Saltydog,
It’s very ironic you started this post when you did, I was going to start the same topic, with the same delema, and airbrush…how wierd! Anyway dude, It sounds like you came to the same conclusion as I did. What I did specifically was similar to your final experiment; except I had a brand new Iwata HP-C with the (.3mm nozzle/needle) I was itch’in to spray the camo with. What I finally came up with that simulated the free-hand “tight blended” demarcration lines for my 1/72nd scale A-7D was the following:
- I thinned *brand new bottles of MM Dark Tan, Dark Green, and Medium Green enamels 1:1 with T.R.P.S. (Turpintine Replacement Paint Solvent) Available from your local home or Sherman Williams chain.
- Strained the paint through panty hose and stirred it well
- I dropped the air pressure to approx. 10 psi
I got “THE FINEST”, softest, atomization of any of my Iwatas I’d ever seen yet. I was very impressed to say the least. I had no over spray, no spattering, no clogs, no spitting at all…it was effortless! Shocking becuse the small nozzle/needle size of the HP-C has been long thought of as not designed for or ideal to shoot our hobby paints.
A few observations: With spraying thinner paint, It took longer to build-up the color, but the extra coats didn’t hide or deminish. The airbrush was easier to clean due to the high thinner to paint ratio, and the lower pressure allowed for slower, deliberate and steadier spraying of the camo. Anyone with an HP-C give it a shot!
hey greg, i just got through spraying the cammo pattern on my israeli F-16A with my hp-c and hp-cs. i put the factory .3mm n/n combo back in today just to do some experimentation with different thinning ratio’s. i had the same result as before but i was thinned with testors airbrush thinner for mm enamels at 3 parts thinner and 2 parts paint. personally, id rather build my paint up than try to spray it all at once. i did well with the said thinning ratio with my hp-cs and hp-c with .4mm n/n combo. i think its about getting used to a particular product and just sticking with it and learning all the little characteristics of the beast. its getting much easier the longer i play with it. like i say, i just finished the cammo on the bird im doing now, but i got another cammo F-5E tiger II coming in right behind it in a few days and im gonna use enamels on it too. that will give me ever further practice. i’m pumped with the results that i have on the current bird. ill be posting the pics in about a week on the a/c thread. im slowly getting there with the enamels and im glad because i sure have plenty of colors in the stuff. thats encouraging to hear my friend, i’ll have to try some of the turpentine your talking about. ive seen it in the hardware store here so ill pick up a quart and try it. thanks, later.
Excellent! I’ll be updating my web page in next few days with my finished A-7D finished with the HP-C. (see www. thread below) Good luck with the F-5E… cant wait to see pics. Later.