This is a basic air brush spray painting question and may have been asked before but…
How do you keep from getting tiny debris specks from showing up in the paint while airbrushing?
I’m at my wit’s end after trying many different ways to spray on a smooth finish, especially with Model Master acrylics. I’m doing a yellow wing version of an OS2U Kingfisher and I have had to sand/buff and repaint 3 times now ( while losing a lot of cool detail in the process) and still have some rocks under the paint. I have run a household air filter for 2 hours before painting in my shop, Wiped down the whole bench and back stop with a damp cloth, filtered the paint from the jar, used tack rags before painting and a clean box to cover the painted plane after spraying, but still can’t get a debris-less finish the first final coat. ARRRRGH !
Gee sounds like you have covered the basics and more.
So going outside the box:
is there a fan blowing in the room?
.do you have a painted drywall ceiling or something like acoustical tiles?
Is the painting area in an enclosed place (box, paint booth etc) or open on the bench?
Do you have pegboard behind your spraying area?
Is there an open window nearby with air coming IN?
Have you vacuumed around the bench area before you wipe down?
Is there a fan in a nearby window blowing air out- this could draw dust partials from behind you into the area, on the way to the fan?
Perhaps you could take a small plant mister can, and mist the area to give it one last chance to trap “smuch” out of the air?
Get or make a spray (paint) booth
Don’t give up; the silliest answer may be the right one.
Also as an aside regarding the repainting and the sanding off of details; if the dust bunnies are more like dust buffalo’s you may want to consider stripping the paint instead of sanding-
TY for your valuable input Duster. You listed some things I haven’t thought of which I will definately try on the next paint job . I’ll answer your suggestions 1 by 1 ;
1.is there a fan blowing in the room? = NO
2…do you have a painted drywall ceiling or something like acoustical tiles? = NO, metal shed roof
3.Is the painting area in an enclosed place (box, paint booth etc) or open on the bench? = Open to the bench
4.Do you have pegboard behind your spraying area? = NO but 3 ft. away near the side of the bench
5.Is there an open window nearby with air coming IN? = NO
6.Have you vacuumed around the bench area before you wipe down? = Sometimes
7.Is there a fan in a nearby window blowing air out- this could draw dust partials from behind you into the area, on the way to the fan? = NO
Perhaps you could take a small plant mister can, and mist the area to give it one last chance to trap “smuch” out of the air? = Good idea
9.Get or make a spray (paint) booth = Not yet but this may be necessary
Here in Minnesota it is very dry in the winter (cold weather lowers dew point and absolute humidity). This enhances static electricity effects. Some of my friends keep a spray bottle of water handy, and spray into the air before they paint. Personally, I built a heated drying box, and the model or part(s) go into the box immediately after painting. I have filters on all the openings into/out-of box.
The weather condotions here in Florida are the exact opposite of yours…hot and humid most of the time, but i can still see the value of your drying box even here.
Hey Jay Jay. Sounds like you’re doing most of the right things. A quick question - are you sure what you’re seeing is “dust” and not dried flecks of paint? Maybe you have a slightly damaged airbrush tip or nozzle. I’ve had that kick “debris” onto models before without realizing something was wrong. Just a thought…good luck!
Take a good flashlight with a tight beam and shine it around your workshop with lights out (at night) to see how much ambient dust there is in the shop. I know folks who even have a seperate painting area if their shop is too dusty.
There’s another good suggestion Don, I’ll check with the flashlight before each painting session as well, that way i can tell to mist again and run the air filter longer if there’s too much airborn dust. it’s pretty dark in my work space even in the day time.
I used to paint my models in the garage. Dust and crud on the finish was a common thing. Now I spray paint my models in a spray booth located in the basement. The spray booth is a plastic storage box from IKIA. The filter box on the bottom is made from mdf. The exhaust fan is from Granger. The spray box exhausts to the outside.It was a detachable front cover. After I paint the model I put on the front cover. No more dust bunnies or crud and no more paint smell in the house. I think that a spray booth is an indespensible tool. It is not difficult to build one your self.
This design suits my needs for sure, especially the bottom draw with the fan box assy. the way you have it. I can simply run a long exhaust hose out the door or wall in my shop because I have no room on the ceiling to do it.
I paint in a relatively dirty basement. I set and spray my models inside a medium sized cardboard box. I haven’t measured but it’s about 18" cubed. I keep an old diaper on top and drape it over the front of the box immediately after sparying a coat. It keeps dust bunnies away and traps vapors. I do not evacuate vapors with any kind of powered device. That just sucks the dust in.
Then there’s this. My wife has a litttle plaque that says Dust is a Country Knick Knack. You can’t really get away from it without a hermetically sealed room.
TY for the input Comanche, seems simple enough but I think my problem lies in the airborne dust the airbrush is picking up enroute to the model. I don’t seem to have any issues with the dust settling on the already painted surface since i immediately cover it after painting and I can see the speck instantly appear when in the act of spraying.
When I want a smooth finish I vaccum and then mist the inside of my spray booth.
Immediately after painting I either cover or move the model to one of those clear plastic Sterlite tubs-containers. I keep these tubs upside down or sealed prior to use to keep dust from setteling in them.
Short of a clean room something like they use to make silicon wafers there is only so much I can do to keep dust off of a finish.
