Looking for airbrushing tips?

[PTS]

I just picked up this set:

http://www.amazon.com/Iwata-Revolution-Airbrushing-System-Compressor/dp/B001PI6H3K

The results from testing are okay. I'm mixing P3 paint with isopropyl alcohol until it's 2% milk consistency. It's a bit splatty sometimes, so I might need to go thinner. It also dries really fast (as alcohol tends to do) which may also be giving me a problem. Maybe I should mix in a little water, or just switch to Windex (although not sure if my airbrush has any chrome on it)?

I may try Vallejo Air Color to see if the results are better (certainly less smelly/messy). My local store only stocks AutoAir brand paint (which I know is used a lot for cars, etc) - has anyone tried this on miniatures?

I'm also worried that (the advertised) 10-18 PSI is enough? I noticed that without the gun button pressed it goes to 30 PSI, but while pressed and spraying it drops to 15.

 

[airhead]

Lose the alcohol - or save it for drinking. (some paints react and clot with alcohol)
Water is fine - even better is whatever you thin your paints to paint with. (quart/liter of water, drop of dish soap, maybe some flow enhancer).

Pressure is a very subjective thing. With a nice top feed gun, I'll shoot as low as 3-5 psi if I'm making fine lines.
More pressure, more paint, larger area covered - to an extent - controlled mostly by nozzle.
Try lowering your pressure to 10 and see how the paint/gun behaves. Try upping it to 25.

Different paint will behave differently. Different materials will behave differently. Generally we are shooting hard surfaces in this hobby. Lower pressure to avoid spiders/centipedes.

Love your gun... so so on the compressor.
What you are seeing is the norm with tankless compressors. Pressure build up when you are not shooting. You almost have to start off the work area. Very hard to learn dagger strokes. The good news is that compressor will probably out live you.

 

[PTS]

Thanks airhead, much appreciated. I've not tried a paint and water mix yet. Was always worried that it would clog the gun faster than the alcohol mix. Will give it a try and hope that the needle / nozzle hole can deal with it. I'll need a good brush set for cleaning that out, and I imagine the smallest brush would have to be tiny to get in there. Any recommendations? I see cheap 5 brush key-ring style ones on ebay for a few bucks.

PS. What are dagger strokes?

 

[airhead]

If it clogs, it is because you had solid bits in your paint. Filter with a fine mesh. I use old bits of my wife's stockings.

Cut a square inch, hold over the paint bottle and drip through into your jar.
Thin with reducer. Stir well to make sure all is even.
Pour from mixing jar to airbrush cup.

It should not clog up your gun except at the needle tip (alcohol would be worse than water). The term is tip dry and the reason that lots of shooters take the last cap off. You can pick the dried bits off with a finger nail - gently.

The only other reason it would clog is if you leave it in the gun for hours.

***
Cleaning:
I use one of these on most of the body.

Take the air cap off. (1)
Take the tip off (2)
Use a q-tip and running water on them. (don't drop them down the sink)

Loosen the needle lock.
Pull the needle out the back. (the trigger will come out - pay attention)
Flush through the handle,
Flush through the cup
Clean any paint residue on the needle.
I use the large brush to scrub the cup and flush well.
I use a cheap stiff bristled 'artist' brush for working around inside the cup as well.


Only remove the nozzle (3) if you need to - it is pretty delicate and one of the pricier parts to replace.
That said, if (when) you crash the needle and bend it, you probably need to replace the nozzle as well. Keep a spare set.

Reassembly.

Nozzle (3)
Tip (2)
Cap (1)
Start needle in the back, make sure it passes through the trigger.
Slide it up til it touches the nozzle - snug needle lock - ready to paint.
Back it off a quarter inch if you are done and going to store it. Don't forget to slide it forward when you are ready to paint.

 

[PTS]

You outdid yourself again, airhead - this time with visual diagrams! Thankfully I've already made myself an expert at dismantling and reassembling my "gun" (like any good soldier) to get a feel for how it works and to clean it properly. We newbie airbrushers should really be paying you for this good advice though.

I have to ask, is a lot of your airbrushing 2D? You're so knowledgeable, yet a lot of the minis in your gallery look like they're done with regular paints/brushes?

 

[airhead]

I have to ask, is a lot of your airbrushing 2D? You're so knowledgeable, yet a lot of the minis in your gallery look like they're done with regular paints/brushes?

