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Author Topic: Oldiron's Airbrush Tutorial  (Read 202275 times)

davidm1945

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Re: Oldiron's Airbrush Tutorial
« Reply #75 on: January 05, 2011, 05:59:12 pm »

For the UK, I think that two good places to look for cheap airbrushes are:


http://www.everythingairbrush.co.uk/

http://www.rdgtools.co.uk/acatalog/AIR_BRUSHES_AND_COMPRESSORS.html


but just after VAT has gone up to 20% is the wrong time to be looking for cheap items of any kind.... <:( <:(

Thanks dg,

            I have seen both these sites, what I want to know is are the airbrush/compressor kits any good?  They certainly look the part but are there any problems with them?

All the best,

          Dave
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oldiron

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Re: Oldiron's Airbrush Tutorial
« Reply #76 on: January 05, 2011, 08:25:28 pm »

Apologies to you oldiron, I deliberately didn't post my above query on to your air brush tutorial as I didn't want to disrupt the flow of your posts. However a moderator has seen fit to move it here so I hope it won't detract from your fine masterclass which I am enjoying very much.

Apologies again, not my fault,

All the best.
       
      Dave

 Dave:

 Not a problem. It's all information for the cause. As you've seen, someone else asked about that package. I can't comment directly on item quality as I haven't seen it in person. however, from the photos it looks like it has many of the right things about it.
  Thanks for the note.

John
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dodgy geezer

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Re: Oldiron's Airbrush Tutorial
« Reply #77 on: January 05, 2011, 09:00:56 pm »

what I want to know is are the airbrush/compressor kits any good? 


Hmm...   I am not an expert in these matters and am following oldiron's admirable masterclass with rapt attention.

I bought one of the bigger cheap sets some time ago for one of the kids - AB-AS186 compressor with reservoir and an AB-133. I have never used a 'decent' airbrush, since they can be £150+ just for the brush, so I have nothing to compare with, but what I bought seemed to do a good spraygun job. It could lay down a very fine atomised mist with no spots. The compressor was not whisper-quiet, but I didn't mind that too much. However, it became obvious to me that you need two things for successful airbrushing - adequate tools and an appropriate level of skill/practice.

I suppose I'll be able to tell you if they are good once I have completed this masterclass....
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oldiron

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Re: Oldiron's Airbrush Tutorial
« Reply #78 on: January 05, 2011, 09:25:54 pm »

  I'm going to cover air supplies next week, but a note on compressors for now. I have two diaphragm compressors, one is a Badger. They both work well, but both are equally noisy. I think the inherent design in these small diaphragm compressors precludes the noise level.

John
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dougal99

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Re: Oldiron's Airbrush Tutorial
« Reply #79 on: January 05, 2011, 10:15:14 pm »

I bought a compressor similar to the one in Martin's post with just a coiled hose for a resevoir- so very small. Whilst it is very good, and runs quietly, I think a bigger resevoir would improve it greatly. Mind you I am using a Badger 350 so perhaps a better brush would also help  :((
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sailorboy61

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Re: Oldiron's Airbrush Tutorial
« Reply #80 on: January 05, 2011, 10:21:55 pm »

Dave's got one he never uses (air brush and compressor that is).  You can just borrow that then don't bother givin it back.  Kills two birds with one stone ...... you get the airbrush and I make some room in the kitchen, and if we both deny all knowledge he'll just think it's in the shed  :}

 {-) {-) {-) {-) {-)
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oldiron

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Re: Oldiron's Airbrush Tutorial
« Reply #81 on: January 06, 2011, 01:11:32 am »

Parts of an airbrush and how to disassemble it


  This section is on the components of an air brush and how to care for it to provide the best results when you need it. To begin with
  I’ll go through my Badger 200 air brush. It’s a single action, internal mix air brush. A rugged all metal design  that’ll spray just about any
  kind of fluid thin enough to go through the nozzle. The components of this brush are the same regardless of bottle or cup.

