Brand New To Airb Rushing, Paasche Vl 202

[jesse1378]

Good Morning,

My wife and i did Christmas early and she got me an air brush. It is a Paasche VL 202

Link here...

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00397CDKQ?&tag=shopwiki-us-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325

and a set of Creatix paints...

http://www.amazon.com/POPULAR-CREATEX-COLORS-PAINT-SET-Airbrush-Hobby-Art/dp/B001G570VK/ref=sr_1_2?s=home-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1292599077&sr=1-2

I have done a little research and i know you can use this brush with the canned air or an air compressor. She gave me a coupon for an air compressor of my choosing....but i dont have a clue. she was thinkig one of the big 30 gal tanks (which is what i want for other things) but i think that's a bit overkill for this. The working preassure for the brush is 22-50 PSI with 75 the max. I guess ill list my questions so it would be easier to answer

1) what size compressor do you reccomend?

2) the paints are water based is that ok?

3) What type of clear?

4) best type of thinning agent?

I have to go on a 5 hr round trip to get my boat so i dont have as much time to search before posting. im hoping to have answers when i get back so we can go buy the compressor and i can practice. I'm off for the next week and is prime time to learn. If you can think of anything else i should buy to get myself started please let me know. Thank you ~Jesse

[mark poulson]

I would recommend that you buy a compressor that puts out 100psi, and has as big a storage tank as you can get, within reason. 20-30 gallon is plenty.

Having a big reservoir of pressurized air keeps your paint stream constant, and that is important when you're using an air brush.

At the same time, get a combination regulator and water trap.

Water based paints, or more specifically air brush paints, are fine. Fabric paints are made waterproof by heat setting them. That's why air brushed T shirts don't lose their paint when washed. Most of us use a hair dryer to heat set.

Top coats are a huge subject. Do a search on this site, and you'll find so many posts you'll never have time to paint!

I would suggest using a water borne urethane, like SC9000 by Target Coatings, because it's idiot proof. That's why I use it. But you can also use two part epoxies.

The glue type epoxies, like Devcon 30 Minute (aka 2 ton D2T) are the strongest, and hardest, because they are glues adapted for our needs. But they are also brittle, so they don't like rocks.

The decoupage type epoxies, like Envirotex Lite or Nu Lustre 55, are more flexible and impact resistant, because they are designed to move with the expansion and contraction of large wood surfaces, like table tops. But they require more coats to achieve the same thickness as one coat of the D2T, and are not bullet proof, either.

I use the urethane because I can dip it, hang it, clean off the drips as they form for the first five minutes, and then leave them to dry and redip in two hours. Or speed the drying process with a hair dryer, and redip in an hour. Three coats is usually all any of my baits need, and plastic cranks only need one.

Thin with whatever the paint manuf. recommends. I like my paints to be thin like milk before I paint. If you overthin, the paint will lose it's film strength, and just be a bunch of paint dust on the surface of the lure, instead of a strong, interlocked film.

Good luck.

Your wife is a keeper.

[jesse1378]

thank you for the reply i will prob give the sc9000 a try. i was to keep it simple right now

[jesse1378]

thank you for the reply i will prob give the sc9000 a try. i was to keep it simple right now

my air compressor is a 12 gal 1 hp oiled 125 max psi craftsman.

[jesse1378]

my air compressor is a 12 gal 1 hp oiled 125 max psi craftsman.

i just got through messing around and i was not ready for all the differnt thins that can be adjusted. lol i can see this is going to be alot of fun. i have a whole new respect for all of you air brush guys (and gals) out there

[RayburnGuy]

my air compressor is a 12 gal 1 hp oiled 125 max psi craftsman.

This compressor will be fine, but you will need to add an inline desiccant filter. This will remove any oil vapor that slips past the rings on the compressor piston. Airbrushing and oil don't mix. I use an oiled compressor and installed the desiccant filter on the inlet of my regulator manifold. I got my filter from Harbor Freight. It was around $6.