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Post by miltonmurphy on Dec 28, 2013 2:47:12 GMT
I had not realized that airbrush systems were very reasonable so now it's got me thinking about one. For those that use them any pointers on buying?
One specific question: Seems like siphon systems would be preferable to gravity fed systems. Is there a reason to choose one over the other?
Cheers, MM
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Post by adamantinedragon on Dec 28, 2013 7:28:00 GMT
I am still a neophyte, but I did do some looking around before getting my airbrush for my birthday.
Here are the pointers I have, for whatever they are worth, and this is with a very limited amount of airbrushing so far.
1. The airbrush itself is not nearly as invasive or loud or inconvenient as I thought it might be. My air compressor is pretty efficient, turning off when I'm not actually needing it, and turning on quickly enough to not interrupt my painting effort. I had thought that it might be difficult to use the airbrush at night because of the noise, but if I'm using it in my basement, you can't really even hear it watching TV in the living room upstairs, much less in the bedroom another floor above the living room. So most of what I was worried about turned out to be not really a big deal at all.
2. On the other hand, the actual need for a way to airbrush indoors without making a godawful mess, much less dealing with upper respiratory distress, has proved to be the biggest challenge so far. I suppose as I get better at airbrushing I will be able to paint without making such a mess, but so far it's been difficult to keep my craft table clean. Tomorrow I am probably going to purchase one of those cardboard science fair trifold poster boards to make a fold-up painting area. My plan is to have a cardboard base, a cut down tri-folded area for the painting that is at least 18" deep, and another piece of cardboard on top. That's just to keep the paint from spraying all over creation. To really make a suitable painting area, I think I will also need to use a fan to suck the air from the paint area into an air filter to keep the paint from simply smelling up the place and potentially creating health problems for me and anyone else in the basement. And it's just too cold to do it outside or in the garage.
3. Mixing the paint has proven to be quite a challenge for me. The video tutorials I've seen so far are of limited use since there appears to be a near-infinite range of paints and paint thinners in use. So far I've found tutorials that recommend Windex, water, alcohol, paint thinner, airbrush cleaner and a variety of other materials to use as a thinner. But how much thinner seems to be more art than science and appears to be a unique mix for every type of paint that is out there. My mixing efforts so far have ranged from barely usable to a gummy mess that forced me to disassemble my airbrush to clean it.
4. I have not yet figured out when or why to use a siphon vs a gravity feed airbrush. I hear that the gravity feed is best when you are changing paint colors frequently, and the siphon brushes are best for long periods of using a single color. But I haven't yet been able to get a good solid dependable consistent airbrush result from even a small gravity feed mix. Once I finally figure that out, maybe the conventional wisdom will work for me too. Right now it's just a thrill to get the airbrush to work long enough to paint a single piece of terrain.
5. Get some sort of lazy susan so you can rotate your target without having to stick your fingers all over it or into the blast of paint.
6. You use a lot of paint with an airbrush when compared to just using a normal brush. I'd say maybe three times as much, or at least twice as much. Once I get the airbrush working halfway decently, I am out of paint before I can really enjoy it.
Hopefully your experience will be less frustrating than mine. But I still love it. I just need to learn how to use it.
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Post by miltonmurphy on Dec 28, 2013 17:07:41 GMT
Thanks adamantinedragon! I appreciate the advice (even if you're a neophyte, experience is experience. It sounds like the biggest problem I'll face is my crafting area. At the moment it's at the back of our walk-in closet (it's a *very* large closet) so doing this inside is a no-no since I'm only feet away from our clothing. Since I live in the south temperature outside is generally not an issue, but my problem is that I don't have any sort of work area outside (back building, garage, etc.) I'll have to do some thunking.