I've shot off and on for around 30 years.
I generally shoot t-shirts and kids (airbrush face painting).
My current setup has 8 Vega 2000 guns on a manifold and I also have an HP-B and (believe it or not) an Aztec.
I've played with just about anything that will hold still long enough to paint: Boats, helmets, bicycles, cakes, model cars, model planes, trains, bits and pieces on my walls, etc.
For some reason, painting a flame job on a fire extinguisher is pure joy.
Good resource is Airbrush Action magazine - although I gave it up sometime back as it got to be repetitious but still a great place for reviews of new products.
Two good friends that are professionals at this. One does shirts at one of the local theme parks and the other is heavily involved in the air-boat crowd. (two large rudders that are great for artwork).

Minis: I would not do much more with a standard mini other than prime (I prefer Krylon) or clear coat (I prefer DulCoat).
I've got a couple of larger scale minis that I'm exploring water based oils with and may shoot the flesh-tones.

Hope that helps.

 

[Thetecman]

I have a similar brush (HP-B Plus) and my advise is be very gentle with the needle and nozzle (I have ruined a few) also clean it properly after every session and lube the needle with this wonderful stuff - SUPERLUBE

Hope this help a bit.

 

[Phototoxin]

I was wondering if anyone could recommend a sturdy yet cheap airbrush for priming/basecoating some 40k vehicles and things? Most of the brand ones seem to be about £100-120 for a gravity feed double action. I don't know if I would need that (although that's what sites seem to recommend)
I'm based in the UK so uk sites/prices would be good.

In addition is it possible to do the water drop effect on sufficiently sized minatures (where you spray fine water drops on something then airbrush one side of the drop and when it evaporates you have a cool water drop effect)?

 

[Thetecman]

Have a look at these:
http://www.everythingairbrush.com/acatalog/Gravity_Feed.html
Also consider a compressor as the cans of air soon start to get costly.

The water drop question, it should work but would you see the detail on anything below say 100mm? They would just look like dots, no?

 

[MAXXxxx]

> was wondering if anyone could recommend a sturdy yet cheap airbrush for priming/basecoating some 40k vehicles and things?
I use a thing called spraymaster from simpletwotrade. costs about £70 for a set with compressor + grav feed double action + sometimes an extra spraygun.

Wile it's a long way from pro airbrushes, it's perfect for doing highlight for tanks and preshading/highlighting 54mm figures. I bought it because it looked good for the price, and I better wreck that one, then an iwata or similar

as for thinning I use the Tamiya X20A thinner. 4parts of VGC/P3 with 10parts of thinner. it doesn't do spiders and usually doesn't clog (with some colors it does, but then you'd need to make it thinner).

psi: I mostly spray around 15-18, with metallics going down to 10-12. Some dusting from further away at 25-30.
Until now I like the results.


Airhead: thanks for the tip about 3-5psi for details. never would have tried that, I thought it's too low, not enough. But I'll try it as soon as I can.

 

[Einion]

I was wondering if anyone could recommend a sturdy yet cheap airbrush for priming/basecoating some 40k vehicles and things?

Okay first off, good general tip: it's almost always better to start a new thread for this kind of question as you're more likely to get views than if you tack onto an existing thread. Second, "Which airbrush?" is kinda a perennial favourite topic here, if you'd looked you'd have seen maybe 50 threads - just do a search for airbrush in the title only and you'll find nearly all of them (plus a bunch of other useful ones).

As you'll see in many prior threads, my recommendation for what you want to do will nearly always be to get an Aztek - cheap as chips compared to many alternatives and hard to break or damage.

For more options have a look at this succession of threads:
Airbrush basics in the UK
I bought an airbrush - phase 2 begins
So I bought an airbrush - Phase 3 \'I tried it on a mini\'
So I bought an airbrush - phase 4 - FINISHED!
trouble with airbrushing - Airbrush BD-130A
And a couple of others:
Airbrush help
cheap good airbrush?

And in case it needs to be reiterated, the compressor is almost always going to be the major expense when it comes to setting up, not the AB, but they're nearly a must as canned air is just a waste of money at the end of the day. Every can you buy could be money put aside for a decent compressor.

In addition is it possible to do the water drop effect on sufficiently sized minatures (where you spray fine water drops on something then airbrush one side of the drop and when it evaporates you have a cool water drop effect)?

Not in scale no. You can do the same technique of course but it's hard to make the drops below a certain size.

Once you get set up there are dozens of threads here with tips of various kinds to get you started. Also lots of info now online, including vids on YouTube and elsewhere.

Oh yeah, and sort out dust extraction or get yourself a good dust mask, that's something most people don't think about; trust me, you really don't want to be inhaling atomised paint.

Einion