I have avoided even trying an airbrush system because it just isn’t compatible with my small apartment. I am wondering, however, if the Mr.Air-Super-190 compressed air and the Mr. Pro-Spray Delux would be a useful set-up for simple airbrushing. Perhaps it would not require the same degree of ventilation that more robust systems would require, especially considering that I would be using acrylic paint. It would probably be less noisy than a standard airbrush.
I would appreciate comments and suggestions from anyone who has used this system.
I used canned air when I was a kid with my Binks Wren airbrush. Fumes will be the same so maybe outdoors/patio? The canned air ices up pretty quick so you need to put it in a pot of warm water.
I started my airbrushing career with the Badger version of the above, but with the same results. Convenient and super-quiet…but that can will be half-frozen in a fairly short time in hot and humid conditions.
Same here, Badger starter kit with the can. Sprayed fine for about 3 minutes then the can froze up. So I converted an old propane tank ( a larger one about 12 gal maybe). Lots of trips to the shop to re air it but on average I could get a job done on a tank full of air. Then in 1977 I got the compressor, I still have that converted tank as well though. I suppose I actually could plumb my compressor through that tank for added storage. The tank has had so much over spray around it you can’t read the gauge lol ( it was stored in my 1/1 paint shop for several years as well, so it’s not all model over spray)…
My childhood found me spraying enamel rattle cans in my bedroom to an open window. Probably explains some things about my now 72 yo brain !! Then I got wise in the early 70’s and discovered the wonders of a shrouded exhaust fan in a window. Worked wonders and no I did not blow myself up. Even now while I have a booth I prefer shooting near a fan really, less dust sucked over my paint job.
But for acrylics in the winter I mostly justs spray into a kitchen trash can. You don’t have to listen to me though, I’m from a different era and an old mountain man I suppose. We did whatever it took, small apartments would never stop me from painting, except 2K two part paints, I’m not that dumb yet.
Thank you everyone for your responses. It’s looking, sorta, like the canned air and the kit I linked to above might be useful, but I’m not sure it’s worth the cost and effort.
I’ve become reasonably adept at using both Tamiya acrylic sprays and paints. I’ve gotten good results using the rattle cans on small models (1/48 & 1/72 for aircraft, ca. 1/500 for ships). Painting small details and retouching small errors is tricky, but having never used an airbrush, I’m not sure that airbrushing would be an improvement. Modellers who use airbrushes often talk about painting fine details, but I’m not sure my almost-80-year-old hands and eyes could manage that. In addition, achieving microscopic detail is simply not worth the trouble for me. So, the question remains:
What would be the advantages, if any, for me, of using the airbrush set-up that I’ve described for the types of modelling I do?
Recalling my jump from rattle cans to even the most basic (single action) AB, there’s a world of difference!
Biggest thing is control…you move to thinking about where you really want to put the paint, instead of the eternal worry (with spray cans) about putting too much paint too fast all over everywhere. In fact, I’d say a basic AB set with propellant can is really the ideal way to dip your toe in, so to speak…you don’t need to fret over pressure settings and such, and can really just get a feel for what the AB can do.
Give it a try. I think you’ll be glad you did. Even if you decide not to use it for every project, I think you’ll find it’s a game-changer for some. [:D][Y]
This question occurs to me: for painting small areas and details on models, I’m used to mixing a few drops of acrylic paint with retarder to obtain paint that doesn’t dry too quickly and will flow evenly. What’s the minimum amount of paint to use for an air brush to operate? I’m concerned that a lot of expensive paint might be wasted.
Thanks to Greg’s comments, just above, I decided to order a Mr. Pro-Spray Delux kit to use with Tamiya acrylic paints. Wish me luck, I’ll report on what I hope will be my success.
With my Badger Anthem – which feeds from a cup beneath, rather than being a gravity-feed with the cup mounted above – I can spray down to (or with a minimum of) only about three drops. Virtually no waste.
(Since I mostly mix my own colors from Tamiya acrylics, rather than just ‘washing out’ the color cup, I’ll often add a drop of thinner to whatever’s left, and dump it into a spare empty bottle. There’s a good chance even that few drops may come in handy for tinting later on.)
(I’ll admit I’m cheap [:D]…but it’s also really efficient.)
One thing that is opened up to someone even with those beginner airbrush sets is the world of mixing paints, be that color mixing or simply the neccessary reducing/thinning. That can be fun or it can be your personal can of worms lol.
My guess is using the pressurized cans as your air supply will be short lived. To this day sometimes I’d still like one of those starter airbrushes though and I’ve been airbrushing since the 1970’s. Rattle cans started around 1960 for me. Now I decant rattle cans to shoot through an airbrush on models to gain thinner coats and more control. It all comes with time though.
With most of the paints I airbrush with, I almost always put much more than I need into the color cup of my Paasche H. Whatever is left over when I’m done gets returned to the bottle. Really easy to do with MRP paints, since those are airbrush only…don’t have to worry about a paint/thinner mix getting too thin for brushing. When I was using mostly Tamiya paints, I would do the same thing. The only difference there was in how I handled the paints that got airbrushed frequently, such as the two blacks and two whites. I would keep the 10ml bottles of those separate for hand brushing, and use the 23ml bottles of each for airbrushing. That way I could keep returning unused, thinned paint to the 23ml bottles without much concern over them getting too thin.
The little, paper bathroom cups make great paint mixing cups, BTW. I use those all the time to get a good, even mix of thinner and paint, and I can check the consistency by seeing how fast a drop of paint runs down the inside of the cup. After that, just crimp the lip of the cup to make a pour spout, and it goes right into the airbrush with no mess.
