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 Rank: Pro Groups: New Members, Unapproved Joined: 24/08/2009 Posts: 48,051 Points: -13,308
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just got myself a airbrush and small compressor, never used one before, anyone got any tips, eg mixing paint and thinners? thanks.
regards steve
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 Rank: Elite        Groups: Registered
Joined: 20/04/2012 Posts: 1,787 Points: 5,292 Location: Thurso
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Hi Steve,
this is a large topic as every paint manufacturer has different thinning requirements. 'Vallejo air' paints are used straight from the bottle. Tamiya acrylics I thin 50:50 with either Tamiya thinners or iso-propyl alcohol. Most enamels can be thinned with white spirit (turps substitute).
A lot of articles say to thin to the consistency of milk.
What you use to clean the airbrush with is also dependent on the paints being used and is paramount in getting consistent results.
The pressure you use to spray can depend on the paint and the effect you are trying to achieve.
It all sounds very confusing but as you probably have one or 2 favourite brands of paint it soon becomes second nature.
So for specific advice we really need to know what paints you are planning to us.
The important thing to get good results is to practice, practice, practice.
This may not seem to be very helpful but it is not as difficult as it sounds, most paint manufacturers websites (and those of some model paint suppliers)give recommended thinning info for spraying.
Graeme
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Rank: Pro Groups: New Members, Unapproved Joined: 24/08/2009 Posts: 48,051 Points: -13,308
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pemberg wrote:Hi Steve,
this is a large topic as every paint manufacturer has different thinning requirements. 'Vallejo air' paints are used straight from the bottle. Tamiya acrylics I thin 50:50 with either Tamiya thinners or iso-propyl alcohol. Most enamels can be thinned with white spirit (turps substitute).
A lot of articles say to thin to the consistency of milk.
What you use to clean the airbrush with is also dependent on the paints being used and is paramount in getting consistent results.
The pressure you use to spray can depend on the paint and the effect you are trying to achieve.
It all sounds very confusing but as you probably have one or 2 favourite brands of paint it soon becomes second nature.
So for specific advice we really need to know what paints you are planning to us.
The important thing to get good results is to practice, practice, practice.
This may not seem to be very helpful but it is not as difficult as it sounds, most paint manufacturers websites (and those of some model paint suppliers)give recommended thinning info for spraying.
Graeme
thanks for the reply graeme, give me something to think about.
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Rank: Pro Groups: New Members, Unapproved Joined: 24/08/2009 Posts: 48,051 Points: -13,308
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i thought i would start using acrylic first, some say you use 20 psi to start, the paint i am buying is already to use in a airbrush, so hopefully that will make it easier to practice, i am going to draw some lines on paper and fill in the gaps to see how steady my hand is, and get used to the pressure i apply on the button. fingers crossed.
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I have Veda double action airbrushes. I use model air, tamiya and mig paints. Tamiya I mix 3 parts thinner and 1 part paint or 2 parts thinner to 1 part paint depending on base coat or shading. The air paints I use straight from the bottle or if needed, 1 to 1 with thinner. I use 10-15 psi at the brush. Everyone has their own way, its just a case of practise to find yours.
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Rank: Pro Groups: New Members, Unapproved Joined: 24/08/2009 Posts: 48,051 Points: -13,308
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Nemesis wrote:I have Veda double action airbrushes. I use model air, tamiya and mig paints. Tamiya I mix 3 parts thinner and 1 part paint or 2 parts thinner to 1 part paint depending on base coat or shading. The air paints I use straight from the bottle or if needed, 1 to 1 with thinner. I use 10-15 psi at the brush. Everyone has their own way, its just a case of practise to find yours.
thanks nemesis, all info at the moment is useful, no matter how small,
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 Rank: Super-Elite Groups: Registered
Joined: 17/12/2013 Posts: 3,982 Points: 11,974 Location: NY, USA
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Airbrushing has a bit of a learning curve to it and there are lots of different approaches that people use.
The thickness of the paint is the most important thing to get right in my experience.I would start off with prethinned paints so you can learn how to use the airbrush without worrying about the paint being too thick or thin.
