Procopius Posted January 3, 2018 Share Posted January 3, 2018 1 minute ago, amblypygid said: Definitely. They're of variable quality, but good for learning. I have three; one has a sticky air valve, one probably has a duff seal, and the last is a complete bugger to clean. But I've learned a lot from using them and navigating through the issues; figured out enough of the basics at least to feel somewhat confident of not wrecking a more expensive tool. And that's enough to keep practicing and improving. I had the sticky air valve recently, but unscrewed the bottom and added a dab of chapstick, which seems to have sorted it for now. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
06/24 Posted January 3, 2018 Author Share Posted January 3, 2018 3 minutes ago, Procopius said: I had the sticky air valve recently, but unscrewed the bottom and added a dab of chapstick, which seems to have sorted it for now. Noted 6 minutes ago, amblypygid said: Definitely. They're of variable quality, but good for learning. I have three; one has a sticky air valve, one probably has a duff seal, and the last is a complete bugger to clean. But I've learned a lot from using them and navigating through the issues; figured out enough of the basics at least to feel somewhat confident of not wrecking a more expensive tool. And that's enough to keep practicing and improving. Reassuring. I have ordered one. 7 minutes ago, Jamie @ Sovereign Hobbies said: I have not kept on top of my stock quantities, and will think of a way to blame Stew for that I'll have a lool tomorrow night and see if I have stuff here to make up more thinners (you know, bottles and stuff) and either will do so or will get in whatever I'm missing. Sorry! As for air brushing - it's really not that hard and in many ways is easier than brush painting, I think. There's some Colourcoats-specific set-up stuff and techniques that we can share to get you started without some of the trial and error of airbrushing. If it doesn't work straight away, you can be comfortable that most of the variables are correct! I would suggest a dual action airbrush with a 0.3mm nozzle to start with. That one Edward showed will suffice. You will definitely want a compressor with a pressure regulator. A moisture trap is a benefit, but not normally essential in Scotland I find. There's a Chinese made little compressor that is cheap and comes with both. It's not brilliant, but ai have one and it works - it does the job just fine. No complaint intended, but if you can sort some out I will be most grateful. Your video, which I spent part of my lunch break watching, made it look so easy. I am under no illusions about the learning curve, but it was encouraging, which is all one can ask for. i have an elderly Badger single action that I never had much joy with, and an Aztec that seems as fragile as anything. Neither has been very successful. However, I do have a reasonable compressor, probably larger than I need and I'm unsure about the pressures, but it works. The Chinese ab is due to arrive Friday, so hopefully I can get a chance to practice at the weekend. A mate has just shown the results of his ten year old son airbrushing on Facebook, so my pride is at stake! 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Procopius Posted January 3, 2018 Share Posted January 3, 2018 1 minute ago, 06/24 said: However, I do have a reasonable compressor, probably larger than I need and I'm unsure about the pressures, but it works. The Chinese ab is due to arrive Friday, so hopefully I can get a chance to practice at the weekend. A mate has just shown the results of his ten year old son airbrushing on Facebook, so my pride is at stake! Does it have a regulator? I usually spray Colourcoats at about 18 PSI, which is roughly 1.2 Bars (I gather the latter unit of measurement is more used on your side of the Atlantic). I also usually keep a paint mule kit about, to test my set-up before I spray in anger on whatever I'm working on...rarely needed with Colourcoats, but essential for my unruly acrylics*. * Good band name. 1 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
06/24 Posted January 3, 2018 Author Share Posted January 3, 2018 Yes, it's one like this https://www.amazon.co.uk/Revell-39137-Airbrush-Compressor-Standard/dp/B000FCMSEY i paid rather less for it, thankfully. It has a pressure regulator, and the general consensus seems to be to go quite low? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Procopius Posted January 3, 2018 Share Posted January 3, 2018 1 minute ago, 06/24 said: Yes, it's one like this https://www.amazon.co.uk/Revell-39137-Airbrush-Compressor-Standard/dp/B000FCMSEY i paid rather less for it, thankfully. It has a pressure regulator, and the general consensus seems to be to go quite low? Jolly good! That's exactly the sort of set-up you want. I usually go as low as I can, bottoming out at 15 PSI, unless I'm flushing out the brush. 18-20 PSI is pretty normal for me. