OK so i have a new HF double action airbrush... never used an airbrush before. I have a porter cable pancake compressor that i am hooking it to. It has a regulator on it and i bought a moisture trap that has a regulator on it as well. I was told to take off my quick connect on the compressor.. put the moisture trap in it;s place and put the quick connect on the out port of the moisture trap and hook the hose to the quick connect... sound right? Also what is the correct PSI to set the brush for spraying polly S and testors acrylics ? Do i set the compressor regulator and the regulator on the moisture trap to that PSI or just the one on the moisture trap? Lasty for Polly S and Testors water mix paints how much should i thin them?
thanks for all your help,
Corey
Railroading In Council Bluffs
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I don't own any double action brushes, but from what I've read, you don't need as much air pressure as you would with a single action brush. I shoot acrylics in the 20-30 psi range. The only way to know is to spray some paint through it. Pick up some cheap models to practice on. That will give you a general idea. That's pretty much how most of us figure out what settings to use. I think it was former Packer great who said, "Practice, practice, practice!"
Marlon
See pictures of the Clinton-Golden Valley RR
1. Connections sound right
2. I would set the compressor regulator slightly higher than the one on the moisture trap. Running out of or low on air is not good.
3. Your question on air pressure varies depending on temperature, humidity, paint mix ratios, etc. But I start at about 25 to 30 pounds and see how it flows on a piece of cardboard and adjust from there. With the double action, you control some of that too.
4. As far as paint mix, it's on the side of the bottle. But you can vary this too depending on what you're doing. Since yellow and red don't cover well, sometimes I may mix them a little thick and spray many, many thin coats. It's an art so read up on it and play with it. My Pasche came with excellent instructions/tutorial.
Richard
Corey I like using 15 - 20 PSI for the Polly. I never use Testors so I can't help you there. Most companies put the recommendation on the label for thinning but IFIRC PS is 25% thinning medium.
I would get anything that paint can stick to and prctice, practice practice. Try 50% thinner, try 15, 20, 25 ..... 50 PSi and see what that gets you. Try water, windshield wiper fluid, thinning medium etc an see what you like best for water based paints. For solvent based paints I always recommend the paint brand thinner in the beginning to mix with paints but cheap, by the gallon thinner for cleaning.
You only need to set one pressure gauge and you are done.
Klamabach use to have a decent beginner book on airbrushing you should get. Mine is packed but on like p 17 there was chart that had good starting points for most paints in terms of thinning and PSI . Maybe the library has a copy and you can photo copy it and have it near the spray booth
ratled
Modeling the Klamath River area in HO on a proto-lanced sub of the SP “The State of Jefferson Line”
Thanks all very much for your help! I appreciate it!
Cory,
Congrats! Polly S varies on consistancy with various colors. You want to thin it out so that it is the consistancy of 'milk' - this applies to all paints. Some Polly S colors are 'airbrush ready', others need to be thinned. I use about 18-22 lbs of pressure to paint with. I also use Badger Modelflex paint, it is 'airbrush ready' out of the bottle(just mix it up good first). You do not want a lot of air pressure - too much will force the paint to dry before it hits the model.
Jim
Modeling BNSF and Milwaukee Road in SW Wisconsin
I don't understand the milk part. That is where i am lost. sorry rambo1...
I also have trouble mixing paint. rambo1..
To the OP -- my advice to you is to get a pad of artists paper (good, heavy stuff) and some cheap paint and practice, practice, practice. If you search "airbrushing" on Youtube, you will overwhelm yourself with instructional videos. I'm using the same paints as you, and I use 35% isopropyl alcohol for a thinner (the 70% stuff you buy in a drug store thinned 50% with filtered / distilled water), and 25 psi on the compressor.
Rambo -- go pour yourself a glass of milk and look at it. You will notice that it's slightly thicker than water. That's the consistency you're aiming for: just slightly thicker than water. If it doesn't spray well, it's too thick, and you need to thin it some more.
As far as the mixing goes, how can you have trouble? Pour two or more bottles together and voila! MIxed paint. I suspect what you mean is that you're having difficulty matching or reproducing colors. Which is normal -- you'll never reproduce exactly the same shade twice. First of all, you need to mix more than you think you need at a time, because you always need more than you think you do. Secondly, use pipettes or eye droppers to measure the different colors, and write down your proportions on every color -- don't try to match it by eye. Keep a jar of water handy, and as soon as you finish with a color in a pipette, fill the pipette with water to keep the paint from drying in it. Hope that helps.
Connecticut Valley Railroad A Branch of the New York, New Haven, and Hartford
"If you think you can do a thing or think you can't do a thing, you're right." -- Henry Ford
Didn't see what type of airbrush you had (gravity feed or siphon feed).
I have one of each and use them for different purposes. I only use acrylics in my siphon feed and usually around 22-25 psi for this. gravity feed (as a general rule) require less air pressure.
Pressure requirements will vary (as others have pointed out) depending on your feed system and the consistency you thin the acrylic out.
Experiment