by mike mccabe » Sun Jan 30, 2005 7:35 pm
Paint choice depends on your preference, personally I can't get on with acrylics and find them far less flexible than enamel, also the range and accuracy of colours in enamel is far better. However particularly when airbrushing, enamels do give off fumes so if you use them make sure the room is well ventilated. Basically its a question of experimenting and seeing what results you get. I would consider using old kits to try things out on, or even buy some cheap kits for a practice, it's much better than making your mistakes (there will be) on a model you have spent many hours on.
With enamel paint I use a 1:1 mix of paint to thinner, you should be ok with decent quality white spirit, I use this with WEM and humbrol paints and it seems fine, make sure it is white spirit though and not one of those substitutes. Air source is important, if you are using cans this is ok for a while but gets expensive, also you have less control as the air pressure varies a lot and starts to fade away once the can is about half full. However compressors are expensive and cans are ok.
Tips in general, make sure you have the air pressure set right before working, too much and you will get a flood of paint, too little will cause the paint to dry before it reaches the surface and will cause the paint to dry in the needle of the brush and clog it up. Give the model a brush over with an empty paint reservoir before painting to get rid of any dust, also do this between coats and leave the model under something that will keep the dust off whilst it is drying. Especially with cans you get a surge of air once you press the trigger, which means more paint comes out, so start off the model and then work over it, keeping the brush at an even distance all the time. Don't try and do all your coats at once, try and use thin coats of paint, almost like dust. Once finished clean the airbrush by spraying away the unused paint, run some clean white spirit through it then try and get some airbrush cleaner which comes in spray cans, this is strong stuff and shifts most of the paint. With enamels I prefer to break the airbrush down after each use and soak the metal parts in clean white spirit for a couple of hours to make sure it is thoroughly clean, acrylic may need less rigorous cleaning but I'm not sure.
I've probably missed out loads of other things but be patient, you will make mistakes at first, but soon you will be amazed at how good a job you can do. Oh and one last tip, don't look down the tip and press the trigger to see if it is blocked, you get paint in your face.
Mike
Paint choice depends on your preference, personally I can't get on with acrylics and find them far less flexible than enamel, also the range and accuracy of colours in enamel is far better. However particularly when airbrushing, enamels do give off fumes so if you use them make sure the room is well ventilated. Basically its a question of experimenting and seeing what results you get. I would consider using old kits to try things out on, or even buy some cheap kits for a practice, it's much better than making your mistakes (there will be) on a model you have spent many hours on.
With enamel paint I use a 1:1 mix of paint to thinner, you should be ok with decent quality white spirit, I use this with WEM and humbrol paints and it seems fine, make sure it is white spirit though and not one of those substitutes. Air source is important, if you are using cans this is ok for a while but gets expensive, also you have less control as the air pressure varies a lot and starts to fade away once the can is about half full. However compressors are expensive and cans are ok.
Tips in general, make sure you have the air pressure set right before working, too much and you will get a flood of paint, too little will cause the paint to dry before it reaches the surface and will cause the paint to dry in the needle of the brush and clog it up. Give the model a brush over with an empty paint reservoir before painting to get rid of any dust, also do this between coats and leave the model under something that will keep the dust off whilst it is drying. Especially with cans you get a surge of air once you press the trigger, which means more paint comes out, so start off the model and then work over it, keeping the brush at an even distance all the time. Don't try and do all your coats at once, try and use thin coats of paint, almost like dust. Once finished clean the airbrush by spraying away the unused paint, run some clean white spirit through it then try and get some airbrush cleaner which comes in spray cans, this is strong stuff and shifts most of the paint. With enamels I prefer to break the airbrush down after each use and soak the metal parts in clean white spirit for a couple of hours to make sure it is thoroughly clean, acrylic may need less rigorous cleaning but I'm not sure.
I've probably missed out loads of other things but be patient, you will make mistakes at first, but soon you will be amazed at how good a job you can do. Oh and one last tip, don't look down the tip and press the trigger to see if it is blocked, you get paint in your face.
Mike