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I am wondering about using one to touch up the bodywork on my car. I reckon it'll work out a lot cheaper if I can work out how to do a good job myself.
I see lots of cheap airbrushes on ebay.. however I also fancy a compressor for other things, and machine mart have plenty, and airbrush tools.
Of what do I need to be aware? Is it folly?
Ever airbrushed before?
Prepped body work?
Got a place to spray dust free?
Where are you going to source your paint?
No
Kind of (done a lot of faffing, some successful, with cans)
Working on that
Dunno yet
This constitutes a project, and as such involves learning and experimenting 🙂
watched a few videos on airbrushing and thought 'piece of piss'.
spent a fortune on a couple of iwatas,compressor and a boatload on auto air paints then found out i was totally talentless and it was far harder than the idiots in the videos make it look.stuck the lot in a cupboard and haven't tried it since - it's rubbish
If its just an experiment go for it. It can be loads of fun and very rewarding.
Depends what sort you go for. The main ones are DeVilbiss and Badger, and they differ in two main areas. DeVilbiss are usually double-action, where pressure on the control lever increases air pressure, and pulling back increases paint flow, which makes them a bit tricky to learn how to use them. They generally use either a slot in the top, or a small cup, as they're normally used for detail work or re-touching, where small amounts of paint are loaded each time,
Badger brushes are usually single action, where air pressure is controlled the same, but paint flow is controlled by screwing the needle in and out. They often tend to have a larger paint cup, or a jar or container underneath, being suction fed rather than gravity, and are frequently used by artists who do custom artwork on cars, bikes, crash helmets and the like.
There are good hobby brushes, with plastic bodies and glass bottles, and which are very affordable, which would be perfectly suitable for what you want, just make sure that you [i]really[/i] clean the brush out with appropriate solvents after use, the nozzles are very fine, and if you remove the needle, be very, very careful how you handle it, the slightest tap on the tip will bend it, and can then split the nozzle, causing splattering and spitting. The quality makes supply nozzle/needle sets, and it's worth buying a couple of spare sets, should you get one.
I've got a DeVilbiss Super 63, which I've had for many years, over thirty, I think, and it's a beautiful object, heavy chromed brass, and dead easy to strip and clean, but it only holds a few brush loads of paint, being intended for retouching photos, which is what I did, before going onto Macs and Photoshop in the mid-90's.
Get one, they're lots of fun, and will last years if looked after. 😀
I would like to make it clear that it's just for touching up scratches and chips. There will be no flames/skulls/naked women etc on the side of my Prius. I have no artistic skills.
And I am on a budget, so the hobby type ones I am thinking of.
The only other thing is that you can get sandblasting attachments for garage style compressors as well as paint guns, and that appeals to me for clearing out rusty bits from chips. However you need a much bigger compressor it seems.
It seems it would be a pretty useful skill, it could prolong the life and value of any car I happen to own over the next 40 years or so.
Get a cheap one from a hobby shop and some air cans, if you enjoy it then build up to some decent kit, bit like any "hobby" give it a go but do it cheaply at first!
As marcus7 says, it would be worth getting a quality starter kit, with a good brush, and some propellant cans, just to get the feel of using the brush, with water-based paints or inks, just to get comfortable with how much pressure you need, how to control paint flow, etc. it's very easy to get carried away and apply too much paint, either by holding the brush too close, too much air, too much paint, etc. you have to sneak up on it, gradually apply the paint in light layers, finishing off with a 'wet' coat, to give the paint a gloss. Also, if using cans, put them in a container of warm water; they go frosty on the outside and lose pressure otherwise.
Then, once you feel more confident, invest in a compressor, preferably one with a tank, to avoid pulsing.
Or you can make one using an old spare wheel with two valves fitted, but that's probably more phaff than you might want to get into!
Just had a quick goog, and this ought to fit the bill: http://www.amazon.co.uk/BADGER-Airbrush-Basic-BA2503-250-3/dp/B003972JIW/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&qid=1363114822&sr=8-7
Or maybe this one: http://www.amazon.co.uk/BADGER-Airbrush-Siphon-Brush-BA2003/dp/B0053YFRYC/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1363114945&sr=8-1
Better quality brush, lasts longer.
This one is a double-action, big cup on the top, pretty cheap, would probably be perfect, it would hold more than enough paint for touch-ups: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Airbrush-BD-130/dp/B00472D1ZS/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1363114945&sr=8-2
Yeah don't get a compressor without a receiver otherwise it will sputter and frustrate! Personally I prefer dual action gravity feed as once you get the hang of it you can be very precise, I'm just looking into full size paint spraying and I'm hoping that its a similar skillset! 🙂
I have a DeVilbiss, not used it for 20 years (since I left Uni) but I remember it was well worth the money, dead easy to strip/repair and once you got the hang of it, pretty easy to use.
