Hope you all can give me some suggestions for a slight problem I have…
I have a Badger 150 (great brush, really like it). However, sometimes I feel like I end up spending more time cleaning and wiping out bottles of paint than I actually do painting with the thing. There are times I actually avoid using it for smaller jobs because I know that cleanup will take so long.
Recently, I have started using windex as a cleaning agent. That seems to help because I can spray a color, do a quick spray of windex, then go on to my next color, but I still feel like I am horribly inefficient.
A second, and related question. I recently received a compressor as a gift (a Cyclone, also by Badger). How vital is a pressure regulator and a water trap?
The airbrush is never going to be a speedy instrument. Period. They are what they are and that’s much more than a hand brush…but with the extra fine finish you’ll get also comes a higher degree of care and maintenance.
I don’t know of any way around a good cleaning job. I’ve been airbrushing for years and years and much as I don’t enjoy the cleaning process, I find the end result afforded with an airbrush far outweighs any troubles to clean them.
Probably not the best answer in the world - but the facts are the facts bud. Best to you.
I agree with you 100% on the quality of finish with an airbrush. I find that as my skills (slowly) improve, I can do more and more with the brush. Please don’t think that I was maligning the power of the airbrush. Far from it. I love mine. But like I said, and as you pointed out, it does come with compromises and I’m just hoping for suggestions on how to maximize my use of the tool.
I had the same problem. I wouldn’t paint because cleanup seemed too long and I wasn’t getting the results I wanted without a lot of work. Try a Gravity feed model, they’re much easier to clean that siphon. There are many good models out there, for me, I tried several gravity feed models until my Iwata HP-CS set me free. Now I’ll break out the airbrush to paint an ejection seat in 1/72. I believe the Badger 150LG is a gravity feed or Iwata makes the Revolution CR. These are both great brushes at a resonable price.
Ya know, for me a color cup is a color cup. I guess it’s just our points of view of the silly things huh? [^] I’ve got both types on my two brushes and haven’t really ever found one to be superior to another for any reason. They are different it’s true…but in the end, you’ll still have to clean each one. Trugh be told, I find cleaning the needle on my Mark1 is more difficult than just pulling the nozzle off the Paache H model. They’ve both been through the ringer, but - much like an old warbird - you don’t throw it away once they gather a few dings and nicks and the dirt gets in the seams.
Anyway, sorry if I came off a bit hard earlier [#wstupid] - not my intent at all! Just wanted to illustrate the differences in airbrushing vs. standard hand brushing. One thing I will attest to: It’s MUCH easier to clean out white, yellow or red from an airbrish than it ever will be from a bristle brush! [(-D]
Dedicating a bottle to cleaner will spead up the clean up time. When I use windex I mix it 50/50 with water. I find that spraying this solution between color changes cleans the gun fairly good so you don’t have to break it apart and clean it until you are done painting. I would get a pressure regulator and a water trap as soon as you can, they make a big difference.
John
You got it Boyd. [8D] Please feel free to keep asking questions about anything a.brush related too alright? I may have a pretty non-chalant attitude about them now, but you have to remember, I was a beginner once too. I sure know how NOT to do things anway!