large scale Large Scale, Paint, airbrush size

[Jon Haigwood]

For those that paint LARGE SCALE, what size airbrush (or spray gun) do you recommend  ?

[robdebie]

Watch this video, you'll be impressed!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lCKZ_fo4eW0

I bought a Paasche H after seeing this, and it gives me identical results. Here are some tests with all enamel brands that I had in stock. No polishing, no clear coat, one paint session.

Rob

[Jon Haigwood]

1 hour ago, robdebie said:

Watch this video, you'll be impressed!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lCKZ_fo4eW0

I bought a Paasche H after seeing this, and it gives me identical results. Here are some tests with all enamel brands that I had in stock. No polishing, no clear coat, one paint session.

Rob

Very good info there. I have 2 Iwatas , NEO & Eclipse, 2 Badger Patriots and a Passche H with a #3 tip. I normal use MCW lacquer or Createx Candy20 on 1/2th cars. My thoughts are with the larger paint surfaces do I need to use something larger ?  

[Bugatti Fan]

I have just a couple of very old Badgers that have served me well for goodness knows how many years.

it's not so much what airbrush you have, but getting the nozzle and needle right for the viscosity of paint being used.

I tend to whack on paint straight from aerosols too with OK results.

Aight

[Dave G.]

Paasche H #5 tip with enamel or Createx for me too, with large scale. Depends what the model is and just how big your Large Scale means.. On some old vintage cars in 1/16th, the body parts have no more surface area than 1/24th in a more solid body form. They're all chopped up area coverage. I've used a Badger with .25 tip on some of those. Thinner ratio and pressure are key, get those right ( if your compressor can keep up with an opened up H #5 at 26-30 psi) and you can back up to where you get 2-3" swaths on each pass. And it will level right out. Really it becomes a no brainer once dialed in ( thinking enamel here), you can't put it on wrong. Createx you need to flash off each coat, start with mist coat and progressively heavier coats. Otherwise same thing. Createx also needs clear coated and a buffing.

That Candy 2o comes out looking gorgeous ( just my opinion) ! And the enamels give a very classic era look ( again IMO).

Edited Thursday at 12:30 PM by Dave G.

[NOBLNG]

11 hours ago, Jon Haigwood said:

Very good info there. I have 2 Iwatas , NEO & Eclipse, 2 Badger Patriots and a Passche H with a #3 tip. I normal use MCW lacquer or Createx Candy20 on 1/2th cars. My thoughts are with the larger paint surfaces do I need to use something larger ?  

Get a #5 needle and tip for the Paasche H and you should be good for larger scales. Paasche also has 1oz. and 3oz. bottles for the H which hold a lot more paint than the the cup does when doing those large jobs.

[mcs1056]

I remember viewing a YouTube video of a guy building a large scale USS Iowa kit. He was concerned about painting the hull, so he bought a mini spray gun. Barbatos Rex tests a cheap one in he video below. I have a detail gun for painting 1:1s that work well for that purpose, though I've not tried it on a model kit. I also have a gun mini gun that came with a Temu order. I haven't used it yet, though. 

 

[Shark]

I have used a similar gun to the one in the last post, from Harbor Freight. It has a smaller cup mounted directly over the gun. Works great on larger stuff and I imagine you could paint 1/25 with it when you crank the pressure and volume down. I use a lot of automotive finishes for my paint jobs.

[Dpate]

PS-290 $100 from spraygunner.  

[Dave G.]

I have an LVLP 2 gun kit. The smaller gun is a touch up gun. But what's nice about LVLP ( low volume low pressure) is the air settings and cfm requirements are much lower. The touch up gun in particular can be used from mid 20psi to about 40 psi, depending on the paint mix. Same as in the video above, which that one must be hvlp that it requires 50 psi, but the control features are the same, and mine is top feed. It's made by Spray-It, all nice shiny aluminum, not anodized. Plastic top feed cups.

There is a screen where the cup screws in, but if you pre strain your paints you can pluck that out of there, as it's a bit fine.