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GTB
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Re: airbrush

Post by GTB » Fri Jul 20, 2018 2:37 pm

BorisSpencer wrote: Fri Jul 20, 2018 1:07 pm Would one of these be of use? at less than a fiver worth a punt.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Caxmtu-Aerosol ... an trigger
That one isn't available here and like a lot of hardware items Amazon won't post it to Oz. The ones that are available locally are fairly useless.

The few spray can products I use come with decent valves and I manage quite well without using paint spray cans.........

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Re: airbrush

Post by FWLR » Sat Jul 21, 2018 9:26 am

Unless you are manufacturing rolling stock or anything else for that matter, an airbrush kit is a lot of money to pay for something that won’t be used on a regular basis. My advice is, unless you really need to get an airbrush I would save my money and buy something else.

There is of course not just the airbrush kit to buy, you will also need to have a spray booth and they are not cheap, unless you make your own, which I did. But even counting for that, it can work out paying for something else that ok, (which you should use when you use a rattle can as well) can take up a lot of room.

Has for the original post, you cant get an airbrush kit for £40. The cheaper kits don’t have airbrushes that you can use with solvent based paints, because they have internal rubber seals.

If you must and need to get one, then this is a good starter kit to buy.

https://www.everythingairbrush.com/airb ... r-kit.html

This is the kit I started with and it is very good for the money, it had three needles and three bigger nozzles with it. I don’t know if it comes with them now though.

You can also get loads of information off Youtube about how to use an airbrush, which can lead you to using an airbrush properly. Most of them are very good and you can get to find out what needles and nozzles you would use for different jobs.

PS. You don’t need to have a Youtube account to watch videos…….

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Re: airbrush

Post by Big Jim » Tue Jul 24, 2018 10:50 am

Just to wade into the Airbrush vs Rattlecan debate.

I do tend to use an airbrush.
I like the fact that you can carry a good range of colours without needing a huge space to store them and you can mix your own. While I agree that it can be a bit of a faff cleaning up after each use I don't find this too much of a bother. The smaller amount of overspray and the more pleasant conditions in the workshop that come from using acrylics is also most welcome.

I tend to use a rattle can for priming and I do keep a tin or two of other well used colours to hand. If I am spraying a large amount of any colour (eg a rake of coaches or wagons) again it would be a rattle can I would use. One down side of rattle cans is that there is good and bad out there and IMHO there is a huge difference in colours and finish between batches with some manufactures. The stuff sold by Halfords is pretty good, others less so. The pressure of an aerosol can also vary over time. A mate of mine who sprays cars for a living is of the opinion that it is only the middle two-thirds of the can that is any good. Too much pressure - Just Right - Too little pressure.
If at first you don't succeed, use a bigger hammer!

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Re: airbrush

Post by IanC » Tue Jul 24, 2018 11:35 am

There are good and bad points to using an airbrush, but one important consideration not mentioned so far is to use a mask. A proper respirator, not one of those cheap dust masks. Depending on what you are spraying some of the paint vapours are carcinogenic. Change the filters regularly and certainly if you can smell paint when wearing the mask. Mine was bought along time ago, but a quick search reveals they can be bought from £15-£20 upwards. Money well spent. Don't take chances with health.

There will be people who just don't get on with airbrushes. The biggest advantage for me is the control they offer. I used a rattle can to spray a locomotive tank side which needed a touch up after removing some superglued nameplates which damaged the existing paint work. I used a rattle can etch primer but It was far too thick. Thinning it and applying it with an airbrush was 100% better. Time spent including masking, 30 minutes with a rattle can. Almost 2 hours with an airbrush. For me the results justified the time and effort. I will rub down the side with the thick layer and redo it with the airbrush.

Big jim is right. There is much less overspray.

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Re: airbrush

Post by tom_tom_go » Tue Jul 24, 2018 10:35 pm

I have never felt the need to look into painting with an airbrush as narrow gauge at least from what I have looked at was never in an 'airbrushed' state. I like locos and rolling stock to used and not fit for display as shelf queens.

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Re: airbrush

Post by FWLR » Wed Jul 25, 2018 7:42 am

You are so right Tom, what’s the point of having “Shelf Queens” I run mine, when my track is down, to run on it and not collect dust.

And it is always best to wear a proper mask, mine is a double filter one. The only time I had those “cheap dust masks” is when my grandson did a little bit of spraying on the windmill, because the proper mask was too heavy and didn’t fit him anyway. And he only used it for less then a minute.

Has it has been mentioned on another thread, we need to get youngsters into the hobby and there has to be a bit of give and take.

But like anything to do with painting, all types of it, are used to get what we want of our models, be it airbrush, rattle can or the really “Old Fashioned” paintbrush……they all have their place in our painting.

Using an airbrush to do long runs on bigger items needs a bigger nozzle, most of the cheaper makes only have 0.3, which are great for fine work, but try and do a long run with it and you will get fingers like one of those martial art fighters doing the “Crane” position :lol: :lol: :lol:

Seriously, I love using my airbrush, but I find a lot of satisfaction from using a paintbrush a lot more now, there is a certain degree of how it was done many years ago, when the coach builders only had paintbrushes to do what was wanted on the rolling stock.


Can I ask, has the OP got anywhere with his question on whether to get a cheap kit or to invest in a dearer model. We can go around in circles all day on the benefits or not of an airbrush, but if he hasn’t got anyway with the answers, I don’t see the point of this now. Sorry that’s my opinion, there are others, so hopefully we have given the OP an idea on whether to buy or not. :thumbright:

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