Hello guys. I was just pondering something as I was giving a tip to someone on the aircraft forum. I know Paasche makes an airbrush-sized sand blaster. Would it be possible to crank the air pressure down and use it to make paint fade? I know this wouldnt work for small chipping but on a Japanese plane it would be pretty cool. What are your thoughts on this?
I can only share my thoughts as I have no experience on a small scale sandblaster.
I have used similar sandblasting equipment, though larger, on 1:1 vehicles. Turning the pressure down did allow for a slower removal of paint layers before reaching the metal underneath. But it still happens quick!
My concerns in order for this to work would be:
- The size of the media being sprayed & availability
- If 20 psi proves to much, will the gun spray at lower pressures?
- The paint layers would have to be “fully cured” and rather heavy
- I’d recommend glass beads instead of sand (plastic underbody)
Other than that, I would imagine the Paasche AEC Air Easer should work. I would however suggest dropping a line to Paasche < paascheair@aol.com > and asking them. Also find out what size abrasive it will spray and then if you can buy that locally.
Just my [2c]
I used the Paasche Air Eraser with various grits to accomplish the worn effect. If you are going to try the technique you should be aware the grit will make a mess and blow around everwhere. You need to use a surgical mask to keep from breathing the patricles. I made a sealed booth to catch the grit and to keep it from going all over.
Glass beads would probably be usless since all it will do is put dents in the plastic.
The best way to get the worn effect is to use aluminum foil under the places you want to create the effect. You could use silver paint but you have to be careful to only take the surface paint and not the silver undercoat.
Thanks for your input, guys! As weird as it sounds I really don’t have any plans to do this, as I don’t own an air eraser, but I was just curious as to if this would work. I think an enclosed box would be a must. Perhaps something to catch the grit, as well? The big sand blaster at the race shop at school has a grate at the bottom that holds grit, and a tube that sucks it into the blaster. I thought it was pretty cool.
I’ve used a small, cabinet-sized sandblaster before, but just for removing machining burrs, not selective paint removal. The biggest problem I can foresee is not being able to see what you are doing inside the cabinet. The abrasive blows around like a sandstorm inside, obscuring your work. You need to frequently stop and let the dust settle, then examine your piece to see how it is progressing. Not exactly conducive to fine detail work. Maybe some abrasives aren’t as dusty as others, but I can’t imagine doing this accurately enough for the effect you are looking for. One slip-up and you’ve ruined the effect.
I have a Cyclone E100 Benchtop Blasting System http://www.blasters.com/benchtop.htm with the standard gun and a BB100 Pencil Blaster http://www.blasters.com/pencil.htm. I use both the pencil and the gun inside the glove-box cabinet, but I wear a respirator just in case. The large compressor required to drive it is pretty loud, so I wear David Clark hearing protectors, too. It’s not the same compressor used for airbrushing, as the blaster needs at least 5 CFM.
Both use the same fine grit glass beads. I originally bought the system to use on HO brass model railroad equipment to remove the factory varnish and oxide, and to give the surface a tooth. My experience has been that once the shell of the cured paint is breached, the material blasts away very quickly. The gun is too high-pressure for plastic, and the lower-pressure pencil takes a while.
I don’t think it will “fade” paint, but the pencil, applied judiciously and with some patience, might chip the paint, or remove paint from small areas, one coat at a time if you have good control. The problem is the blasted area tends to be feathered, which would not represent a chip very well.
I also tried blasting a photoetch fret, to see if it would accept paint better. It curled the entire fret, but when I blasted the back side, it curled back to something nearly straight. After a wash and vinegar bath, the fret took paint very well.
Sorry, I can’t agree. Glass beads look like a fine silica dust and are available as fine as 170-325 grit. Applied with too much pressure, they will gouge plastic, but they are smoother and therefore less abrasive than aluminum oxide, silicon carbide, garnet or walnut shells. A fellow club member used the system to remove paint from a scrap aircraft wing and from some superstructure pieces from his Tamiya Bismark, and got good results.
Most blasting cabinets have an opening where you can insert a small shop vacuum hose. You run the vacuum while blasting, and it sucks the dust out. Yet another good reason for the hearing protectors!
I had originally suggested the glass beads because they don’t have the same tendency to imbed themself into the substructure as easily also, beside the fact they are the least abrasive. We used glass beads for sandblasting in the first process to “polish” old nasty aluminum pieces such as intake manifilds, alternators, valve covers, etc…
We had a small sandblasting booth we used for small items. It had a window in which we had to keep replacing a plastic sheet inside (to protect the glass), a light, and a vacuum attached. We could see well enough to blast intricate details so to speak. One thing to keep in mind when sandblasting, normal taping won’t serve your purpose well. Use a rubber coated masking film or tape. You’ll blast through regular masking tape as quick as the paint next to it.
Couldn’t agree more. As far as I know, modelers almost exclusively use glass beads.
Hadn’t tried masking for blasting yet, but thanks for the tip. That could save a lot of grief.
Regards,
Bruce
You are welcome, glad I might have helped you out with a tip. [;)]
FYI, you can get glass beads that are as fine as powdered sugar - don’t know the actually size or number, just remember the time I missordered a 50 lb bag of #8 glass beads and we go the super fine stuff instead