I just purchased my first air brush system, and had a couple of questions.I am working on a couple of kits I bought back in 2013. Both aircraft. A Mig-29 and one of my favorites, F-4 Phantom.
It’s been a long time since I’ve worked on a model. A first that I will be attempting to use a air brush on.
I’ve watched/read a lot on how they work, how to clean and adjust, etc.
I would like to know what type/brand of paints might be best suited for my first time?
I’ve looked at some Vallejo(air series). Opinions?
I don’t have access to a local hobby shop, so whatever I get would have to be ordered online.
My second question is, how much paint to load into the brush?
Please correct me if I’m wrong…but the Vallejo Air series already thinned for airbrushing? I’m sure that could depend on the make/type of brush is used.
For airbrushing, my mainstay is Tamiya acrylic, which I thin with their proprietary thinner. Their paints are formulated for airbrushing, and I find them easy to use. I will also use lacquer thinner with the flat colors, because it produces an absolutely dead-flat matte finish.
I have Vallejo’s regular paints, for hand-brushing, not the Air Color line, so I can’t speak to how easy or difficult they are to use, or whether they can be applied right from the bottle without thinning. I do know that there are many posts across various forums that mention using Vallejo’s proprietary productions with the paint, for best results. But there may be many who use them and have different experience.
I hope that helps, and I look forward to seeing your builds!
Yes,Tamiya is one of the easiest for airbrushing.Vallejo is good because of their massive selection,but could be finicky,the Air line should be okay for straight brushing but you never know,thin with their products if needed and never use alcohol.Vallejo Model air definitely needs thinning and flo improver.Learning curve may be steep.
as for the amount,do you have a gravity fed,a small amount to start is good,then add more if you run out.
I year Mission Models are good
And Modelmaster enamels are superb if you like enamels.
Tamiya is good but you may have to mix some colors yourself because the selection isn’t as vast as some other brands, they spray awesome though. Model Master acrylic are good as long as you prime first ( pretty much true with any paint but especially MM acryl). And I personally like Vallejo Model Air, you have to make sure you mix them really well and shake side to side vs up and down. Starting out it’s a good idea that what ever line you choose, you buy that lines thinners or other accessory products as even if they are supposedly airbrush ready you inevitably will run into a batch or color that needs a little thinner.
And as mentioned Model Master enamels are very good, in fact even the little Testors bottles are quite good. But if you’re like many of us, overall we have sniffed enougfh toxic fumes so acrylics seem appealing. I’ve been changing over to acrylics for the last 20 months or so but still rely on certain Testors solvent paints, it’s hard to beat certain ones ( Model Master gloss black comes to mind, metalizer silver plate and Testors enamel copper) .
Tell us about your airbrush, brand, needle and nozzle size ( .3, .4, .5 etc) will do for now. Then we can advise all the more.
Well, I am starting off with a “air brush” set. I purchased it on Amazon.
It’s the Master Air Brush.
I think it’s 1/6hp compressor. Three air brushes. The G22/G25, I belive those are both .3mm gravity, dual action. The other is a E91, syphon, single action.
I’ve read good and bad about the G22…I have time and patience to learn the “quirks” of it I think. [8-)] The G25 looks to be the same as the G22, only one appears to have a larger fluid cup.
I have a good size workshop, and decent ventilation…so the enamels won’t really bother me…they may take me back to my childhood though. I do like the ease of clean-up of the acrylics. I do have some Testors coming…so I may just get some practice in and see where it goes.
Thanks for all the info. [Y]
Here are a few shots of the last model I built. I think this is 1/72 all hand-painted:
Hope these look OK. New here, not sure if I did this right.
I got the WWII USAAF A/C Model Air Paint set(16 colors). I also picked up some Air Brush Flow Improver. One will be here tomorrow, the other on Saturday.
I’ve seen where the Vallejo are a bit harder to get a good flow on. Well see I guess.
I saw a video on Youtube where the guy made his own “air flow improver”. He use glycol and water. Anyone tried this?
Brush set should be here today…patiently waiting for the mailman…lol
It sounds like you have a good grip on the situation. I’d only add that as mentioned above, it’s best to stick with proprietary thinners until you learn by trial and error what the other parameters are.
And in particular in your situation being new at it, learn what works on sacrificial models before you shoot paint on something important. I do that all the time when I change up any of the parameters.
Testors enamels shoot great with lacquer thinner as long as where you buy it from still sells real lacquer thinner and it’s not the new “green” stuff that’s going around slow but sure. Or with mineral spirits or a combo of the two. It will really flow with mineral spirits so kind of sneak up on real wet coats, that’s why I like the combo. I would stay away from hardware store Paint Thinner as when I tried that I got craters and fish eyes up the ying yang. And as mentioned, Testors does have their own thinner. Actually some people prefer lacquer thinner to the Terstors thinner. Some of the preference has to do with how you spray, your own technique and what you are painting ( model car gloss coats want good saturation, camo more mist coats etc).
Looks good ! What I would do with those arirbrushes is pull the needles out of each one and polish them up with some fine steel wool.always rubbing towards the tip not at the point back. They can bend pretty easy so use a squeeze with forefinger and thumb. Then clean them with alcohol reinstall and spray some alcohol through them to both clean the tips and to check the spray patterns. Just sayin, that’s what I would do but I periodically polish my airbrush needles anyway using 000 steel wool…
Yea, I saw a video on doing that last night about 1am. I have some polishing compound I use on my guitar frets, as well as some real fine cloths. They do a great job on my guitar frets. I’ve also heard that just using them and breaking them in will help overall performance.
I will get everything ready as you suggested. I think I will start with a bit of practice on some paper…then when I feel ready, I lay down a thin primer coat and see how well I do.
What do you normally run your pump pressure at, and do pressures make a difference when using different types of paint(ie enamal v acrylic)?
You may be able to work your way down on pressure with different/certain paints or washes or metalizers to 10psi or 14 psi. But overall I’d start around 20 psi, even low 20’s. I shoot Vallejo Model Air @ 23 or so, if I thin it out I drop under 20 if working up close so as to not have blow out and spider webbing. Testors thinned 60/40 paint to thinner 25psi.
Just for what it’s worth, you can check your spray patterns on paper but it won’t tell you a thing as to how it will behave on plastic or other hard surfaces, paper is the easiest medium out there lol.
My wifes a saint compared to some of the stories I hear in various forums ! The thing with some women is if it’s not shoes or a new pocketbook they don’t understand the value of it !!
I get on her laptop or tablet…and see she’s alway’s looking at shoes…lol(has a closet full now). I own like 3 pair of shoes…[*-)]
I have a soon to be 15yr-old who has a guitar habit. So we’ve bought a bit too much gear in the past year or so…he’s really good though. Feel like some of the things I buy are a “investment” as opposed to a expense.
I’m spend a bit more than I really wanted, but at my age…why not? [proplr]
Well got just about everything ready to start airbrusing. Started working on the MiG-29 first.
This is my first time using the Tamiya cement…and oh man, it’s really great. I think the last glue that I used was Tenax 7(maybe?).
Anyway, hopefully I’ll get to start laying down some paint with the brush in the next few day’s. It’s been just too bloomin’ hot to work out in my shop.
Thanks for all the tips and pointers…and I’ll try and keep the progress updated.
I noticed in your picture you have that compressor on small elevated surface. Those tend to vibrate around while you use them. You may want it on the floor to keep it from falling unless you found a way to secure it. I have to put mine in a box on the floor to keep it in place. Good Luck airbrushing is a blast.
