I’m used to spraying the exterior of my 1:24th scale cars with (mostly) Testors enamel spray cans or sometimes factory touch-up cans, such as i.e.- Duplicolor. I’ve always sprayed outside during warm weather or in the basement. But we moved and no longer have a basement and it’s too cold outside during the winter. Now I’m moving up to an AB for a better quality finish.
I spray both opaque and semi-transparent colors (enamel) with a high gloss finish.
Would I have similar options and results using acrylics?
Spraying enamels indoors will require an additional $80.00 (approximate) investment in an exhaust fan/blower for my spray booth to deal with the volatile fumes.
Would such a blower moving such high CFM’s be needed for acrylics since it’s mostly over-spray that’s a concern?
Or should I just go ahead and build my spray booth with the blower since I spent a lot of money on everything else, why skimp now on the booth? That way I can spray anything. [%-)]
Jhande, acrylics don’t give off anywhere near the same sort of fumes as enamels or lacquers. I know, my wife complains about the smell of lacquer thinner whenever I open the jar to clean my AB, but has never once noticed the small given off by the acrylics I use.
I don’t have a booth with a fan, I just leave the window open, and that seems to work fine. Clean up is also a lot easier with acrylics, being both faster and less messy.
Save your $80 and spend it on a decent AB & compressor.
I had exactly the same problem and after a lot of thought, decided to go for the full works. My final set-up for the booth extraction system consisted of a bathroom kit with flexible hose and an in-line fan.(about £22 , including vents).
Although I now mostly work in acrylics you will always find a time when you wish youd gone for the extractor, an example (in my case) is sealing decal paper with three coats of varnish. My own little tip Id like to share, was to install a turn-table in the booth. (mine came from an old record deck). No more accidents when you have to spray four sides of an object. Jim
I only spray acrylics and went the whole meal deal on a blower for my spraybooth. My wife can tell the difference between acrylics and future without being in the same room. Be careful that your fan/blower can handle the volitile fumes. You really don’t want an explosion in the house!
I have sprayed real life auto’s and know first hand the benifits of venting the fumes. [;)]
I just never had experience yet with acrylics as they weren’t heard of in the modeling world when I was last building.
When I was a kid an open window and a big fan was good enough, but then again so was a brush and spray can.
Now that I’ve invested in a silent hobby compressor, a couple of Iwata’s, built a turntable, filled a toolbox up with modeling tools, stocked the shelf with almost every color of Testors and Model Masters I could find at the local hobby shop, etc… I figured maybe I should be more concerned about my 10 year old sons health and just want to do things right. [:)]