Badger air brush...15 years and it still works

[cwclark]

As the years go by and a guy stays with the hobby long enough, he usually finds new avenues to try and increase his skills and better his knowledge in all aspects of MRR'ing ...Last night I met another challenge...I have a Badger airbru***hat i purchased 15 years ago to paint pin stripes on my old Harley Davidson motorcycle I rebuilt back then...I've never used it for modeling before, but after noticing when painting my locomotives during detailing sessions that by using a paint brush is not a good way to paint ...There are paint streaks and blobs of paint when it's done ,so it's time to start using an airbrush...I purchased a two gallon tank and compressor at Wal Mart last night, (my other compressor is too big and loud and i don't want to go deaf from listening to the thing run at that decebel level after my first painting session) hooked up my old air brush rig and regulator that still works after 15 years, and tonight i'm going to begin painting MRR stuff with an air brush for the first time...any hints or suggestions from any air brush pros out there?

[Anonymous]

I'd suggest doing a lot of practice before trying out your skiills on one of your projects. Pick up some cheap junk rail cars and work on them first. You will have to decide what type of paint you are going to use. I think the solvent based paints like Floquil are easier to use, but the water based acrylics do a great job once you master them and their fumes are not harmful.

Buy or make yourself a spray booth with a fan. Even though acrylic paints are not hazardous, inhaling those paint particles into your lungs is not good for them. I made mine using plywood and a bathroom exhaust fan, which vents into some plastic dyer vent out an insert I place in an adjacent window when spraying. I also use a respirator when using solvent based paints.

Besides protecting your health, a booth will stop the sprayed paint from going all over the place, and it will!

When I got back into modeling about 20 years ago I too resurrected my old Paasche H airbru***hat I used to paint designs on T shirts with. After my first attempt at spraying, I noticed everything on my workbench behind the spray area had a fine coating of paint! I started with a cardboard box to stop the overspray then moved on to the better booth.

Practice a lot and I'm sure you'll have a great time!

Bob Boudreau

[jwar]

Hi Chuck.

Im not a pro by any standard as one is allways learning. I started by just starting at 30 PSI and (double action, internal mix 150 Badger Pro) with thin paint, made as fine and as straingt line as possable, then took some square ruled paper (cant for the life of me remember the name for it, has 1/4 squares, age is getting me, LOL) and started to make minute dots to get the hang of hand eye cordination, trying to make perfect dots, not splattered, foggy, or what I call bug dots.

Then tried masking cardboard and made cubes, spehres cones, with one color trying to get three dimensional effects. This techniques is a blessing when weathering and bringing out scenery, water effects ect.

I used the manual and folowed the technique suggestions, Perhaps a near by art or hobby shop may have a book, Will quicken the learning curve, there are some really neat eye popping tricks in some of the books. Best of luck and have a great day...John