Air brush painting

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Shaun

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So I spent a good amount of time reading around and taking in all the tips and tricks I could find on airbrushing with Tamiya paints. I made notes of the good things, the not so good things to stay away from. Took my time prepped everything, got a good clean, well-ventilated space, everything masked off and supported correctly, good lighting and then, made every error that could have been noted somewhere in a writeup by many... I think I could have written my own story about what not to do without knowing what to do! I spent a few hours and the better part of a jar of paint on a 17-inch-long hull of the Bluenose not a terrible tragedy really, just a learning exercise with a purpose. I will say this though I did learn, and there are no thin spots of colour on that hull, anywhere! I think the, "what not to do's" is what stuck in my head, as there was way more of that to be found in peoples write-ups vs what to do's. On the upside, the next hull I sprayed I had extra mix left over and actually had to let that dry up on the bench in a tin. Lesson one learned, lesson two, to be continued...

Keep smiling folks!
 
Huge congrats. I'm new to the airbrush too, and my airbrush and compressor are antiques by today's standard. However, after some practice. I was able to lay down a consistent color on the hull. Thumbsup
 
I am trying to figure out if you can use an airbrush with metallic paint. I haven`t tried it yet and I am not very hopeful, but I will try it at some point in time. I just don`t know if the metal in the paint will plug up the nozzle or not.
 
Jack Sparrow said:
I am trying to figure out if you can use an airbrush with metallic paint. I haven`t tried it yet and I am not very hopeful, but I will try it at some point in time. I just don`t know if the metal in the paint will plug up the nozzle or not.
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Yes, Jack, you can. I use both acrylic and so-called lacquer paints with excellent results. I use HobbyMia metallic paints straight from the bottles (no need to dilute), they are lacquer-based paints.

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Jimsky said:
Yes, Jack, you can. I use both acrylic and so-called lacquer paints with excellent results. I use HobbyMia metallic paints straight from the bottles (no need to dilute), they are lacquer-based paints.

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that's awesome! thanks.
I am painting the bottom of my constitution with copper paint instead of putting those copper plates. I want to see if it gives a good result...
 
I can`t seem to find that paint you mentioned, but I did find Vallejo model air paint that is metallic, so problem solved.
Thanks again for your help.
Another one of my projects.
 
 
Jack Sparrow said:
I am trying to figure out if you can use an airbrush with metallic paint. I haven`t tried it yet and I am not very hopeful, but I will try it at some point in time. I just don`t know if the metal in the paint will plug up the nozzle or not.
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I used to spray Floquil brass paint through my airbrush but the problem is that I could not clean the mechanism sufficiently to avoid metallic flecks when thereafter using non-metallic colors. The only solution was to use a different cup and needle for solids.
 
Am I correct in saying that Floquil paints are no longer being made? Testors has announced that it is ending its Floquil and Polly Scale lines of paints, including dozens of model-railroad specific colors. Testors will continue to take orders from retailers and ship paint for a limited time based on available quantities. If you go to another Floquil website it says:

"For decades, Floquil paints were a fixture of model railroading. They were the only paints I used from the 60’s until their virtual demise when the original formula was discontinued. To say the loss of Floquil was significant to my scale modeling would be an understatement. Because Floquil had such unique qualities, it factored into many of the choices of how I went about constructing a model ... Mainly because it was durable and actually stuck to what you applied it too. In essence, you could almost think of it as a building material rather than just a coating. When fully hard, you could easily color sand it. With the right liquid cement, you could glue to it. When applied directly over styrene, it became virtually one with the surface. You never had to worry about any type of masking material pulling it up. It was impervious to all decal setting solutions. I especially liked that I could scribe a razor clean line into the paint.

But for all its great qualities, Floquil had its own set of issues. At the top of the list was the health hazard of inhaling the fumes. The main component in Floquil was an organic compound known as Xylene. Xylene was responsible for the characteristic smell of Floquil. Xylene was also a small component of lacquer thinners of the day and while you could thin Floquil with lacquer thinner, the other components in lacquer thinner typically degraded the quality of the paint and ruined the shelf life ... so you always wanted to thin with Dio-Sol. When painting with Floquil, it was essential for your health to work with extremely good ventilation. Whenever spraying Floquil, I would be in front of the open garage door with a respirator mask and nitril gloves. I knew several pro painters who suffered liver and blood issues because they ignored the warnings on the label.

Regards,

PeterG
 
Jack Sparrow said:
I am trying to figure out if you can use an airbrush with metallic paint.
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Yes you can. In fact it's just about the only way to get a smooth even coat, even a shiny reflective coat if that's what you need. I have a lot of experience airbrushing plastic models of bare metal aircraft with lacquers such as Alclad and acrylics including Tamiya, Mr Hobby and Vallejo.

I offer two tips.

First, a shiny black undercoat makes all the difference to shine and gives the look of metal.

Second, the metallic particles, which are usually ground mica, do sink quickly in thinned paint so if you are using a large paint cup on your airbrush, or painting particularly slowly, it helps to stir your paint with a small paintbrush from time to time. This avoids the clogging which you fear.
 
Willy from Wigan said:
Yes you can. In fact it's just about the only way to get a smooth even coat, even a shiny reflective coat if that's what you need. I have a lot of experience airbrushing plastic models of bare metal aircraft with lacquers such as Alclad and acrylics including Tamiya, Mr Hobby and Vallejo.

I offer two tips.

First, a shiny black undercoat makes all the difference to shine and gives the look of metal.

Second, the metallic particles, which are usually ground mica, do sink quickly in thinned paint so if you are using a large paint cup on your airbrush, or painting particularly slowly, it helps to stir your paint with a small paintbrush from time to time. This avoids the clogging which you fear.
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That's great information, thanks. I found a Vallejo product, model air, that has some metallic copper. I'll certainly take into account your tips.
 
I think it is always better to try out your painting system on a cheap piece of wood or metal and be sure you know how to use it and clean up BEFORE you try the system out on a model you expect to be a treasure.
 
I agree 100% Grimball, but as I said in the beginning, I managed to do everything that was recommended "not " to do... Now I have some test pieces out there and a cleaning tank so I can clean everything totally after each use. And I make sure everything gets a chance to air out for a while before I put my gear away.
Keep smiling folks.
 
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