crzyjunyer Posted July 4, 2011 Report Share Posted July 4, 2011 I have decided to order an airbrush to start doing custom colors on my jigs and start doing some crankbaits as well. I have decided to go with an iwata revolution br airbrush after reading posts on here and researching the topic. I have never used an aibrush before in my life so my plan is to lean the ropes on it and learn control of the gun and techniques for it on paper (its infinitly cheaper) and then switch to lures when i feel i have a good control of the airbrush. I was wondering if anyone else has done this as well and if there is a learnign curve when switching from a flat paper suface to a plastic or wood surface with curves and diffrent absorpion characteristics and such - would it be to my advantage to save old TP rolls to practice on curve shapes first? or practice on plastic spoons? what are some good paints to learn on? i will be doing this in a makeshift workshop in my spare bedroom so i plan to be using waterbased paints mainly and possibly some powders as well. when i thin the paints or clean/backflush my gun is it better to use filtered or bottled water or is tap water fine? what kind of tools/materials are good tricks for getting diffrent paterns? ive seen diffrent screens and combs with missing teeth for getting scale and stripes - what others things work well? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BobP Posted July 4, 2011 Report Share Posted July 4, 2011 I have decided to order an airbrush to start doing custom colors on my jigs and start doing some crankbaits as well. I have decided to go with an iwata revolution br airbrush after reading posts on here and researching the topic. I have never used an aibrush before in my life so my plan is to lean the ropes on it and learn control of the gun and techniques for it on paper (its infinitly cheaper) and then switch to lures when i feel i have a good control of the airbrush. I was wondering if anyone else has done this as well and if there is a learnign curve when switching from a flat paper suface to a plastic or wood surface with curves and diffrent absorpion characteristics and such - would it be to my advantage to save old TP rolls to practice on curve shapes first? or practice on plastic spoons? what are some good paints to learn on? i will be doing this in a makeshift workshop in my spare bedroom so i plan to be using waterbased paints mainly and possibly some powders as well. when i thin the paints or clean/backflush my gun is it better to use filtered or bottled water or is tap water fine? what kind of tools/materials are good tricks for getting diffrent paterns? ive seen diffrent screens and combs with missing teeth for getting scale and stripes - what others things work well? Yes, there is definitely a learning curve. It takes time to transition from knowing what you want to do with an airbrush to developing the motor skills to make that happen. Frequenting some of the many airbrushing sites to get practical tips on supplies and technique can be helpful. Things will go faster if you start out using the paint you will use on your baits. For most guys, that means Createx or other brands of water based airbrush paint. You can save a few bucks using "non-airbrush hobby paints" but they slow the learning curve. Plain tap water is fine for washing the brush between paint shots of acrylic paint. I keep mine in a spray bottle and clean the brush over a plastic trash can. For more detailed cleaning, I use cotton swabs dipped in acetone. Using any product containing ammonia is not recommended by airbrush companies. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crzyjunyer Posted July 4, 2011 Author Report Share Posted July 4, 2011 yea i figure its gonna take a lot of time, practice, and patience to get my hand/brush to get what my brain/eye wants - i was curious as to if there is a learning curve again when switching between materials being painted since i plan to start off practicing on paper and cardboard before i start on lures for cost reasons Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crzyjunyer Posted July 4, 2011 Author Report Share Posted July 4, 2011 another qeustion - instead of buying a air bed for powder paints can they be sprayed out of an airbrush instead after heating? