eptingmike

Badger has their 200nh on sale for $28 and change in the Garage Sale section of their site.  Now I have no experience with this model but I am a fan of their 155 and 100 models.  I suspect the one that I am referring too is very similar to the 350 which is given a pretty decent review on Don Wheelers site.

Mike

The 200nh is just like the old style 200 that I review, except that it has the new type head assembly like the 155 and 175.  It's a much better airbrush than the 350, and $28 is a bargain.

Don

Well, I just got a job offer for a gap filling job...so now that the budget has grown a bit, recommendations? Let's say whole kit for $150?