AIR BRUSHES

[NW Modeling List]

Wow, Gary!. You make it sound so complicated. My first compressor was an 
"armstrong" type (a pump type garden sprayer with a coupling fitting replacing 
the nozzel) - no pressure gauge, no moisture trap. I just gave it about 40 
strokes and sprayed until the pressure was obviously getting low, then gave it 
40 more strokes. Later, a regular customer had mercy on me and gave me a simple 
"W R Brown Company" compressor. No tank, and the pulse business has never given 
me any trouble. Occasionally I disconnect the hose, drop it to the floor and run 
the compressor a little to drain out any condensate that may be in the line. 
(And, yes, once in awhile I spray a little water, but I have learned to deal 
with the results with no permanent damage. No, I don't do acrylics. I will buy 
solvent based paints as long as I can find them. Yes, I take the airbrush apart 
and clean it thorougly after every use with mineral spirits and 
pipecleaners.        Jim Nichols




________________________________
From: NW Modeling List <nw-modeling-list at nwhs.org>
To: NW Modeling List <nw-modeling-list at nwhs.org>
Sent: Mon, August 16, 2010 11:01:22 AM
Subject: RE: AIR BRUSHES


The other things to consider is what type of air compressor you will be using.  
Some are ‘oil-less’ and have self-lubricating seals internally (Teflon) and 
others, especially the piston-type are splash oiled.  The oil-lubricated 
versions will bled out a little oil into the compressed air.  

 
Also, compressing ordinary air will trap a lot of humidity/moisture in your air 
tank or the lines which will spoil the paint.  The answer is a filter/separator 
which goes on to the outlet side of the compressor and tank which will separate 
out the water or oil.  Many of these are available with a pressure regulator 
attached or combined with the filter separator.    If you are getting an 
‘industrial’ type of compressor you can get filter/regulators at stores selling 
pneumatic and hydraulic equipment for industrial uses.  
 
And the compressor type, vane or piston, will put out compressed air which comes 
out in pulses of pressure; the answer is a tank which tends to damp out the 
pressure waves to a useful degree.  In addition, tanks are usually steel and 
rust is an issue as the humidity will be compressed into water condensate within 
the tank.  (There are plastic tanks out there with restricted pressure use.) The 
water separator/filter will keep the air free of any particles of rust.  Yes, 
draining the tank via the water blow-off valve on the bottom of the tank is 
important.  For instance, in these type of summer days we have been experiencing 
in the east- hot and humid- a tank of about three gallon size will collect about 
a pint of condensed water after about four hours of continuous use.  

 
The size and type of airbrush work this way.  Single acting just spray ‘on-off’ 
and are good for area coverage.  Double acting allow you to control the air flow 
and the paint flow simultaneously.  For detailing and weathering, the double 
acting can be very good as it allows blending the paint line edge.  Double 
acting, for instance, is almost essential for complex camouflage patterns on 
military models or for illustration work.
 
For larger models, O scale, G and Gauge One, a professional ‘touch up’ brush is 
good choice as the can holds about a pint of paint and the spray nozzle covers a 
larger area.  These are common tools in automotive painting and custom painting 
work like signs and similar. 

 
Gary Rolih
Cincinnati
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://six.pairlist.net/pipermail/nw-modeling-list/attachments/20100816/480f0439/attachment.htm>