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amblypygid Posted January 3, 2018 Share Posted January 3, 2018 1 hour ago, Procopius said: I had the sticky air valve recently, but unscrewed the bottom and added a dab of chapstick, which seems to have sorted it for now. A solution, I suspect, for many of life's problems. I'll give it a go this weekend, thanks! 4 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Procopius Posted January 4, 2018 Share Posted January 4, 2018 Well, I hated to leave off today with so little done, especially as I only really have twenty-four more hours of joy before my family comes home and ruins everything...I'm in danger of becoming a Saki character at this rate. So I masked a few of the MPM clear parts, which are frightful. Frequent checking with my references was required to figure out what was or wasn't actually a window on the real thing. 20180103_222901 by Edward IX, on Flickr ...added the rudder and the ailerons on the Blenheim I (also really not a fan of separate control surfaces, for the record)... 20180103_222821 by Edward IX, on Flickr ...did some more work on the cockpit furniture (Jon's looks nicer)... 20180103_222841 by Edward IX, on Flickr ...and, in a fit of pique, I decided to add the front section to the Bisley. I still need to add the PE seatbelts (and the pilot's seat) to the cockpit yet, but sometimes this is the best way to blast through those psychological barriers. 20180103_222701 by Edward IX, on Flickr Kerplow. 13 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jamie @ Sovereign Hobbies Posted January 4, 2018 Share Posted January 4, 2018 10 hours ago, 06/24 said: Noted Reassuring. I have ordered one. No complaint intended, but if you can sort some out I will be most grateful. Your video, which I spent part of my lunch break watching, made it look so easy. I am under no illusions about the learning curve, but it was encouraging, which is all one can ask for. i have an elderly Badger single action that I never had much joy with, and an Aztec that seems as fragile as anything. Neither has been very successful. However, I do have a reasonable compressor, probably larger than I need and I'm unsure about the pressures, but it works. The Chinese ab is due to arrive Friday, so hopefully I can get a chance to practice at the weekend. A mate has just shown the results of his ten year old son airbrushing on Facebook, so my pride is at stake! At the risk of a slight derail, may I suggest the following learnings which may save you some of my learning curve! Treat the dual action as dual action. Always start the air flow before the paint and finish the paint before the airflow. In otherwords, at no time have the paint needle valve open without air flowing. This ensures that the paint is always properly atomised and wont spit at either end. Further more, there are subtle tactile and audio cues to tell you where the airflow is landing on the model before you start paint doing it this way. It is widely accepted that lots of thin coats is best. That's correct, but for years I interpreted that in an unhelpful way as, I think, many still do. There is a strong temptation to lay down a wet coat (you'll see a glossy reflection) each time, under the false pretence that you are getting the best "value" for your time. Do this and you will maximise the overall time to get the job done. The drying time is directly linked to the applied paint film thickness. As per my little video that you watched, keep the paint flow to a minimum and aim to put no more than a satin-looking coat on. Work in small-ish areas at a time. Reflections are your friend so keep moving your head and/or the model to observe reflections and you can judge the wetness of the coat. Keep the coats fairly dry and, as you've seen from the video, it will flash of touch-dry very fast allowing you to come back and repeat many times over within a short space of time. Fully wet coats will take hours to cure through - avoid! Thin paint is best for this. Go 50/50 thinners to paint initially. Get in close with low pressure. Thin paint is easier to lift (if suction fed), atomise and spray. Low pressure minimises the momentum in the paint droplets after they leave the nozzle. That allows you to get the nozzle to between 0.5 and 1.5 inches of the model surface and that should be all you ever need. If you use paint too thick you will need more pressure. If you have more pressure the paint will build up on the surface too fast (causing runs) and will blast *everywhere*. There was a time when my models had to be hermetically sealed with masking because my 25+psi spray pressures achieved overspray on everything that wasn't physically denied of the paint! Nowadays I rarely bother to mask much. I just wish I'd learned sooner! If you don't already have one, I would suggest investing in something like this: https://www.emodels.co.uk/trumpeter-paint-mixer-09920.html And you will find the matter of decanting paints and thinners into some sort of predictable ratios without an unholy dripping mess a great deal easier if you buy yourself a bag of these. Keep on for thinners and treat the colour ones as disposable (or at least for use on single colours): https://www.aliexpress.com/item/100pcs-1ML-2ML-3ML-5ml-10ml-Pipettes-Disposable-Plastic-Graduated-Pasteur-Pipette-Dropper-Polyethylene-0-2/32726279152.html?src=google&albslr=220716635&isdl=y&aff_short_key=UneMJZVf&source={ifdyn:dyn}{ifpla:pla}{ifdbm:DBM&albch=DID}&src=google&albch=shopping&acnt=494-037-6276&isdl=y&albcp=658432961&albag=33762888219&slnk=&trgt=68083723825&plac=&crea=en32726279152&netw=g&device=c&mtctp=&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIneiBgO692AIVVYuyCh2pUgUkEAQYBSABEgK8K_D_BwE 3 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
