M
MarshMan
Guest
Max
As someone who is yet to use an airbrush, this post is particularly interesting and something I hadn’t imagined. ThanksForgot, the other is eye coordination. You have to get used to an imaginary spot that the paint would hit the surface because it's quite hard to see the airflow with very transparent paint and low air pressure.
Cheers,
Richard
Thanks for that Tim, I appreciate the helpful post. It’s pretty much what I’d intended to do anyway, but it does bring up a question; does ink stain?Hi Max, Richard is right about practice. The more the better, and remember it’s an airbrush, not a spray gun. My painting improved no end once I took that approach.
For practice you can use black ink and a kids colouring book. When you first start out...don’t go straight for a model because you will just disappoint yourself....put in an hour or two on paper to get used to paint thinning and using the brush. Time spent like this will really pay off later....like a musician playing scales, you will be building up muscle memory so you don’t have to think about “how to do it”, just “what you want to do”....
Cheers
Tim
That's my problem, I keep trying to spray rather than brush.remember it’s an airbrush, not a spray gun
Max.Morning John
Okay, firstly I’ve got to agree with you on the heat issue; that really worried me. Next, like you, I couldn’t for the life of me see how the wax would make any difference, unless the ring seal was damaged. The needle polishing is a slightly different matter. I agree with you that machining quality will certainly be of prime importance, but under magnification will (directly from the machine) show a surface that isn’t ‘smooth’. Now I know that we’re only talking microns here, and whether or not that would have any impact on airflow I don’t know. But, I don’t see that very careful polishing would be detrimental, assuming that it’s done evenly, and the only way I can see that being possible is if it’s done in a lathe. Also of course the polishing medium would be of importance, and the type he was using would be comparatively coarse in comparison to say Brasso. I suppose the long and the short of it is, I don’t know the answer, and it does of course take more than one Swallow to make a summer!
Appreciate the detail you’ve put into your reply Peter. I’m keen to get started, but showing remarkable restraint (wink wink) at the moment by trying to get a grip on what I intend to do, in advance of actually doing it! I found an old model in one of my drawers the other day that I’ve decided I’ll use to practice on before I launch into my SE5a. I’ve read quite a lot of old threads on here in addition to the questions I’ve asked of you good people, and feel I’m close to making a start. There’s still a few more pounds to spend before that though, and a lot of practicing to do!Max
I agree with the others - practice, practice and more practice.
Tim is right about using some cheap ink to practice judging where the paint will hit the surface. A good exercise is to draw some straight lines on paper, about 4 inches long, then practice painting a line of paint on the pencil line, starting and stopping at the beginiing and end of the pencil line. This will teach you where the paint hits the paper, keeping a straight line, and starting and stopping in the right place.
The order of actions are: move your arm, let the air flow, let the paint flow (to hit the start of the line), at the end of the line stop the paint, then stop the air, then stop your arm. This way you should not get any blotches of paint building up at the start of end of a line. Don't worry if you cannot master it straight away - it takes practice.
When you are reasonable happy with that exercise, try the same with some curved lines.
A other good exercise is to draw a grid and try to hit each intersection with a dot of paint.
Most of all - have fun and wash the airbrush very well.
Peter
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