Best Temperature for Airbrushing Outdoors?

Modeling Subjects Aircraft
1

I am about ready to start airbushing primary color(s) on my Revell 1/32 F-14A and I am going to have to do this outdoors since I have no place indoors to do this.

Here are my questions:

What is the best temperature to use an airbrush outdoors?

Can I airbrush outdoors if temperatures are in the 40’s?

Any help here is greatly appreciated.

2

I would consider 45°F an absolute minimum.

3

From experience, I wouldn’t do it in anthing colder than 65*. Plus, you want to make sure humidity is low, not much more than 20%.

But, YMMV [8-]

-Fred

4

I think 40* would be too cold to get a quality finish. Even rattle cans reccomend Temps between 50*~85* low Humidity. If you are determind to paint outdoors, make a small greenhouse / tent out of clear plastic to capture some solar heat. Better yet look for a cheap tent at the second hand store to use… A Crude Paint Booth but will be warmer then the ambient Temp. outside. Warm paint makes a Happy finish. [swg]

5

Rand,

I wouldn’t paint in temps lower than 65 degrees either.

6

Fifty or above…as far as humidity you might not have a choice unless you do it indoors or in an “enclosed” area. It all depends on where you live and the weather conditions at the time.

7

I’m having the same situation. I’ve got 3 airplanes ready to paint… Spring came and then a cold snap. I’ve no garage, so outdoors is the only way. …and it’s got to be done on the week-end when the saw mill across the street isn’t spewing tons of sawdust into the air!

I can hardly wait to do my first plane with my Paasche! [sigh]

8

Yep, I just learned that by experience this winter. 50-55 minimum, my booth is an add-on unheated garage. Could not AB anything this winter, even with warming the booth,paint before hand. After very few minutes I would get splatter pattern, the paint just dries up VERY quick in dry/cold air.

9

Trexx, from the looks of that picture I thought your only neighbor would be Sasquatch…[C):-)]

10

Trexx, from the looks of that picture I thought your only neighbor would be Sasquatch…[C):-)]

I was told he’s even wearing his “Sunday Go To Meeting” clothes! Ever seen Sasquatch in a pink evening gown?

11

Thanks for your input gents! I am anxious to get this beast painted and I guess I am just going to have to wait for mother nature to smile upon me. Thanks for all the info, it was very helpful to me. [:D]

12

My experience is that you can go to 5-10 degrees celsius without any problems.

In this temperature zone i had better experiences with acrylics than with enamel colours.

Thomas

13

I might be forced to airbrush outdoors as well if I can’t sterilize my room of dust and get safe ventilation. How many degrees fahrenheight is one degrees celsius? It’s a little bit less than two, isn’t it?

Another thing. Because I live in rural conditions is painting outside safe for my paint and primer jobs? If my model was resting about waist/torso high on a table, how easy or hard would it be for dust and dirt to get to it on a normal sunny day with average breezes?

Cheers

14

For best results, the temperature should be at 45 degrees or better. The dew point should be at 45 or better. At 45 or below, if the dew point and temperature are within 5 degrees of each other, you can get ice build up in the air line or air brush. Also as mentioned, temperature and paint cure is a problem. The warmer the temperature, lower the humidity, will result in a better cure time. When stationed in colder areas, I would wait until the temperature got into the mid to high 50’s before painting outside.

15

(°C x 1.8) +32 = °F

You would be surprised astonished just how much dust there is in theair in the “rural” part of the country. Place a plastic cake box over it with spacers under the edge for ventilation. I do this even indoors.

16

I’m hoping it’s gonna be around 60 soon here in NY . I have a p47 to paint !!

That is about my magic number.

Frank

17

I think airbrushing outdoors with water base acrylic paints would be more forgiving than using enamels. I use Tamiya and Model Master acrylic paints exclusively for all my airbrushing. The only suspected problem I can see with using them in cold weather is the paint dries before it hits the model surface or worse, it dries on the airbrush tip and clogs it. Another factor here where I live is wind coming off Lake Erie and I live just a few blocks from the lake. I believe I will have to wait for a windless day when the temps get above 50 degrees to use my airbrush outdoors.

18

The typical exposure time for shooting a coat of paint on a plastic model is relatively short. I’d spray inside. If you’re concerned about the fumes get a small bathroom vent fan, some dryer duct and a little bit of particle board and build a small paint booth. I made on on an old computer cart I had in the attic. The dryer duct sits in an open window when I’m going to be painting a lot. Most of the time I don’t bother because the exposure times during painting are so short. This includes when I shoot clear lacquer paints.

19

[banghead] [banghead] [banghead] [banghead] [banghead] [banghead] [banghead] [banghead]

How to put this diplomatically…? [sigh]

  1. Bathroom vent fans do not necessarily have shaded poles or the motor outside of the air flow. That means that there is a potential for explosion or fire if the flammable vapors from airbrushing (alcohols, various other flammable hydrocarbons—especially for lacquers). Your method would be a better one if using a shaded pole or externally driven fan, provided the fan has sufficient capacity.
  2. “Exposure times are short”? Not in an unventilated room or house. Under those circumstances, exposure times run to hours. For unborn children, infants, and young children, exposure thresholds are much lower, especially for the as yet unborn.
  3. Even if exposure times were short, and the quantities are small, the long term effects of low level exposure are poorly known. What is known is that there are enough toxins and irritants in the air we breathe every day, without additional exposure, to create health problems. All the organics you take in, regardless of route of entry, have to be metabolized in the liver. You can’t live without that organ—why give it more grief than absolutely necessary?
  4. When occasional, acute exposure to a chemical becomes frequent or periodic, the exposure becomes chronic. The effects of chronic exposure to sublethal or subcritical dose of a chemical are generally very poorly known.
20

As usual I’m too old to bother worrying about putting things delicately.

You are welcome to be as anal about the subject as you like. If you want to be concerned about short term exposure to slightly hazardous materials then go ahead and paint outside. If your generating enough fumes to exceed the LEL in your work area then i would strongly suggest that you’re wasting solvents and paint. If you don’t know what the LEL is then I suggest you look it up. If you do know what the LEL is then I also suggest you look up the time-weighted average exposure limit for the solvents you use so you can have double confirmation that it’s ok to paint inside.

I prefer to use common sense and have my paint jobs come out without mosquito wing impressions in the finish.