FujimiLover Posted March 17, 2009 Share Posted March 17, 2009 Hey again, it's me. Got another question for you all. How many of you have built a paint booth, and what do you use to keep it dust free? As I dont' paint that often, I usually paint outside and it's a pain trying to keep the model clean from dust particles and peices of hair and lint. What's the best way to make a paint booth? Unfortunetly, my work bench is not facing a window, so I can't use that as an outlet. Got any suggestions? Pictures? Thank's! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
horsepoweraddict Posted March 20, 2009 Share Posted March 20, 2009 I don't have to big of a problem with dust. I spray my models on an enclosed deck with carboard laid down as long as it is at least around 40 degrees outside(I spray it quick and bring it inside unless it is around 70 degrees or higher then I will let it sit). I usually sweep the area clean and let the dust settle for a while before I spray. My personal opinion is tacking your model with a tack cloth really helps out with keeping it clean from dust and also the amount of distance you spray your paint from the model. I always use rattle cans and I usually spray fairly close with quick swift passes. The only time I spray farther away is when I sand the clear and put on a dry coat of clear on it so it doesn't run let it flash and then spray a wet coat. You could probably do this in a garage. I look at it this way you could be the best painter in the world with the best facilities but without proper paint prep your paint jobs aren't gonna turn out. Paint prep is the most important step in building any car because the paint is what everybody notices. Personally I wouldn't spend three to four hundred dollars on a paint booth for building model cars, but hey thats my opinion what do I know, do whatever you want. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roadhawg Posted March 20, 2009 Share Posted March 20, 2009 I don't have to big of a problem with dust. I spray my models on an enclosed deck with carboard laid down as long as it is at least around 40 degrees outside(I spray it quick and bring it inside unless it is around 70 degrees or higher then I will let it sit). I usually sweep the area clean and let the dust settle for a while before I spray. My personal opinion is tacking your model with a tack cloth really helps out with keeping it clean from dust and also the amount of distance you spray your paint from the model. I always use rattle cans and I usually spray fairly close with quick swift passes. The only time I spray farther away is when I sand the clear and put on a dry coat of clear on it so it doesn't run let it flash and then spray a wet coat. You could probably do this in a garage. I look at it this way you could be the best painter in the world with the best facilities but without proper paint prep your paint jobs aren't gonna turn out. Paint prep is the most important step in building any car because the paint is what everybody notices. Personally I wouldn't spend three to four hundred dollars on a paint booth for building model cars, but hey thats my opinion what do I know, do whatever you want. Excellent advice here! Also keep in mind that most dust doesn't come from the air....it come from the painter himself! Don't wear flannel or anything when painting, and minimize your movements so as to not stir up dust. A lot of real car painters used to lightly wet down the floor when they sprayed, to keep dust down. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FujimiLover Posted March 20, 2009 Author Share Posted March 20, 2009 Excellent advice here! Also keep in mind that most dust doesn't come from the air....it come from the painter himself! Don't wear flannel or anything when painting, and minimize your movements so as to not stir up dust. A lot of real car painters used to lightly wet down the floor when they sprayed, to keep dust down. Love your avatar, I'm a BIG, BIG, BIG Airwolf fan myselfe and that's what got me into RC helicopters. You say dont' wear anything when painting? So you paint in your birthday suit then? LOL! That is true, that we are our worst enemy when it comes to painting. Our own dust, our own body hair, et'c. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jantrix Posted March 20, 2009 Share Posted March 20, 2009 I build my paint booth with a door. Finish a coat- gently close door. Wait fifteen minutes. Next coat, close door. I realize it's highly technical process, but when you get the hang of it, it seems to work well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LOBBS Posted March 20, 2009 Share Posted March 20, 2009 My wife goes through a ton of Shout spray doing the kiddos clothes. I'll occasionally steal an empty from her and refill it with water. About 10-15 minutes before I'm ready to paint, I mist down the inside of my paint booth. I got the idea from a buddy of mine that worked on the re-paint line at GM who preferred to work in a wet booth. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FujimiLover Posted March 20, 2009 Author Share Posted March 20, 2009 The wet booth makes sence in a way as it keeps the dust down, but I can't imagine the moist be good for the paint? