Airbrushes

[CitizenKate]

Also, forgot to mention earlier, if you haven't bought a holder for your airbrush yet, here's a possible alternative:

I just bought a pair of plain wardrobe hooks and mounted them to my bench offset from each other to keep the color cup level when resting in it. I think it ran me all of a couple of bucks.

Kate

[CitizenKate]

Marlon asked earlier about techniques for shading edges with an airbrush. Here's a quick series of photos I put together to show how to do that. It's also quite easy to do, even for someone without a lot of airbrushing experience. (Sorry about the quality of the photos - I was too lazy to set up the tripod to do this series, and was holding the camera in one hand while I worked with the other. Bad idea - won't do it again. Anyway...)

I just used a piece of badly abused scrap for this demo.

To begin, I'm putting a thin line of color around the very edge of the part. This can be done for one or more passes, depending upon how dark you want the shading.

Then, start spraying a gradually wider pattern...

...and wider. The color will be darkest around the edges, and gradually and smoothly fade towards the center.

If you want a little more darkness around the edges, to give it almost a burnt or even charred appearance, add a thin line around the edges of your color with something darker mixed in. I mixed a few drops of black dye in with my tan.

Finished. If you use antique, make it darker.

Kate

[sodapop]

Also, forgot to mention earlier, if you haven't bought a holder for your airbrush yet, here's a possible alternative:

I just bought a pair of plain wardrobe hooks and mounted them to my bench offset from each other to keep the color cup level when resting in it. I think it ran me all of a couple of bucks.

Kate

thats a good idea'r there kate...i'm gonna use that one since i was one that didn't buy a holder either...

darryl

[leatheroo]

hi marlon, i am sure you will have great fun with the airbrush....first thing make sure you know how to completely disassemble the brush and put it back together again.... if you google free airbrush lessons, you will find lots of sites to help you start... good control is extremely important and will give you a wider use of the brush.

cheers

[Rawhide]

Thanks for all the replies.

Kate, a special thanks for taking the time to take a post photos of your explinations. Makes it a lot easier to understand.

[CitizenKate]

My pleasure, sir. That should get you started. And I second Leatheroo's suggestions about all the great free info on airbrushing there is out on the web. And about taking it apart and cleaning.

Kate

[Bree]

Marlon...

I bought a Badger 100 with a 5 gallon tank and a compressor many years ago. It still works as well today as the day I brought it home. I would buy a Badger 150 anytime. I think it's a great product. Get yourself a couple extra needles and make a spray booth. You won't regret that move.

If you spray solvents, then remember that you are putting highly flammable material into aerosol dispersion in your shop or house. Many of these solvents have remarkably low flash points. Some can even flash off the flourescents. When they flash, they basically explode into flames. So be EXTREMELY careful about spraying solvents and other flammables. If you do any volume of this, you would need explosion proof lights and explosion proof fan motors... an expensive proposition. Best practice is to only spray water-soluable stuff. If you must spray flammables do so only with LOTS of ventilation and no ignition sources anywhere near your spray booth.

Good luck!

[Rawhide]

Marlon...

I bought a Badger 100 with a 5 gallon tank and a compressor many years ago. It still works as well today as the day I brought it home. I would buy a Badger 150 anytime. I think it's a great product. Get yourself a couple extra needles and make a spray booth. You won't regret that move.

If you spray solvents, then remember that you are putting highly flammable material into aerosol dispersion in your shop or house. Many of these solvents have remarkably low flash points. Some can even flash off the flourescents. When they flash, they basically explode into flames. So be EXTREMELY careful about spraying solvents and other flammables. If you do any volume of this, you would need explosion proof lights and explosion proof fan motors... an expensive proposition. Best practice is to only spray water-soluable stuff. If you must spray flammables do so only with LOTS of ventilation and no ignition sources anywhere near your spray booth.

Good luck!

Thanks for the tips Bree. I do plan to build a portable booth and fit it with a hvac filter and a fan. I don't plan to do enough to need explosive proof housings, but I'll keep that in mind if I ever produce enough work to need em.

[CitizenKate]

Anyone have a good pattern to build a spray booth?!

Kate

[TwinOaks]

Another tip- either place the compressor in another room, or build a quiet box for it. Scrap carpet and carpet pad on the inside do a good job of hushing up the noise.