Air brushing and cleaning

[amiers]

hi i have asked these questions before but i am now ready to start using my air brush so i want to make sure im doing it right.

i had my first practice and mixed the paint at about 2:1 i had the psi at about 10 and when i sprayed it looked more like coloured thinners!! it also dried with a gloss.


now, what should i use as a thinner? i have been told with enamel i can use mineral turps? as the thinner you buy from the hobby shops is a bit dear to be wasting.!!!!!!!

am i using the right psi? i tried 5, 10, 15, 20 and found 10 to be the best but im not sure if thats what caused the paint to do what it did.

so whatever help you guys can give would be great as i dont want to stuff up a $120.00 ship!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[les]

I assume you're using oil based paint. I alway use the same thinner as the paint is to thin it. Clean up is with laquer thinner. You might be thinning it too much. Try it a little thicker. I usually shoot at about 10 lbs or lower. Are you getting too close to the model? If the paint dries glossy it's not a big deal as you can spray a clear flat over the entire model to flatten it out. Lastly, Testors makes a good book on using an airbrush. It has paint charts and examples of what problems look like and how they can be remedied.

PS: Practice on a piece of plastic or a cheap kit.

[amiers]

by laquer thinner do you mean like general purpose thinner,as in thinners used for auto paint? and when you say thin with what the paint is i assume you mean enamel/ enamel thinner ect.

[MartinJQuinn]

I use lacquer thinner to thin my enamel based paints. I use roughly a 50/50% mix of thinner to paint, then stir thoroughly. You should experiment and test accordingly on some scrap plastic. If you don't have any scrap, buy a cheap model, like a 1/1200 ship and use it for tests.

I usually shoot between 18 and 20 PSI. Again, this is what seems to work for me.

I completely clean my airbrush - a Paasche VL - between colors. Keeping your airbrush clean is very important, if you want it to work properly and to last.

Fine Scale Modeler had a "Basics of Airbrushing" article in their March 2002 edition. I think you can still buy it online by going to their website.

[les]

By laquer thinner, I mean just that. It's thinner they use to thin laquer paints. It's very hot and will attack the plastic if you spray it on too thick. If you use it to thin the paint shoot the model lightly and build up a coat of paint before you spray it wetter. The other thing you can do is spray a barrier like Future Floorpolish to protect the plastic.