[Rust in compressor tank after 5 weeks?]

3 hours ago, Rob G said:

Stop worrying (it's fruitless) and enjoy your hobby. 

Will do. Thanks very much for the info.

[Rust in compressor tank after 5 weeks?]

2 hours ago, Duncan B said:

If you use some kitchen roll to catch the moisture from the trap you will see if it is stained or not.

Yes, I've been doing that after most sessions and I haven't seen anything.

 

My only real worry is having the airbrushing air contaminated.

[Rust in compressor tank after 5 weeks?]

26 minutes ago, Tijuana Taxi said:

Pair that with one of the small inline filters just below the airbrush, Sparmax Silver Bullet works for me.

Thanks for the suggestion. I'll give that a try.

[Rust in compressor tank after 5 weeks?]

13 minutes ago, Duncan B said:

My Sparmax is exactly the same and I was initially a bit concerned however it is now 5 years old and still going strong.

Okay, thanks. That's good to know.

 

Cheers.

[Rust in compressor tank after 5 weeks?]

9 hours ago, Rob G said:

Use your compressor, drain it every session, enjoy your hobby. Unless the pressure vessel is of particularly low quality, you'll most likely wear out the compressor long before you need to worry about the structural integrity of the tank due to corrosion. My large compressor (100psi shut off) is 25 years old and is still fine internally, and it's been used exclusively in a high humidity tropical area. 

 

Thank you for the information, much appreciated.

 

Do you know if rust in the compressor tank can cause contamination?

 

9 hours ago, Rob G said:

(Edit to add: on a re-read, I see that you mention 'drain plug'. I'll assume that that's a screw-in plug that has to be unscrewed and removed to drain the tank? What a nuisance. Take it out, then go and get a small ball valve/tap that fits the thread and use that instead (not sure where you'll get one in your area, I don't know what different shops stock. Someone will have something, though). Much less hassle. You'll want some thread tape and you may also need a 90 degree elbow as well, if there's no space under the tank - both shouldn't be expensive. If you want a picture, let me know and I'll share one.) 

 

Yes, I was referring to the screw-in plug at the base of the tank. Cheers for the suggestion but I should be fine for the moment.

[Rust in compressor tank after 5 weeks?]

9 hours ago, Mike said:

I have a dehumidifier in my workshop on a timer that keeps the humidity around the 50-55% under most circumstances.

Thank you for the response.

 

I'll keep a note on the humidity from now on. I've been checking the moisture trap every session and haven't seen any build-up.

 

Thanks again.

[Rust in compressor tank after 5 weeks?]

1 hour ago, bmwh548 said:

You could run the motor for a minute (with the bleed valve open) to "help" the inside of the tank dry off  but other than that there's not much you can do about it.

Thanks for the tip. I'll give it a try next time.

 

I'm still surprised this has happened so quickly though.

[Rust in compressor tank after 5 weeks?]

Hi All,

 

At the start of January I bought a Sparmax TC-610H compressor. I've made sure to follow all the maintenance steps. After every use, I drain the tank of any moisture and leave the drain plug removed for a while, to make sure any moisture can drip out.

 

This afternoon, after removing the drain plug, I noticed some brown staining on the plug. The tank then dripped some brown stains, which appear to contain rust.

 

 

Is this normal?

 

I've made sure to follow maintenance instructions, yet after only 5 weeks, there appears to be rust in the air tank. I can't see that I've done anything wrong.

 

Any thoughts please?

 

Michael

 

[Any good Rafale reference books?]

38 minutes ago, NDB16 said:

Just a reply to let you know we are working on a book on the Dassault Rafale in the Duke Hawkins series. Probably 140 pages, and loaded with action and a huge amount of details. I can't say when it will be released, but we're actively working on it. Now if only someone would do a 1/32 scale kit on this aircraft, I'd drop everything to build it! 

 

We are also working on a new series that will be launched in February with two books! 

 

Anyone who has suggestions, please don't hesitate to send me a message. It doesn't always have to be a mainstream aircraft or helicopter, some lesser known types also deserve a book. That's what we did with the SF.260, Alpha Jet or Transall. 

 

Nic

Thanks for the heads-up Nic, that's great news. The Dave Hawkins series are a fantastic resource, so I look forward to it's release.

[Any good Rafale reference books?]

2 hours ago, Paul Bradley said:

As David alluded to earlier, this just released:

Excellent. I'll have a look into this one.

 

Thanks.

[Any good Rafale reference books?]

3 hours ago, Des said:

They are out there although often purely in the French Language , expensive to start with and often out of print at which point Amazon prices especially become ridiculous.

 

If you widen your search you might find something although it will probably still be pricey by nature of the market and France's taxation policies on printed matter.

 

You could try specific authors  such as Alexandre Paringaux , Frederic Lert , Alain Crosnier or, Phillipe Roman or try French publishers of aviation titles such as ETAI as you have already seen and others such as Zephyr , Heimdal or Histoire & Collections some of whom also publish monthly magazines and special magazine editions which might help with what you need.

