1st airbrushing

[Eddie M.]

In preperation for paint on a real world Tomcat, I finally busted out the A/B and put down a test coat on a paint test bed Phantom I've got. I did one coat to see how important the prep work is. Boy Howdy! I used to just spray bomb it, but not with the A/B. Here's the project to be painted, the test bed and after the fact.  Now I can see how folks like to use those things.  B)
   Eddie

[Brian da Basher]

That's one sweet looking coat of blue, Mr Miller! It looks like you're a natural!

Brian da Basher

[Sisko]

What is your preference enamals or acrylics?

[Eddie M.]

What is your preference enamals or acrylics?

Right now, enamels. I know how to "thin" those well enough. I'd like to use acrylics as well, because I heard clean up was less hazardous to your health  , but I'm not sure what to use to thin the paint for the A/B. I read some stuff over at FSM, but these 2 paint "experts" got into a pissing match over who knew more about binders, molecular structure, blah, blah, blah. I ended up being more confused than i was before I started reading.  
  Eddie  

[Sisko]

the reason I ask is I use both.

Depending on the application I use Enamels or Acrylics.

If it is a dog of a kit meaning the fit is poor and a lot of sanding is required or it's a resin kit then I tend to use Enamels.

They are tougher and you can sand them back if you have to.

For all my finishing I tend to use Acrylics.

[Rafael]

Hi Eddie, You know i'n new here and the more i stay the more i have yet to learn. That sure is a good coat of paint you airbrushed. I'm still a brush and paint type. I'd like to learn airbrushing techniques, and have lots of old models to practice on. Do you know if there is a site where i can go to learn some?. I have a very old Paasche single-action (?) airbrush. I still don't have an air pump.

[Eddie M.]

Hi Eddie, You know i'n new here and the more i stay the more i have yet to learn. That sure is a good coat of paint you airbrushed. I'm still a brush and paint type. I'd like to learn airbrushing techniques, and have lots of old models to practice on. Do you know if there is a site where i can go to learn some?. I have a very old Paasche single-action (?) airbrush. I still don't have an air pump.

Howdy Rafa from the land of caballeros y vacas, Texas.  Here's a few place I looked at to get some information.
http://cs.finescale.com/forums/18/ShowForum.aspx
http://www.swannysmodels.com/CJairbrush.html
Good luck!  

[Captain Canada]

Looking good, Edward ! Airbrushes are awesome.....I'm gonna fire mine up later this week.

 

[Rafael]

Muchísimas Gracias Eddie, I'm sure it will help a lot!!!. I expect that someday soon i can post a properly airbrushed model.

[matrixone]

Eddie,

That coat of blue looks great!

I have found that if I am spraying a single coat of a gloss paint, I spray the regular paint at its normal ratio of paint to thinner then right after that I spray on a highly thinned coat of paint to produce an ultra smooth high gloss finish. Just be sure to keep the airbrush moving to avoid any runs.

Also enamels are the way to go for doing German WWII camouflage patterns, acrylics would be better for modern aircraft camouflage patterns, the enamel paints tend not to stick to the needle as bad.

Matrixone

[Eddie M.]

Thanks guys B) . As I mentioned, this coat was put down over a rough surface and you can still see the sanding marks on the tail surface. Now, I can move forward with my plans to A/B my Tomcat. What do you guys use to thin acrylics?
   Eddie  

[Leigh]

right Eddie I'm not an expert but this has what has worked for me,

Enamels 50% paint/50% mineral spirits

Acrylics I only ever use Misterkit or Gunze Sangyo with about 70% paint/30% denatured alcohol, regular isopropyl alcohol works too, but I seem to get a better finish with de-natured. Looking for the consistency of non-fat milk, basically thin water.
Tamiya acrylics have always been a problem for me seem to get a fuzzy almost flocked finish. Consensus of opinion seems to be that they are great if you use tamiya thinner.
I love acrylics to spray, much better finish, easier to work with and way easier to clean up.
Key with any of this is to do mist coats and not try to get too much coverage at once and that really is the hard part.

And for a simple to use detail brush I absolutly love the badger 200-20 I got here
Dixie art badger 200-20

[SimonR]

Nice work Eddie. There's no way back once you've started air brushing...

[BlackOps]

You won't be sorry    

I use acrylics and love them. You do need to thin them by using something like floquil or flo-aid type of product. The mix is typically 60% paint 40% thinner but I usually use about 1/3 thinner. Just experiment a bit and find out what works best with your airbrush.

Floquil Link

I use Model Masters Acryl line for paint.

[John Howling Mouse]

Ah, you'll always be "Cherryboy" to me, Eddie  

Seriously, you've just taken an important step, modeling-wise: good for you!

I can still recall how terrified I was using my (extremely simple) Aztec airbrush the first time.  I'm pretty sure it sat in its plastic case for about two years before I finally dragged it out.

I still prefer the Aztec, too, at least for basecoating if not fine detail work.

Whereas the Aztec has a revolutionary, simple exchangeable nozzle system, my biggest problem now is learning how to "field-strip" and clean my subsequent (more complex) airbrushes without completely destroying them.

Oh, one tip I learned the hard way: matte paints are far easier to control and more forgiving than gloss paints, especially as you're just learning the airbrush craft.   You can always gloss them over with Future (Johnsons Klear) for decalling later, as necessary.  This is true even for automobile scale models.