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A start on airbrushing

Huggy

Entry posted by Huggy

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I'm gradually gathering up a decent selection of brushes, paints and weathering powders, and had already had a go at weathering a couple of very old metal bodied mineral wagons, but having got that particular "bug", succumbed to buying a very cheap and reasonably cheerful airbrush kit to try my hand. It's really intended, I imagine, for doing nail art, or at least anything that doesn't mind the asthmatic little compressor not getting above 15psi and only delivering that in short bursts, but the brush itself doesn't seem bad, not that I would know! Anyway, it's serving the purpose for me to give airbrushing a go - I assume that if one day I buy some better kit, it will seem easier. Interestingly though, a stallholder at the Longfield show told me that for learners, a cheapo airbrush can be easier to get the hang of than an upmarket Iwata, though a compressor with an air tank is what one needs to aspire to. My first effort involved making a scratch "spray booth" out of some of the foam I'm using for landscaping my layout, but I quickly found that not having a ventilated one doesn't really work; even acrylic paint is something nasty you don't want to be breathing or tasting! Proper ventilated ones seem to go for £70+, but a scan of various forums showed me one idea, using a clear PVC storage box, with a small bathroom extractor fan fitted, the additional benefit being you can fit a light of some sort on top the illuminate the work. The originator of the post reckoned it cost him less than £30 with a B&Q fan, but that firm appears no longer to stock them, and I found a suitable one, with no timer or pull switch (not needed for obvious reasons), at online suppliers Plumbworld, which has turned out to be very quiet and smooth running. My only difficulty was cutting out a circle in the box without splitting it, but once the fan was installed, that covered the cracks and made the whole thing more rigid, so we'll see how long it lasts. The fan was from a range being discontinued, so a bargain price of around £7, I also bought a 3m length of flexible duct from the same source for around £3, a large Jubilee clip locally, and the suitable size box was £3.99, so inclusive of the postage from Plumbworld it all came together for around £19.50 - and it works. I had a suitable power cable hanging about the house, and wired it in to the fan. Luckily I can position it on a board over the old Belfast sink in our former kitchen turned workshop, and put the vent out of the window (Before anyone says, no, I don't have any water in the sink under my electric powered device!). It vents very well, though I quickly learned that the pipe end needs to be further out of the window if the wind is blowing, and I will rig up some kind of filter inside the box to help keep paint mist off the fan in due course. More airbrushing practice on unsuspecting rolling stock to follow. Using Lifecolor Frame Dirt and Roof Dirt a lot, with some odd touches of Rust powder etc.

 

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Huggy's home made spray booth, for less than £20.

 

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Bit of novice wagon weathering with cheapo airbrush kit doing most of the work. Does make bottom of the range Hornby rolling stock look better though.

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Mike G

Interesting...what are you filtering the spray with before it 's sucked out of the box and where are the fumes being extracted to?

 

Might want to put one of these in front of the fan, assuming it's strong enough:

 

https://eileensemporium.com/index.php?option=com_hikashop&ctrl=product&task=show&cid=2809&name=replacement-filter-for-airbooth&Itemid=189&category_pathway=1279

 

If you don't, your fan will merely swirl spray paint around the box - and model - this will also ensure that any white spirit particulates are caught before being passed into an unguarded fan.

 

regards

 

Mike

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Huggy

Thanks Mike, that filter is the sort of thing I want to rig up in front of the fan somehow. The fan outlet is connected to the flexible ducting I mentioned, cut down to a manageable length, that hangs out of the window at the back of the picture (over our old kitchen's drain as it happens).  Haven't used any paint with white spirit or other volatile stuff yet, sticking with acrylics until it's sorted.

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Black5

I`ve been thinking on similar lines to you regarding a home made spray booth and i wondered if a removable frame in front of the extractor fitted with the type of filter sheet  you use for kitchen extractors might work, although thickness might be a problem. Trial and error really.

Best of luck with your effort though.

 

Cheers just now,

Jim.

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Huggy

I saw another post, on YouTube, an American guy who built his own cheap booth, which he uses on top of the kitchen cooker, and has it hooked up to his own filter in place of the one in the cooker hood!  Must have a very understanding Mrs..... :)  His kitchen looked too tidy and clean to be for a single fella!

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