Airbrush

[Cerberus90]

Just bought myself an airbrush. It was only £3.99 off ebay.

Its an Am-Tech one.

I also bought a can of propellant.


When I screw the 'Propel Regulator' to the can, then open the valve, unless the trigger on the airbrush is pressed, the air is leaking from the regulator.
Is this supposed to happen?
I would have thought the propellant would run out pretty quickly like that.

I'd of thought it should just pressurise the line and gun, and then when you press the trigger it comes through.

[Yertis]

Can you close the regulator valve enough to admit air to the airbrush but not to over-pressure the seal? Although it sounds like the seal has gone, it should hold full pressure.

[Cerberus90]

Nope, just tried it. And even with it just open, not enough to use an airbrush on, you can still hear it leaking.

Damn thing.


Looking at it, the o-ring on the adjuster screw doesn't seem very big, that must be where its leaking through.

Scratch that, its actually leaking from where the regulator screws onto the can.

Edited by Cerberus90 on Tuesday 11th January 16:53

Edited by Cerberus90 on Tuesday 11th January 16:57

[Yertis]

£3.99 is a good price though,I'm going to see what else they have airbrush-wise. I hadn't thought of looking there.

[Cerberus90]

Fixed it.

Got a rubber washer off the football inflater needle thingys that you screw onto bicycle pumps, put that on, and now it holds pressure.



I thought I'd better get a £3.99 one for my first attempt,

Got a can of propellant for £4.99 + £1.99 delivery. And I've just bought some airbrush cleaner for £5.99 inc delivery.


Only paint I've got atm is the Humbrol acrylic stuff, which I like for brush painting, but its pretty thick so I'm not sure how good it'll be for airbrushing. It does say it can be used for airbrushing though.

[Yertis]

Cerberus90 said:

Only paint I've got atm is the Humbrol acrylic stuff, which I like for brush painting, but its pretty thick so I'm not sure how good it'll be for airbrushing. It does say it can be used for airbrushing though.

You'll need to thin it – the other guys on here will advise. In fact I them to advise me too.

[Cerberus90]

Well, just had my first go.


erm.......I think I need some more practice.


I think I thinned the paint a bit too much, as it came out a bit splattery. And when drying, started to evaporate.
So I put a bit more paint in the tin, and that helped.


Seems to need a fair bit of pressure to get the paint coming out nicely though. Bit worried that its going to get very expensive with having to buy lots of bottles of air. Especially while learning.

[Eric Mc]

Is it top feed (gravity) or bottom feed (syphon)?

[Cerberus90]

bottom fed, so I suppose it needs the extra pressure to suck through the paint then?

[Eric Mc]

Yes.

I could never get on with "bottom feeders". I now have a gravity feed Harder and Steenbeck. I've only just started using it but am already impressed with its smoothness and ease of use.

[Cerberus90]

I can get a pretty good finish with a brush. So this is just experimentation, hence the cheapo brush,

May end up only using it for undercoats or something, but for just £3.99 that's all right.

[perdu]

Now look what you have made me do
I had to scour my garage to find the Air Pipe Adapter



My beloved Paasche with a new paint mixing device (needle valve assembly in British not Amurrican) in its delivery/storage packaging


whereupon I found certain other items that survived the "Ages Ago" bin-tip of the vanities

This



Although I believe there are more modern Wessexxi available nowadays

Since I'm not building any Tempests in the near future I looked at the Frog Typhoon in my stash

Incredibly fine raised detail on the surfaces.

I may build this soon, I even have Swann-Mortons now

[dr_gn]

perdu said:

Since I'm not building any Tempests in the near future I looked at the Frog Typhoon in my stash

Incredibly fine raised detail on the surfaces.

I may build this soon, I even have Swann-Mortons now

Why not just build it as part of the GB anyway? Typhoon, Tempest, Tempest, Typhoon, same thing Plus you've got your airbrush out now. Go on Perdu - be a modelling Gurkha, once your weapon in unsheathed...it has to be used!

Hmmm, did that sound rude?

[perdu]

Early car door type fuselage...

I do rather like it

A fine moulding but still plenty of "stuff" to do

We'll see

[Eric Mc]

I built the Frog Typhoon a year or so ago. It's a nice crisp little model - although a bit crude. The three main problems with it are -

far too heavy "fabric" effect on the rudder (it looks like wicker-work)

no cockpit detail - apart from an unrealistic seat

landing light on wing portrayed by raised panel line only

If those areas are dealt with, it's not too bad

Edited by Eric Mc on Tuesday 11th January 22:36

[perdu]

I remembered that one of yours Eric

I'd deal with the phoney fabric etc as an SOP

Might cut away the "far-too-shallow" wheel well detail though

The folded or down option for the tail wheel is one of those impressive little "Rovex" details that made a difference, far superior to the blank plastic and thick wheel doors on the Sea Fury kit's tail wheel treatment, mind you, I was thinking of doing that instead. Iraqi Air Force version anyone? Desert colours!

In all Frog models were always head and shoulders above the run of the mill Airfix models although in principle I love Airfix, they made me what I am/was/might be again

[SlipStream77]

Cerberus90 said:

Well, just had my first go.


erm.......I think I need some more practice.


I think I thinned the paint a bit too much, as it came out a bit splattery. And when drying, started to evaporate.
So I put a bit more paint in the tin, and that helped.


Seems to need a fair bit of pressure to get the paint coming out nicely though. Bit worried that its going to get very expensive with having to buy lots of bottles of air. Especially while learning.

I airbrush with Humbrol acrylic sometimes, it does need to be thinned. I add a few drops of water in a mixing pot and stir it well, traditionally a 'milky' viscosity is ideal although you should test it and see what it is like.

I've found that 30psi on the compressor is about right but it will depend upon the nozzle size. If the paint is splattering or beading it probably is too thin, although splattering can also be caused by paint build up around the airbrush nozzle. Alternatively, if the paint is too thick, if it doesn't clog the nozzle it will dry before it hits the model's surface and give a rough, sandpapery finish.

If you are spraying directly onto a new model's surface, paint can bead if there is still some mould release agent present. Either clean the new model in soapy water or use the best option which is to prime the surface. If you don't want to use primer then pray initial coats on very lightly and wait for them to dry and they can provide a key for the surface.

There are some good tutorials on airbrushing on the web and on Youtube.

Here's one from Promodeller's, he explains 'priming as you go' as part of the tutorial.

http://www.youtube.com/user/florymodels#p/u/35/TFs...

Edited by SlipStream77 on Tuesday 11th January 22:58