Joining the Ranks

[SnakEyez151]

Today I picked up an airbrush setup. I've got a Paasche "H Set" and a Paasche "D100" compressor.

I've never used an airbrush before. I painted my first body using Pactra laquer "made for RC" paint and was very disappointed. I wish I'd seen Lessen's thread (almost 2 yrs old) before I bought the paint. It cobwebbed up like crazy on me.. That, and the hobby shop was out of liquid mask so I tried using 1/4 tape to tape areas off. I didnt' know to thin it out either. Well, first times good for learning, I know better now!

I do have a question... Can I even use acryl paint? My compressor only puts out 20psi. I've only been lookin a little bit now, but I've seen 35+PSI for the acryl, and 15-25 for Laquer. I'm gonna read up on the beginner guides, maybe I'll get the rest of my answers from there. Now to find enough stickers to cover up the terrible paint job!

Mike

 

[Candyman]

You should be able to shoot acryl even at those low pressures. One thing to do is to thin the paint. Pactra Acryl is pretty thin in the jar so you might not need to. Faskolor is like paste sometimes. Thin it with some water or windshield washer fluid. Then it will spray nicely at low pressures.
And practice! Get some 2 liter soda bottles and cut them lengthwise as practice pads. Or (like I did) get a 24x24 piece of plexiglass. If you're using the acryl paints, you can just wash it off after you practice. If you're using enamel, stick with the soda bottle and just toss them when you're done.

 

[NCNitro]

Use Pactra Acryl! It is imo far superior to Parma paint which Candyman already mentioned is like glue. Parma needs to be shot at about 25-35 psi, but Pactra Acryl shoots nicely out of the bottle at about 15-20 psi, so that should work fine with your compressor.

I also use a sheet of lexan to practice on, you can pick up a piece at Home Depot or Lowes fairly cheap. And like Candyman mentioned, if you are practicing with acrylics you can just wash it off and try again.

 

[SnakEyez151]

Sweet! I'm glad to hear that I can use the Acrylic paint w/ my compressor! After reading the "tech and tips" article I was disappointed to find out the 20psi my compressor put out wasn't enough.

If I use the pactra acrylic paint, do I use the small #1 tip? Or still use the medium #3? My kit came with a 1, 3 and 5. I put on the medium size first off assuming I needed to use that for RC paint regardless, I could be wrong (let me know?) From what I read in the manual, the tips were for thinner/thicker paint... it didn't mention about spraying a finer line. Any chance that it would? or does that come in another adjustment? My finest line was still about 3/16" thick... it just sprayed less paint.

Well, Thanks for your responses!

Mike

 

[SnakEyez151]

So after pickin up a couple paints, and a can of lacquer thinner - I found some Pactra Acryl paint at the hobby shop I was sure wouldn't have any.I just stopped by there to pick up an MLST body (cheaper to learn to paint on then an MT body) and a quick detour by the paint stand and much to my surprise, a the very bottom, with the model and airplane paints - Pactra Acryl! (Pactra "For RCs" is in another section of the store,all by itself)

Ok, to the point of my post. I just wanted to clarify before I get into this. To clean my airbrush, jars and whatnot, goin from paint to paint - I just need to run it through water/window cleaner or do I need to use somethin else? Another thing, I wasn't sure if as a final coat I could just use anything, or if I needed the sealer, so I picked up a bottle of that to be on teh safe side. Is it a "Need to" or a "Should do" thing?

And finally - nobody had Bob Dively's liquid mask. However, a shop did have Hobbico's Liquid Mask (RCTech.net says this is an excellent product) so I picked up a 3oz bottle. Is this brush on-only? Or are best results FROM brush-on coats? If I do use the airbrush, should I thin it with anything - water or otherwise?

Thanks guys!

Mike

 

[4u2nv]

I wouldnt suggest spraying the liquid mask. Its messy in the gun and you get better results from brushing on. You will need to apply a bunch of thin coats of the mask. I usually do anywhere from 6-8 thin coats. The thicker it is, the easier it is to remove. To thin it gets to be a pain.

As far as cleaning the air brush, I take mine all apart, and clean it with a wooden toothpick (In the nooks and crannys) and a tooth brush on the other stuff. Just with soap and water. The better you clean your gun, the better it will paint and longer it will last. If you skimp on cleaning it well ONE time, the guns never seem to work the same. At least for me. So when it comes to cleaning, take your time and do a good job.

As far as the "Sealer", everyone usually uses a backing color. I personally dont use any special kind of paint, but I know there is backer paints out there. I havnt had any problems with just using normal paint. (I use Faskolor though. I personally like that the best)

 

[SnakEyez151]

Ok, thanks. Toothpick-tip is a good idea. I cleaned my airbrush with a q-tip but I'm sure I didn't get it 100% clean... With the "Sealer/Isolator" i wasn't sure if it would be different w/ the acrylic paints. I used lacquer last time and did a final back in white. Usually I do the same, but with the spray cans.

Thanks!
Mike