Vallejo makes a range of paints (ModelAir) which airbrush beautifully right out of the bottle.
Unfortunately sometimes there are paint colors you need that are not available prethinned so you will need to learn how to mix and thin paint.
A rule of thumb is to make the paint the consistency of milk.Follow the manufacturers guide for thinning and use the thinner they recommend as a guide, but understand it may give you the right dilution every time.I am not really sure what the consistency of milk is so what I do is mix the paint and stir it with a thin wooden stick.When I lift the stick out of the paint it should form up on the end of the stick and drip down into the paint.If it runs off the stick before forming a drop it is too thin and if it forms a drop without dripping into the paint it is too thick.
Once I have the right mixture I play around with the pressure. If the pressure is too low you either wont get any paint coming out or it will sputter instead of being a smooth flow.It will also sputter if the paint is too thick.
If you start spraying and then model gets flooded with paint or the paint appears dry (like sandblasting) on the model the pressure is too high or the paint is too thin (or both).
If you start spraying and the paint spreads out on the surface of the model and starts running the paint is too thin.
What you are looking for is a smooth layer of paint that looks shiny as you spray it and doesnt run.Keep the airbrush moving so the paint doesnt build up in one spot.
Try to keep the airbrush a uniform distance from the model as you spray.The further away you are the wider the spray pattern will be.If you want to do very fine lines you will need to hold the airbrush close to the model.
Finally there are two types of aribrush- Single action and doubly action.With a single action all you control is the amount if air passing through the airbrush.The more you press the button the more air (and paint) comes out of the nozzle.For very fine work you want low air flow and for large areas you can increase the flow so get more coverage.With a double action airbrush you can control the airflow AND the amount of paint .This gives you much more control, but it is trickier to learn how to use.
Carl
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Rank: Pro Groups: New Members, Unapproved Joined: 24/08/2009 Posts: 48,051 Points: -13,308
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darbyvet wrote:Airbrushing has a bit of a learning curve to it and there are lots of different approaches that people use.
The thickness of the paint is the most important thing to get right in my experience.I would start off with prethinned paints so you can learn how to use the airbrush without worrying about the paint being too thick or thin.
Vallejo makes a range of paints (ModelAir) which airbrush beautifully right out of the bottle.
Unfortunately sometimes there are paint colors you need that are not available prethinned so you will need to learn how to mix and thin paint.
A rule of thumb is to make the paint the consistency of milk.Follow the manufacturers guide for thinning and use the thinner they recommend as a guide, but understand it may give you the right dilution every time.I am not really sure what the consistency of milk is so what I do is mix the paint and stir it with a thin wooden stick.When I lift the stick out of the paint it should form up on the end of the stick and drip down into the paint.If it runs off the stick before forming a drop it is too thin and if it forms a drop without dripping into the paint it is too thick.
Once I have the right mixture I play around with the pressure. If the pressure is too low you either wont get any paint coming out or it will sputter instead of being a smooth flow.It will also sputter if the paint is too thick.
If you start spraying and then model gets flooded with paint or the paint appears dry (like sandblasting) on the model the pressure is too high or the paint is too thin (or both).
If you start spraying and the paint spreads out on the surface of the model and starts running the paint is too thin.
What you are looking for is a smooth layer of paint that looks shiny as you spray it and doesnt run.Keep the airbrush moving so the paint doesnt build up in one spot.
Try to keep the airbrush a uniform distance from the model as you spray.The further away you are the wider the spray pattern will be.If you want to do very fine lines you will need to hold the airbrush close to the model.
Finally there are two types of aribrush- Single action and doubly action.With a single action all you control is the amount if air passing through the airbrush.The more you press the button the more air (and paint) comes out of the nozzle.For very fine work you want low air flow and for large areas you can increase the flow so get more coverage.With a double action airbrush you can control the airflow AND the amount of paint .This gives you much more control, but it is trickier to learn how to use.
Carl
thats very informative carl. i am starting to think what i have taken on here, but i will take it one step at a time, i can always refer to the knowledge in this thread, cheers carl. i have a single action by the way.
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