Dragonus airbrushed canopy

[radiohead]

Here's a few shots of my airbrushed Dragonus canopy.
I use Auto Air paints for their flexibility and because they're water based and relatively safe.
The base coat was shot with a grey primer on the scuffed plastic, then a layer of Auto Air Base Coat Dark was sprayed with a Paasche VL. For final prep a layer of Aluminum Base was sprayed to give the candy colors more depth. I've never used this stuff and man it was cool! It's sort of like a metal flake and sprays pretty dry. I should have weighed the canopy before and after to see if this makes much difference. I guess the Aluminum Base doesn't have a strong adhesion and can peel pretty easy, so I shot a coat of clear from a rattle can for protection.
All of the details were sprayed with transparent black out of my Infinity with a .15mm tip. This is a great brush! If you're interested in airbrushing and have moved beyond a beginner's brush, I highly recommend the Infinity next.
After the details were painted, I masked the parts I wanted to keep aluminum, and shot a coat of Candy Bright Red. Next, I sprayed another coat of clear from the rattle can and... Pop! Wow the demons look so cool now! Clear on candy is truly an amazing thing.
Next I smoothed everything out with 800 grit, added a flame detail to the eyeball exhaust port thingy, added some white highlights to the demons and sprayed on a final coat of clear. That's it!


Jake

[ardon123]

nice thank you .

[tukkus]

Hi radiohead, that's a nice looking canopy. I just ordered a couple of canopies but I've never airbrushed anything and don't own any equipment. I looked up the cost of the Infinity airbrushes and they seem kinda expensive, can you tell me what the difference is between the airbrushes in the $100-150 range and the Infinity will do.

Also what kind of air compressor would be good to get...thanks

[radiohead]

Hey tukkus, I'll gladly let you know what I know. Yeah, the Infinity is a bit pricey to start out with. I chose an Infinity because it has fine-line spray characteristics that match an Iwata Micron (a 300-400 dollar brush). Also, it's very well engineered, better than an Iwata in my opinion.

I started with an Iwata Revolution CR. It is a great brush for only about $65. Brushes in the $150 range, such as a Grex XN, would compare to my Infinity. It's actually only $118 at dickblick.com. The Iwata HP-C Plus is not much more and adds a cutaway handle which is very important to me. Both of those would make a great first brush. I shouldn't even say first brush, because they are both professional tools that many people make full careers using.
I think you pay for spray characteristics and ease-of-use features. For more money you can achieve a tighter spray pattern and get a brush that is engineered a bit better to make it easier to clean and smoother to use - these are just features in my opinion because I can still make my cheap, $50 Paasche VL spray like my Infinity, but it's requires more cleaning and isn't smooth, etc.
chicagoairbrushsupply.com carries a wide assortment of brands to browse through.

When you're looking for compressors it's best to get a shop type one with a 4-or-so gallon tank from walmart, home depot, etc and then a moisture trap and regulator. They are cheap (<$100) and last for years, plus you can fill the tires of your car and get an air nailer to build stuff you never knew you wanted to build. The downside is they're noisy. If you working in your basement or a den it can be deafening. You could get a long hose and put the compressor in the garage, but if you're in an apartment you'll need something else. Some people get a refillable air tank and refill it at the gas station.

I picked up an airbrush compressor from a local Harbor Freight for cheap and it works great, but I eventually got sick of even that noise. I was looking into using a refillable co2 tank, but I got lucky and found a used Sil-Aire compressor ($750 new!).

Really anything works, you just need a minimum pressure of about 40 lbs, a moisture trap, and a regulator so you can adjust that ~40 lbs down to 5-20.

Let me know what I can clarify and any other questions you have!

[antennahead]

hey radiohead, that canopy is awesome, I wish my freehand skills were this good.....them demons really do pop under that candy.absolutly stunning paint job. :)


Tukkus, I agree with radiohead about the Iwata revolution, it's a great brush to start out with. my first brush was a Badger 150, After that I bought the revolution and right away I noticed a huge difference in quality and spray pattern, a little while later I bought an Iwata HPC fine line, however my skills aren't good enough to really take advantage of this brushes capabilities.(For quite a few years I built model cars so it was one mabey two colors at the most) but the revolution is the one I always tend to pick up first, It's the one I used to paint my canopy for this contest. I don't think you can beat this brush for $65.
As far as a compressor, I have a 5 hp craftsman in my attached garage. I drilled a hole through the wall and ran a hose into my basement, a long time ago,the compressor broke in the middle of a project and I didn't have time to fix it so I bought a little 2 gallon coleman compressor and have been using it ever since for my airbrushing.It cost me between $50 and $60 (I think walmart sells something similar by campbell haufsted....I know its not spelled right) It's pretty cool and portable also alot quiter than a full size compressor, yet still may be to noisy for an apartment if noise is a concern. so for around $120 you would have the perfect setup to start. Even though the revolution is on the less expensive side of airbrushes it is still capable of fine lines and details.