  From the photograph, below, of my Badger 200 you’ll see it broken down into its principle components. Starting at the top of  the
  picture we have the needle. On the right hand side of the needle is the collect that entraps the needle so it can be run in and
  out of the brush by the needle adjusting screw.

  Below the needle is the trigger. This is what you push down with your index finger to make the brush work. By pressing it down
  you are opening the valve at the air inlet to the brush. (I haven’t disassembled this part since it has a spring, sealing washer and
  plunger in it). The opening in the trigger allows the needle to pass through to reach the head.

  Below the trigger is the air brush body that the above components fit into. The blue end of the body is detachable from the
  chrome portion; however it is only a hollow tube. Air brushes have these long back end extensions to aid in balancing out the air brush
  to make it easier to operate consistently. Between the air entry and the paint pickup points on the body, inside the body is a very small
  Teflon (PTFE) washer/guide. Its purpose is to seal the air portion from the paint portion inside the brush and allow the needle
  to pass through.

  To the left of the body is the head and tip of the brush. These are successively screwed into the brush body, with the head having a
  Teflon (PTFE)  sealing washer (the white ring) again to separate air and paint at this point.
 This is the important part of the air brush.

  The part that makes the difference in how the brush will perform and the degree of paint you get on your work. The needle passes
   through the center of the head. The inside of it is tapered to match the appropriate needle. In other words, a fine needle should
   have a matching fine head for the brush to work properly. I have mixed and matched and had variable to poor results with the mixed
   head /needle combination. Stick to the matched pairs. The mixing of the paint and air happens at the very tip of the head
   where the needle just protrudes through the head. The action of the air passing over this opening creates a vacuum on the paint side
   drawing paint up to the opening. Then the paint and air combine and go out through the tip to the work being painted.


  This, then, comprises the main components of a single action, internal mix air brush. The double action brush is very similar except for
   one key area.
  The trigger, as well as pushing down the air valve to open it, also moves the paint needle back and forth to give the
   desired amount of paint during spraying.
In this case the paint needle has a spring to naturally return the needle to close when the
   finger is released plus the mechanical bits to make the trigger work the needle. The needle also has the same collect and adjustment
  screw on the end it. This allows the major pre spraying adjustment to be made to “zero” the brush before use.

  As I’ve mentioned before, these the brush manufacturers make, or should make, extra needles, heads, and tips, to make the air brush
  able to spray fine, medium or heavy paint outputs. This is a tremendous advantage for modelers. One brush can cover all the jobs we
  want to do on a model. The heavy components will move enough paint to do an admirable job on painting the hull, while the fine is
  great for doing weathering a little at a time and in close quarters.

  Fine tip – for low viscosity paints. It will not pass heavy viscosity course pigment paints.

  Medium tip – for detail work and can spray a line from 1/16” to 1 ½” across.
   It will handle most lacquers, acrylics and hobby enamels. It will spray 2 times the amount of paint as a fine tip.

  Heavy tip – will spray from 1/8” to 2” line and spray 4 times the paint of a fine tip.
   It can be used with automotive lacquers, ceramic glazes and acrylics.




Components of the Badger 200 air brush




  The needle in the brush body and the head to the left with its white Teflon washer


 CARE OF THE BRUSH

  When using an air brush be very aware it is not to be used heavy handed. Although the components are rugged on this type of brush,
  they won’t stand abuse, the result of which is either money out of pocket or a ruined paint job.
 
  One area to be aware of is the needle and head arrangement. The needle projects into the head. The orifice around the outside of
  the needle is what determines the amount of paint issuing from the brush. If you drive the needle too far into the brush the taper in
  the head can split. (See photo of needle inside the head). This results in a ragged spray pattern that will lead to paint coming out in
  drops and gobs and landing intermittently on your nice new paint job.  The solution, don’t force the needle into the head. Stop when
  you feel resistance.

