Happy New Year/NASCAR Airbrush Question

[steelhead26]

Hello everybody and Happy New Year (in a few hours). The cold weather has me bottled up in the house more than usual and has me wanting to do a few NASCAR kits that I have laying around. The lady was kind enough to get me an airbrush for the holiday, which is cool, but I know nothing at all about them other than reading the directions. It came with 3 guns and a compressor. I just wanted to see what products you guys use to get these amazing builds that I see in the forums. It is confusing because I see acrylic and enamel airbrush paints for sale and am not sure if you can put one on top of another and stuff like that. same for primers, are they all the same? I have a Bill Elliott kit to try it out on. Just want to get the paints ordered. I can learn how to use/clean it while waiting for the order. I'm sure it will be a learning experience but would be worth the effort after seeing all the great ones on here.  Sorry if this is in the wrong section, I did a search with the kit name and nothing showed up. Thank you all for looking and have a safe 2018.

[Jhedir6]

Generally I stick to the same brands...primer/paint/clear ....you can mix and match brands but to start out I'd stick to the same ones for each stage just for the simple fact that you'll get better results and that helps build confidence. 

Scale Finishes is a great brand to start with. Jameston's paints go on easy and dry quickly and he has a large range of colour choices. Also they go a long way so you definitely get your monies worth out of them. Gravity Colors are good too and Mate is expanding he range all the time. Also, if you need a colour he'll order it from his supplier and add it to his product range.

I bought basically the same set up you have to start out with. First off make sure you have a moisture trap on your compressor, but if you have the one in the pic you should have it. Next, get another one that screws into the bottom of your brush, over kill maybe, but I find it moisture missed by the one out of the compressor. 

Next, get a better brush...the ones in the kit are OK, but you'll get much better results with a better brush. I upgraded to a Iwata Neo CN I got a Michael's with a 50% off coupon....a much better brush...but still room for improvement. Last year I jumped up to a Harder and Steinbach Evo 2n1 and am very happy with it. Others will recommend other brands, and no one will be wrong, it's what works for you.

Only other tip I can give, is no matter what you brush you use, make sure you clean it properly. I made that mistake with my first one from the kit above and it was pretty much ruined cause the seals were damaged when I used too much cleaner trying to clean out what I missed. Also, a better brush will have better quality seals, another reason to upgrade. 

Good luck and practice, the more you use it, the better you'll get with it. 

[steelhead26]

Thanks very much for the reply Jhedir6, I am like you and would like to stick to a single brand or two. I like how you mentioned that one has a large range of colors, I have never mixed paint yet and that could make it easier. I figured it would be a good setup to learn with. I have bookmarked the Iwata that you mentioned. Cleaning it will surely be an experience, the kit has a ten step cleaning process.  The confusing thing to me is what is compatible, can you put down a base acrylic white and then mask off and put enamel red over it? That is why I would like to keep to the same kind of paint to take that out of the equation. I am excited to learn, I just have to remember not to get to PO'd when i botch something.  Thank you very much and Happy New Year

[Jhedir6]

Happy New Year Joe.

I would stay away from mixing acrylics and enamels, for now. Someone with more experience than me can give you a better report on that, but I find enamels for spraying has been enough of a range for me so far. I use acrylics for most detail painting (brush) and just stick to enamels for spraying. 

I do mix brands. Like tonight for example, I am spraying up another Tamiya AMG GT3, I'm using Scale Finishes primer and then I'll put on a coat of silver also from Scale Finishes followed by a red from Gravity Colors. I've mixed these brands before with zero issues. I'm using the silver as a barrier between the primer and red because the Scale Finishes primer is on the darker side and I dont want to darken up my red top coat. But if I'm using a darker colour, I'll definitely spray that right over the Scale Finishes primer. 

But to start, I would stick to one brand till you get use to your equipment and how the primers/paints/clears work together. Then start mixing and matching. You're more likely to have better results with one brand, then as you feel more confident you can experiment and see what you get. 

