Airbrush, spraycan or hairysticks?

[EastEnder]

I will shortly be coming to the point where I have to paint the bodyshell of a 1:24 Ferrari Daytona.

I'm not sure whether to go with:

a rattlecan (Pros - ready-mixed, easy to use. Cons- Only need it for this one job, might work out expensive)

an airbrush (Pros - I've got one (very cheap - £20) Cons - I've never used one before. Don't know how to thin the paint properly, in what quantities or what proportions (Revell enamels & thinners) )

a paintbrush (Pros - used to use brushes all the time when I was a kid, pretty sure I could still do a decent job. Cons - not as good a finish)

What do you suggest?

I'm thinking of trying the airbrush. After all, it's no good buying it to leave it sitting in the box

But how much paint and thinners should I decant for a bodyshell that size? And what's the best way to do it? I have some syringes, would they do? I don't want to waste a whole tin of paint if a few mils will do.

Thanks guys!

[AnonymousDFB1]

Del I faced the same dilemma last year in the end I took the plunge and went with the airbrush, I would never go back to hairy sticks apart from small detail type work.

[Test Graham]

How important is the model? If that's significant, go with the method you are happy with. I did use an airbrush on a 1/24 Ferrari F40LM, and the result was very disappointing. It had worked quite happily on aircraft subjects, with matt paint. Obviously better results can be obtained with effort, but the result there put me off the tedious bother of preparing and cleaning the airbrush, and I've generally stuck with conventional brushes ever since, unless I particularly wanted a mottle finish. I'm about to try it again, with a new brush and a compressor.

If the model isn't particularly important, then by all means go for it, as superb results can be obtained. However, they don't appear magically, and the cheaper the airbrush the more doubts there must be.

[T-Tango]

I would say go with the A/B mate, as regards paint and thinners, I use a 1/4 oz colour cup on my Badger 200 A/B and with it 3/4 full I can spray a 1/35 tank body with it, it measured 180mm long X 100mm wide X 75mm high, as regards proportions I would try 40% paint mixed with 60% thinners (white spirit or enamel thinners). To be quite honest I doubt whether you would even use a 1/4 of a tin of Revell enamel, but if you haven't mixed quite enough, you can always mix up some more. To spray the body, put on lots of thin misted coats and build up the colour gradually otherwise you could get paint runs or sags. HTH

[Kevin Bee]

Once I started to use an airbrush I never looked back. Just about all the painting I do is with an airbrush and only occasionally use a brush. Typically I use Humbrol paints and thin to 50/50 paint/thinners, where the thinners is white spirits or turps. As T-Tango says thin mists of paint to build up the finish rather than thick ones which create runs.

[EastEnder]

I done it! But only on a chassis to start with...

I used a syringe to decant 3ml of Revell enamel & the same of Humbrol enamel thinner into the mix jar.

I followed the instructions in the box on how to set up the airbrush (Badger 250-3) and connected up the aircan (yeah, I know but one came in the box!)

A bit of practice on some newspaper and then a deep breath...

And it was OK!

It looks fine, just waiting for it to dry...before I think it looks so awful that I strip it off and do it all again

[Mike]

Well done Del - You've just taken a step you'll never go back from.... or look back, to be honest! Next major expenditure is a decent compressor, quiet if you have to work near the family, or can't stand the noise of a compressor banging away while you spray.

Why a compressor? because canned air (usually CO2 for airbrushes) suffer from "cool down", where the pressure drops markedly as the can cools down during spraying. You can get around that by putting the base of the can in a bowl/bucket of hottish water, but the other inherent problem with using canned air is the lack of control of the pressure through your airbrush. I'm sure I read somewhere that a can initially provides around 40-50psi, which is way above what most people use - typically 10-25psi, depending on what you're spraying.

Other options are a huge bottle of compressed air (like a diver's tank), but you have to fill that up & that can be a pain (I believe). Sean used a car tyre innertube plus adapter for a while, but he ended up with one big strong leg, and succumbed to the compressor in the end.

HTH & keep on learning - it's a modeller's lot in life

[EastEnder]

It actually looks OK

It's not perfect by a long way, and I wouldn't be happy with that finish on the bodyshell, but I'm pretty sure where I went wrong!