Tried substitute, takes three days to dry!
only use water base now, cheaper and smells better
Roger

HI Shavings

On the thread you said you are looking at art shops for oil based paint thinners, why not use turps substitute? woks well with Enamel paints, good as gun wash after spraying Enamels,

Regards

Mark

HI Flack

You said you get a lot of dust in your paint surface, this is most likely that you are spraying at to high a pressure, possibly because your paint is to thick. Both these will cause problems, thin paint will run, spray in the warm!!

Mark

HI Shavings

Earlier in the tread you warn about using washing up liquid, this is an absolute no no. The formulation of wash up it has a serficant in the chemical, so stuff won't stick to it and will wash off easily.

First you will find some areas of your paint flaking off, needing further rubbing down, and more paint. More coats can also cause the paint to craze or split.

Second you can get blooms and swirls appearing in the surface finish.

Use liquid soap, or if your tight like me, wash your hands with soap in your sanding water, this will put soap into the water, NEVER allow any materials to contact your paint surface that might have silicon polish on or need it, silicon is in all sorts of polish for cars and furniture and will cause the paint to separate and withdraw from the affected area.

Hope this helps

Mark

I have been trying to find an art shop to see if they sell oil based thinners at a better price, those guys must go through thinners by the gallon
Anyone know anything about art?

Roger

Hey Roger,

If you are referring to H*****l I know the feeling have had a few myself. I am using a combination of Humbrol acrylic and enamel, the acrylics for the large areas and the enamel for the fittings and small bits, mainly because of the cost of thinners. I bought a large (750ml) of grey acrylic primer from Wickes for the base coat.

Alan,

Please don't go there - I can get myself in enough trouble without you helping me 😉

Shaun

Shaun, I am Impressed 👍

If you use tights, take the wife out of them first.

Sorry, couldn't resist it. 😁

Alan

HI Shaun, a finish to be proud of, what paint are you using for top coat? I have had problems with some well known small containers being on sale too long and getting lumpy and hard to mix so blocking the nozzle. Try straining all paint through tights after you think you have mixed it and see what is left which would have caused a blockage

Roger

As promised a few pics of two days work with the airbrush. The actual airbrushing was only an hour or two - it was the rubbing down with wet and dry to get rid of the runs and constant cleaning of the blocked airbrush 😫 that took the time, think I've pegged the mixture at three paint to one water now. Top coat next. 😊

Told you Shaun, Seeemple 👍

Meant to say I use a syringe to measure the water and to clean the jet on the gun
Roger

You seem to be getting to grips with this air brushing Shaun 👍 Ill give you a couple of more weeks and then Ill bring a boat round for you to paint 😁

Alan

A good couple of days airbrush experimenting with acrylics and cheapie primer undercoats. Had some really good results after some difficult trials. Biggest problem was how much water to mix in to get a good cover and reduce the possibility of runs - good job I've bought some more wet and dry 😁

Will post some pics when the primer is dry.

Shaun

Certainly looks to be well covered and smooth, it gives all of us newbies to airbrushing a standard to aspire to - well done!

Shaun

Thought I would try and show how good a finish you can get with Jewsons acrylic primer undercoat. I am using a basic airbrush with external mixing. The picture shows the finish from the gun on the left and a piece of printer paper on the right for comparison thinned 4 parts paint to 1 part water
Roger

What happened to the days when staff knew a little about the stuff they sell? Been looking at Halfords primer/filler as a base coat before airbrushing with acrylic, unfortunately there is no information on the can with regard to paint compatibility - I know, I'll ask a member of staff, never seen such a vacant look in response.

No ballast, even prop shaft only held in with mastic, just could not resist getting it wet! Goes like the proverbial.

Thanks Roger that's what I was looking for "Tack cloths". Boats looking good, is that with ballast in or is that still to be sorted.

Shaun

That should read good luck, must be past my bedtime
Roger

You can use tacky cloths between coats to get rid ofany dust or save mmoney and clean up with a cloth dampened with the appropriate thinners and a good blow over with the air nozzle
Finish with trade primer undercoat is great, my airbrush is a single nozzle cheapie so I have to thin acrylic about 1.5 water to 4 undercoat, good lunch
Picture of boats first launch hull in halfords black gloss topside in undercoat not even rubbed down

Roger

Hey Shavings that could be a fair money saver, what's the finish like?

Had a good couple of trial runs using different size nozzles and needles and so far I am quietly Impressed with the airbrush. Large areas can be well covered with larger needles and nozzles. 😊

I do, however seem to get a fair amount of dust in the finish, no matter how well I clean off before painting and only painting in a relatively sterile area. 😭

It may be entirely my Imagination but didn't I read on a build blog somewhere about cloths used in car body spray shops which helps to alleviate this problem. ❓

hI all
thanks all for the tips, waiting for more.

dennis

hI all
fast service from airbrushheaven ordered Wednesday arrived Friday

Dennis

Hey Flack I even use jewson acrylic undercoat to save a Bob or two

Roger

Forget this enamel business, at £1-99p for 28mm of thinners its going to cost a fortune to thin the paint and clean the airbrush. Acrylic and water it is then. 😊

Alan - having seen the high standard of your finished projects I've got quite a bit of practising to do before I can put the results on public view. 😁

I am following this air brushing thread with interest, and really looking forward to seeing some photo's of test pieces 😁

No pressure lads. 😁

Alan

One thing I have learnt the hard way, if you use washing up liquid when rubbing down make sure you wash off all trace of of or some interesting patterns emerge in the finish!!!

Roger

Thanks Roger - I'm using Humbrol enamels and it gets a bit messy. 😑 Have to have a look at the acrylic equivalent, waters a lot cheaper than thinners 😁

If its any help I clean the paint jet on mine by squirting cleaner through it with a syringe

Roger

hi,
flack
I ordered the kit as well,
many thanks for the information
dennis

Hey Dennis,

If its not too late its worth thinking of the accessory kit to help with cleaning.

I've just mixed up a very small amount of paint to do some test work and am quite Impressed with the results - nothing like perfect but it was never going to be with first ever use, the main plus for me was no runs! All kinds of adjustments available to vary the pressure and the amount of paint that goes into the gun. 😊

Use is going to be a combination of trial and error and internet research, the kit doesn't have any kind of blow by blow instructions 💭

Cleaning as with any equipment was always going to be a pain so its not something you can use for a quick job. 😓

HI
just ordered as-186 compressor and tank kit it seems a good deal 😊 👍

HI Dave,

I have just taken delivery of the AS-186 compressor with tank airbrush kit which I thought was very keenly priced and of quite a good spec. 😄 Just in the process of putting it together and then I'll be doing some trial runs. Will post some details of how I get on.

HI Shaun
Have you used any of their kit? Prices seem very good and the range of stands pumps and air cabinets look very interesting.
Be useful to have your personal experience if you have used any of the airbrushes. 😀

Likewise just taken a look at Airbrush Heaven. Notice that they have some useful free downloads on their site 😊

Just looked at airbrush heaven, wish I had known about them sooner'!!,,

Roger

Thanks Flack, should have said I am using acrylic which is 4 to 1 so a bit more touchy!
Roger

Have a look at www.airbrushheaven.co.uk, they do a full range of everything to do with airbrushing and if you give them a ring on 01270 508538 and speak with Martyn you'll find him very helpful and full of advice.

Shavings - the advice I got in relation to humbrol enamels and airbrushing was a 2 to 1 ratio of paint to thinners.

I just bought a cheapie from axminster tools seems to work fine just need to get the thinning right
Roger