Air Brush & Paint Suggestions

[biggamefish]

Hello guys,

 

Im up to the point where im gonna be needing an air brush soon, so I need your help on helping me decide which is best for me.

 

I mostly will be carving out trout swimbaits 6-12 inches and sometimes will do a blue gill or a bass, what would be an ideal air brush for me to paint the rainbow trout scheme mostly and sometimes a baby bass or a gill? Trying not to spend too much so im staying around 100-150 the most for my first air brush.

 

Ive read some reviews on the Paasche double action, paasche talon, Iwata revolution, and Iwata Eclipse, they seem to all be good brushes but they also have mix reviews, I dont know which one of these will suite my needs to paint my baits the way I like. I like fine detail work as I find myself to be kind of almost a perfectionist, not bragging lol just the way I am. 

 

One other thing I would like to know is whats the difference between the gravity feed and the bottom bottle feed air brush??

 

Also the first paint that im going to be trying out will be Createx, its because I can get these locally, but I would like to know which air brush would work best with which one of the Createx paints, the Opaque, Transparent and Fluorescent? and also which of these three Createx paint would work best on wood and possibly plastic urethane resins? 

 

If you guys have any suggestions please feel free to let it out thanks!

Edited January 15, 2013 by biggamefish

[Anglinarcher]

First, I am not an expert.  I wish I were, and I am getting pretty good, but I can only offer my opinion.

 

I prefer a double action air brush, and I like the fact that the Talon comes with small, medium and large needles.  I usually only use the medium needle, but for some metal flake paints the large will become necessary.  Using stencils I can do extreme detail with even the medium needle, but with the right paint, you can learn to free hand very very good details with the small needle.

 

Wow, gravity feed verses bottom feed!  I have both, and for volume the bottom feed is nice.  You waist a lot more paint when you are using only small amounts of paint with a bottom feed, so I really like my Talon and the gravity feed.  I also feel I can paint with much lower pressures for even more detail using a gravity feed.  Still, the cup on top can obstruct your view, so there is no one perfect air brush.

 

Any of the paints you mentioned will work well with any of the air brushes you mentioned.  The opaque has more pigment so it tends to be a little thicker, but it can be reduced easy and it coveres best.  The transparent is nothing but the opaque that has a clear extender or reducer to thin it down.  I suggest not reducing it but spraying it direct.  The Fluorscent covers just about anything and it sprays almost as easy as anything.

 

Createx is a great paint, but the colors are not real life-like.  Some of the other Createx products (other brands by them) such as Auto-Air, have some nice color options, but don't discount other brands.  Wildlife Colors, Polytranspar, Hydro-Mist, and also Woods and Water have some more life-like colors and I have found all of them to be about as easy as Createx.

 

There is so much that can be said about this subject, and there are so many sources that can help, so remember one thing "HAVE FUN AND JUST PRACTICE".  Don't let the details get to you before you learn about it.

[mark poulson]

Cleaning your brush as you go, and thinning your paint to the consistency of milk, are two keys to air brush success.

Develop a good, thorough cleaning routine that you can use between coats and between colors.  Basically, every time your brush cup runs out of paint, you should flush and backflush it to avoid problems.

If you do it enough, it becomes second nature, and really minimizes headaches.

And the 4011 reducer is a great thinner for all water based air brush paints.

Good luck.

[biggamefish]

Thanks guys, I like the idea of using water base paint such as the woods and water paint, because I am most likely painting in my garage and I dont have much ventilation. I also have a few questions about the woodsandwater water base paint,

 

Can they be use to paint on basswood and urethane resins? Sorry I am really new to this.

What can I use to clean the air gun with after using the water base paints? water?? 

what are stuff i can use to thin the water base paint if i need to?

[BobP]

Yes, you can use water based acrylic paint on any lure.  However, you must put on a waterproof undercoat before you paint a wood lure or water in the paint will cause the wood grain to pop out.  I like Devcon Two Ton epoxy as an undercoating on wood lures.  There are other options like solvent based coatings or propionate dissolved in acetone.  Note you also have to topcoat the lure with a durable waterproof topcoat after painting.  You don't need to undercoat plastic lures or any lure that is already waterproof.  But on most lures, you will also want to shoot a "color basecoat", typically a highly pigmented white paint to give you a consistent color background for your colors and hide any underlying colors like wood grain.

 

You can use plain water to clean the airbrush between color shots.  I like to keep it in a spray bottle.  At the end of the session, do a more through cleaning with a Q-tip soaked in acetone and I like to shoot a little acetone through the brush to clean out any paint remaining in the tip.  You should also soak your disassembled brush in a dedicated airbrush cleaning solution occasionally to remove any lingering paint, which can accumulate in the airbrush barrel behind the cup.  Anything containing ammonia is not recommended for airbrushes because it will dissolve chrome.

 

Paint can be thinned with plain water.  If you want or need an even better thinner, the 4011 reducer sold by Createx Auto-Air is also good.  Not all airbrush paint needs thinning.  You just have to use the paint to see whether it will spray well.  Many taxidermy paints are pre-thinned so you can shoot them right out of the bottle.