airbrushing basics....?

[Cessna 182]

Awww, man, I was gonna try to be first :D
Anyone wanna run down the basics of airbrushing?
Thanks,
BS

[Water Boy]

You beet me to it! I am in need of some words of wisdom. I recently purchased my first system. Its a badger "Model 175" bottom feed,internal mix, dual action. Seems I cant really adjust the spray pattern. Anyone know much about this model?

[Tommy D]

http://www.airbrush.com/forums/

[Cessna 182]

Sorry, Tommy. That site is apparently for pro airbrushers. But while I was out there I found this site:

http://howtoairbrush.com/

This site has lessons from Lesson 1 and onward. However, kinda defeats the purpose of this forum, and RCG in my view. Why would RCG want to send folks to other sites, when they have this forum that purports to do the same things?

[Eljimb0]

Regardless of the distractions other sites may present
here is some advice
Clean your airbrush as soon as you are done using it.
Use a regulator
A spare tire (from a car) as an air storage tank, and a Harbor Freight cheapo airbrush will give you amazing results for an investment of less the 15 bucks

400 dollars worth of Iwata or Paasche won't do you any good if you don't know what you are doing.
jimbo

[Tommy D]

182

When I had troubles with my brush, the site I listed was the ONLY site that could help.

Thats why I listed it.

Tommy D

[Accu157]

If it is the badger 175 I just looked up, it should be a double action airbrush. You should be able to push down to release air, and slide back to release the level of paint you want, that's about all you get regarding airbrush pattern. For starters, make sure you have a thinned paint or use corresponding airbrush medium with your choice of paint. If you don't have a spray booth, work outside, break out some old newspapers or cardboard and just start spraying. Make sure you have thinner to run through the airbrush for cleaning, carefully remove the needle and clean it off, put it in pull it out, wipe it off... numerous times until it's clean. Don't bend the needle, be ginger with the fluid nozzle, spend roughly half the time spraying and half the time cleaning. There is no alternative besides having two airbrushes and an assistant to do the cleaning for you. ;) Clean between paints, run the paint through before you spray the item, inspect the nozzle during spray occasionally to check for paint build up. You'll be using lots of paper towels depending on what paint you use.

If you expect to spend about 1.5 hours spraying and cleaning, spend about 2-3 hours preparing for spraying with a fluid mask, making your own masks, taping off the airframe, etc. especially if you're expecting your work to be a final product. Just start off trying to make a uniform coat of paint on simple objects, work on how you hold it, index finger on top, thumb on top, supporting the spraying hand with the other, focus on what angles you can hold the airbrush at, etc. Avoid freehand, you need to prepare to spray if you want a good result. The people who can freehand are those who live by airbrushing and have the stencils in their mind, and have lots of experience, perhaps thousands of hours. It's best to start off with simple designs, like those you see on aircraft (yea!). Just don't expect to do a tiger pattern Mirage-2000 or camouflage unless it's a small airplane. Use a higher flow paint gun when you need it, unless you are going to spray small 1/48 scale plastic models, you will need something with greater flow. Even the occasional spray can of paint is a good thing to have, but you won't have the flexibility of a spray gun. Detail spray guns are probably what you're looking for. Like this:
http://www.dickblick.com/zz250/23/

Make sure before you spray again after a sudden stop, that you purge the nozzle with nothing but air, then gradually let the paint out. Otherwise you will get speckles on your work.

If you're looking at getting an airbrush, purchase one which is a double action, don't get a single action airbrush unless you want an expensive blow pen/marker. Airbrushes make a circular spray pattern, they generally don't make a fan pattern unless you spend the money on an airbrush which has interchangeable tips. Detail spray guns have spray pattern built in, I have seen one airbrush capable of adjusting pressure, flow, and pattern, but it was way out of budget, and was intended for touching up photos. It could spray a line thinner than a hair. Oh, and don't use a coiled hose leading to the airbrush, they're too springy, get a straight hose.

[Cessna 182]

Good tips, thanx much.....

[Tommy D]

Just a thought.. and this I learned from the "pro" site.

Every time you take your brush appart to clean it you risk having an air leak when you re-assemble.

Might I suggest backflowing the brush as soon as your done painting.

I havent busted my gun down yet this year. I'm a believer now in backflushing.

Tommy D

[Water Boy]

I take it backflowing is what it sounds like. You flush water or thinner through the front of the gun and have it come out the suction tube/port?
Harry

[Accu157]

Oh yeah, that's where you put your finger on the spray nozzle, forgot about that one. :) That's something you should do when you clean your airbrush too. Mine has a very fine nozzle (0.2mm) so it's hard get a satisfactory cleaning, but I still do it, and it does clean out quite a bit of paint.

[wilky]

get some cardboard boxes and paint your heart out. there is no substitute for hands on practice, especially with a double action. and Clean clean clean just like everyone else is saying.

[DougC]

http://www.howtoairbrush.com/lesson%201.htm

I found a single action airbrush to be more than sufficient for painting. Dual action seemed to me appropriate for artistic needs, such as freehand fading of paint lines. If I were to us an airbrush frequently though, I can see the advantages of dual action; however, I dont' paint enough to get that good.

Also, a large piece of paper hanging on a wall, and about two hours playing about with different settings gives a quick education.

I think it comes down to 4 items;

1) Paint viscosity.
2) Tip distance to the surface.
3) Air pressure
4) Speed, and perpendicularity of your hand to the surface being painted.

Also, one "trick" I learned was to thin my paint in a small glass contained. This allows me to tip the container at an angle, and closely observe how the thinned paint "washes" off the side of the glass when the container is turned back to level. Once I was happy with how the paint sprayed, it was fairly easy to duplicate the viscosity using this method.