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fishsticks Posted July 4, 2011 Report Share Posted July 4, 2011 Yes, there is definitely a learning curve. It takes time to transition from knowing what you want to do with an airbrush to developing the motor skills to make that happen. Frequenting some of the many airbrushing sites to get practical tips on supplies and technique can be helpful. Things will go faster if you start out using the paint you will use on your baits. For most guys, that means Createx or other brands of water based airbrush paint. You can save a few bucks using "non-airbrush hobby paints" but they slow the learning curve. Plain tap water is fine for washing the brush between paint shots of acrylic paint. I keep mine in a spray bottle and clean the brush over a plastic trash can. For more detailed cleaning, I use cotton swabs dipped in acetone. Using any product containing ammonia is not recommended by airbrush companies. I'm sure you have airbrushed a lot longer then I have and I do not question your knowledge, but I have used an assortment of cleaners. Usually just a bit of water shot through the brush cleans mine well with createx, but I saw you stated any product containing ammonia is not recommended, this caught my attention. When I purchased my Iwata HP-B Plus a while back I read the manual that came with it. I checked it again to be sure. On the front page of the manual under "Important" it tells you to mix a cleaning solution consisting of 20% ammonia and 80% water and run through the airbrush. It says to use this solution between color changes. Maybe different airbrushes or paints require a different solution. I have to say this is the mixture I have used most of the time when using acrylics and have not had a problem. I am now curious why most airbrush companies do not recommend using ammonia now? When using automotive paint I always read the bottle and use what cleaning product it says to use, usually just acetone or lacquer thinner. I had checked the iwata website and all they say really is to use an appropriate cleaning agent and of course they recommend there own. I did see where they recommend the acetone or lacquer thinner, not paint thinner, to break up molecular bonds. I'm still not sure why they give you the ammonia mixture in the manual, but not on there site. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fishsticks Posted July 4, 2011 Report Share Posted July 4, 2011 On second thought after reading up on ammonia they say it is corrosive. Which I can see why you would not want it to sit in your airbrush for a long time. Same reason the Iwata site states not to soak your brush in acetone or any other cleaning agent for a long time. I think they don't mention ammonia because they revised there cleaning techniques on there site since they made my manual. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BobP Posted July 5, 2011 Report Share Posted July 5, 2011 The short answer (not from personal experience) is that an Iwata rep told someone here on TU that ammonia will gradually remove the chrome coating from an airbrush. I know some guys like to use original Windex which contains ammonia. It does a quick job of cleaning and some guys even use it as a thinner. To each his own but I want my Iwata to last as long as possible - so I don't. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gunnr Posted July 5, 2011 Report Share Posted July 5, 2011 I have decided to order an airbrush to start doing custom colors on my jigs and start doing some crankbaits as well. I have decided to go with an iwata revolution br airbrush after reading posts on here and researching the topic. I have never used an aibrush before in my life so my plan is to lean the ropes on it and learn control of the gun and techniques for it on paper (its infinitly cheaper) and then switch to lures when i feel i have a good control of the airbrush. I was wondering if anyone else has done this as well and if there is a learnign curve when switching from a flat paper suface to a plastic or wood surface with curves and diffrent absorpion characteristics and such - would it be to my advantage to save old TP rolls to practice on curve shapes first? or practice on plastic spoons? what are some good paints to learn on? i will be doing this in a makeshift workshop in my spare bedroom so i plan to be using waterbased paints mainly and possibly some powders as well. when i thin the paints or clean/backflush my gun is it better to use filtered or bottled water or is tap water fine? what kind of tools/materials are good tricks for getting diffrent paterns? ive seen diffrent screens and combs with missing teeth for getting scale and stripes - what others things work well? One way to practice on the real thing is to make a lure, then paint it with a white basecoat followed by a topcoat of D2T. Once cured, you can then try different techniques and patterns and simply wipe it clean when you are done. I also have a piece of sign board that was done this way so I can actually see what mixed colors will look like when they are actually sprayed - not sitting in the cup. I'm using createx by the way. Good Luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EdL Posted July 5, 2011 Report Share Posted July 5, 2011 All my airbrushes are new as I am just starting out. Based on all the research (scanning the internet for article) i have this conclusion. There is some info saying that ammonia can corrode the chrome plating. For me that says if you use a cleaning agent with ammonia it must be washed out with clean water afterwards to flush out any ammonia residue. A cheap airbrush will likely have a thin layer of chrome than a more expensive one. Will it corrode right away- probably not if the brush is used frequently but put it away for a bunch of month you will likely have problems. Also some brands of airbrushes have rubber o-rings. So using acetone, laquer thinner will be hard on the o-rings so they will eventually have problems. Read that there is an airbrush supplier that will replace rubber o-rings with teflon o-ring to make the brush tolerant for automotive type paints and cleaners. Bottom line for me is to use the brush often and do a proper cleaning with a multiple washing fluids folowed wiith an air dryout. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crzyjunyer Posted July 5, 2011 Author Report Share Posted July 5, 2011 One way to practice on the real thing is to make a lure, then paint it with a white basecoat followed by a topcoat of D2T. Once cured, you can then try different techniques and patterns and simply wipe it clean when you are done. I also have a piece of sign board that was done this way so I can actually see what mixed colors will look like when they are actually sprayed - not sitting in the cup. I'm using createx by the way. Good Luck! Thanx. Thats a really good idea i hadnt even considered. I may do that to some of the old lures ive found and picked up over the years we have just sitting around in the garage and on the boat. I had already planned to practice oon some of them but with your idea i can get more than one shot wih each one. Given the inevitablity of screwing up a pant job on a "keeper" lure, what are options for fixing it? Or is it kind of play b ear on each mess up? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reborn1105 Posted July 5, 2011 Report Share Posted July 5, 2011 another qeustion - instead of buying a air bed for powder paints can they be sprayed out of an airbrush instead after heating? Yes,TJ's has a powder gun http://www.tjstackle.com/ and http://www.chicagoairbrushsupply.com/bamo260aisp.html sprayed at very low PSI. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Musky Glenn Posted July 5, 2011 Report Share Posted July 5, 2011 I only repaint lures for myself and have been cleaning with only water. It does a good job for me if I just give it time to do its thing. Musky Glenn Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gunnr Posted July 5, 2011 Report Share Posted July 5, 2011 Thanx. Thats a really good idea i hadnt even considered. I may do that to some of the old lures ive found and picked up over the years we have just sitting around in the garage and on the boat. I had already planned to practice oon some of them but with your idea i can get more than one shot wih each one. Given the inevitablity of screwing up a pant job on a "keeper" lure, what are options for fixing it? Or is it kind of play b ear on each mess up? Alot of the guys that paint lures use a clear coat between layers of paint. For instance, if you have a base layer that you're happy with, clear coat it and then after that dries, you can do gills, fins, scales, etc. and if you mess up you can wipe it down and you still have saved the base you were satisfied with. It also adds "depth" to the look of the lure. The only thing is, each layer of clear adds weight, which may affect the lures action or buyancy if you get too much. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crzyjunyer Posted July 7, 2011 Author Report Share Posted July 7, 2011 It seems most of yall are painting on wood lures. The ones im looking at doing are mostly plastic ones since thats what kind of store bought llures i use the most of (ratttle traps ans norman middle n's). Is the prepwork or overall paint process any diffrent on plastics as opposed to wood ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bassnbrad Posted July 10, 2011 Report Share Posted July 10, 2011 It seems most of yall are painting on wood lures. The ones im looking at doing are mostly plastic ones since thats what kind of store bought llures i use the most of (ratttle traps ans norman middle n's). Is the prepwork or overall paint process any diffrent on plastics as opposed to wood ? Yeah crzy there is a big learning curve from paper to lures. Here is one site that gets ya going on the basics though http://www.howtoairbrush.com/ I also only do repaints, primarily plastic cranks and topwaters. There was a post (Several actually) about body prep and all. Someone showed the actual weight conversions of stripping versus light sanding and painting. The difference in amount of time and effort that goes into both are quite measurable. I found that if you are going to do paint-overs its easier to just lightly sand a new/used lure under running water with wet/dry 400 grit sandpaper, dry then paint rather than stripping the lure completely. Good luck with it, this "HOBBY" is both addictive and FRUSTRATING as hell, but when you set the hook with the lure you painted yourself... It feels real good!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