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Post by adamantinedragon on Dec 28, 2013 17:31:21 GMT
I wouldn't want to do a lot of airbrushing in the same area as my clothes. I did an extended airbrushing session last night after posting that message, and I've got some further comments. The lazy susan thing is really important I think. My first airbrush attempts were really a mess and it was a pain trying to paint all sides of an item. Thursday I went to a thrift store and found a pretty hefty lazy susan, it's all wood with a ball bearing base (with about a dozen ball bearings) and a rail. It looks a lot like this one. I paid less than $4 for it. I didn't want to ruin the thing in case we might want to use it at the table so I covered it all up and cut a foam core posterboard circle out to make a single level platform that lays on top. That serves the dual purpose of raising the item I'm painting to a higher level too, which is nice. The lazy susan makes a huge difference in the convenience of painting with the air brush. I am still struggling with getting a mix right. I am wasting a lot of paint and a lot of time dealing with clogs and trying to get the paint flowing again. If I thin the paint enough to make it flow smoothly, it is so thin that it doesn't hold the color well on the item I'm painting. It's like there is some magical mix that I'm just not hitting. I'm going to try one of the other airbrushes today. So far I've only used one of the three brushes that came with it, and that was the one with the largest gravity feed cup. I'm going to try the siphon feed brush today and see if that's better. I started with the gravity feed mostly because I just assumed it would be easier to fill, use and clean. But it's been a mess anway. I'll keep you posted.
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neil
Paint Manipulator
Posts: 134
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Post by neil on Dec 28, 2013 18:34:09 GMT
I own a cheap air brush for base coating and a Sotar 20/20. I will attach a video that is long but informative.
If your going to do tiles and terrain a low cost single action air brush would be fine. If you want to get into figure painting then a double action air brush with top feed is probably what you want.
I thought I would use my air brush a lot - turns out an air brush it a tool with a learning curve - long set up and clean up time. That being said people do some amazing art / craft with air brushes.
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Post by miltonmurphy on Dec 28, 2013 19:05:08 GMT
Coolio @adamantine! I'm looking forward to hearing your comparison of the gravity vs. siphon feed. Thanks neil. I appreciate the information!
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Post by adamantinedragon on Dec 28, 2013 22:16:55 GMT
Neil, that was an excellent tutorial. I had run across it before when I was looking at different airbrushes, but I admit I didn't watch the whole thing back then because it was so long. Now after watching the whole thing all the way through I realize that I was doing pretty much everything wrong. I was using the wrong paint thinner, the wrong technique, was cleaning the airbrush wrong.... you name it, I was doing it wrong.
Now, after watching that, I was able to do a long and productive paint session without being constantly interrupted with clogs. I was able to base coat a couple dozen terrain elements as quickly as if I were using spray paint, without the smell or expense. (Well, to be fair I've got a lot of painting to do before I make up for the $99 investment in the airbrush, but still, only a few cents worth of paint was used.)
This is the first time that I've felt like I really was able to utilize the airbrush's capabilities. I hope it only gets better from here.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 29, 2013 5:35:23 GMT
Hey Neil, how do you like your Sotar 20/20? I've had my eye on one recently.
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neil
Paint Manipulator
Posts: 134
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Post by neil on Dec 29, 2013 15:13:06 GMT
The Sotar 20/20 is a great air brush, if you want to get into painting figures. For tiles and terrain it is overkill. I have not put in the time to develop the skills to get everything out of the airbursh. The 20/20 goes on sale occasionally on amazon.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 29, 2013 18:40:23 GMT
thx man. It is on sale now (at least I think it is) that's why I was asking. I think I will look into it.
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Post by sgtslag on Dec 30, 2013 14:49:47 GMT
Shared this on the other air brush thread, but it might prove useful here, as well: www.starshipmodeler.com/tech/pa_booth.htm. This site has plans for an indoor paint booth, with exhaust fan, and even an activated charcoal filter system, so you can paint with solvents, indoors, safely. Cheers!
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Post by miltonmurphy on Dec 31, 2013 16:25:00 GMT
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