Good luck. And for when you mess up, buy something to strip the paint. I use (Castrol) Super Clean, and isopropyl alcohol (91%+). I have a bath of each in sealed containers. You can reuse as needed. You'll get lots of practice as you learn to spray. Good luck.

 

[steelhead26]

Thank you again for your replies, I will try and avoid mixing acrylics and enamels, I just wasn't sure if you had to pick one or the other to use in the gun. I can't remember what it was but I remember reading on here last year that somebody put one kind on top of another kind and it lifted, I just want to try and avoid that. I like your idea about sealed cleaning containers, gonna have to get a couple small plastic containers when I go to the dollar store. Is  there a reputable website that you recommend for purchasing your paints and materials?   Thank you again

 

Joe

[Jhedir6]

Scale Finishes http://www.scalefinishes.com/welcome.html

Gravity Colors http://www.gravitycolors.com/

Hiroboy https://www.hiroboy.com/ Steve's in England, but has a great selection and ships ultra fast

Upscale Hobbies https://upscalehobbies.com/ Chris is expanding his parts section all the time, another great guy to deal with

MS Hobbies http://www.mshobbies.com/

Ebay some love it, some hate it, you decided

Lots of other choices too, I'm sure someone else will recommend more places to shop.

[MarkJ]

I recently got back to using my airbrush. It sat around for years before I decided to get back to using it. I like it because I can use it with model master acryl paint and can mix any color I want. Also its a lot less toxic than lacquer or enamel. The only draw back is if you want a super smooth job you have to polish it out. It takes longer, but I figure I'm retired, so whats the rush. Just experiment with air pressure and thinning of the paint until you get just that right formula that gives you a smooth base finish without running or the dreaded orange peel. Also if you spray outside you have to wait till the temperature gets up in the sixtys at least, seventys are better. The main reason I went back to the airbrush was, my hobby shop that I got my Tamiya rattle can paint from, went out of business. Also Tamiya doesn't work well with two tone paint jobs because when you mask it, the tape will leave an imprint in it when you remove it. That doesn't happen with acryl.

Edited January 2, 2018 by MarkJ

[Old Coyote]

Unlike Mark, who can do fantastic paint jobs with acrylics, I have never been able to handle them. Plus I don't like cleaning my airbrush with water or alcohol ( I use a double action Paasche ). I stick to enamels and lacquers. That's where my experience is (and also my comfort level). I use Testors enamels quite a bit, and they can be mixed to make custom colors. For lacquers, I used to use Cobracolors but sadly they went out of business. Now I use Model Car World lacquers. They have a wide assortment of factory colors and a huge number of racing paint colors (especially Nascar colors). Their paints are PPG  and DuPont automotive paints which airbrush really well.

Here are a couple of examples.

Lacquer

Enamels

Edited January 2, 2018 by Old Coyote

[Shadetree Modeler]

When layering paint try to remember LEA:

1) Lacquer

2) Enamel

3) Acrylic 

This works most of the time and is why it is so easy to detail/weather acrylic over top of lacquer or enamel. HTH

[steelhead26]

WOW, Thank you guys for all of the input. I bookmarked those links on where to buy along with the Model Car World one which is impressive as well. Also placed my first small order from Scalefinishes to get started. Learning the correct thinning formula and air pressure is going to be a learning curve for sure, but like Mark stated, what's the rush. I do still have 2 cans of Tamiya primer and a few Testor's enamel rattle cans (I find the nozzles to be terrible and they often spray globs) maybe I should trash them? Thanks OldCoyote, I was actually going to ask if all those little Testor's jars that i have the crazy colors of are still usable with the airbrush, that is good to know that I can still utilize them. Those builds are awesome! I actually just bought a K-Sentials Labonte diecast a few months ago, I can't even begin to imagine how much planning on what paint to put on first when into that one. If I can do them half as good as those, I will be pleased. Thanks Shadetree, LEA will be going on a post it beside my model station for sure! That is my biggest fear, I remember last year reading some people were using some Krylon, Rustoleum.... and some did not react well with others or primer and caused headaches. LEA should keep me in the good.

