Absolute Must-haves For Your Painting Bench

[troutgnat]

Gentlemen,

I just got my airbrush kit in the mail. I have the following: Iwata eclipse top feed airbrush and hose, compressor, cleaning tank and cleaner, assortment of paint, mixing cups and spatulas. I know I need to make up some type of drying wheel and have settled on starting with Devcon 2 ton 20min epoxy for my topcoat. My question is: Since I am a beginner I would like to know what you consider to be your absolute must-haves in addition to the above for your set-up. I plan to set my bench up ready-to-go before I even begin to practice painting. So please gentlemen set my bench up! PS: Don't worry I am buying the supplies.......LOL

[BobP]

Between colors, I spray most of the paint out of the bowl with a spray bottle of plain water (hold the brush over a trash can or bowl), shoot a bowl or two of water through the brush - including holding a finger over the tip so the water backwashes paint out of the airbrush's tip section. Then I clean any dried paint out of the bowl with a Q-tip dipped in acetone or lacquer thinner. Cleaning the airbrush between colors and after use is Job #1 if you want it to keep working well. I occasionally disassemble the brush completely and soak the parts overnight in airbrush cleaning solution (sold as a concentrate by airbrush paint suppliers). As careful as I am to clean the brush between colors, it amazes me how much gook an overnight soaking will produce.

Other than cleaning supplies and paint, I keep a roll of frisket material handy to make painting templates, an Xacto knife to cut the frisket designs, netting in various sizes to do scale effects, and an old credit card with various size round holes drilled it it to serve as a template for shad spots. Plain water works fine as a thinner on water based acrylics but if you decide to try some of the Createx Auto Air colors, remember they require a specific thinning agent. I also suggest you buy a larger bottle of a white acrylic paint to basecoat your lures before shooting colors on them (i.e., hide the underlying wood grain or whatever). You want a highly pigmented white acrylic. I highly recommend Polytranspar Superhide White, which dries to a hard white gloss surface. Oh, BTW - you'll be needing a hair dryer to dry paint between shots.

[Vodkaman]

Does the compressor have a water trap?

Not sure about the Iwata's, but most brushes will need a thorough clean before you start. I have read of people having problems with oil contamination due to the factory lightly oiling brushes.

Dave

[RayburnGuy]

You'll also need to come up with a way of handling the baits while painting them. A couple of the more popular ways of doing this is with hemostats or Exacto knife handles. Either of which can be clamped onto line ties or hook hangers. I use hemostats myself and have installed small "J" hooks along the underside of the shelf on my workbench so I can hang the hemostats with the lure attached while doing color changes or whatever else needs doing.

[hazmail]

Nat- I posted this earlier to the wrong thread, so I moved it:blink:

You are just so lucky, one of my kids took this photo about a week back with all the necessary goodies in the background:lol:

Pete

[mark poulson]

Nat- I posted this earlier to the wrong thread, so I moved it:blink:

You are just so lucky, one of my kids took this photo about a week back with all the necessary goodies in the background:lol:

Pete

I've never used whiskey as a thinner or a solvent. Interesting....I tried beer, but it leaves an amber tint.

Great looking shop!

[hazmail]

I've never used whiskey as a thinner or a solvent. Interesting....I tried beer, but it leaves an amber tint.

Great looking shop!

Mark- I lied, its a whisky bottle with 'Prop' in it, can't drink that stuff (or Prop) -- the unseen bedlam/junk on the benches carries on for a couple of more meters around the shed walls, sometimes it can be a nightmare - I just built a rod in amongst all this:roll:.

Pete

[troutgnat]

Great input so far, thanks everyone. Nice shop, I wish I had the room for that right now. Unfortunately I need to keep mine as small and portable as possible. BTW, I have a small portable air compressor made just for airbrushing and it does have a water trap.

Mark- I lied, its a whisky bottle with 'Prop' in it, can't drink that stuff (or Prop) -- the unseen bedlam/junk on the benches carries on for a couple of more meters around the shed walls, sometimes it can be a nightmare - I just built a rod in amongst all this:roll:.

Pete

[mark poulson]

Mark- I lied, its a whisky bottle with 'Prop' in it, can't drink that stuff (or Prop) -- the unseen bedlam/junk on the benches carries on for a couple of more meters around the shed walls, sometimes it can be a nightmare - I just built a rod in amongst all this:roll:.

