somehow or another santa brought me an early.gift of an airbrush and compressor. sweet! problem is I don't think I have anywhere I can use it in the winter. garage is unheated, basement is finished living areas. I do have a storage room, but it has no ventilation. I need advice on where I might be able to use this thing. I know next to nothing about proper use with these things. I don't even know how I would clean it. help/advice?
I had a (somewhat) heated hobby room with an outside door behind our garage. When I wanted to use the airbrush, I would prepare everything on a table next to the door. Then open the door and spray towards the outside while standing in the doorway. The airbrush, paint, and model would be warm from being inside beforehand, and the heat from the room would surround me and the work while spraying. Since painting doesn't take more than a few minutes, you don't lose very much room heat.
I plan on using polyscale, but I'm not adverse to floquil. how much ventilation do you need when airbrushing?
A friend & I built a plywood enclosure, used a blower from an old range hood, filtered through a small furnace filter, and ran it out of the house through a dedicated dryer vent, installed just for it. Worked pretty slick, and was about $20 to build. I have found with acrylic, unless I plan on a big project, I don't even worry about it............my layout is in a finished basement.
well thats a good idea. i can set up something in the basement hobby room to vent through a duct out the window. I can open the window, toss the duct up there, spray what i need and be done. on a scale of 1-Spraypaint, how bad can the smell get when airbrushing in an enclosed room?
With polyscale you could get by with a homemade unit from a bath or kitchen vent. There are a TON of How to's on them on the internet that will work. The military guys like to use a $5 tote like those from Walmart for the box and a cheap HVAC filter. You really want something with at least 100 CFM for Pollyscale if at all possible. With Floquil, which I really like, scale coat, Dull coat or a rattle can you will want something with a higher CFM. For the solvent based 200 CFM is a minimum and really want over 250 CFM. I can't help you with possible other ways you can vent indoors without a booth. Can you barrow one? You might consider a good used booth if possible- a WTB ad on Craigslist could work - otherwise you are looking at least $200 for a quality new one. ratled
There are several good books on beginning airbush usage. I would get a couple and read them like I did. Don't think you can jump right in and have a perfect paint job first time out. Take your time, learn how clean the brush FIRST. One thing you need to do before painting that steamer, diesel or piece of rolling stock, that is: practice, Practice, PRACTICE!! It will take you awhile to learn how to use the brush, paint thinning & pressure requirements, so take it SLOWLY, practice on some cardboard, wood, and CHEAP engines/rolling stock. A good paint job can make or break a model. With a airbrush you can paint, detail & weather a model to look just like the prototype.