 

Thank You All so much

Joe

[MarkJ]

Joe, another thing you might want to try is viewing some you tube videos. Some are not that great but others I have found were pretty informative. I have no links for you but just google "you tube how to air brush" and just  check them out. I remember one guy used his airbrush for painting fish he was mounting and he was pretty informative.

[Old Coyote]

Joe, another thing you will need if you use Model Car World lacquers is a good quality acrylic lacquer thinner. You don't need it as a thinner, as MCW lacquers come pre-thinned and ready to shoot. But you will need to use it to clean your airbrush. Leon Tefft at Cobracolors suggested that I use PPG Duracryl DTL 876. I have used it for years with great results. You can get it at most auto paint stores. I can't stress enough the need to thoroughly clean your airbrush internals immediately after you finish spraying (and externals if necessary) to keep it working properly.

Multi colors and fades just take time and practice. And one of the biggest rules I had to learn is to be patient, don't rush a paint job. That K-Sentials paint job took 10 days to accomplish, giving the Testors enamels time to dry between maskings and sprayings. But the results can be well worth it.

A couple of things that a great airbrush friend of mine, John Pattison of Albuquerque, NM) taught me are:

1) when spraying multi colors, try to spray the lighter color first and the darker color last

Example ...... the Dunn & Reath funny car is actually two shades of blue (light on top and dark along the bottom and the faded stripe down the trunk, top, and hood) and all that was covered with a candy gold to turn the colors the green shades you see ......... light first, dark second, and oversprays last.

 

 

 

2) When spraying multi colors, try to start at one end of the car and work to the other. And be patient, these types of paint jobs can take days to accomplish.

      The Dunn & Reath dragster below, and the K-Sentials Nascar were both painted from the nose to the tail.

And here are a couple of examples of what John Pattison can do with an airbrush ........ he's truly a master

So pile in, have fun, and we'll be looking for some postings to show us your achievements.

 

John

Edited January 4, 2018 by Old Coyote

[MarkJ]

6 hours ago, Old Coyote said:

Joe, another thing you will need if you use Model Car World lacquers is a good quality acrylic lacquer thinner. You don't need it as a thinner, as MCW lacquers come pre-thinned and ready to shoot. But you will need to use it to clean your airbrush. Leon Tefft at Cobracolors suggested that I use PPG Duracryl DTL 876. I have used it for years with great results. You can get it at most auto paint stores. I can't stress enough the need to thoroughly clean your airbrush internals immediately after you finish spraying (and externals if necessary) to keep it working properly.

Multi colors and fades just take time and practice. And one of the biggest rules I had to learn is to be patient, don't rush a paint job. That K-Sentials paint job took 10 days to accomplish, giving the Testors enamels time to dry between maskings and sprayings. But the results can be well worth it.

A couple of things that a great airbrush friend of mine, John Pattison of Albuquerque, NM) taught me are:

1) when spraying multi colors, try to spray the lighter color first and the darker color last

Example ...... the Dunn & Reath funny car is actually two shades of blue (light on top and dark along the bottom and the faded stripe down the trunk, top, and hood) and all that was covered with a candy gold to turn the colors the green shades you see ......... light first, dark second, and oversprays last.

 

 

 

2) When spraying multi colors, try to start at one end of the car and work to the other. And be patient, these types of paint jobs can take days to accomplish.

      The Dunn & Reath dragster below, and the K-Sentials Nascar were both painted from the nose to the tail.

And here are a couple of examples of what John Pattison can do with an airbrush ........ he's truly a master

So pile in, have fun, and we'll be looking for some postings to show us your achievements.

 

John

Wow John. You are truly  a master of the air brush. Those fades and multicolored builds are amazing as always. And Mr Pattison is also a master of the craft.