I trying to decide if I want to invest in an airbrush or just use spray cans. I'm looking at the Badger 200-20, $60-65. Then you buy the little extra's, it starts to really add up, easily $150+ ( using my noisey cheap 2hp/2gal portable compressor to save costs). I have already built a spray booth/box.
Hi Jim:
Lots of modelers use spray cans with success but they can be tricky (the spray cans, not the modelers). Perhaps the biggest problem is that they put down a lot of paint quickly compared to an average hobby air brush. It's very easy to fill in the fine details and have paint pooling in the crevices. You have to maintain a proper distance and put down very light coats. There is also a lot of overspray. If you have a filter in your spray booth it can become clogged very quickly.
Air brushes have a learning curve too, but there are lots of tutorials on the net to help you through. The relative ease of controlling the amount of paint makes them a much better tool IMHO, and worth the investment. You can still put down too much paint with an air brush if you are not careful.
You know the old saying: "If you want to do good work you have to have good tools".
I have pretty much gotten away from using spray cans except for priming.
Dave
I'm just a dude with a bad back having a lot of fun with model trains, and finally building a layout!
Thanx Dave, makes sense. I did some searching on google and found simular answers. And I can atest to the over spray. I sprayed my track with rattle cans and I got more paint in the box I was using to spray in, than I did on the track.
I guess I'm lazy. I love the rattle can ease of use ( simple upsidedown nozzle cleaning ), but didnt really think about how I was going to keep the finer details of brickwork, ect., on an HO scale. One big concern is the size of my layout. Once I have built my dozen or so buildings, I'm pretty much done with painting. I buy RTR rolling stock and plan to weather with chaulks ( and use a dull coat made for chaulks ). I do have a couple model cars ( 1/24 scale ) and a few sailing boats I want to build one day, but who knows when I'll ever get to them. Just trying to consider cost's.
I use a brush most often and a spray can occaisionally. I found with the spray can it works best if you are not too close and use a sweeping motion. I also found that 2 light coats are better than 1 heavy coat.
Good luck
Paul
Jim, for your situation you might be further ahead to stick to spray cans. It doesn't sound like you are going to need a ton of colours (Canadian spelling eh!), and you are going to spend about the same amount for a bottle of paint as you will for a spray can. There is nothing that says you can't invest in an air brush further down the line if you find the spray cans too limiting.
I would suggest that before buying any more spray cans that you ask about which brands work better and which brands may cause problems. For example, a while ago I tried to use a can of Testors Model spray paint on a small Grandt Line box cab with very fine details. The paint came out way too fast, and despite me constantly telling myself to back off and use thin coats, the paint job was a mess. The small details were largely lost and the inside corners were full of paint, and yet the outside corners and the tops of the larger details were not covered sufficiently. I posted a question on the forum asking what I was doing wrong and had a few people respond that Testors spray cans were not the best. Adding to the problem was the fact that I was using yellow which is supposedly a difficult colour to get proper coverage with. However, when I re-painted with Polly Scale, using my air brush, coverage was no problem and the details were fully visible. (I guess that means I'm talking out of both sides of my mouth here.)
That is not a condemnation of all testors spray products. Their clear coat sprays work quite well.
Maybe others can chime in on what brands of spray cans work well for them, as well as any suggestions on how best to use them.
"One difference between pessimists and optimists is that while pessimists are more often right, optimists have far more fun."
Air Brushes need to be cleaned carefully.
LION will stick with his brushes and spray cans. Him also buys cheap disposable brushes.
ROAR
The Route of the Broadway Lion The Largest Subway Layout in North Dakota.
Here there be cats. LIONS with CAMERAS
Almost excusively an airbrush for model work. I will use a spray can to paint brick buildings (primer red) or to paint rail (cammo brown) or to do mock up buildings (black). Other than that all painting is done with an air brush. I use a Paasche air brush that's probably 25 years old and it takes maybe 10-15 minutes to clean it after each use. Not a big deal.
Dave H. Painted side goes up. My website : wnbranch.com
The only rattle cans that I use at all are dullcote. The spray pattern on a rattle can is just too wide and heavy for my satisfaction.(I am my own worst critic) I paint 99% of everything with an airbrush. I paint a very few, small details by hand, but only if I feel its not worth the masking time to spray it. I am definatly a 2 days to mask, 5 mins to spray kinda modeler. A lot of that has to do with having used an airbrush for almost 30 years though, both in several hobbies and as part of my profession.
