airbrush equipment help

[droptine150]

is there any one that can put me together a list of everything i need to start airbrushing crankbaits? example : basic colors, different size needles or stencils. anything that could make it easier to just go buy and begin etc. i am not looking to become a professional just offset the cost of fishing a little bit some peronal satisfaction and to repaint old crainkbaits. also i was wondering what brand of paint and clearcoat or types of paint would be wonderful. thank u very much, god bless

Edited September 1, 2008 by droptine150

[bobv]

Well the basics are obvious, a good airbrush with medium and fine tips. An air compressor or tank to supply air. A box of sorts to shoot into, I use a large plastic storage container set in a window and a small fan to blow the fumes out. Most here use Createx paints, affordable and a good selection of colors. Get both transparent and opaque colors and get an artists color wheel to help you mix paints. Many of us like to thin the paint with windex. You will also need to buy or make a drying wheel. You can use a cordless drill but a small low rpm motor is best. They sell on Ebay for about $20. Some netting for scale pattern and you can get started. Just be patient and practice a lot. You can search for specific answers on here. Oh yeah, Devcon 2 for clear coat works great. Good luck.

[hazmail]

Good on you Bob, you covered it all, took the words right out of my mouth.

'droptine', use the search function for anything you don't know, there are years worth of experience in there, and as bob is saying, keep it simple/basic and work up from there.pete

[droptine150]

thanks guys i have compressor 2 airbrushes and a ton of old baits to practice on. i was just trying to start small with paint colors, i have color wheel i just didnt want to spend 100.00 on paint colors i dont really need. kits come with 35 colors or so so i was just looking for the major colors to start with like black green blue, etc.

[bobv]

My favorites in Createx, White pearl, lime pearl and blue,yellow,brown,black and red. I have alot more, but these will cover most jobs.

[philB]

Hi droptine

Water based acrylics like createx are good and they avoid problems with nasty vapours. Etex or Devcon 2T are the favoured topcoats amongst the guys here but there are alternatives. Go for base colours Red, Yellow, blue, green, black and white, with these most colours are achievable with carefull mixing.

Edited September 3, 2008 by philB

[reeves]

droptine150,

Everything in the above posts are great and will more than meet your needs. When it comes time to clean that airbrush or have problems with it, I would strongly suggest an good set of cleaning brushes. I believe in using them religiously to keep my airbrushes in top working condition.

[droptine150]

thanks guys keep them comming. i can buy big sets of paint but i know there are tons of colors in the set that ill never use. i just want to paint the basic patterns for now , tenn. shad. craw colors, sexy shad. etc.

[CL Rods]

If you are going to buy Createx, then get their Base Coat White (use like a primer), Opaque White (will be your basic cover coat), Black opaque or tinting, Pearl White and Metallic White, Pearl Silver, possibly Metallic Silver, Sunset Yellow, Yellow, Blue, Red (these 3 are basics but go a long way), Transparent Green, Transparent Light Brown, Transparent Dark Brown, Transparent Purple.

From these much can be created. I have a number of other pearls, color shifting mixes and iridescent powders mixed in Transparent Base. Some are Createx/Auto Air and some are from hobby stores.

I would now HIGHLY recommend getting a couple of other wildlife colors like Dark and Medium Bass/Trout Green and the brown. These are not Createx and there are a couple of places and brands you can buy. GOOGLE search engine is your friend and these are typically sold on Taxidermy sites.

Some colors just can't be duplicated by mixing because the pigments are so unique. Someone else might chime in but I find the Lucky Craft pearled bluish colored back like on their Chartreuse Shad baits somewhat difficult to formulate from the basics, and the same for the Ghost colors. I tend to use an overcoat of the irredescent transparent base mixes to help achieve the color. No one seems to chime in much on how to get some of these LC colors created.

Get a bottle of Windex (or generic) to help spray out the airbrush and spray through it to clean up the acrylic paint. To clean out the Base Coat White, I find the Createx Cleaner just works better than the Windex. Buy a pack or ten of Scotch Brite scrubbing pads to 'scuff' / sand the surface of each bait. Some may need to be sanded also so get 200 through 400 grit selections. You could also use / try 00-0000 steel wool. Just make sure you wipe off all baits well before starting to paint. You might also want to get some Denatured Alcohol for this purpose and to thin out the D2T from time to time. Buy a role of blue painters tape, and a bunch of sharp blades for the 'Exacto' knife of your choice. I also have a bunch of cheap razor knifes from the Dollar Store.

If you are at Hobby Lobby, I'd recommend buying a 100 pack of the kids paint brushes for applying D2T (if that is going to be your finish coat), they are cheap, easy to use and you simply dispose of them.

Bulldog Primer will help with adhesion when painting over old or new chromed finishes like Lucky Craft American or Aurora Shad.

Oh and just give up now on not spending $100.00 on paints and 'stuff'. If you are any good at it you will soon find yourself with someone just shaking their head at all of the stuff you acquire.

Have fun and practice. You will find that as you layer colors there is a big diffence in spraying over a white base layer versus a black base layer... And don't forget! These are acrylic paints so if you hate it just go wash/scrub it all off and practice some more. You will soon laugh at your early attempts. Oh yeah, the clear coat I find to be the easiest phase to screw up, so do a trial run with applying a coat to several of something you could care less about versus your first 'treasured' repaint.

[red sox 58]

Yeah these guys are right, I spent $50 in paint and tape the first day. I got red, yellow, brown, black, blue, white, and primer. I bought Model Master paints and like them. I also like Createx ok. I used devcon and found it easy to use. Cheap paint brushes for devcon is good advice from 76 gator. I use acryllic thinner for the model master paints because i like to thin to my liking. Im also a rookie and found the search function very helpful.