[KenVP]

Well today I stepped up into the world of airbrushes via a 40% off coupon I had for hobby lobby. I landed up buying a iwata neo siphon feed dual action airbrush which was $74.99. My wife then made a sperate purchase of a 10 foot iwata air line$25 for me with another 40% coupon so in the end we saved a decent amount of cash.

So I contacted the company and talked to one of their reps who was very helpful in explaining normal operating pressures and different aspects of paint vrs needing to thin such etc.

I then ran over to home depot and got a quick connect male fitting so I could connect the new 10' line to my existing pancake compressor for my nail guns etc and have allot more reach. The nice thing is I can also set the compressor to run its self up to 120 pounds, then back the reg down to 15-35 psi and I can paint for awhile before the compressor has to kick on.

I tested everything with water tonight and was hoping to start some practice painting but found out the higher end paints I got need to be thinned :-( so guess its back to a local store to get some thinner.

I can say this much as this point I know NOTHING about airbrushing and am hoping this thread can be a place for folks to share ideas, tips, pics, videos etc to help me and others grow out airbrushing skills. For me it will be maily used on props.

Here is a link to my first airbrush - http://www.iwata-medea.com/index.php/products/neo_bcn/

Thanks in advance to those who post to this thread.

 

[GhostTown]

I airbrush 90% of my stuff. It's the only way to fly, until you need a heavy texture.

 

[KenVP]

I airbrush 90% of my stuff. It's the only way to fly, until you need a heavy texture.

If you don't mind me asking what kind of paint are you using, I bought a few wicked paints but was unaware that they needed to be thinned when they were marked as airbrush paints(dumb me for thinking they would have done the prep for you) LOL

 

[KenVP]

These were the paints I bought http://www.tcpglobal.com/createx/wicked-colors.aspx

 

[BeaconSamurai]

are your paints water based? If so, you can thin them with water. I mainlt use Cretex paints, just becuase that is all anyone carries. One big thing I have learned the hard way is to clean to tops when ever you are done. If you let them sit for any period of time, they dry out and it only goes downhill from there.

 

[GhostTown]

Seriously.......... I use cheap acrylics found just about anywhere. I thin them with distilled water and strain through cheese cloth (that I buy in large bulk quantities).

The props in my signature link where airbrushed that way.

 

[KenVP]

Ghost you use gravity or siphon ? And thanks everyone for the replies so far.

 

[GhostTown]

I go back and forth. Using gravity mostly now, but if I have to cover a large area I'll go with siphon and a large cup.

 

[KenVP]

I'm thinking a gravity will be the next purchase after gettinuse to this one i got. Sadly it's limited around here for supplies other then this new place hobby lobby where i lucked outmtodaynabout 30 mins south of me. Michaels and ac Moore don't have much of a selection at all.

 

[KenVP]

The airbrush company said 15-35 psi and to make my pairs like milk this seem about right ?

 

[GhostTown]

You're gonna have fun with it. It does take practice, so be patient.

 

[KenVP]

Well got some work done on one of the props airbrushing wise today. Would have got allot more done but gun kept clogging non stop, worked great for about 15 mins off the start after that would mess up then work mess up endless cyle. Just dont think I had my paint where it needed to be thining wise HOWEVER it also seemed the pressure of 15-35 seemed low from what the company told me, the gun performed way better ar 40 psi. Where do you guys operate at usually? Maybe just the thick paint needed the extra pressure who knows. I talk about it in the video

 

[Its the Great Pumpkin]

Well got some work done on one of the props airbrushing wise today. Would have got allot more done but gun kept clogging non stop, worked great for about 15 mins off the start after that would mess up then work mess up endless cyle. Just dont think I had my paint where it needed to be thining wise HOWEVER it also seemed the pressure of 15-35 seemed low from what the company told me, the gun performed way better ar 40 psi. Where do you guys operate at usually? Maybe just the thick paint needed the extra pressure who knows. I talk about it in the video

I had the same problem. So I contacted Paul from darkside studios! Great guy and a AWESOME srtist as well. He told me to switch to using FW inks. These inks are awesome. All you need to thin them down is a little bit of alcohol, You can find them on line or in any art supply store,

 

[KenVP]

That's too funny I looked at the at AC Moore last night and thought man these would prob be perfect. The only issue I may have would be will the alcohol used to cut the ink be enough to eat the foam? Have your airbrushed any foam props with that method? Thanks for the responses

 

[KenVP]

I also watched several videos where people are using windex, water, alcohol, fantastic, floor cleaner and other house hold items to cut the paints. Crazy what people come up with, its like an airbrush meth lab some of these videos unreal but guess they work or they wouldn't post em ( or so you would hope right lol)

 

[Its the Great Pumpkin]

I have used it with my latex props, masks , and foams and it work fine no worries at all.

 

[KenVP]

Cool thank you so much !!! Btw your latex masks are amazing saw them on another thread here. WebNeed to come take some lessons from yah. My wife and I are dying to learn how to mold latex props. We're big fans of face off..

 

[Hollie H]

I use Liquidtex or Golden Airbrush Medium to mix my airbrush paints. I am not fond of how the paints behaves when cut with water. I am also a Golden Paints girl. Their paints are heavy pigment based and a little goes a long way. Their colors are just amazing...but check the back of them. Some are not recommended for spray due to their chemical compound but if you wear a mask, you should be fine. Quinacridone Crimson mixed with Quinacridone Nickel Azo Golden makes the most perfect blood red. They also sell premixed airbrush paints and I have never had a problem with them jamming my brush.

 

[Its the Great Pumpkin]

Cool thank you so much !!! Btw your latex masks are amazing saw them on another thread here. WebNeed to come take some lessons from yah. My wife and I are dying to learn how to mold latex props. We're big fans of face off..

Thanks very much. Making latex props/ masks are easy once you get the hang of it! My husband bought me a latex mask starting kit from MONSTERMAKERS.Com and Arnold is an awesome guy. The starter kits have everything you need to start off! Also there are Dvd's out there by Mark Aferty. Sculpting. making molds latex,silicon,resin etc. Invest in them,learn from them. They even have ones that will show you how to paint a latex mask using a Iwata and pasche H airbrush. Jordu Schell is the instructor. I got that dvd from Monstermakers.com. If you need anything else pm me. Always glad to help!

 

[KenVP]

I use Liquidtex or Golden Airbrush Medium to mix my airbrush paints. I am not found of how the paints behaves when cut with water. I am also a Golden Paints girl. Their paints are heavy pigment based and a little goes a long way. Their colors are just amazing...but check the back of them. Some are not recommended for spray due to their chemical compound but if you wear a mask, you should be fine. Quinacridone Crimson mixed with Quinacridone Nickel Azo Golden makes the most perfect blood red. They also sell premixed airbrush paints and I have never had a problem with them jamming my brush.

Hollie, thanks so much for the info I'm going to research where they can be found now. I'm open to all ideas, esp anything that helps this system from clogging up and making the work of air brushing un-fun.