Pete

A fisherman lie? Surely, such a terrible thing has never taken place!

Funny how, the older I get, the better drinking used to be.

[Fish Candy Bait Company]

You mentioned portability so here is a picture of my airbrush bench as a small space example. I like to use the helping hands tool on it to hold baits while painting.

Here is an old picture of my main bench to show my paint caddy in the upper right. It holds a bunch of paint and various other paint related items.

Here is a picture of my $20 lure turner. It is a rotisserie for a grill that I modified. They can be had at walmart or other similar stores.

[bassnbrad]

I understand the Keeping as small as possible... GOOD LUCK! This is more addictive than throwing the danged lures. Absolute must haves are a Brush Holder ( nothing more frustrating than having your NEW airbrush sliding off and hitting the ground), A Inline water/air filter, it is not even funny when you are almost finished shooting a bait and have this sudden burst of water blown all over the side of your beautiful bait, and some type of flash dryer, ie... hair dryer, heat gun etc... and lastly some way of holding the baits while painting and drying, I use heavy duty paper clips alot as they can be bent to various shapes that you may need from time to time. Everything else will come as needed

[troutgnat]

bassnbrad,

Thank you so much for the great explanation and pics. Everyone has been so helpful here. l love your lure tuner, the spring technique is great. I think I will do the same. If I may ask, you say one may buy this rotissere motor at Wal-Mart, do you mean just the motor can be bought? And I assume for around $20? Can I also ask where you found the springs? Thanks!

I understand the Keeping as small as possible... GOOD LUCK! This is more addictive than throwing the danged lures. Absolute must haves are a Brush Holder ( nothing more frustrating than having your NEW airbrush sliding off and hitting the ground), A Inline water/air filter, it is not even funny when you are almost finished shooting a bait and have this sudden burst of water blown all over the side of your beautiful bait, and some type of flash dryer, ie... hair dryer, heat gun etc... and lastly some way of holding the baits while painting and drying, I use heavy duty paper clips alot as they can be bent to various shapes that you may need from time to time. Everything else will come as needed

[RayburnGuy]

Most auto supply stores have a selection of springs.

[hazmail]

Don't mention 'Spring' Ben, it's finally arrived here, it's show time, 8 months of 'fishing frustration' ahead FOR US - all those new lures I was going to make will have to wait until next winter.

Pete

[Fish Candy Bait Company]

The rotisserie came with the forks to hold the meat on the spit. What I did was bend them back so you can slide the springs on and off. The springs I got at Lowes. I got several sizes and the longer ones can be cut in half. The nice part about the turner is the spit forks can be adjusted for different size bait and spring combos. You will need to build the frame to mount it on out of scrap wood.

[Ric670]

If you plan on being on your feet a lot invest in some padded flooring. If you plan on making jigs and are going to use powder paint get a heat gun. If you have a Harbor Freight store nearby you can offset a lot of cost from buying there because their prices are pretty good, plus there are coupons for harbor freight online as well as in some of the fishing mags we All buy. Outdoor life, F/S, Bass etc. Vodkaman has a little caption that serves true for most of us. I have spent a ton of ducketts just because i lost a few lures to some HUGE fish. I have never lost any lures to trees, rocks..birds or the occasional jet skier...just fish. (note optimist)

You will figure out what you will need plus you will come up with some stuff no one here has come up with. And when you do post them here so we can steal your ideas. Also You need posters on your walls of scantily clad women and music. The music is to drown out the wife or girlfriend while they have do lists for you. Because making baits is more important. Oh yeah and no cooler with alcohol in it....not yet. Wait till you get used to the other flamable stuff you will be dealing with first before getting shnockered while making a lure. Thats just me and my preferences. Have fun

[Ric670]

This is my mess. Its not Hazmails bomb making outfit down unduh but its my man cave

[RayburnGuy]

Don't mention 'Spring' Ben, it's finally arrived here, it's show time, 8 months of 'fishing frustration' ahead FOR US - all those new lures I was going to make will have to wait until next winter.

Pete

Hey Pete. I keep forgetting that our seasons are completely opposite. We probably won't be seeing as much of you once the fish start biting. Good luck and catch a big one for me.

cheers mate,

Ben