I mostly agree with Dave, but have come to a differening conclusion. I have two compressors, 2 or 3 airbrushes, etc.
I've changed over to spray cans for most things, reserving the air brush for special projects that need fine control or custom mix paint.
Today's spray cans are much improved even over just a few years ago. Krylon in particular has a fine, controllable spray. Valspar is similar, but I have limited experience. Rustoleum isn't as fine a spray, but is usuable.
As with the airbrush, practice helps a bunch and avoids most of the issues with a little care. Don't practice on your best stuff, but you'll soon be painting it too with a little luck.
Mike Lehman
Urbana, IL
I've never cared much for spray cans for anything, and used brushes (good quality ones) for years. I was still using brushes when I began painting for a local hobbyshop, but the owner eventually convinced me to invest in an airbrush, saying it would make the job easier (I never had any complaints about the quality of the brush jobs). Well, the painting became easier once I learned how to use the airbrush (a Paasche VL), but it also required masking for multi-coloured jobs, something I hadn't needed to do using a brush, so there was not really any savings in time.
However, weathering with an airbrush is a lot easier than with a brush or a spray can for most types of weathering. Another advantage of airbrushes over cans is the ability to use any colour you want. About the only colour I've used straight out of the bottle is Floquil Grey Primer - everything else gets mixed, even when batch-painting boxcar red boxcars. I add a little red, or black, or whatever seems most appropriate, so the cars start out looking like they've been in service for a while - sort of pre-weathering.
Once the cars have been lettered, I take a bit of the last colour version used, then thin it 90-95% and overspray the cars - this immediately removes that "too new" look from the lettering.
Yeah, when you start buying the extras (mostly paint) the costs can rise. However, your colour choices are unlimited, as are your choices for the brands of paints you wish to use. I made my own spray booth using leftover plywood and Masonite, along with some aluminum siding angle stock and a few pop rivets. The fan is from an air hockey game. The only cash outlay was for filters - cheap fibreglass furnace filters - 11"x20" - cut in half. I've been using it, and the airbrush, for almost 35 years.
The old complaint about how difficult it is to clean the airbrush is, in my opinion, a lot of baloney. If you plan your painting carefully, the only time you need to clean it during painting is if you change paint types - from acrylics to lacquer-based, for example. For that, I do a full disassembly, (the same as when I'm finished painting) which takes only a couple of minutes: run about half a colour-cup of lacquer thinner through the brush, then take it apart, and slide a pipe cleaner, dipped in lacquer thinner, through all the passages. I use lacquer thinner for all cleaning regardless of paint type - it's reasonably cheap and works well. Toss the tip, aircap, etc. into the colour cup with a little thinner, then wipe them with a clean rag, and a little thinner on the rag will clean the needle.
If you're spraying multiple colours of the same paint type, start with the clear gloss, then semi-gloss (another plus for the airbrush is that gloss and flat clear coats can be mixed in whatever proportions you need to get an infinite variety of semi-gloss finishes - very useful for decalling, of course, but also before applying weathering - after all, that dirt on the prototype likely collected on what was originally a gloss or semi-gloss finish. I don't use this on freight cars unless they're meant to represent new or fairly new ones, but it's useful for locomotives and passenger equipment, and on vehicles, too.) Finish with the clear matte, then move on to colours - whites first, then yellows, then on to the darker colours - a little thinner through the brush between colour changes is all that's required.I never use the colour cup for anything but thinner - it's too small and too much bother to empty and re-clean each time you change colours. Instead, I clean and save empty paint bottles as the paint is used-up. That way, I can use them for custom-mixed colours, both for storage (most will last for months, if not years) and for use on the airbrush, as the Paasche's spray-bottle cap fits many paint manufacturers' bottles.
Another advange of an airbrush over spray cans is paint consumption: you can get a lot more mileage out of a bottle of Dullcote (and some lacquer thinner) than you can from a can of Dullcote - that's mainly because of the greater control offered by the airbrush - lighter passes and less overspray. And if there's a little paint left in the original bottle, it's still useable as long as it remains liquid. How many spray cans, with paint obviously still in them, have you had to toss because they won't spray?
I started with an old diaphragm-type compressor given to me by my brother-in-law, but now use a rotary compressor, which is perfectly suited to airbrush operation.