  If you don’t clean the brush and try and remove the needle with dried paint on it you can ruin the small Teflon guide bearing seal inside
  the body of the brush. Done that, got the “T” shirt. The dried paint will build up on the needle shaft. When you pull it back through
  the Teflon guide, it tears the Teflon and allows air to get into the paint portion of the air brush body. You will soon know when you
  try and spray paint. The paint will sputter out the tip and intermittently come out in gobs. No amount of adjusting will make a difference.
  The solution is a new Teflon guide/seal. I found I had to make a special tool to install a new one. Not bad once you’ve made the tool,
  but still an aggravation.  Since you may get this sputter after a lot of use of your brush, again due to wear on the Teflon guide, you
  can put bee’s wax on the paint needle before you reinstall it into the guide. This will, hopefully, seal any scratches in the guide and cure
  the problem. I’ve used a very small amount of Vaseline with great success.

  The reason of “pffft – pffft” of the paint is because air has got into the paint side. Since this type of brushes relies on vacuum
  to raise the paint from the cup or jar, allowing air into the paint area breaks the vacuum cutting off the paint supply. Paint drifts back
  from the  tip, seals the guide and paint lifts again under vacuum until air comes back through the guide again. This all happens very
  rapidly, but makes  it impossible to get a good paint job.

  In order to clean a brush I have found it’s not necessary to disassemble the brush. Others may disagree which is fine. If you feel you
  want to disassemble the brush that’s fine. I just haven’t found a need for based on my experience. Before you start painting be sure
  to have a bottle of the cleaning solvent, you use for the paint used, at hand. When you are finished spraying, put a paper cloth over
  the  discharge  end of the air brush and press the trigger. This will blow back the brush to clear out any paint inside the brush body
  and pick up tube.

  Remove the paint bottle from the brush and tie on your bottle of solvent. Press the trigger and spray the brush as you would when
  painting something. Work the needle in and out of the brush head with the adjusting screw to ensure any lumps get a chance of
  blowing through.  When you feel you’ve sprayed enough through the brush, spray the brush against piece of white paper or cardboard.
  If it comes out clear, you’re finished cleaning. If your still get colour, keep spraying solvent to clean the brush. It takes less time to do it
  than it does for me to write about it. When you’re satisfied you’re clean, blow back the brush again to blow out any solvent. Put the
  protective cap on the brush  and hang it up, you’re done.
  
  Very occasionally the tip may need to be removed to clean out any paint build up over time. Simply let it sit in a lacquer solvent and
  wash  out the paint. You’re good to go again. Clean the bottles and cups as you would with any other clean up and you’re ready to go again.

  That about does it for this section, but I’m sure there are many questions. Step up and we’ll see what we can do.

    John




Needle in the air brush head. Be careful not to split this delicate part when running the needle into close the opening.


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RaaArtyGunner

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Re: Oldiron's Airbrush Tutorial
« Reply #82 on: January 06, 2011, 02:10:10 am »

Oldiron AKA John,

Is the example below the same as your Badger 2000.
Confuses us novices/newbies etc when they refer to them as detail, deluxe, medium etc  {:-{ {:-{

http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&I=LXBTC8&P=7
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oldiron

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Re: Oldiron's Airbrush Tutorial
« Reply #83 on: January 06, 2011, 03:01:43 am »

Oldiron AKA John,

Is the example below the same as your Badger 2000.
Confuses us novices/newbies etc when they refer to them as detail, deluxe, medium etc  {:-{ {:-{

http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&I=LXBTC8&P=7

  Yup, that's the same thing. Its a lot newer than mine, but its the same brush. Yeh, I agree, the hipe is sometimes hard to get around. New and improved and all that.

John
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RaaArtyGunner

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Re: Oldiron's Airbrush Tutorial
« Reply #84 on: January 06, 2011, 03:28:15 am »

John,

 :-)) :-)) Looks like we may become air brush painters of after all.

Now know what an air brush looks like.  :embarrassed:

Thank you.  :-)) :-))
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oldiron

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Re: Oldiron's Airbrush Tutorial
« Reply #85 on: January 06, 2011, 03:45:24 am »

John,

 :-)) :-)) Looks like we may become air brush painters of after all.

