Paint Booths & Safe Ventilation?

[Casey]

No, you're only supposed to use water-based paints with that particular booth IIRC.

[forthlin]

That's what I was afraid of. Thanks.

[aurfalien]

Hi all,

I've been planning my first build of a some what modified Monogram Chaparral kit. To me color application is about as important as building the kit although this will be my first in over 40 years or so.

I'd like to avoid sprays and was thinking that a well primered base coat followed by say using a cloth to apply the color by blotting or wiping could be a substitute for spray. Much like a roller can be for spray.

Either that or a very fine wide brush.

Has any one tried this?

I don't really have the luxury to setup a spray area at this point. But if forced I can as it would be a huge pity to ruin a kits potential by improper paint application.

Let me know your thoughts.

[thatz4u]

I spray outside when conditions allow.

[Jantrix]

Man, I don't know anyone who does good paint jobs without spray cans or airbrushing. I have a paint booth now but for decades a cardboard box in the driveway was my painting location.

[Ramfins59]

Brush painting will usually leave brush stroke marks in the paint and will also give you a thicker coat which might cover scripts and/or emblems. Using a cloth to apply paint will give you uneven, blotchy paint coverage.

As Al suggested above, spray your models outside when it's not windy, rainy or humid. Depending on what paint you are using, be sure to first spray on a good primer coat after you have prepped the body and other parts to be painted. You can brush paint smaller parts like engine or chassis parts.

Good luck with your project.

[Dan Helferich]

Back when I first came back to the hobby in the late '80's there was a guy named Brian Widdows who did some amazing brush paint jobs. But, he's the only one and I have no idea what his technique was.

[StevenGuthmiller]

My bet would be that it's possible to do a pretty good job brush painting. Just plan on doing a lot of sanding & polishing!! Steve

[southpier]

you'll want to spray. some brands are more forgiving than others. you might want to build a couple of other kits which offer less pressure so you can get the hang of it before trying to paint an important build.

good to be back, eh? there's been a LOT of changes in the hobby.

[aurfalien]

Southpier, there seems to have been MANY changes. Makes me wished I had kept my 1/12 Tamiya Jackie Stewart ELF car. Some adult took it away and gave me Legos instead. Something about the glue being a potential issue

[Snake45]

I have a model airplane friends who's a dedicated brush-painter who recently did a couple model cars that way and they came out great, but I would NOT recommend it to anyone else.

IMHO, you'd be much better off just polishing that Monogram Chapparal's white plastic than trying to get white paint on it any way but spraying. White is a notoriously difficult color to do, even spraying. You'll definitely be fighting an uphill battle trying to do it the way you suggest.

[bobthehobbyguy]

I've heard of a technique using brush paint. The trick is what you think it with. I believe to get a smooth finish you what the paint to dry slowly so it can level out. Unfortunately I'm not sure what to use to thin it.

edit this would be for enamels..

Edited November 19, 2014 by bobthehobbyguy

[Ace-Garageguy]

Just spray it.

You're NOT going to get a spray-quality finish without a lot of time consuming trial and error, plus even more sanding and polishing on the back end. Then you have re-coat issues with lacquer (lacquer softens itself and can make a gooey mess when brushed over) and enamel (enamel has a recoat-window, where you HAVE to recoat it withing a limited period of time, or let it dry for a LONG time).

Just spray it.

[aurfalien]

Thank you very much for all the responses.

So, spray it is!

[jbwelda]

also, you know the brand name Tamiya. buy their spray can paint. you will not regret it.

I do agree though that you could do a decent job with a brush, either by applying it incredibly smoothly somehow, or more likely, by building up a good thickness of paint and then using sand paper on down into an abrasive polishing kit. but its going to be a lot of work and very hard to do in the corners and other tight places.

like Bill above says: spray it.

jb

[Art Anderson]

Years, now decades ago, model paints could be used to get very nice paintjobs by hand-brushing. This was because the early hobby paints were essentially what used to be called "4-hour" enamel, meaning that they took about 3-4 hours to finally dry to a tacky (sticky) surface, and dried to the touch overnight. That changed when Testors announced their "PLA" series of hobby paint in the now-familiar 1/4 oz square bottles.. PLA stood for their addition of a "plasticizer" to their paint which caused it to dry to the touch in a very short time, but that severely limited "flow-out".

"Flow out" is what paints do once applied, it's what allows the fine droplets of spray paint to come together in a smooth surface, for example. Without that ability, brushed paint will tend to retain the brush stroke effect (the thicker and thinner areas of paint which are inevitable when applied by a brush). Testors's competitor in the hobby market, Pactra, didn't start adding any sort of quick-setting component to their line of 'Namel hobby paints until the late 1960's or so.

Today, about the only enamel paint close to readily available in brushable form that will flow out smoothly is the brand "One Shot", which is a line of enamel paints formulated for those signwriters who still practice the art of hand-painted, hand-lettered signage, and is used as well for custom, hand-created pin-striping on cars and other surfaces. This enamel paint takes the seemingly forever time to dry to the touch, and ultimately dry "click-hard" but with the proper wider flat brushes, it can be used to apply quite smooth paintjobs on model cars.