Wayne
If you are using flat paint, and spraying everything, then rattle cans are great, and I am very picky with my painting. That being said it is not for painting things that you separate with detail tape (can be done but the paint is too thick and can cause problems). I use rattle cans for basic brick, mass paintings of windows and doors, track (before any detailing) and generally the start color for most flat items, that will remain flat.
I have an airbrush but have found myself using rattle cans most of the time. All the pros and cons mentioned by others are all valid. I use rattle cans because they are instantly useable, no mixing, running a compressor, cleanning the air brush, and getting the mix/spray pattern just right.
I warm the rattle cans with a heat lamp. When you pick up the warmed can, the can will be warm. If you shake the can and you feel the can cooling, then the paint is not warmed up. CAUTION: do not over heat the can and paint. It could become a bomb. The paint should just be WARM.
The warmed up paint produces a finer spay. There is more over spray though, probably caused by the increase in the cans pressure. Four or five very light coats will produce an excellant paint job without covering the details.
I use Krylon for most of my color painting. Rust-oleum has a good selection also. I use Rust-oleum primers for bricks. They have a couple of different versions that have a different shades of red. Krylon and X-O Rust have red primers too, but I haven't use them.
I use Scalecoat II Wash Away Paint Remover to undo a bad paint job.
South Penn
Hello All,
I too haven't yet made the jump to an airbrush.
Rattle cans work for me now and the projects I'm doing. Mostly solid, single colors on rolling stock. Not much fine detail work.
I can see in the future the need for an airbrush for a more controlled application of paints. But for now rattle cans work.
I don't have a spray booth. I spray outside. On a corner of our deck I setup an old bedsheet to collect the overspray and placed a couple of 4x4's; for weight, and put several blocks of foam to hold what ever I am spraying. No complaints from "she who must be obeyed" yet.
One trick I use is to warm the cans in hot water to increase the pressure in the can and decrease the viscosity of the paint. I put the can in a tall storage container and run hot tap water over it for a few minutes. With the proper technique the results are good enough for me and with the lower viscosity paint from warming doesn't mask fine details like rivits.
That's not to say that you can't obliterate these fine details especially with things like primers, that are designed to mask "imperfections."
I have seen good reviews for the Harbor Freight and Tool airburshes; inexpensive and if maintained properly, as good if not better than more expensive ones. When it comes time I'll probably purchase one of these.
Hope this helps.
"Uhh...I didn’t know it was 'impossible' I just made it work...sorry"
Doc Wayne states the points regarding airbrushes so well.
Initially intimidated, airbrush painting is an enjoyable activity for me. Because of the versatility I appreciate the ability to:
1. Be able to take colors and tint them to hues and tones of my choice. It's difficult to do that with rattlecans.
2. The comfortable feel of airbrushes in my hand vs rattle cans.
3. The ability to easily adjust the width of spray patterns from pencil thin to 2".
4. Efficiency: Due to the very fine atomization setups and narrow spray patterns provided by quality airbrushes, (when properly thinned) the paint in two ounce bottles of model paint, covers just as much surface (and more) area as a 3oz spray can. Overspray and waste is considerably less than that of rattlecans.
5. Tool longevity. Maintained properly, a quality (not necessarily expensive) airbrush will perform well through hundreds of paint applications. Replacement parts, such as needles and aircaps are readily available and affordable.
Additionally when it comes to maintaining an inventory of a wide variety of colors, rattle cans will take up too much space on my storage trays. Currently I have over 40 one and two ounce bottles of scale model paint (solvent and acrylic) that occupy less than 2 square feet of space. Yes, the paint is still good.
I'm not knocking spray cans as I've used them before and it's how many of us started painting models. However, this thread reminds me of the DC vs DCC views.
Airbrushing offers more versatility and finnesing. Like DCC there is an initial investment (airbrush, compressor/CO2 tank, moisture filter) and slightly more maintenance (1 to 2 minute cleaning times).
