Progress Update/lessons Learned

[crzyjunyer]

ok so i finally got my airbrush in this week and have been practicing/playing with it and here are a few things ive learned so far

1. this is a lot harder than it looks

2 this is a lot harder than it looks

3 thinning definitly helps but is a definite art form in itself i think - under thin and you get tip dry problems and inconsistant spraying - over thin and it wont stick and/or splatters and spiders like crazy

4 white is the most difficult one to thin so far to me as well as spray consistantly - maybe this is because its a stark contrast and shows flaws more - idk for sure

5 plastic communion cups are excellent paint cups for small sizes - they hold about the same amount of paint as my airbrush cup and are clear and CHEAP ($5/100 or $20/1000) - i just felt a lil guilty buying them sicne i know eventually ill end up mixing paint for skulls and/or flames in them

6 this is harder than it looks (but addictingly enjoyable)

7 an old towel on my lap over old shorts is a much wiser choice than any pants i may actually care about - especially when i already have a habit of wiping everything on them as it is

8 i want/need more paint

9 i need to stock up on paper towels

10 an old honey mustard bottle works better for pouring water for cleaning the airbrush and is also ok for mixing larger quanities of paint (basecoats etc...) - i found it works a lot better than the measuring cup i was using since the bottle has a "squeeze" lid and i spill less water

11 i currently cannot draw a straight line or steady curve to save my life - but i feel eventually i will when i build up the muscle strength/stamina for it - currently my forearms/index finger are sore

12 air pressure is a finicky thing as well

13 its definitly going to take lots of practice and patience

14 im going through cleaner like mad but i am getting better at cleaning my airbrush between colors and after painting - thinning has helped this as well

15 did i mention its harder than it looks?

thats just a few things ive learned so far - as for my equipment im using i have a

small oil-less pancake style air compressor

a small water filter/dryer

then a 50' hose going to my airbrush set up

on it i have a quick connect going to a pressure regulater

then a good water seperator/dryer

a pressure guage (0-60psi 1psi increments)

a 10' braided hose

and finally i decided on an iwata eclipse HP-CH airbrush adn really like it so far - it seems to be much more capable than me (big suprise lol)

like i said i encourage any more advice, suggestions, comments, etc.. to further my abilities in this new hobby of mine - ive already learned a lot from the search button and the wealth of experience on here

[RayburnGuy]

One thing that will help with the splattering and spider webbing. When you thin your paint you can turn the air pressure down. You don't need as much pressure to atomize thin paint as you do thicker paint. When getting the airbrush up close and painting things like eyes and lateral lines my regulator is turned down to less than 5 psi. Even when using stencils I turn the pressure way down to avoid pushing the paint up under the stencil where it's not wanted. Just keep spraying paint and trying different things until you find what works best for you.

Ben

Edited August 6, 2011 by RayburnGuy

[crzyjunyer]

yea ive been trying to adjust the air pressure down some as i thin the paint down but im still having mixed results with it - it seems like it does a liil better to me with just barely turning it down some - when ive tried it at 10lbs or less it seems it wants to just not spray til i pull the trigger back further and then it shotgun blasts out and is several spots instead of even a line - i increase it a lil bit at a time on a scrap peace and then when it starts to spray it spiders again

i still notice this the most with white - it is defintly seems to be my nemisis right now - i cant seem to get the mix right when thinning and it also seems to tip dry and spider/stipple the worst - next is the candy green but after thinning a lil its not as bad

btw i forgot to mention the paints im using earlier - i got the createx "opaque set" w/ white, black, red, yellow, blue, and green, some createx transparent orange and blue (war eagle), and createx candy green - all in the standard createx line - i havent ventured into the wicked or auto-air or with any other brand paits yet

[bassnbrad]

One little trick for your lines dots and curves. Take off your end cap when you spray and clean your needle as you go (especially WHITE)... I just use my thumbnail to clean any accumulation there. "when ive tried it at 10lbs or less it seems it wants to just not spray til i pull the trigger back further and then it shotgun blasts out and is several spots instead of even a line" This tells me your needle or tip are too dirty or your paint is too thick. Since you are thinning Createx I would lean towards tip accumulation. It only take a couple of seconds to clean versus being extremely irritated when you are almost finished with a piece then spiderweb the last line... On a side note, when you do clean your needle, it does not take much pressure, I say this because you can bend the needle and never realize it till its too late. Good luck with it, bb

[Sbaits]

For measuring pressure, the best thing I've found is to shoot the air on my cheek. My pressure is not exactly useful for dialling into the air pressure I want.

