Airbrushing Techniques

[cteno4]

yeah i would look at stryene or paylight which is the pvc faced pvc foam core. easy to pull a warp out of it and its a lot sturdier stuff to dings and such than foamcore for roads. you can get 4x8 sheets if you call around to plastic shops and sign shops. we get the 2 and 3mm paylight from a shop here for less than $20 per 4x8 sheet and they even deliver it (the shop is 40 miles away in baltimore) when they do their big runs to clients in the area. 

 

jeff

[inobu]

I was commenting and never finished. One type of airbrush won't cut it. Different types of brushes, needle sizes, nozzles are needed to handle the

different substrates. 

 

The issue there is too much paint/water. The paper absorbed the moisture and became pliable, it shrunk causing the bow. Light coats with the

right viscosity is needed. When you paint large area you need a fan nozzle that makes a wide and flat spray pattern. 

 

 

I have 3 types of brushes with all types needles. You have to match the paint, airbrush and air pressure.

 

http://otakuonabudget.blogspot.com/2018/05/paasche-talon-tg3f-review.html

 

Get a spray pot. The last thing you want is to screw up on the finishing pass as the brush spits paint on

the job and says do it again. 

 

Inobu

 

[gavino200]

5 hours ago, inobu said:

 

 

The issue there is too much paint/water. The paper absorbed the moisture and became pliable, it shrunk causing the bow. Light coats with the

right viscosity is needed. When you paint large area you need a fan nozzle that makes a wide and flat spray pattern. 

 

Do you use paper covered foamboard? It seems the non-absorbant foamboard would be more practical. I think it would be very hard to avoid this stuff from bending even with very light coats. The "right" viscosity would also be very difficult to find. There are bound to be problems from time to time as different mixes are made and an imperfect viscosity or layer thickness is used. It doesn't seem worth it. In fact I cant think of a single advantage. 

 

 

 

5 hours ago, inobu said:

 

 

I have 3 types of brushes with all types needles. You have to match the paint, airbrush and air pressure.

 

I'll look into that. What needles, brushes do you use?

 

5 hours ago, inobu said:

 

http://otakuonabudget.blogspot.com/2018/05/paasche-talon-tg3f-review.html

 

Get a spray pot. The last thing you want is to screw up on the finishing pass as the brush spits paint on

the job and says do it again. 

 

 

 

I have one of those. Since I don't use any toxic paint I've evolved to just spraying into a big bucket with some rags in it. 

[gavino200]

19 hours ago, cteno4 said:

yeah i would look at stryene or paylight which is the pvc faced pvc foam core. easy to pull a warp out of it and its a lot sturdier stuff to dings and such than foamcore for roads. you can get 4x8 sheets if you call around to plastic shops and sign shops. we get the 2 and 3mm paylight from a shop here for less than $20 per 4x8 sheet and they even deliver it (the shop is 40 miles away in baltimore) when they do their big runs to clients in the area. 

 

jeff

 

Looks like they have Palight in the big box stores. I'd like to be able to handle some and get a feel for the thickness I'd need. 

 

6mm

 

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Palight-ProjectPVC-24-in-x-24-in-x-0-236-in-Foam-PVC-White-Sheet-159840/206402723

 

or 3mm

 

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Palight-ProjectPVC-24-in-x-48-in-x-0-118-in-Foam-PVC-Grey-Sheet-158203/206021311?source=shoppingads&locale=en-US

 

or 2mm

 

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Palight-ProjectPVC-48-in-x-24-in-x-0-079-in-Foam-PVC-White-Sheet-168472/301753225

 

I was thinking 1/8 inch for the station project. But if it's very rigid I could go thinner. After I know what thickness I need I could search for the cheapest supplier. 

[cteno4]

Check your plastics store, big box and Amazon rip you off big time here, that’s over 10x the price per square foot as 4x8 sheet at the plastic supplier. Last year we got 2mm for I think $14 and 3mm ar $17 for 4x8 sheets delivered to my friend’s door! 
 

it’s handy stuff to have around. You can also thermoform it with a heat gun. Ask what pvc faced pvc foam board they have. Palight and syntra are brand names, another plastics store in our area has an inexpensive generic. Syntra is a bit denser but is not quite as stiff as the palight it feels. Palight is usually aimed at hobby and lighter stuff and Syntra at signs and such. A friend in california could not source it at his local plastic supplier but he called a couple of local signs shops that sold him a sheet. They got it buy the pallet full, maybe because wasn’t sold by the local supplier and they were fine selling a couple of sheets. Someone in Florida had to get the styrene foam insulation board the same way thru a refrigeration company as the big boxes didn’t carry it there.

 

Cheers,

 

jeff

[inobu]

lol ok

 

Inobu

 

 

 

 

[gavino200]

This is an interesting tip. Keep the air flowing after you let off the paint release. I haven't been doing this, and I've always suspected that I get more blockages than I should. I bet this is the reason. 

 

 

 

A companion video on how to deal with "tip drying" if it does occur. 

 

 

Edited April 11, 2021 by gavino200

[cteno4]

Airbrushing is a bit like reciting the alphabet backwards while rubbing your belly and patting your head at the same time. Not super hard tasks on their own, but a juggle. Just requires practice and concentration to manage stroke, paint and air at the same time. Like everything some just have a real knack for it.

 

jeff