Art

[aurfalien]

Wow Art, thank you very much for that in depth. Much appreciated.

Looks like One Shot also has hardeners which reduce dry time and reducers which thin it. Seems like very cool stuff, plus they mention mixing to get a particular color in mind. I would venture that this long dry time allows for a very hard durable result.

Edited November 21, 2014 by aurfalien

[southpier]

the hurdle for me brush painting was getting the correct brush. took forever getting those darn squirrels holding still long enough to pluck their tail hairs.

[jdean]

well production has stoped on my 36 ford coupe, I dont have a paint booth and usally do my rattle can spraying out doors, but right mow there is a slight problem with temperature LOL . doesnt any booth have to pull the spray fumes outside, which means a hole of somekind to go outside ? I was looking at this one on amazon but where does the outlet go ?http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004ZH7RSM/ref=asc_df_B004ZH7RSM3413252?smid=A2GUMCXR7HBXM2&tag=nextagmp-20&link

I know this may sound like a dumb question but I ask anyway

Ronnie

[Art Anderson]

Ronnie,

An advantage of any spray booth will be if it can push the vapors (the smell) out of your house. If you think of it, your clothes dryer more than likely has an exterior vent to it, particularly if it's a gas dryer, if for no other reason than to eliminate the carbon monoxide from the air you breathe indoors.

Now, an exterior vent need not require a hole saw to cut through the side of your house. I use a plywood panel, cut to fit in the sash window in my model room (same width as the window frame, and it gets "trapped" between the window sill and the bottom of the window sash), with a hole cut in it for a 4" clothes dryer vent, which is connected to the back of my spray booth by means of an ordinary dryer hose. It uses ordinary furnace filters to catch the overspray from either rattle cans or my airbrush.

The result is: No paint fumes inside (my apartment is the upstairs of a house, with two other apartments downstairs, all on the same common HVAC system) and no overspray paint "dust" either.

Art

[jdean]

thanks Art, that sounds easy enough ,did you make yor booth, and do you know if the rattle can fumes would be flammable ? I use them a lot on car bodys instead of my airbrush

Ronnie

[Aaronw]

The outlet is designed to go out the window. Open the window a crack, stick the end of the vent hose in there, close the window down on the narrow bit at the end to hold it in place.

On my booth I did something similar to Art, I have side sliding windows in my hobby room so I got a 12" board the same height as the window opening and mounted an exhaust vent in it. Painted the board and vent a dark color similar to the house siding and closed the window tight against it. I ran some weather strip and duct tape along the edges to keep drafts out. Works great and no damage to the house (not that we ever plan to move, but I really didn't want to put a hole through the wall).

[Aaronw]

thanks Art, that sounds easy enough ,did you make yor booth, and do you know if the rattle can fumes would be flammable ? I use them a lot on car bodys instead of my airbrush

Ronnie

Art has one of the Pace booths.

http://pacepaintbooths.com/pace/

[Art Anderson]

thanks Art, that sounds easy enough ,did you make yor booth, and do you know if the rattle can fumes would be flammable ? I use them a lot on car bodys instead of my airbrush

Ronnie

Ronnie,

Ever since the banning of CFC's about 30 years ago, aerosol cans have used either butane or propane as a propellant! Both are highly flammable.

Art

[le_boscaiolo]

Hi all,

I have just started scale modelling and have one last question to cover that being, is this setup sufficient and safe? Keeping in mind that it is in a bedroom. I couldn't justify the monetary expense of a painting booth and seeing as I'm using non toxic water based acrylics I don't think its needed.

I intend to use an airbrush as well as hand brushes to paint the model cars on the desk outlined below (obviously without everything in the way )

I also have a household fan on a stand to blow air across from the left out of the window that is approx 1.5m tall and has various settings. On top of this I will be using a 3M respirator throughout all stages as a precaution that I ordered and should receive very soon.

Opinions?

Secondly, here is the venting window, the blue line represents the maximum angle the window will open to. opinions?

Thirdly here are all the products I will be using if you need anymore info on each let me know

1. Mr.topcoat: Label states toxic. Should I use indoors with this setup and dry model outdoors?

2. Mr.primer surfacer 1000: Label again states toxic. Should I use indoors with this setup and dry model outdoors?

3. Mr cement deluxe: Label states use in well ventilated area. Would my setup suffice? and allow drying outdoors?

4. Gunze water based acrylic colour paints: Non toxic so at the moment I will paint indoors with my setup and dry outdoors.

5. Tamiya compound fine and course: Label states contains organic solvent so would my setup be ok to apply indoors and dry outdoors?

6. Microset Solvent: Again, seeing as its not being sprayed I believe the setup could handle it an then I could dry outdoors no?

Please correct me wherever I'm wrong and give your opinions, all would be greatly appreciated