I took the plunge and finally bought an airbrush kit. I haven't had many problems so far, but I've been painting a rather large area on a model that I bought andI can't seem to get an even coat with the paint. I've been using an enamel paint, and my airbrush is dual action, gravity feed. I've already gone over it a couple of times with the paint, but each time I can't seem to get rid of the unevenness. Can anyone tell me what I'm doing wrong, or if there's anything I can do to fix it?
are you using the fine or medium tip and needle?
is the paint drying before it hits the surface? or very soon after?
is it gloss enamel?
are you thinning well with laquer thinner or paint thinner?
Last edited by modelcitizen; Jul 29, 2012 at 8:39 PM.
I'm not quite sure... it says it's a general purpose tip?modelcitizen said:
Very soon after, it dries within minutes.modelcitizen said:
It's enamel, but it's not glossy. If it helps, the exact paint is Model Master "Light Ghost Gray" FS36375.modelcitizen said:
I'm doing a 50/50 mix with airbrush thinner.modelcitizen said:
aye, so the paint is flat.
50/50 mix seems to be a bit too much thinner.
try 75/25 or bout 80/20
how's your air pressure?
this is a base coat i'm assuming
Is there a way I can tell what consistency I should be getting? I did a bunch of testing on some paper, and it seemed to look fine to me. Air pressure seems fine, but my compressor doesn't actually have an indicator as to what psi it's running at... It is a base coat, yes, but it is going over a primer coat.modelcitizen said:
Excuse my noob-ness.
difficult to tell with paper as it soaks up the paint right away. try some scrap plastic or other. the paint should be thinner than out of the can but if its the consistency of skim milk it's too much thinner (unless you're looking for that effect down the modeling road).
is your psi at least adjustable somewhat?
noobness is no problem i'm a noob but experienced by learning the hard way. mistakes....
look into a psi regulator and a moisture trap.
in the meantime working with what you have, mix your paint with less thinner and give that a shot.
for me, a base coat always takes me at least 2 coats.
i let the first coat get dry to the touch. by the time i usually get done with the first coat, where i started is dry enough for the second but sometimes i have to wait a minute or 5
if there are big plumes of paint making it difficult to see your door to exit the room the psi is too high lol
Last edited by modelcitizen; Jul 29, 2012 at 10:12 PM.
You also have to remember that an airbrush lays down a much thinner coat of paint than a rattle can. Where it would take two coats with a rattle can it may take 5 or 6 coats with an airbrush. Layer after layer the color density will increase and the finish should start to even out to one solid color.
Ah, that makes sense. At this point I've only laid down ~2 coats. I'll put down some more and see how it goes.Robiwon said:
Well, one thing I have noticed with mixing paints in gravity feed brushes is sometimes things don't entirely mix 100%. So you may get a slightly thicker paint ratio in the bottom of the cup and then it thins out as more thinner occupies the top of the cup. I got slightly zinged by that once.
Since it is a Testors flat paint, a 50/50 mixture should work fine since enamels tend to be more user friendly than some other types of paint. I don't think you are seeing paint drying in the tip with that much thinner. I think what may be happening though is you might be trying to fire too much paint onto the model too fast. The airbrush is intended to allow you to build up lighter coats progressively. Save the fast coverages for the spray cans. You can shoot fast with an airbrush, but it tends to cause other problems in the process.
And yes, I highly recommend practicing on a scrap model part instead of paper since paper disguises problems due to it being pourous. Plastic on the otherhand is non-pourous and the behaviour of the paint onto the surface is going to be the same as it is on the model. Another thing is paint on raw plastic can react a little differently than paint on a primered surface, since the primer provides a nice surface for the paint to lock on already.
Thanks for all the feedback everyone! However, I have another question now: I've looked very closely at the surface of the paint, and there are tons of little cracks everywhere. Is this normal? I did a cursory google search and found an faq page that said you should wait 48 hours between coats of enamel. Is 48 hours really necessary? Would laying down coats more frequently be the cause of the cracking I'm seeing?
Check here.
Model Car Tech: Paint Problems & Solutions
and do not get rid of your airbrush out of frustration. you will regret it if you do. you are on the road to creating awesome.
Thanks for the encouragement! Wasn't planning on giving up, just going to keep practicing... I might "trade up" after awhile, however.modelcitizen said:
Just thought I'd post an update to the situation. I think the problem was actually with the primer I used: it was hard to tell because the colors were so close, but I was noticing that the darker gray of the primer kept "bubbling up" through the paint I was applying. I soaked the piece in SuperClean to remove all the paint (suggested by another thread on here), and I just started applying some new coats without primer. It looks great now! It looks like the only drawback is that I need to do a few more coats of the paint because of the no-primer job.
Anyways, if anyone is interested, the primer I used on the first job was Rust-oleum Ultra Cover 2x Primer. Has anyone had problems with the primer before. In any case, I'm going to stay away from it from now on.
when i do styrene oot of the box builds for my own enjoyment, i sometimes skip primer and get away with it. i use enamels so the paint had a bit of bite to it. i tend to do the least amount of coats i caqn possibly get away with. i find too much paint obscures details and ends up looking out of scale if there's too much build-up. for a client however i'd always use primer because who knows how much they will pick it up and fly it around the room, rubbing off the paint.
styrene model car bodies however i always used primer as it affects the final look and depth depending on what color primer.
gloss paint? always use primer.
one time i used no primer on a resin kit for a customer. paint came off in sheets doh....
did you try adjusting your thinner ratio? i still suspect a tad too much thinner. if after a few coats you still see primer under it i think a slight adjustment may be in order if i understand what you mean by "bubbling up through the paint"
of course, too much paint and not enough thinner i think is worse.
not sure if i've used that particular primer but if one doesn't work for you, just try another and you will find one that suits you.
Last edited by modelcitizen; Aug 13, 2012 at 2:40 AM.
airbrushing is a fine art.i spent years using enamel paints and double action airbrush.too much hard work even though i got the hang of it.now use single action airbrush with acrylic paints and lovin it.much easier but lots of practice on your old models is the best way.paint is a lot finer and you can airbrush over the same area over and over until you get it right. just keep experimenting with different paints/thinners and the ratio's and you'll find it's a great way to paint.
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