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roadhawg Posted March 20, 2009 Share Posted March 20, 2009 So you paint in your birthday suit then? LOL! Oh, man....that would be wrong on soooooooo many levels! LOLOL! Plus, the neighbors would have me arrested for visual pollution. I'm a BIG, BIG, BIG Airwolf fan myselfe Dude, I could talk Airwolf with ya all day! I'm planning on doing a photo-tutorial soon on another site on building a ACCURATE 1/48 Airwolf. Anyway, about the clothes, just don't wear anything like flannel, that attracts a lot of dust. Real car painters wear lint-free paint suits (No, not PANT-suits......PAINT-suits) because they've learned that most dust comes from their clothing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrObsessive Posted March 20, 2009 Share Posted March 20, 2009 Keeping pets (especially cats) away from your paint area will go a long way towards a dust/frustration free painting environment. My dual tank compressor is the perfect cat repellent........as soon as I turn it on, my cats are practically tripping over themselves to get out of the room! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FujimiLover Posted March 20, 2009 Author Share Posted March 20, 2009 (edited) oh wow, I found another Airwolf nut on a model "CAR" forum, sweeeet. I have three Airwolf RC's, and Aoshima's beautifully detailed 1/48 scale die-cast model. Wait a minute, we're getting off topic here, but since I started this thread anyway, I can point it in any direction I want to right? Anyway, I've got a big I guess they call it 30-size Airwolf from Century useing their Hawlk mechanics in one of their fuselages. Mine was purchased at a hobby shop in Utah that was an ugly stinky gas-powered job with an ugly camoflauge paint scheme that was horrible and no where near anything like what we saw in the show. So, my Dad converted it to electric useing a big brushless motor, and we have a local full-scale airplane/car body shop man who did a gorgeous repaint on my Airwolf's fuselage in the proper dark metallic brown/white paint scheme. If anybody wants to know, Airwolf was actually a dark 80's brown, NOT BLACK! We all see black cause that's what it look's like in the show, but it's really brown. I've seen a replica of the real one at a helicopter museum in Pigeon Forge Tennessee. WOW What a sight. Anyway, second Airwolf is a highly modified Align Trex450XL with a Heli-Artist Airwolf fuselage that we bought back from our trip to London last year. My third Airwolf is a Walkera 54Q3 Co-axial Airwolf with a beautifully detailed fuselage that I absolutely love, but unfortunetly the mechanics are poop and not worth much time. I'm tempted to put the fuselgae on another helicopter that's ton's better but I dont' know how to do that kind of work. Anyway, thank's for the tips and I love that paint booth! Is it necessary to have a window for air-circulation in a custom paint booth? My workbench is located near a window, but I'm not facing the window or near enough that I can make the window work for me. So that's in total four Airwolf model's, plus three more Airwolf fuselages waiting for some future project. Being on the subject I just gotta show off my collection here. We lovingly call this the "Wolf-pack". Edited March 20, 2009 by FujimiLover Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FujimiLover Posted March 20, 2009 Author Share Posted March 20, 2009 If I had this awesome basement all to myselfe, I would convert Dad's computer station here to my model station. You can see in the photo a window in the corner. This is more like a sun-light window than anything else as it's a few feet underground and all you see is skylight. As you can tell, this is a useless window for looking out, but it does provide great lighting. This look's like it would make an ideal custom paint booth. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MR BIGGS Posted March 20, 2009 Share Posted March 20, 2009 What I have in my work shop are 2 microwave's that do not work, they are the best thing for not letting any dust get on your paint job. I paint in my booth then transfer them to the microwave shut the door and let them dry dust free. Never had a problem since. I have one of those fancy paint booths but they let dust in no matter how hard you try to keep it out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FujimiLover Posted March 20, 2009 Author Share Posted March 20, 2009 Does the microwave have one of those turn-tables? Maybe you can modify THAT into a paint booth? Some how rig it up so you can have the turntable work as you spray perhaps? Then when finished, you just simply close the door to let dry? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GHoneycutt Posted March 20, 2009 Share Posted March 20, 2009 I like to hang the bodies upside down after painting, helps keep falling dust from settling on them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roadhawg Posted March 20, 2009 Share Posted March 20, 2009 If anybody wants to know, Airwolf was actually a dark 80's brown, NOT BLACK! We all see black cause that's what it look's like in the show, but it's really brown. I've seen a replica of the real one at a helicopter museum in Pigeon Forge Tennessee. WOW What a sight. Nice collection you have there. Actually, the proper color is Dupont Imron Phantom Grey, fleet code 5031. Its a dark grey that throws off a greeninsh-brownish tint when light hits it. That particular museum in Pigeon Forge is no longer in business. The last I heard, about a month ago, was the Lady is being stored at another museum at the Sevierville TN airport....and she's on the ground this time. She has been on Ebay a couple of times, but the winning bidders turned out to be "tirekickers". By the way, the replica was built in Dawsonville GA by a guy that restores AMC musclecars. We now return to our regularly scheduled topic.............. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Foxer Posted March 20, 2009 Share Posted March 20, 2009 (edited) My paint booth has doors: that's more like a room addition than a mere paint booth!! Edited March 20, 2009 by Foxer Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roadhawg Posted March 20, 2009 Share Posted March 20, 2009 What I have in my work shop are 2 microwave's that do not work, they are the best thing for not letting any dust get on your paint job. Thats a really good idea. Leave it to modelers to come up with new ideas for "recycling"! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Foxer Posted March 20, 2009 Share Posted March 20, 2009 my paint booth is in the basement and the fan ducts exit through the first floor band joists. You have a finished basement there, Fuji, but I expect the floor should be above grade,, even if just barely. You may need to run up through the finished ceiling and take a turn just below the first floor floor boards to a typical clothes dryer outlet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FujimiLover Posted March 20, 2009 Author Share Posted March 20, 2009 Nice collection you have there. Actually, the proper color is Dupont Imron Phantom Grey, fleet code 5031. Its a dark grey that throws off a greeninsh-brownish tint when light hits it. That particular museum in Pigeon Forge is no longer in business. The last I heard, about a month ago, was the Lady is being stored at another museum at the Sevierville TN airport....and she's on the ground this time. She has been on Ebay a couple of times, but the winning bidders turned out to be "tirekickers". By the way, the replica was built in Dawsonville GA by a guy that restores AMC musclecars. We now return to our regularly scheduled topic.............. That's right, I remember the guy at the Pigeon museum saying it was a grey, but it does look brown and my big model represents it well. My smaller Co-axial Airwolf from Walkera I thin khas the darnest closest color possible. Alot of Airwolf toy's are simply black or even black metallic as the case with my Aoshima die-cast. Yes, back to our regularly schedueled topic. The window I pictured there is a skylight so it is an opening. But, as it does not really "SHOW" anything, it would make for a great booth I think..................... But, since I still live with Dad, I'm stuck with painting outside, and bringing the model in as quickly as I can "without dropping it!" so as to let it dry without getting more dust on it. What sucks is when your color coat is all nice and perfect, it's usallly the clear coat that get's the hair particles and dust stuck to it! :~ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jbird Posted March 24, 2009 Share Posted March 24, 2009 New guy here seen this post and had an idia. I have been in the auto body bis for 20 years. I have designed several paint booths over the years and thought it would be fun to do. I dont have the time to build one but I can sketch up some plans. What I have in mind is a presurized heated down draft booth. A presurized booth will ensure that the only dirt you get in your paint job is from the dirt already inside the booth.(just keep it clean). No other dirt can make it in. I think I have a cheap way to build it depending on the size you make it. If any one is intrested I will do the plans with google sketchup its a free program any one can get. It is a cheesy 3d modeling prog. so if any one is interested i will start working on it. it might take a few days for me to get it done. I would like to say thanks to all you for the good idias on this sight. I have decided to do a few models of the great cars I have worked on over the years and the tips and tricks stuff on this sight has some great stuff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Danger Posted April 28, 2009 Share Posted April 28, 2009 Although my paint booth isn't as big as some others it seems to work pretty good. I have the suction on the back wall via a stove exhaust. It is piped out a window. One of the main differences in mine is the two piece clear plexi-glass door. I have it hinged at the top and the middle. I usually paint with the bottom pane up and the top pane down. Does that make sense? This allows my hands to work inside, with two layers of clear to lok through protecting my eyes. When finished painting I lower the glass all the way to prevent dust from floating in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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