Trip #2. Always pre-spray on an old box/piece of paper etc to make sure it’s working correctly (color changes or any pause in the action). If it is acting up a bit shoot a full blast at your test strip, if that doesn't work cranking up the PSI to around 40 for a quick blast will often cure the issue for you to finish your next pass. I find I often have to do this with opaque black, thinning it more may help but a slightly higher psi and/or just the occational full blast on my testing box keeps it under control.

[RayburnGuy]

If your brush won't spray at less than 10 psi then either your paints aren't thinned enough or your brush is dirty. I'm not saying you have to, or should, try to spray with less than 10 psi. Just that the things mentioned are the most likely causes. Here's one thing I do when cleaning my brush to make sure it's clean and the needle is seating properly in the nozzle. After I clean the brush, wipe the needle clean and reassemble it I add a little clean acetone to the bowl and while holding my finger over the nozzle I press the trigger down without pulling back on it. If you see bubbles in the cup your needle is not seated properly. This is most often caused by the nozzle being dirty. Anytime my brush starts acting up I soak the nozzle end of it in Createx Airbrush Restorer. This will loosen up any dried paint that might have been missed in regular cleanings. Sometimes you have no choice but to use the needle to clean the nozzle when this occurs as I haven't found anything small enough to get in there other than the needle. Be extremely careful when doing this because being too aggressive can cost you a new needle or nozzle. Or both.

Another thing that has helped me is straining the paint. Cut a woman's nylon stocking into 1" squares and place it over the neck of the paint bottles and then just screw the cap back on.

Ben

[crzyjunyer]

yea ive had trouble cleaning the inside of the nozzle i know - ive been afraid to use the needle to clean it for fear of damaging the needle - i saw a suggestion on of the airbrush specific forums about using an unltrasonic jewelry cleaner to clean the delicate/diffucult places like that - ive been wanting one for cleaning my watches as it is - im gong to order some more paint and things in the vey near future and per your suggestions ben im going to add some restorer and some reducer as well to thin paint with

sbaits - i usually do a test spray on a scrap peice of cardboard first - when i notice the effect most is when i sparay for a second, stop and move to a diffrent section, and start again and on the restart is when i notice it most - even if i do use a papertowel with my fingernails to wipe off the needle tip it still happens some - im guessing its due to underthinned paint perhaps?

[gunnie3035]

I'm not sure why tackle painters don't use retarder but it is cheap and can make your dry tip troubles less frustrating. If I have a paint that requires constant thinning [like regular createx white] and I have used 1/3 of the bottle just refill it with reducer and and about 10 drops of retarder.

[crzyjunyer]

gunnie how does the retarder affect things like drying time on the project? or does heat curing take care of that as well? also is that mix rate for a 2oz bottle?

another question on heat curing - is it better to heat cure each color on each time or just once as a final step?

[crzyjunyer]

a further update - i now have some actual lures painted and they look ok but i still need practice (pics coming after clear dries) - i have since learned that using the wicked line reducer really helps and works tons better than water for thinnning paint

im also experimenting with diffrent colors on diffrent base colors to see diffrent effects/colors and its been intresting - such as if i paint tranparent orange over opaque black it makes a really nice olive green/brown color and wicked gold over tranparent blue makes for a realy need purple pearl type effect it seems

ive also noticed how much of a diffrence the clear (im using d2t) adds to the lure's final appearance - i had a few jig heads i had painted solid colors and was iffy about how a few looked til i cleared tehm and was super pleased with the final appearance

[bassguy]

Be sure and thin your paint to the consistency of milk, this really helps with the paint application.

[RonnyD]

Is its recommended to thin all createx paints before airbrushing. i have an iwata cs

[bassguy]

I've also found you don't really need to clean the gun with the cleaner between paint changes. I've used an eye dropper kind of like a plunger if you get my drift. I fill the dropper and place the tip in the paint cup and then press the bulb to force the water into the cup. Then release the bulb and it will siphon the water back to the dropper. I do that 3 or 4 times to get the majority of the paint out. Spray clean water through the brush several times to clean. After I've finished painting for the evening, I then clean the brush with cleaner and so on.