I have an old Badger somewhere that you could borrow for the cost of postage. It might be enough to let you know whether or not its worth spending more money on.
Seems there is a gritblaster that can be used with a 1.5hp compressor, which aren't too expensive. So I may get one of those, useful for:
airbrushing
rust removal
cleaning things out
drying things off quickly
inflating tubeless tyres
inflating car tyres
I have an old Badger somewhere that you could borrow for the cost of postage.
I'd be careful there, I've seen the pictures on STW.
When I was a kid I resprayed my Mini 1275GT. It looked pretty good when I had finished although it needed a bit of polishing to brighten the finish.
My dad was still finding yellow things in his garage 20 years later 🙂
[url= http://www.amazon.co.uk/KMS-Airbrush-Compressor-Double-Airbrushes/dp/B0054Q384A/ref=pd_sim_kh_30 ]what about this?[/url]
Good.. cheap... but as above I think I fancy a compressor big enough for a load of other tasks.
+1 for a compressor with a receiver and don't forget the moisture traps!! Two minimum, one on the receiver and one at the outlet/connection point. Drain regularly.
FWIW if it's just for touch-ups, most proper car paint dealers will mix up the correct the code and fill a rattle can with it. Aerosol 2-pack lacquer and jobs a good 'un. I did my front bumper like this last year and it looks fine.
It's all about preparation though, you can't prep the surface enough. If you think it's smooth enough, it isn't. Go back and rub it down again!!
show me a gritblaster that WORKS that will run off a 1.5HP compressor.
that really is a toy compressor - even the aldi one is bigger - and reputibly crap for actually working with due to small reciever - fine for small spray jobs where your not needing long strokes but to run an impact driver or a grit blaster - no dice.
costco have a 2.5HP one with a 50 litre tank that will do a bit longer , or WOLF have a 3HP V twin 240v one on many ebay stores that looks promising and gets good reviews from landy owners - particularly for driving an impact driver.
How ever the grit blasters ive seen (other than the spot blasters that you press against the surface and clean 2cm spots at a time) want 10CFM of free air. your 1.5HP will be throwing out about 4 or 5 CFM.
aldi doing compressors tomorrow btw.
i want a compressor but decided not to bother with that one , stupid euro connections and 6mm hoses instead of 8mm.
FWIW if it's just for touch-ups, most proper car paint dealers will mix up the correct the code and fill a rattle can with it
I have tried it a lot with spray cans, and the finish can be ok (if you have absolutely utterly windless conditions) but there's no control. I can't just do a small area, I have to do half a panel. This is why I want an airbrush.
Trail rat, I was going to go for one of Machine Mart's compressors - there's a 1.5hp but there are bigger ones which I suppose could be worth it. The gritblaster I was looking at is indeed a tiny one for small areas, but that's what I want. This is only for stone chips. I'm not respraying my whole car.
I saw the Aldi one, that's what got me thinking.
"(if you have absolutely utterly windless conditions)"
you have absolutely no way to get inside no ?
also - mask off areas - plenty control then - im not sure youll get the control your looking for if your trying to fade into old metalics with a cheap sprayer either
and yeah i saw aldis and thought it would be a good starter - then after looking around , its not that great a deal its just accessable.
id buy a 3hp 50litre and plumb in an external tank.
seems like a better use of my money and time than waiting for it to charge the tank every time - i asked this same question previously on here as i really wanted to drive an impact driver. Now i have an electric impact driver on its way.
you have absolutely no way to get inside no ?
At the time I didn't. Now I have a garage but it's full of bikes and erm.. compressors.. or it will be 🙂 I'm going to have to rig up some kind of tent I think.
The bonnet is going to be a lot of the work though - that is pretty small, and I should be able to remove it and do it in the garage.
As for fading in with the old paint - that'll be a challenge I'm sure 😕 The bonnet is the worst, so I may just do the whole thing (having said that about panels) but other than that there's a couple of small chips, a gouge on the bumper low down, and three marble sized dents that have no paint damage. I was considering filling and spraying them, but depending on how confident I get I may just fork out the cash to have them repaired paintlessly.
no paint damage - id leave em - isnt going to rust
a bad paint job will devalue more than a couple of dents.
I know, but they are really conspicuous.
a bad paint job will devalue more than a couple of dents.
I wasn't planning on doing a bad job 🙂
aye well , you only learn by trying.