I’ve seen some of the prices on spray booths. Having been to the “HVH School of Modeling Frugality”, I build my own. Total cost was about $25, and that was for the fart fan and tubing. I build a basic box frame and boxed it in with plywood(scrap pile at a job site = FREE!!!) I cut a circle on top, for the fan to draw through, and a hole in the bottom plate (just below floor, above foundation) to blow outside. I mounted a flourescent light to the top of the box, and have a clip-on light closeby. This also doubles as my photobox.
The beauty of building your own is, you can make it however big you want! That is a 1/48 B-26 in there, drying. Plenty big!!! And the fan is enough. Before I had the fan/vent hooked up, I could smell paint throughout the whole house. Now I can barely smell it, standing right next to it.
Hopefully this can help some of you out, and save you a lot of money!
I don’t have lights for the sides, just the flouro up top and a clip-on closeby. I use a large sheet of blue construction paper as a “backdrop”. It is not the most ideal for taking pics in, but it’s what I got!!!
Just a simple bathroom type vent fan. I think I got that one for about $15 at Home Depot. It has a plug on the inside, that can be plugged into a socket inside and hardwired to a switch or, in this case, I stuck the plug out and run it with an extension cord.
No worries, issues or concerns with the paint vapor and the fan? I assume since it is a nomal fan that it is not sealed against vapors. I had thought about either using a bathroom fan or a comupter case fan but was worried about vapors. This may make me rethink about using normal fans…
Honestly, I didn’t even think about fumes/electricity[:(DD]. My dad had about the same setup for yeeeaaars, when he was doing the model RR thing, never had any issues.
I don’t know…I would imagine that with the small amounts of paints we are talking here it would not that much of an issue, with acrylics no problem at all, but I can see that alclad and other laquers may cause issues if you spray them long enough. But considering that you have not had issues I would say you should be ok. Good to hear…now I can go back to looking at building me one.
I’d answer that as a “yes”. That fan you’re using, although small potential maybe, still has a potential to light that booth up like an Eagle Scout campfire, and likely with a big boom. Small potential true, but a potential nonetheless. Even one tenth of one percent is not worth the gamble. That fan motor you’re using can also have its wiring jackets degraded by solvents. You can decrease your chances of a tragic outcome by using a sparkless squirrel cage setup, where the motor is outside the path of fumes and paint particles. I’d also suggest slapping a filter in front of your fan inlet, to prevent paint buildup on the fan blades.
Other than that, nice job. Looks like you could paint a Monogram 1:48 B-29 in there!
Looks like you’re ready for that 1/32 B-17 when it comes out. It’s pretty cool having a booth to paint in. A place to plug in and a place to vent and paint any time you want. Climate controlled. Your’s is about twice the size of the one I’ve been using. I didn’t have a saw to work with so a friend that enjoys woodworking built it for me out of some scraps he had. One of his relatives runs a hardware store and he got a piece of scrap lexan for the top. I have a flourescent light suspended above it and some 13" linkable flourescents inside. I bought some latex house paint and gave it a heavy coat of white. Mine draws through the back and I use furnace filters. Still get some build-up on the fan blades but it will vacuum right off. I did use a Dayton blower. Not an explosionproof. Only thing about fans like you used is everything is in the airstream so if you’d happen to get a spark it might flash over.
After Christmas I’m gonna splurge and buy a sheet of plywood and some lumber and build a new one. Mine is fine for cars but planes need a little more room. I’m going for 48" x 24" this time and I have some thicker Lexan for the top. Maybe even the sides.
If the motor used is brushless don’t sweat it. A lot of small motors like those today are induction type motors and don’t produce the shower of sparks like brushed motors do. Besides, it takes a huge amount of confined vapor to be dense enough to light off. Little whisps of material like we typically use are nothing to worry about.
I use dual 4" bilge blowers in mine, the thinking being that they are designed to suck fuel vapor from a space to keep explosions from happening. But these buggers use brushed motors and as far as I can tell the cans aren’t sealed very well. I’ve used rattle can lacquers in my booth and havent torched the thing yet so the blowers must work. I don’t use filters either. I used to and found just as much paint in the hose and fan as if I didn’t use any at all so I dropped them. One less thing to spend money on and they clog up and lower air flow anyway. So in the last four years I havent had a problem with the no filter thing either.
This is really not the best advice. As stated earlier, solvents can break down wiring jackets over time, thereby leading to a potential short, which oftentimes produce sparks, which oftentimes ignite volatile vapors. Hey this is just common sense stuff.
This is like saying “I’ve done the ‘flamethrower with an aerosol can’ trick many times and it hasn’t blown up in my face yet, so it must be safe.” Things like shaded pole fans, offset squirrel cage fans, and fans generally rated for removal of volatile vapors and materials were invented because standard household-use fans were found to be hazardous for such tasks.
I would still recommend a filter. The cheapo furnace filters found at most hardware stores work fine. Change it when the paint builds up on it enough to reduce airflow. Using a filter has kept my fan and ducting fairly free of build up.
Sorry Fermis…I didn’t mean to bring you down or concern you about your build. I really like your booth I just asked because I wanted one like you built.
I’ve read countless arguments on this debate while designing/building my booth. The extra precautions make perfect sense. Because of the information overload (for both sides) I took the safe route. I use a sparkles fan, filters, sealed lights, I keep a fire extinguisher near by, and the booth is in a room that can be naturally ventilated if need be and with multiple exists, 3 to be exact (my garage).
Overkill? Maybe, but God forbid, the booth will not be the cause of a house fire or a dangerous fumes incident.
This is a 485CFM squirrel cage (the motor is not in the air stream). I’m probably pulling 350-375 after factoring in the filter and ducting. I have it setup as a downdraft (harder to build, but more efficient) and can use a spray can in this thing without smelling a thing.
I wonder how many people here smoke, drink, speed, eat 5000 calories a day and never exercise more than it takes to get to the fridge for the next beer, who are worried about blowing up their modeling spray booths with a whisp of paint fumes.
Sadly I am one of them (the exercise portion of it). As for the worry about blowing up? Well, only because I have kids in the house if not… stove-top would also serve as my booth!