I’m like OMG with rattle cans. I still use them, but never directly, they always get decanted into 4 ounce mason jars. So much more control and MUCH better-looking paint work doing it that way…even the most delicate details are preserved. Its my go-to method for using Tamiya’s Grey Surface Primer cans.
You guys are getting me kinda excisted about airbrushing! I never thought I’d see a way to make it useful, but you’re getting me there. It’s certainly true that rattlecans are extremely wasteful. And now…
Please offer some suggestions about small, quiet compressors that can be easily set up, probalby on the stove in my kitchen, and quickly put away. Money is not a problem. Well, money is always a problem, but my sensible wife and the VA have manged to give me a comfortale old age, speaking financially and not in terms of health, which is the pits!
This is what I have been using. I know the picture makes it look huge and possibly loud, but its small and quiet. Putting it away somewhere is as easy as unplugging it and putting it away. It comes with everything you need to get started right away…regulator, pressure gauge, and water trap are right there on it. It automatically cycles on and off to keep pressure in the tank as you paint. Take a look at the package dimensions in the Amazon listing to get a rough idea of size. I keep mine next to my chair under the table I use for model building.
For a good, easy-to-use and maintain airbrush…can’t go wrong with the Paasche H. Its all I have ever needed in an airbrush, and I have been using the same one for 35 years.
When I got back into the hobby after a break a bunch of years ago, I picked up one of those cheap 1/5 hp Chinese-made airbrush compressors on Ebay. (Same sort that’s available at places like Harbor Freight.) For about (then) $35, I figured it would likely be noisy…and probably not last very long…but it came complete with gauge and regulator and a couple of hoses, and even if it lasted a year, it would get me going again.
(Plus, I’d dealt with the vendor before…and they had an excellent general rating…as well as a 60 day guarantee. I figured I’d ‘crash test’ it up front, to see what I’d let myself in for.)
Well…it turned out it was really solidly-built, and whisper-quiet – quieter, in fact, than any of the ‘name brand’ compressors I’d owned previously – and it’s been chugging along continuously now (w/use on average every 2-3 weeks) for a decade plus. The only thing I had to do was find an adaptor for the odd-configuration hose I was using. (Maybe an extra $2.)
I’d be an idiot to claim my experience is maybe anything other than a crap-shoot…and for once, I may have gotten the lucky end of the stick…but it’s a possible way to go. Inexpensive doesn’t always mean garbage.
However, besides that Master 4 cylinder posted above I think the Point Zero 2 cylinder 1/3hp with tank for around $117 is well worth a look at as well. I’ve had some Point Zero parts and pieces and they were always well made. For a little lighter duty work there is the Point Zero 1/5th HP single cylinder with tank for around $74. These can be found at Amazon. I’d stay clear of the ones with no tank regardless of the brand unless you intend to plumb through a tank.
Has anyone mentioned the little compressor for painting fingernails? Someone I know tried it out and said it works. No regulator or moisture trap tho. Might be good for a starter compressor for painting single colors, ie not doing camouflage or other intricate work.
My first “compressor” was the spare tire from my mother’s car! I pumped it up to about 60 PSI, which gave me maybe 15-20 minutes of use. I got a good workout back in those days, using a big foot operated pump that was borrowed from my dad’s car. The tall Propel cans were about $6 back then, but when they hit $10, I went to the tire.
But the whole operation was really inconvenient, so when I entered college, I splurged and bought a Badger diaphram compressor. I got a combo regulator/moisture trap from Sears rather than buying expensive Badger equivalents. But it was a little noisy and didn’t have a reservoir tank.
When I got out of college I could finally afford a silent compressor. I bought a second hand one from one of the guys running the LHS and got many year’s service from it. It was so awesome to be able to quietly airbrush out in the patio at night, without annoying the neighbors. I often ran past midnight, and sound really travels in the wee hours.
When the compressor’s head gasket and pressure switch failed, I moved up to a compressor with a larger reservoir tank (tThe Mako Shark), which is what I use today.
Now, all that being said, a friend who lives in a small apartment brought over a Spray Works airbrushing rig that had everything you would need. I think the only limitation was that it didn’t have an automatic shut-off switch. But the system worked just fine and was very quiet. Maybe it would be unsuitable for large jobs, but for small ones like 1/72 planes it worked great.
The compressor required really depends on the airbrush max flow capability, needle size, project requirement, fluid viscosity of the paint and so on. A little over kill never hurts, having enough flow for fingernails and the minimum compressor requirement of say small models is fine right up till you need more and the compressor runs out of puffability lol.
Due to it using a bottle and siphon tube, you might encounter paint wastage unless you pour unused paint back into the paint bottle, which may result in other issues.
You need enough paint in the airbrush bottle, as the bottom of that siphon tube needs to remain submerged for it to work.
Yes,that’s why I use a gravity fed airbrush,it operates on very little paint,just drops are needed for a quick spray of sonething.No jar or siphon tube to clean either.
I have two siphon fed airbrushes and one gravity. The siphen with bottle is good for larger volumes of paint where you mix up a few bottles or one larger one. But to get it to act more like the gravity guns for quick clean up right to the bottom of the cup I use a metal side cup on each one for the smaller jobs. I like these single action guns on models. My gravity gun is double action, I use it more in art work and on T Shirts etc. I don’t recall ever painting model parts with it. I’ve also always used single action on models so that plays into this as a go with what you know theory perhaps… My all time favorite model airbrush is without question the old original design Badger 200, it has sweet atomization and multi needle sizes. But I probably use my Paasche H most for it’s simplicity. Certainly for the heavier paints the H prevails, though the 200 will do that as well…
The only thing that won’t spray out the side cup is the residue, so basically no mess or excess left that cleaner and back flushing won’t get out. The metal side cups are tapered like the gravity cups are.
None the less all this is moot for the starter airbrushes, they are what they are.