Airbrush paints

[a boardman]

Going to order a cheap compressor and airbrush kit to get started.

But what paints do i need i ordered a new model ducati and 250 gto from jedlam.

What make of paint do i just order some vallejo primer and a couple of major colours.

Can i used watered down revell aqua colour to try out first.

Do you spray everthing or still brush smaller parts.

[Eric Mc]

First of all - do you plan to use enamels, acrylics or laquers?

How you handle each type differ because they all use different types of thinners and have different drying and coverage properties.

Since becoming a dedicated airbrush user about six years ago, I have switched away from enamels completely. I gave away all my old enamel paints at my local model club a couple of months ago as I knew I would never use them again.

I mainly build model aircraft and factual spacecraft so the painting techniques and types of paints used on these are a bit different to what you would use on civilian vehicles such as racing cars or motorcycles. In particular, aircraft tend to have satin or matt finishes where civilian vehicles tend to have a more glossy look and sometimes will feature metallic style finishes. So, some of the associated painting and finishing techniques wil be a bit different.

I tend to undercoat using Halford's Grey or White plastic primer.
My favourite acrylics for aircraft are Hannant's Xtracrylic range and I always use them with Hannant's own thinner rather than water. I also use Tamiya acrylics and I have found that the Hannant's thinner works well with them.

I still brush paint smaller parts such as undercarriage legs and pilot/crew figures.

The only laquers I use are the Alclad metallic range which I have found to be the best for replicating metal finishes.

[sad61t]

Agree with Eric to use a rattle can primer; I use a couple of light coats of Model Mates grey, and Citadel 'Incubi Darkness' (a dark turquoise) depending on the final effect. Both adhere to the model far better than Vallejo's primer.

For colours, I would go with Vallejo Model Air. I tried thinning Humbrol acrylics and got nowhere, whereas the VMA are pre-thinned so make life much easier when starting out (believe me there's plenty of stuff to screw up without having to worry about the paint's consistency). I would recommend getting their retarder medium, otherwise you may end up with blocked nozzles as it dries really quickly. Using a larger needle, e.g. 0.5 mm, helps as it is more forgiving.

Also get some airbrush cleaner, Vallejo's is adequate but there are better ones (can't remember the brand I use off the top of my head, it was from my local art store, and works).

And an airline water trap at the brush end. As the air cools, water builds up in the line and is pushed away from the trap that comes on the compressor. If you suddenly get a splat of paint that covers half a wing, it's probably a drop of condensation coming through the airline.

Enamels + airbrush = massive headache/migraine. You need a full extractor fan setup unless you want to be practically blind the next day. (And that was on a tiny band of red on the fuselage where I didn't have a good match acrylic and thought I'd get away with it.)

[Eric Mc]

I use this airbrush cleaner -



I find it works well and prevents serious blockages.

[sad61t]

One last thing - get a pack of 100 white plastic party spoons. They are cheaper to practice on than a model you've just spent a month building, and the paints behave much closer to a model than they would on paper.

[jamieduff1981]

sad61t said:

Enamels + airbrush = massive headache/migraine. You need a full extractor fan setup unless you want to be practically blind the next day. (And that was on a tiny band of red on the fuselage where I didn't have a good match acrylic and thought I'd get away with it.)

That seems a severe reaction? Most people who still use enamels spray them - myself included and I only use an open velux for ventilation.

I liked Polyscale acrylics back in the late 1990s but have been round the houses with most other brands since (even buying up loads of samples when considering branching in to acrylics) and have come to the conclusion that I despise them all.

What's slightly annoying from an enamels point of view is that Humbrol has the largest market share in the UK by some stretch but their quality has suffered with their move to China and back and lots of people make the mistake of assuming all enamels are as bad as Humbrol has been the past few years.

Britmodeller is full of posts from people stumped by acrylic paints rolling around the surface of their models in blobs or drying on the needle of the airbrush or even just drying with the texture of 240grit sandpaper yet it seems the risk of all this is preferable to just ventilating the room you paint in. Beats me...

[Eric Mc]

And yet I never seem to have any problem with acrylics. What am I doing right?

[SlipStream77]

sad61t said:

For colours, I would go with Vallejo Model Air.

+1, Vallejo is very easy to use and gives a great finish.

jamieduff1981 said:

Britmodeller is full of posts from people stumped by acrylic paints rolling around the surface of their models in blobs or drying on the needle of the airbrush or even just drying with the texture of 240grit sandpaper yet it seems the risk of all this is preferable to just ventilating the room you paint in. Beats me...

You soon learn the tricks:

- Always wash the sprues with soapy water to remove any residual mould release agent.
- Use primer.
- Use the correct amount of solvent for thinning.
- Always stop the paint before the air on a double action airbrush.

[jamieduff1981]

Each to their own but that's way too much faff for my tastes.

[Eric Mc]

I don't tend to bother washing the plastic. However, I always use primer.

[dr_gn]

jamieduff1981 said:

sad61t said:

Enamels + airbrush = massive headache/migraine. You need a full extractor fan setup unless you want to be practically blind the next day. (And that was on a tiny band of red on the fuselage where I didn't have a good match acrylic and thought I'd get away with it.)

Britmodeller is full of posts from people stumped by acrylic paints rolling around the surface of their models in blobs or drying on the needle of the airbrush or even just drying with the texture of 240grit sandpaper yet it seems the risk of all this is preferable to just ventilating the room you paint in. Beats me...

It's primarily because they don't understand how the paint works, and/or how an airbrush works. Once you get the fundamentals of what you're actually doing, there are few real problems with acrylics. I sometimes get paint lifting after masking, but that's invariably my own fault for not keeping the underlying surface clean.

I don't understand why people think that ventilation isn't very important with acrylics. Look at the health warnings on the containers and then figure out what happens if you (and your family) atomise it and inhale it, or if it happens to ignite. Enamel or arylic - it's all horrible stuff as far as your lungs are concerned.

To the O/P, if his cars are solid colours, I'd use Tamiya Fine Surface Primer, flatted with wet & dry. I'd then decant Tamiya TS spray colours into the airbrush and spray like that (thinned to perfection already, finer control and better finish than straight form the can IME). This is the method I'm using on my MP4/6, and have got good results so far:





Used the same method on the XJR9 LM:

[Eric Mc]

That looks absolutely cracking. Getting a good finish on civilian vehicles is a bit of a Holy Grail for me and is what puts me off having a go at some of the racing cars I have in my unbuilt stash.

[sad61t]

The safety leaflet for Vallejo Model Air is available here:
http://cdn.acrylicosvallejo.com/b5f5f258c1a9e15a76...

Pertinent points are:
* Ventilation: Provide good room ventilation
* Respiratory protection: none required under normal use. When spraying use a NIOSH P100 dust and mist respirator.
* Flash Point: not applicable

By "get away with it" I meant the difference between passive (both windows open) and active (a spray booth with extractor fan) ventilation. I get "can't walk in a straight line" drunk on a pint, so I guess my reaction to the solvent for enamels is at the far end of what might be expected. Does make for a cheap night out though.

Anyhoo, at this rate we'll be putting the OP off airbrushing.

[Eric Mc]

I find the airbrush cleaner more of an issue than the airbrush paint. I also find spraying Johnson's Klear can be an irritant.