Questions for Airbrush artists - newbies ask questions!

[Raygun]

If you're switching colors and you're going to continue painting, I'd say no...unless it's clogged, then yeah.

I don't know what kind of brush you're using, but some have plastic parts that will disolve or weaken in harsh solvents, so be careful.

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dropshipbob wrote:<HR></TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS=$row_color>
Do I have to fully take apart my airbrush in between different colors? I've been doing this as a precaution..so that paint doesn't clog the thing up, and I have to do more work later.

Also, I hear about people putting their brush or parts of it in solvent to loosen up dried paint. What kind of solvent would one use? Doesn't it depend on weather it's enamel or acrylic paint? Will one solvent rule them all?
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[Raygun]

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Gigatron wrote:<HR></TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS=$row_color>
Ok guys, I thought of a few more questions...

1) can I really clean the brush between colors with regular blue windshield washer fluid?

Don't use the winter washer fluid...that's the one with the big skull and bones on the front that says poison. Personally, I'd use whatever thinner your paints require or Windex for acrylics if you're feeling cheap.

2)Can I use Golden acrylics to paint a latex casting? There's a piece on ebay I'm watching and it's made from latex, and I don't want to end up purchasing the wrong paint for the job.

You can test it, but I don't know how well they'll stay on a flexible piece. Try spraying some on the inside of the mask and see how well it sticks after it's dry for a day or two.

3)Can I use tamiya acrylic thinner (X-20A) to thin down a color to use as a wash, or is there something else?

You can, but alcohol is a lot cheaper.

Thanks again,
Fred
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Raygun

 

[Gigatron]

Thanks so much for all the info guys

!

As I haven't purchased any paints yet, I may look into this Citadel brand as well.

Has anyone heard of or personally tried Com-Art brand? I see it on the Dixeart site, and was wondering if it was any good. I figured if I'm placing an order from them, I might as well get as much from them as possible to try and get the free shipping.

Thanks again,
Fred

 

[Raygun]

Haven't tried com-art paints...if you get them let us know what they're like.

The Citidel paints work great inthe airbrush if you cut them 50/50 with the Golden Airbrush medium. The Blood Red is an amzingly vivid shade of red if you spray it over white or yellow. They make a great matte finish spray that's nice and flat too. The Krylon matte finish is slightly glossy, but it's good for sealing paints between layers.

I don't know how you guys do it, but once I hit a point where I'm happy, I seal it before moving on to the next level of detail and let it dry for 24 hours before adding more paint. That way the clear coat has time to cure and any new paint layers I add can be removed/touched up without removing it all. Example: I have the fleshtones done and I'm happy with the shading, so I seal it. Now when I come back to do the eyes and hair, anything I screw up can be wiped off with a Q-tip and some thinner or rubbing alcohol without messing up my fleshtones.

Raygun

 

[Gigatron]

Ok, I'll be a Com-art guinea pig

!

I'll have nothing else to compare it's quality to, so I'm not sure how accurate my results would be.

I have a small piece I sculpted, so if I screw up, I'm not out anything,

.

I won't have any reults until after christmas when I get my airbrush, so until then, let's keep with the tips, hints and newbie questions.

-Fred

 

[dropshipbob]

My airbrush is a Pasche VL, double action. Don't like the double action feature so much as I have an itchy finger.

Only part on it that I can tell is plastic is the back of the main body, which unscrews to allow access to the needle. So if I remove that...I'm good. Except I don't know what's inside the airbrush...might be some rubber seals I don't know about? The instructions that came with it are kinda confusing as it lists all the parts and their names/numbers for three different airbrushes.

I've heard of people using blue window cleaner (the stuff for home use, not the automotive kind) to thin paints. Is this a good idea?

 

[Gigatron]

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dropshipbob wrote:<HR></TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS=$row_color>
My airbrush is a Pasche VL, double action. Don't like the double action feature so much as I have an itchy finger.

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I have the same concerns

. The only airbrush I owned prior to this, was a single action. I'll probably go through a ton of paint just trying to figure out how to control the thing.

It looks like it's going to an expensive hobby

.

-Fred

 

[Raygun]

I've heard of people using blue window cleaner (the stuff for home use, not the automotive kind) to thin paints. Is this a good idea?

Yeah, Windex works great. I haven't had much luck with the discount brands of window cleaner. Only mix what you're going to use though. Some paints seperate in the Windex over time. Also, don't worry about the blue color...it doesn't alter the paint color.

Double action does take some getting used to. That flow control knob I mentioned earlier helps a lot. It's just a case of practice before it becomes second nature.

Raygun

 

[Gigatron]

Well, from what I've read, Com-art paint is from Medea, and they in turn, are in cahoots with Iwata. Long story short, it looks like Iwata makes Medea, so com-art should work extrememly well. Here's to hoping

.

-Fred

 

[Gigatron]

Ok, so to dredge up an old topic, I ended up getting the Iwata eclipse BCS (bottom feed), and com-art paints.

The hardest thing to come across was a compressor. I didn't want to pay several hundred dollars for a single purpose compressor, so I purchased a Craftsman 91513. It's a great little compressor (3 gallon, 1.5 hp, 2.4 cfm @ 90 psi) and is multipurpose. It's a little on the loud side, but initial fill up and reload times are quick. Best part is it's $99 at Sears.