Sorry radiohead, I didn't intend to hijack your thread, I'm like you, I like to share my knowlege if possible. :D

[radiohead]

Hey thanks for the compliment antennahead; the colors you chose in your canopy are beautiful. That was the first thing my girlfriend said too. Oh, and I really appreciate everything you've added, so don't worry about thread jacking, I hope you have more to say! It's funny that we seem to think very much alike... I was going to drill a hole through my garage and set up a valve in the wall before I found my current silent compressor. Then I noticed your name...antennahead...radiohead... weird!

Tukkus - I really do love my Revolution, especially for the price. I could actually get some pretty good detail with it. I really hate show-offs but I want to help solidify the point that any brush in capable hands can do alright, so I attached the last piece I did with my Revolution before I knew I outgrew it. It's completely original and titled "Lady Long Legs." Again, I hope I'm not out of line :confused: but hopefully it helps another get into a different side of the hobby.

[radiohead]

antennahead, I almost forgot. You should definately create a "beginners (with advanced results)" how-to like you mentioned in the contest thread. You could use your revolution to show inexpensive yet successful techniques. I've seen too many how-to's that glaze over the brush and say anything will do, but don't point out or even know themselves that good doesn't have to be expensive.

[antennahead]

Yea, I noticed the radiohead and antennahead thing to and thought it was funny.............so.....Is radiohead and antennahead going...........head to head...... :D I couldn't help myself.........anyway when I started in this hobby about a year ago I was trying to register here but couldn't come up with a name that wasn't used already..........so at the time I was listening to one of ZZtop's last albums "antennahead" and kind of adopted it. thanks for the compliments.....I just wish pearls would photograph better. the purple has a silver pearl and the orange has a gold pearl and when the sun hits it, it just glows.I definately will put up a how to once I get another canopy. I keep seeing things that have been painted with auto air colors,but have been leary to try them because I have never tried a waterbased paint except for createx......didn't like createx at all. I used house of color paints on mine, most people think buying house of color is expensive but there is a company called black gold that repackages unthinned house of colors in 2 oz bottles for about 5 bucks.....do a google search for black gold if your interested.

[tukkus]

Thanks for the info guys, I was watching some beginner airbrushing videos on youtube last night and one of the instructors mentioned the Iwata and I had no idea what she was talking about, now I know :) I'll get more involved in airbrushing now that I've seen some videos of techniques and maintenance on the airbrushes...it doesn't seem so intimidating as it used to, I've also ordered some canopies for my Dragonus to practice on. My biggest problem is I have no artistic abilities, so I'll have to copy other peoples work.

thanks again, Ken

[radiohead]

Hey tukkus, we've all started somewhere! You'd really be surprised at the number of people that can't draw a stick figure but can airbrush with the best of them. Once it becomes an extension of your hand, the creativity will flow much easier. I'm a member (I'm NineOctopi over there) of airbrushtechnique.com. The owner, Don, has some great free beginner's instructions. There is a lot of info in the open forums too which is great because the full subscription is pretty expensive (there's both an online mag and a published mag) but completely worth it. Good luck!

[paintz2007]

hey radiohead, that canopy is awesome, I wish my freehand skills were this good.....them demons really do pop under that candy.absolutly stunning paint job. :)


Tukkus, I agree with radiohead about the Iwata revolution, it's a great brush to start out with. my first brush was a Badger 150, After that I bought the revolution and right away I noticed a huge difference in quality and spray pattern, a little while later I bought an Iwata HPC fine line, however my skills aren't good enough to really take advantage of this brushes capabilities.(For quite a few years I built model cars so it was one mabey two colors at the most) but the revolution is the one I always tend to pick up first, It's the one I used to paint my canopy for this contest. I don't think you can beat this brush for $65.
As far as a compressor, I have a 5 hp craftsman in my attached garage. I drilled a hole through the wall and ran a hose into my basement, a long time ago,the compressor broke in the middle of a project and I didn't have time to fix it so I bought a little 2 gallon coleman compressor and have been using it ever since for my airbrushing.It cost me between $50 and $60 (I think walmart sells something similar by campbell haufsted....I know its not spelled right) It's pretty cool and portable also alot quiter than a full size compressor, yet still may be to noisy for an apartment if noise is a concern. so for around $120 you would have the perfect setup to start. Even though the revolution is on the less expensive side of airbrushes it is still capable of fine lines and details.

Sorry radiohead, I didn't intend to hijack your thread, I'm like you, I like to share my knowlege if possible. :D


campbell hausfeld... i work at a hardware store

[Nick J]

radiohead, how much would you charge to paint two dragonus canopies? please email me at nick_jonesfool2@yahoo.com very interested!