air brushing virgin ???

[cowboysevens]

howdy yall, im gonna be doing my first airbrush job when i get back in states. ive never even seen it done before, it says to thin paint on the instructions but doesnt say mix ratio. so any ideas and tips will be greatly apreciated. i will have a white base with 3 stripes stacked ontop of another. looking forward to this paint job, thanks alot ; dennis

[RyanSilva]

The general rule of thumb with mixing paints is to get it like a milk consistency. Its really just a giant experiment hehe. Some shops sell premixed paints which are a easier way of airbrushing.

One of the biggest turnoffs to most folks who want to try airbrushing is getting the airpressure correct along with mix ratios.. just work at it and you will soon get the hang of it!

Edited May 12, 2010 by RyanSilva

[cowboysevens]

The general rule of thumb with mixing paints is to get it like a milk consistency. Its really just a giant experiment hehe. Some shops sell premixed paints which are a easier way of airbrushing.

One of the biggest turnoffs to most folks who want to try airbrushing is getting the airpressure correct along with mix ratios.. just work at it and you will soon get the hang of it!

hey ryan i seen that lil he he!! lol im nervous enouph about it, i will definately practice before i do the truck, im really concerned about the striping, and how to mask it. the stripes will be touching eachother, im worried bout bleeding and peeling paint off with the masking. has anybody tried the new frog "paint tape" on enamel yet?

dennis

[Wagoneer81]

One technique you can use to keep the paint from bleeding under the tape mask is this:

Once you get your base color laid down and your first set of stripes masked, shoot the first coat of the stripe using your base color. ( if you have a white base, mask your stripe, apply one coat of white to the stripe area and then start shooting your stripe color) The base color will bleed under the tape and seal the mask and your next color won't or shouldn't bleed under at all. If it does, touch-up will be minimal. Do this with your next color as well. Seal the masked edge with the color you are covering and then apply the stripe color. I've used this before and it works. If you're using an airbrush, your coats will be thin enough that the extra coat won't make any difference in the final appearance.

I did kind of a reverse to that with this Titan cab. I shot the white base and then masked the stripes. I shot one coat of white after I masked the stripes and after that tacked up, I shot the blue.

When I unmasked, I had two small areas on the door hinges to touch up with a brush and a bit of decanted white paint. I had virtually no bleed under.

As far as peeling paint off with tape, a Low-tack blue painters tape can work. If you have just regular masking tape, stick it to a clean, smooth surface such as a piece of glass, peel it away and THEN use it to mask your stripes. This will take some of the adhesive off the tape and make it a little less sticky. When you unmask, pull up a corner of the tape and pull it back along itself, horizontal to the masked surface. This will be gentler on the painted surface than if you simply pulled the tape straight up and off.

Hope these ideas help. If you have anymore questions, don't hesitate to PM or email me.

Edited May 12, 2010 by Wagoneer81

[cowboysevens]

hey wagoneer81, thanks that makes sence. i will practice that and after i get it figured out, or a lil more confident i should say, lol i will be painting when i get back into states some time the first weak or so of june. i told the wife she better figure out how to put pics on comp by the time i get back, so i will post pics of the project. thanks alot for the pointers. and by the way nice paint job on your jimmy.

dennis

[falcongeorge]

I find that when I am in the sweet spot with pressure/viscosity, the air brush gives off a certain sound, kind of a muted, low whistle. I can also see the pattern going on slightly liquid rather than dry. When I am laying down the final color coats, the paint is quite thin, and the pattern will be close to running.

[Jason]

As stated the pressures can be a bit tricky at times. I have found that around 30PSI works the best for me. I use an external pressure regulator. My compressor has one but i dont really trust its accuracy. You can play with it to get what you want. When i first started I used some old cardboard to practice. Like you i was kind of scared of it. Now, i love it the paint choices have quadrupled from whats available in a rattle can.

[cowboysevens]

thanks for the help yall, falcon im definately gonna get a listen for the sweet spot cause i do that alot with machines and what not and your right , when ya here it ya know its good lol. as far as my practiceing , ive got some sleepers i think ill test on cause i can always remove the paint from them, just so i know what its like to actually paint on the model before i totally mess my biuld up. lol glad to know i aint the only one that was nervous bout this jason, thanks.

dennis