Like DCC, airbrushing is good for some (actually many) modelers, while others are satisfied with rattle cans.
doctorwayne I've never cared much for spray cans for anything, and used brushes (good quality ones) for years. I was still using brushes when I began painting for a local hobbyshop, but the owner eventually convinced me to invest in an airbrush, saying it would make the job easier (I never had any complaints about the quality of the brush jobs). Well, the painting became easier once I learned how to use the airbrush (a Paasche VL), but it also required masking for multi-coloured jobs, something I hadn't needed to do using a brush, so there was not really any savings in time. However, weathering with an airbrush is a lot easier than with a brush or a spray can for most types of weathering. Another advantage of airbrushes over cans is the ability to use any colour you want. About the only colour I've used straight out of the bottle is Floquil Grey Primer - everything else gets mixed, even when batch-painting boxcar red boxcars. I add a little red, or black, or whatever seems most appropriate, so the cars start out looking like they've been in service for a while - sort of pre-weathering. Once the cars have been lettered, I take a bit of the last colour version used, then thin it 90-95% and overspray the cars - this immediately removes that "too new" look from the lettering. Yeah, when you start buying the extras (mostly paint) the costs can rise. However, your colour choices are unlimited, as are your choices for the brands of paints you wish to use. I made my own spray booth using leftover plywood and Masonite, along with some aluminum siding angle stock and a few pop rivets. The fan is from an air hockey game. The only cash outlay was for filters - cheap fibreglass furnace filters - 11"x20" - cut in half. I've been using it, and the airbrush, for almost 35 years. The old complaint about how difficult it is to clean the airbrush is, in my opinion, a lot of baloney. If you plan your painting carefully, the only time you need to clean it during painting is if you change paint types - from acrylics to lacquer-based, for example. For that, I do a full disassembly, (the same as when I'm finished painting) which takes only a couple of minutes: run about half a colour-cup of lacquer thinner through the brush, then take it apart, and slide a pipe cleaner, dipped in lacquer thinner, through all the passages. I use lacquer thinner for all cleaning regardless of paint type - it's reasonably cheap and works well. Toss the tip, aircap, etc. into the colour cup with a little thinner, then wipe them with a clean rag, and a little thinner on the rag will clean the needle. If you're spraying multiple colours of the same paint type, start with the clear gloss, then semi-gloss (another plus for the airbrush is that gloss and flat clear coats can be mixed in whatever proportions you need to get an infinite variety of semi-gloss finishes - very useful for decalling, of course, but also before applying weathering - after all, that dirt on the prototype likely collected on what was originally a gloss or semi-gloss finish. I don't use this on freight cars unless they're meant to represent new or fairly new ones, but it's useful for locomotives and passenger equipment, and on vehicles, too.) Finish with the clear matte, then move on to colours - whites first, then yellows, then on to the darker colours - a little thinner through the brush between colour changes is all that's required.I never use the colour cup for anything but thinner - it's too small and too much bother to empty and re-clean each time you change colours. Instead, I clean and save empty paint bottles as the paint is used-up. That way, I can use them for custom-mixed colours, both for storage (most will last for months, if not years) and for use on the airbrush, as the Paasche's spray-bottle cap fits many paint manufacturers' bottles. Another advange of an airbrush over spray cans is paint consumption: you can get a lot more mileage out of a bottle of Dullcote (and some lacquer thinner) than you can from a can of Dullcote - that's mainly because of the greater control offered by the airbrush - lighter passes and less overspray. And if there's a little paint left in the original bottle, it's still useable as long as it remains liquid. How many spray cans, with paint obviously still in them, have you had to toss because they won't spray? I started with an old diaphragm-type compressor given to me by my brother-in-law, but now use a rotary compressor, which is perfectly suited to airbrush operation. Wayne
"I like my Pullman Standards & Budds in Stainless Steel flavors, thank you!"
After years of being intimidated by airbrushes, I finally took the plunge about 4 years ago. My conclusion; "What took me so long?" Sure, there is the initial investment and learning curve, but I love the flexibility in colors and control that an airbrush affords me.
You don't need to break the bank getting your first setup. I've found that there are inexpensive airbrushes out there that work great. Currently, I have two Badger 200-H's (one with a medium tip, the other with a fine one) and one I purchased from Airbrush City, along with a compressor I bought from them.
Marlon
See pictures of the Clinton-Golden Valley RR
In the late '60s I switched from spray cans to airbrush when I switched from model cars to military models and needed to do camo. I've been a diehard airbrusher since.
Recently however I've been watching a bunch of Ken Patterson videos and he uses a lot of cans. This has me rethinking my bias.
I have the right to remain silent. By posting here I have given up that right and accept that anything I say can and will be used as evidence to critique me.
For what little spraying I need to do, I just look for a rattle can of the color I need, but I recently bought a single action airbrush and a 2 gallon compressor and I'm currently looking a spray booth ideas in anticipation of more spray work in the future.
Bob Berger, C.O.O. N-ovation & Northwestern R.R. My patio layout....SEE IT HERE
There's no place like ~/ ;)