Air brush painting

Jan 10, 2012 7 Replies

Anyone got any advise on this - I've a project that this type of painting is recommended for. I've never had any contact with it and it would certainly be something that I might use in the future.



As always I look on Ebay to see what the base prices are like - is this an area where the inexpensive kits are seriously at default from an expensive one or can they act as an acceptable starting point? The current painting task isn't accurate and will be built up with about 4 colours. It could be done with a small controllable spray gun, which I also don't have, nor a compressor - a tin would not be controllable. enough.



Rob


If air-brushing is something you haven't done before I should warn you that it is very frustrating and mostly dependant upon good masking.

A poor airflow will lead to spatter (blobs of paint/ink) so a good compressor will be a major purchase.

Assuming that many have tried and then given up I believe that eBay will be the means of getting a genuine/good condition set of used equipment.

This may be a hobby worth spending a little money to get a cheap starter brush and air supply to decide whether you are suited to the activity.

km

Get a basic airbrush kit (~=A310 for Axminster's single-action model), and a can of air for a few quid (no need for a compressor), and try it out. Even with a basic kit, so long as you take time to prepare the surface properly, take care with masking, and mix/thin the paint properly, then you will get results that are much better than with a spray can.

dan.

You haven't told us what you're painting, but the place to ask about air-brushing is the world of scale modelling.

Google "IPMS" -- that will lead you to 00s of websites, where FAQs about airbrushing, and tools, are very common.

Youtube also (i.e. Google's videos section) will get you wonderful examples of the art ... the old, old, old phenomenon of "that looks easy".....

Best o'luck!

John

The Can air stuff is ok, but works out pretty pricey. If you've a spare wheel around, I found the car adaptors pretty good. Just need to pump it up and put it back in the car afterwards :-)

Something like

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( no connection with that seller, just the first I found :-))

Darren

I've never had much success with car tyre adaptors, but maybe you need to put more air in than the tyre's rated for? The pressure drops off too quickly, so you then need to compensate by adjusting the paint flow at the airbrush. A can might be better because it's fairly consistent until near the end of its life, and will be easier for the OP to get a feel for what airbrushing is like.

dan.

Could be the new Banksy

Add a moisture trap as well.

MBQ

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