Airbrushing models…

The brush I knackered with oil based paint was an Aztec. Mate (who is speaking to me now) says oil based paints are fine with the Badger. Problem with the Aztec is to clean it all out, you need to take it apart to clean the fiddly bits, and that affects the warranty. With the Badger it’s not such a problem.

I’ve a couple of badger brushes.
The model 200EX I have is over twenty years old. I always strip it down to clean it.
I use Badger aerosol Air-brush cleaner–It’s really offensive stuff.
It dries your skin like you’ve got Eczema, it’s got a vapour issue and it stripped the colour out of Mrs AiB’s favourite table cloth in no time at all.
It does clean all sorts of stuff out of an air-brush though.

I also have a model 100 ultra fine line. I only ever spray the cleaner through that. I’ve also never stripped it down. I used acrylic through the 200 only once. It was Aeromaster and it gummed up the works so badly that I thought I’d junked the brush–never again.
Cheers
Andy

The brush I knackered with oil based paint was an Aztec. Mate (who is speaking to me now) says oil based paints are fine with the Badger. Problem with the Aztec is to clean it all out, you need to take it apart to clean the fiddly bits, and that affects the warranty. With the Badger it’s not such a problem.

I use well thinned paint applied in quite a few coats applied 15 mins apart. It seems to work for me. As for fine lines, Tamiya do a fine line masking tape. It’s quite expensive so me being a tight arse I buy the wide one and cut it to width with a knife and steel rule.
My compressor is made from an old fridge compressor using a small co2 cylinder(the type you get for home Mig welders) as a receiver unit and a moisture trap from the Clarke catologue. The whole thing cost me £17.00 which was the price of the moisture trap. It operates at about 30 psi and gives really good results.
My way of getting around the overspray problem is to cut one side out of a large cardboard box and use as a spray booth on top of the cooker with the extractor hood fan on to expell the over spray.

:diablo:

I’m not THAT daft 🙂

JC

OF COURSE

Ok so I’ll need the regulator then 😀

JC

Ok, I haven’t built a kit for years but I do have a cheapy airbrush (one of the ones that use canned propellant).

I also have a compressor with an 8 litre tank (used for nail guns, air tools etc). Will the 2 work together, or will I end up with an exploding airbrush and the walls covered in Matt Olive Drab?

Something I’d rather know now, rather than post explosion…

JC

John I think the maximum you’d be looking at for airbrushing is 40 psi.
Rather lower than an air chisel will require.
A…

Ok, I haven’t built a kit for years but I do have a cheapy airbrush (one of the ones that use canned propellant).

I also have a compressor with an 8 litre tank (used for nail guns, air tools etc). Will the 2 work together, or will I end up with an exploding airbrush and the walls covered in Matt Olive Drab?

Something I’d rather know now, rather than post explosion…

JC

When I started, I used the spare wheel as storage for compressed air. I went to the petrol station and reached 7 bars which was sufficient to spray for about twice as long as with the liquid propellant.

Nowadays, you can find decent compressors in the 50 euros range.

If spray alot you’ll find decent compressor with tanks starting from 150 euros going up to 500.

Besides the dilution that you will achieve by trial and errors, you should use decent plastic hoses as some transparent ones deteriorate under the heat of the compresses air and blow charred remnants in your nice paint.

My experience was mainly limited to Humbrol brands with exception of liquaplate.

If you want to achieve special effects such as using acetone based paints (very unhealthy), I would advise you to refer to modelling magazines.

Last remark, mind you all solvants and the propellant from the Humbrol cans are highly flammable.

The Australian modelling website Hyper Scale has some good airbrushing tutorials, along with a lot of other great stuff….one tip for clean lines especially with camo patterns is to use blu tack, as it will allow for a slight fogging effect at the colour edges but keep down overspray. Just roll it into a sausage and stick it along the line you wish to spray, and mask off the rest of the model in the usual way. Never tried it myself but it sounds plausible.

You can also buy spray masks for all kinds of aircraft from the Czech company Eduard. Well stocked by Hannants.

Will do – many thanks.

Ian.

Try giving them a ring ! :diablo:

Humbrol Ltd. Marfleet, Kingston upon Hull, HU9 5NE, England.
Telephone: +44 (0) 1482 701191

Anybody know what sizes of cans the Humbrol RAF colours come in other than the small pots? I need to retouch bits of a real Harrier and getting
the proper colours mixed would mean getting more paint than I need.

Cheers,

Ian.

I’ve got a Badger airbrush, but not got around to using it yet – not willing to sacrifice my (as yet unbuilt) Spit 24 for the sake of a trial run!

I can’t get on with acrylics. I use Humbrol, and lately I’ve been using a new range from White Ensign Models. I like the colours and they dry nicely after airbrushing.
Give them a try.
Cheers
Andy

I’ve seriously considered switching to acrylics but I have to admit to being a bit of a “Humbrol” man. Probably due to my early days of modelling in the 60s and 70s.

I used a mates good quality airbrush with compressor to paint my R/C Spit.
Finnicky job as it took longer to clean all the bits in between colours than the actual painting, and despite all my best efforts to keep it clean, he cursed me roundly months later when he discovered umpteen layers of paint on all the fiddly internal bits. Needless to say, that was the end of my airbrush adventures. His advice was to use acrylics with it.

I was kidding….actually, I’ve been told that an old tire with proper modifications to the valve stem can serve as an air source for an air brush, just run and fill it up at the ol’ petrol station when you need more air….likewise an old compressed air bottle or something similar….the compressors they sell over here are about $100-$150 and out of my range right now, so I’ll have to ‘wing it’…

Mark

An air pump which supplies a continuous supply of compressed air to run your airbrush. They can be purchased from around £50 and can go up to £1,000 plus (depending on how sophisticated you want to get). They are definitely the way to go if you want to get serious about airbrushing.

Why not go onto the Revell or Badger web sites. You will find lots of helpful advice on their airbrush products.

As far as my situation is concened, my lack of skill with an airbrush is entirely down to me. I guess I’m just not meticulous enough with masking etc.

Um….what’s a compressor? 🙂

M