Some Airbrush Questions

[Dracomax]

So, I finally took the plunge and bought an Airbrush/compressor a bit ago. I've wanted one for the ability to do better transistions, and the espoused greater ease of transparency control for a while, and I hope to be able to gain finer control over it than with a paintbrush. (I also plan to use it for larger scale painting, but that is probably a bit later in the game.)

 

I got this model:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B006FQCBZK/ref=oh_details_o05_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

because it was cheap and seemed like it would be a decent one to learn with.

 

However, the documentation it came with left a bit to be desired in regard to several aspects, and I am at a loss as to how to proceed.

 

I know I need The following:

 

1. Some sort of cleaner/cleaning kit
2. New Paints and/or thinner
3. Ventilation
4. a mask

 

The problem is that I don't necessarily know which is the best value for my money with each of these.

 

Keeping in mind that money is an object, and probably the most important one, I could use some advice on which to get/make, and how to do it.

 

Paint: I would like something that will work well with waterbased paints, as I mostly have reaper/citadel paints, and would like to be able to mix hand and air painting. At minimum, I need a relatively cheap basic set:Red, Green, Black, Blue, Yellow WHite, purple, orange, and prime. WHat is going to give me the best value for my money?

 

Also, can I use a thinner with the water-based paints I have, or should I keep them away from the airbrush? I know that water is the enemy....

 

With the previous in mind, what type of cleaner should I get? The set I got recommended putting cleaner through before I did anything else to remove any loose manufacturing bits, and to practice control. But without knowing what type of paint, I'm not sure what type of cleaner I should get. or will general airbrush cleaner work for everything?

 

I generally work in an area with fairly poor venitllation. I have heard of cheap to build/procure vent boxes that would work, but I'm not sure where to find them...

 

and as for a mask, Will the cheap masks like this work, or do I need something a bit more heavy duty? Also, I wear glasses. Should I get some sort of safety goggles?

 

Am I missing anything else I should have?

 

Also, can you point me towards any good tutorials/books? I know there was thread with a bunch of these, but I can't seem to find it...

 

Thanks!

 

[Fenton Crack]

I have a Master as a back up airbrush, they are basically modeled on the corresponding Iwata models. It should work fine for you, even though they can be a bit finicky. The good news is that replacement parts are very cheap, and can be easily had from TCP Global.

Using pre-thinned paints can be good when starting out, like Badger Minitaire or Vallejo Air Color, but they are more expensive. You can use any other acrylic paint if thinned properly.

Water works to thin, but I would really recommend Vallejo's airbrush acrylic thinner, even if not using their paints it works great. Otherwise, a mixture if Distilled water, matte medium, and flow enhancer works well.

There are several airbrush cleaning fluids, they are all fine (I have used Iwata's the most), but I usually just use 2/3 water isopropyl mix to clean it out. Get an airbrush cleaning set of brushes and some needle lube and you are all set.

Ventilation and a mask are more important when shooting enamel or solvent based paints due to huffing the volatile organics, but breathing in the atomized acrylic paint is not good either, so a mask is recommended. I rarely use my mask, but that does not mean I shouldn't be.

[Fenton Crack]

I should add that Reaper or any other dropper bottle paint should work no problem if thinned, but be careful with GW, as paint in pots tends to get crumblies in from dried paint falling from the edge and lid that can cause frustrating clogs.

[rover1013]

I also picked up a master airbrush in the kit with my compressor to go along with my badger patriot 105 figuring it would be good to learn with it and if I break it/screw it up, no harm no foul.  I used it for maybe 2 days before it got super finicky and all the cleaning in the world didn't seem to help (they also have some irritating bits when disassembling, particularly the trigger mechanisms).  Switching over to the 105 was easily the best thing I did. The trigger action is actually controllable and very smooth, it cleans easier and comes apart and reassembles better, switching needle sizes with it is a quick process and everything seems to shoot through it better as well. If you're set on sticking it out with the master airbrushes... good luck.

 

Citadel paint is notoriously difficult to get to shoot properly. It's possible with just the right thinning (usually water is best), but more often than not what happens is that it will shoot for 10 seconds and dry/clog up the works or it will be so watery that you're spraying a wash.  It's generally just not worth the headache.  I haven't shot any of my reaper paints and primarily shoot vallejo game color because I decided to just invest in the full range for versatility.  vallejo model air shoots great (as advertised) and I do often use those primers for convenience.  I've also heard great things about minitaire, but I haven't yet used it.

 

With everything but citadel, I usually thin with Les Bursley's approximate homebrew for vallejo airbrush thinner (he has a video, awesomepaintjob). It's basically 75% Matte Medium, 25% Water (up to the bottle curve) and then top off with flow aid.  It works well and I keep a separate bottle with some slo-dry incorporated (essentially knocking 15% off the matte medium and replacing that with slo-dry) in case I get a paint that likes to dry out too quickly.  I've also briefly tried some Isopropyl Alchol/Slo-Dry mixes (with water or matte medium) and they seem to produce decent results as well but I still primarily use my old standard.  It's important to note that while Alcohol can give some great results as a thinner, it makes everything dry out very quickly (which is why the slo-dry is so involved).

 

For a mask, you should ideally use something rated for organic chemicals. I use:

http://www.amazon.com/3M-6000-Series-Half-Respirator/dp/B001CLL8Y8/ref=pd_sim_hi_7?ie=UTF8&refRID=0V28D6WYF7QNVDR92HXZ

with these cartridges:

http://www.amazon.com/3M-Organic-Vapor-Cartridge-1-Pair/dp/B000XBKLLE/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1399311118&sr=8-4

 

As mentioned above, you should pick up some lubricant for the needle and trigger and if you haven't already, invest in some quick disconnects. They're totally worth it.

 

If you have a window available, this thing has worked wonders for me:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004ZH7RSM/ref=oh_details_o08_s01_i01?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

I live in an apartment so I definitely felt I needed something for ventilation and it's been worth every penny.

 

Not sure if there's much else I can add.  I really can't stress enough how much easier and better my learning experience was once I switched to a decent brush though. All the irritating things became so much easier to deal with and consequently left me with more time to actually use the thing

[Fenton Crack]

I would agree with Rover that the Patriot 105 is a great workhorse brush that's easy to clean and very durable and much harder harm inadvertedly, making it a great beginning airbrush.

The Iwata Revolution is another great double action brush to begin with, although not as easy to clean or work on as the 105.

Both brushes have pretty big needles, which is great starting out, and even necessary for laying down base colors quickly. If you are trying to lay down super fine lines you might want to eventually try a Badger Krome or Sotar 2020, but thinning you paint, dialing down your pressure, and getting in close will give you surprisingly fine lines from the 105.

I think it may be for liability purposes only, but I think Vallejo no longer recommends at least some of their colors, from their Game Color and Model Color lines, for airbrushing due to the chemical content of those colors (see their site for details) but I've continued to use the as such.