Broke Man's Airbrush

[Chief Filipino]

I have been applying resolene by sponge and I'm just not happy with it because I always end up with a bunch of bubbles that I have to go back and dab away.

I was thinking of going to the dollar store to pick up a spray bottle, put in some resolene, cut it with water, and use that to apply my resolene.

I don't have money for an airbrush and the compressor I have sounds like a semitruck without a muffler.

Would this work? Has anyone tried this before?

[Colt W Knight]

Spray bottles will spit out droplets. Tandy leather in Tucson had some cheap pump spray bottles that would work better than a plain bottle from like ace hardware designed for cleaning solution.

[CrazedLemming]

For spraying an acrylic clear, this cheapo harbor freight "airbrush" works pretty well. $10. Cleans easily. Mostly plastic. Several jars. Almost disposable if you can get a few salable projects out of it. Check other airbrushing topics for info on filtering out chunks that clog the brush. http://www.harborfreight.com/quick-change-airbrush-kit-93506.html

If you're diluting your resolene with water, usually the bubbles will pop and settle before it dries even when sponging it on. Spraying it helps keep from smearing water based dyes and antiques.

[Chief Filipino]

Thanks for the input! I will have to check both of those out.

[Chief Filipino]

Wow cutting the res with water worked A LOT better! Thank you for that pointer. Question though: since it is cut with water does that mean I need to do more coats to get the waterproofing/resistance I want? I'm using it on a project for someone who lives in the Philippines and I want it to ward off as much water as possible.

Edited March 10, 2016 by Chief Filipino