Now know what an air brush looks like.  :embarrassed:

Thank you.  :-)) :-))

Thankyou, glad to help

John
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grayone

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Re: Oldiron's Airbrush Tutorial
« Reply #86 on: January 06, 2011, 04:04:20 pm »

Hi Folks

First time round on here.  This tutorial is just great I have decided to get back into model boat building after a lay-off of over 40 years.  My better half, bless her bought me a Robbe Dusseldorf Fireboat as a Christmas pressie and I conned her into buying me a Badger 1757 Creshendo air brush and a compressor from Axminster as a birthday gift :0).  The local firewall blocks me trying to upload pictures of the kit and tends to strip pictures from the posts.

Regards

Graham
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oldiron

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Re: Oldiron's Airbrush Tutorial
« Reply #87 on: January 06, 2011, 07:40:03 pm »

  For those who want to put their newly learned air brushing skills to the test:

http://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=zKnsyYbfC60&feature=popular


John

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Tombsy

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Re: Oldiron's Airbrush Tutorial
« Reply #88 on: January 07, 2011, 12:55:40 am »

Great stuff here Thanks!
Any info on spraying Klass Kote epoxy paint would be appreciated I have a boat that will be my test subject in the near future.
I'm planning on using a Paasche VL with a #5 tip which supposedly other people have used with 1-2 parts reducer. I also have an inexpensive Hobbico spray gun that I haven't tried but my compressor is only 1.0 SCFM so it might be a bit small.
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oldiron

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Re: Oldiron's Airbrush Tutorial
« Reply #89 on: January 07, 2011, 01:44:33 am »

Great stuff here Thanks!
Any info on spraying Klass Kote epoxy paint would be appreciated I have a boat that will be my test subject in the near future.
I'm planning on using a Paasche VL with a #5 tip which supposedly other people have used with 1-2 parts reducer. I also have an inexpensive Hobbico spray gun that I haven't tried but my compressor is only 1.0 SCFM so it might be a bit small.

  I'll get into various paints and primers a little later, but will keep the epoxy primer in mind.
  I agree the 1 CFM looks small. I think it would be adequate for most small quantityhobby work. Definitely not for larger or production work. The Badger compressors run at 2CFM at 30 PSIG. However, they do sell some at less than 1 CFM, but not for heavy work.

John
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tt1

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Re: Oldiron's Airbrush Tutorial
« Reply #90 on: January 07, 2011, 02:02:02 am »

Hello John many thanks for such a great tutorial. Written in a manner easy to understand and absorbing to read - well done, I  'don my cap' to you sir.  :-))

       As mentioned before I have a new Paasche HS single action external mix brush with three tips, asking your honest opinion, how much of a disadvantage is this for general model painting compared to an internal mix brush?  Can I, with a reasonable amount of practice and further tuition from your goodself, achieve good results without having to have exacting skills? (I'm not thinking of fine artwork or the use of inks etc)

Looking forward to the next installment, kind regards, Tony.
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oldiron

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Re: Oldiron's Airbrush Tutorial
« Reply #91 on: January 07, 2011, 02:11:14 am »

Hello John many thanks for such a great tutorial. Written in a manner easy to understand and absorbing to read - well done, I  'don my cap' to you sir.  :-))

       As mentioned before I have a new Paasche HS single action external mix brush with three tips, asking your honest opinion, how much of a disadvantage is this for general model painting compared to an internal mix brush?  Can I, with a reasonable amount of practice and further tuition from your goodself, achieve good results without having to have exacting skills? (I'm not thinking of fine artwork or the use of inks etc)

Looking forward to the next installment, kind regards, Tony.

 Tony:

  Thanks very much for the kind words.
  If you're careful with your paint thinning and don't try and get into too much fine detail work you should be able to make a very passable job of painting a model, particularly where larger surfaces are concerned. I started with one of the cheaper external mix brushes (you'll see it one of the earlier pictures) and it served me well. I still occasionally get it out when I want to cover large areas simply. Don''t discount it, but don;t expect it to do the fine work and internal mix brush can do. Get to know it by experimenting with various paint consistences and air pressures, if possible, until you get the combination that works best for you.  Il think it'll work for you.

