Another question guys.

[mossiepilot]

When I have air brushed my model, I have moved the brush in a backwards and forwards motion, going from the front of the plane to the rear, following the advice about not keeping the brush still.

When I look at the newly painted kit I have noticed lighter bands of colour, especially on the larger 1/48 Starfighter, like I have missed an area, or the paint is not as "dense" as in other areas, so I have painted from side to side, across the plane, to fill in these lighter areas, is this OK.

It may seem like a dumb question, but I realise that I am still learning and would like all the help I can get about this new air brush gizmo.

Hope someone can put my mind at rest about this.

cheers

Tony.

[Guest]

Good question. I also have this problem to, never seems to spray even on large models.... Maybe it's because we are using cheap airbrushes as mine came free with the compressed aswel.

[takeslousyphotos]

I'm no expert but ............ if you have a small compressor that doesn't have a reservoir you will probably find that there is a variation in the pressure when spraying a larger area ........... I expect that someone with far more knowledge on this subject will no doubt correct me on it.

Peter

[Guest]

Dave I find cross hatching is fine. I find it elimates the problem you are having perfectly

[Ian M]

In short you are possibly spraying to close to the subject and this will give a narrow coverage. Back away a little and try to make sure that the coverage overlaps slightly, wet on wet.

Try to think of it as a brush painting a wall. A one inch brush is going to take forever and the result will be a bit hit and miss. If you take a roller 18" wide and overlap the stripes of paint on the wall with say 4" the wall will get covered quickly with a more even coating.

Hope that helps. Try it on a sheet of card. first with the airbrush close to the card then again with the brush further away.

Ian M

[Guest]

You should not have to cross from side to side Tony this will probably make it worse.

May be what I do sometimes. Here I assume you have a two stage brush ie press down the trigger for air pull back for the amount of paint squirted out.

Noticed that I some times release the trigger when I start the back ward sweep. Have you an adjustment on the brush which allows you to restrict the trigger to maximun pull back.

Also how many coats have you put on & what colour & what colour is the primer ? For larger areas I airbrush at about 6" with .4 needle/ nozzle which I have found gives a good coverage. As Ian says perhaps to close to the subject. Also you can get a good idea of even coverage by looking at the wetness of the paint sprayed on. I also make sure I have a good light on the subject. In a poor light or shadow it is difficult to assess.

Laurie

[mossiepilot]

You should not have to cross from side to side Tony this will probably make it worse.May be what I do sometimes. Here I assume you have a two stage brush ie press down the trigger for air pull back for the amount of paint squirted out.

Noticed that I some times release the trigger when I start the back ward sweep. Have you an adjustment on the brush which allows you to restrict the trigger to maximum pull back.

Also how many coats have you put on & what colour & what colour is the primer ? For larger areas I airbrush at about 6" with .4 needle/ nozzle which I have found gives a good coverage. As Ian says perhaps to close to the subject. Also you can get a good idea of even coverage by looking at the wetness of the paint sprayed on. I also make sure I have a good light on the subject. In a poor light or shadow it is difficult to assess.

Laurie

Thanks for the replies guys. Think part of the problem is that I'm a bit scared of "over wetting" - putting too much paint on the model and getting runs.

I am painting yellow over a white base coat Laurie, and have a bright light pointing into the spray booth. Also Ian, I have been holding the brush at quite a distance, 6 to 8 inches from the area I wish to paint, which is probably too far away. The brush has the trigger stop screw you mention Laurie, but I'm unsure about how far to move it in so I'm not using it and adjusting the paint flow by not pulling the trigger all the way back so I don't get too much paint coming out at any one time.

Mostly I think it's a case of not being confident with the brush and not knowing what it's able to do yet.

I know that all the talk in the world is no good unless you practice but thanks again for letting me ramble.

Tony.

[stona]

Thanks for the replies guys. Think part of the problem is that I'm a bit scared of "over wetting" - putting too much paint on the model and getting runs. Tony.

I think that you are very wise to err on the side of caution. You can always apply another coat of paint to build up the colour but you sure as hell can't take too much away!

Particularly when applying a notoriously difficult colour like yellow you will be lucky to get good coverage in one go.

You can increase coverage by easing away from the model but don't go too far, particularly if you are using acrylic paints as they will dry before they hit the model's surface, giving a nasty sandy texture to the finish. Better to spray a couple of coats.

I spray with enamels and usually get away with a coat and a half of lighter colours if that makes sense

Cheers

Steve

[mossiepilot]

Yes Steve the last yellow coat I put on looks non too smooth, think I got the sandy texture that you talk about.

I've started on the Klear coat to see if this will smooth it down a bit, but I'm not too hopeful.

Gonna give it a bash anyway and see where I end up.

I'll get better I'm sure

Cheers

Tony