 

Most of the books I have from the above relate mainly to Mirage variants/units with some having crossover to the Rafale and although the standards of photography are astounding none of the Mirage titles although often including servicing and engineering activities have quite the same level of consistent nose-to-tail close-up detail as the Duke Hawkins titles.

 

Regarding Duke Hawkins it might be worth your while dropping them a line to see if they have any plans for the Rafale , be surprising if they did not and they are planning to release another two titles before the end of this year and have a full programme planned for next so there might be something sooner rather than later from them.

Thank you for the suggestions.

 

I'll have a look into Duke Hawkins. They've already covered a number of French jets, so hopefully the Rafale will be in future.

 

Thanks.

[Any good Rafale reference books?]

Hi All,

 

I've been on the hunt for a good reference book for the Rafale, similar to the Duke Hawkins series of books. I haven't been able to find anything appropriate, except for this french language book.. https://www.amazon.co.uk/Rafale-Andre-Breand/dp/B07KZG7D7D/ref=sr_1_1?qid=1636475100&refinements=p_27%3AANDRE+BREAND&s=books&sr=1-1&text=ANDRE+BREAND

 

Does anyone have any recommendations, apart from online sources?

[1/72 Airfix A-4 Skyhawk; Reoccurring paint dimple finish issue.]

54 minutes ago, Doom3r said:

There are few things that might be happening here. Here are few suggestions:

1) What paint/thinner proportions did you use? For that nozzle and pressure I would expect something around 60/40 to 80/20 but exact proportions everyone figures out on their own by more practice. It is very possible you thinned it too much and it simply was flowing on the surface after landing on it.

2) Did you try to lay the paint in one go? This is another common mistake that I did when started with A/B. You should not try to paint it in one layer. It is better to do in a few thin coats instead of one thick layer. With one thick layer there is a huge chance of flooding some area (which is actually looks like what happened there). 

Additional things:

3) Did you prime the model before laying paint? Some paints might not adhere very well to the plastic (usually water based acrylics like Vallejo, Model Master). Tamiya & Mr. Color seems to be better, however I would still suggest laying a layer of Mr Surface Finisher 1200 or 1500 before applying paint: it makes paint to adhere better and it also allows not to worry about washing the model before painting if there are no visible contamination by release agents (I usually wash only resin parts). It also unifies the color so if let's say you used green putty to patch up some seam lines and other imperfections that green color would not be visible through the paint layer (especially would be visible on gray/white airplanes)

4) What distance were you spraying from? Standard mistake (I know I did it when got my 1st A/B) is to try to use it as spraygun and spraying model like from 30-40 cm... This is not the right way to do it: 10-15 cm is usually max distance. In reality is even less.

5) Nozzle size of 0.2 is really good for some delicate work (maybe things like preshading, marbling, some sort of freehand camo, etc) or trying to paint small areas. However when you learn basics I would probably advise getting 0.4-0.5 nozzle (you are going to need it in the future anyway to paint bigger areas -- cannot imagine painting 777 using 0.2 nozzle).

 

Thanks for the suggestions. Here's my responses:

 

1. I was using 1:2 paint/thinner, so around a 70/30 mix.

2. I had this happen before with the same parts, so I sanded them down with Tamiya sanding sponge 3000 before trying again. I did try and build some layers but was probably too impatient when reapplying additional coats.

3. I did use Mr Surfacer 1500.

4. Since upgrading to the H&S Evolution, I am spraying much closer, maybe 3-5cm away for those parts.

5. The H&S did come packed with the 0.4mm nozzle, which I was just using for priming. So I'll try using that more then.

 

Thanks for the advice, much appreciated.

 

[1/72 Airfix A-4 Skyhawk; Reoccurring paint dimple finish issue.]

1 hour ago, Dads203 said:

Did you wash the parts before painting? 
 

Could be that the parts have some localised contamination like oil from your fingers or mould release ~ you might of tried to lay it down a bit thick in those areas as well. Some micro mesh should knock it back but I would strip and start again.

 

You should also prime with a proper primer for best effect.

80% of a good finish is based upon good prep work. 

Thanks for the response.

 

I usually wipe the parts down with 91% alcohol but I can't remember for sure if I did it this time.

 

I did use Mr Surfacer 1500 though. Should I be washing/cleaning parts after priming, if handling the model afterwards?

[1/72 Airfix A-4 Skyhawk; Reoccurring paint dimple finish issue.]

Hi All,

 

I'm very new to airbrushing, so I'm still learning the basics. A reoccurring paint issue I'm having across multiple models, paints, and airbrush equipment is when spots appear in the paint while airbrushing. Sometimes, I can apply a wet coat over these clear spots and achieve a smooth finish. Other times, these spots or dimples will remain.

I've had the same thing happen to the horizontal stabilizers on this Airfix A-4 Skyhawk. On one side, the paint went down fine but with the other, spots in the paint appeared and have not smoothed out.

 

I'm using a H&S Evolution 0.2mm at around 1Bar, with Mr Color Gloss White, mixed with Mr Leveling thinner.

 

Other parts of the model have gone down really well but for some reason, this right stabilizer reacted this way.

 

Any suggestions why this might be happening?

 

Thanks, Michael