John
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tt1

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Re: Oldiron's Airbrush Tutorial
« Reply #92 on: January 07, 2011, 12:12:12 pm »

Thank you John.  O0
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nige2307

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Re: Oldiron's Airbrush Tutorial
« Reply #93 on: January 08, 2011, 03:47:53 am »

can you please clarify what you mean by"fine" and "detailed" .
 just a little confused at what point detailed and fine begin,
for example, weathering the hull and weathering winches,etc.
could both be done with an external brush or would winches ect, need an internal brush?
and.. is there any obvious ways of ascertaining whether an airbrush is ,...rubbish, for want of a better word.
Sticking to recognized and trusted brands is obviously safest but.....
have been offered a couple of brushes,compressor,and associated items by someone,
who found them in the cellar of his new house.
do i turn my back on the opportunity ? 
he,s no wiser than me and wants 40-50 pounds..
could be a steal .



cheers.. nige
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dodgy geezer

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Re: Oldiron's Airbrush Tutorial
« Reply #94 on: January 08, 2011, 12:15:59 pm »


have been offered a couple of brushes,compressor,and associated items by someone,
who found them in the cellar of his new house.
do i turn my back on the opportunity ? 
he,s no wiser than me and wants 40-50 pounds..
could be a steal .


You need to know what the compressor and brushes are.

It might be possible to buy two really cheap brushes and a really cheap compressor for about £50 new - if they are half-way decent they would set you back £120 - if they are top-end they might cost £800-1000.

If the brushes are internal-mix and the compressor has a reservoir then they are going to be more expensive - probable new cost £150+...
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essex2visuvesi

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Re: Oldiron's Airbrush Tutorial
« Reply #95 on: January 08, 2011, 02:59:57 pm »

I have picked up one of these
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/MINI-BABY-ELEPHANT-COMPRESSOR-AIRBRUSH-NAIL-ART-/260709521107?pt=UK_Crafts_DrawingSupplies_EH&hash=item3cb37f96d3

I already have a water trap/filter and some mid range airbrushes so I think it should be OK
When it arrives Ill post a quick write up if anyone is interested


I do already have a very nice big compressor for my big spray guns/tools etc but as I like to work in the evening after the kids are in bed its not really suitable as its a bit noisy (actually a lot noisy)  <:(
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Martin [Admin]

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Re: Oldiron's Airbrush Tutorial
« Reply #96 on: January 08, 2011, 04:20:38 pm »

Re: Cleaning your airbrush...

I've seen something somewhere called 'Airbrush Reamer'  - what's that all about?

Great tutorial John!
 Martin  :-)

PS found some Airbursh internal diagrams....



              
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BJ

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Re: Oldiron's Airbrush Tutorial
« Reply #97 on: January 09, 2011, 11:57:54 am »

At the end of this thread cannot the individual posts of the tutorial be collated into one article and pinned to the Tutorials & "How To’s" ... section (without our individual comments)? Seems too good to be "lost" amongst other threads.
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RaaArtyGunner

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Re: Oldiron's Airbrush Tutorial
« Reply #98 on: January 09, 2011, 12:13:25 pm »

At the end of this thread cannot the individual posts of the tutorial be collated into one article and pinned to the Tutorials & "How To’s" ... section (without our individual comments)? Seems too good to be "lost" amongst other threads.

BJ,

I think that may be what is intended by reply No.52
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Martin [Admin]

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Re: Oldiron's Airbrush Tutorial
« Reply #99 on: January 09, 2011, 12:14:38 pm »


We keeping an eye on it BJ.

Once John has concluded this tutorial, we'll split up the tutorial, questions and answers into relevant topics,
   .... like we've already done with the Masterclasses.  :-))
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