Anyway, my question here is, what should the operating psi be for a bottom feed airbrush? I've been tinkering around at 50 psi, but that is insanely powerful. I see that for gravity feed, you can use between 20 and 30 psi, so what do you experts recommend?

Any help would be greatly appreciated guys.

-Fred

 

[masterjedi322]

I have a bottom-feed airbrush, and I've been doing my stuff around 20 psi. It seems to work well for me.

Sean

 

[bowjunkie35]

Yeah, 20 psi for a siphon feed should be good for you. I have an Aztek 470 and it is a siphon feed. I can run it as low as 8 psi and still get paint flow (for very fine lines and detail work)

 

[Raygun]

Umm, well...I guess it depends on what you're trying to do and how you control the flow at the brush. I use an HPC which is a double action brush, so the final air flow is controlled by how far down I push the button. I tend to leave mine at about 60 psi or so, but I'm usually running two brushes since my wife also paints kits.

I've had it as low as 10-15 psi for spraying really thin inks, but I really didn't see any huge advantage to having it set low. The lower you go, the less atomization you get in the paint/air mix. I guess you're "supposed" to spray thinner stuff at lower pressures, but I have better luck running higher and just controlling the pressure at the brush.

I think this is one of those grey areas where you have to try different pressures with different paints to see what effect you get. In general, thinner paints and inks will require less pressure than thicker paints. I also don't abide by the "all paints should be the concistancy of milk" rule. It really depends on what you're painting style is.

The thinner you go, the more translucent your paints will be, which is great for building up fleshtones and veins, etc but sucks for painting armor. Translucent paints can be fun for doing see through clothing too. I have a Judge Anderson kit that needs to be stripped and repainted, but I decided to give her an almost see through outfit. I painted her fleshtones in then shaded her armpits, crotch etc with translucent black for shadows and used transparent blue to build up the skintight latex body suit. I wasn't going for pornographic, just a hint of flesh through the blue. It was coming along great until the brush spit water on it.

On the other hand, thicker is great for getting a rough looking finish on armor type kits. If you look at a kevlar helmet it has a textured look to it and you can sort of simulate a rough surface with thicker fast drying paints like the Tamiya paints. It also gives you something to drybrush over.

Getting back on the subject though, your air pressure will need to be adjusted to get different effects with different paints. I know it was long winded, but I wanted to give you some examples and ideas.

Hope it helped some

Raygun

 

[Raygun]

Yeah...duh. I forgot about that. I have some Com Art paints. They work nice, but the translucent colors vary from great to "beads up on any surface". The ones that tend to bead up seemed to work best (for me at least) with a lot of air and almost no paint. The Com Art paints I think are designed to work great with paper and canvas, but the translucents are so thin and watery that they bead up on resin and plastic. I had to spray clear matte finish on before they would work. Once again it's a case of trial and error to figure out what works best for you.

Raygun

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Gigatron wrote:<HR></TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS=$row_color>
Well, from what I've read, Com-art paint is from Medea, and they in turn, are in cahoots with Iwata. Long story short, it looks like Iwata makes Medea, so com-art should work extrememly well. Here's to hoping

.

-Fred


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[Gigatron]

Thanks for the replies guys

. I'm going to try and run it around 30 psi and see how that works. I'm basically using it for models, resin kits and busts. I won't be doing any clothing type things, as I'm not all that talented

.

-Fred

 

[Sluis Van Shipyards]

Ok for you people who have the Iwata HP-CS. How do you fill the color cup without spilling paint down the side of the airbrush? Obviously you don't fill the cup full, but I've used mine twice and spilled twice.

 

[Jedirick]

Excellent thread. I'm going to ask it me archived,


Just solved a clog problem I have been having with a Testors external mix brush. It just is not craft type acrylic friendly.
Always used Windex to thin paint, just tried the alcohol and spray pattern is now smooth. Of course I took a couple shots of alcohol myself and am now very smooth!

 

[Raygun]

I pour from the bottle carefully if I'm lazy and use an eye dropper when I can find one that's not clogged

As for keeping the paint in the cup while you're painting, use the cap. And sh**t happens...I paint without the cap a lot of the time since I hate prying it off between color changes (lazy again) and I've slopped paint on myself as payment for it. Just don't wear any clothes you want to wear in public again.

Raygun

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Sluis Van Shipyards wrote:<HR></TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS=$row_color>
Ok for you people who have the Iwata HP-CS. How do you fill the color cup without spilling paint down the side of the airbrush? Obviously you don't fill the cup full, but I've used mine twice and spilled twice.

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[Gigatron]

Well I dropped down to 30 psi, and it's a 100% improvement. I get much better control and I'm not blowing my project across the spray booth

.

Here's something wierd though. When I change bottles between colors, everytime I pull out the bottle, there's a big glop of paint still in the brush neck, and it of course falls on me. Is this normal for a bottom feed, or am I missing something?

-Fred

 

[masterjedi322]

I typically experience the same thing with my Paasche VL, which is bottom-fed...although, as an airbrush noob, I'm curious as to whether this is normal as well, and if there's anything that can be done to prevent it.

Sean