06/24 Posted January 4, 2018 Author Share Posted January 4, 2018 That's not a derail, that's gold. Thank you. I owe you a beer/tea/grateful handshake next time we're at Perth (or wherever). And I guess that Dapple fellow will get one as well! 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CedB Posted January 4, 2018 Share Posted January 4, 2018 Thanks from me too Jamie. I've just watched your video and it's certainly given me a new approach to try - great stuff. Jon and PC - both (all?) are coming along very nicely and enjoying the ride here 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woody37 Posted January 4, 2018 Share Posted January 4, 2018 A thank you from me too 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
06/24 Posted January 4, 2018 Author Share Posted January 4, 2018 Apologies for lack of update. Tonight's work consisted of a much overdue tidying up, which should win some spousal brownie points as well as making for a more productive (shared) workspace. I've obtained a big bag of pipettes as suggested by Jamie, and ordered a mixer. On another thread it has been pointed out the Greek theatre machine has tropical filters, so I'll need to source some if there are none in the Airfix bits. The 211 Squadron decals arrived today too, and the Chinese airbrush is due tomorrow, so chores permitting I should be able to experiment at the weekend. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
06/24 Posted January 4, 2018 Author Share Posted January 4, 2018 Airfix part E5 appears to be a representation of the tropical filter, maybe not perfect but I think it'll do for me. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Procopius Posted January 5, 2018 Share Posted January 5, 2018 4 hours ago, 06/24 said: Airfix part E5 appears to be a representation of the tropical filter, maybe not perfect but I think it'll do for me. Yes, several manufacturers have done resin ones, for the terminally fancy. (Yes I have some.) Phew, this MPM Bisley! You know, I honestly don't think I'dve gotten even this far on it a few years back, and even now, it's still gonna look like crap when I'm done. "Love the little trade which thou hast learned, and be content therewith," I suppose. 20180104_182029 by Edward IX, on Flickr As you can see, we got the pilot's seat in there. I also added the front glass, after doing a bit of sanding on the nose and the skylight bit to sort of coax them into the platonic ideals of their shapes. 20180104_183848 by Edward IX, on Flickr As you can see, I've been a busy little beaver with masking, but somehow I forgot to mask the #%@ing top window on the nose! Now I have to go back and do that. Annoyingly, most of the windows are rather complex in shape, and that one is no exception, being shaped rather like a kidney. The two parts that form the cockpit glasshouse, by the way, are respectively fine (the windscreen) and dreadful (whatever the thing that goes behind the windscreen is called). The latter needed an immense amount of sanding down to fit into its alloted space, and at one point I feared I'd run out of framing before I could get it to fit. The windscreen isn't fully masked yet, so I've left these two parts off. For now. Since clear parts were obviously my mandate for the evening, I got to work on the Blenheim I. 20180104_182020 by Edward IX, on Flickr Cosy. With a little squeezing, the Crew Escape Capsule (not really, gentle reader) was pressed together. All of the mating surfaces had thin lines of flash that needed to be shaved off to ensure something like a decent fit. The canopy roof also had some flashing that had to be removed so that it would fit properly. I kind of miss the old new Airfix, where everything was painfully simply, but by god it fit on the first go. 20180104_184958 by Edward IX, on Flickr You can kind of see why so many Blenheims were unfortunately mistaken for Ju88s by Fighter Command with the nose on. Anyway, that about wraps it up for tonight. I have to clean the house before Mrs P lands tomorrow and pick her up from fricking Midway airport (if we must have nuclear war with North Korea, let them drop a low-yield device on Midway so I never have to drive the fifty miles there and back again) at 8:30 AM, which means fighting my way through morning rush hour traffic and leaving by 7:30 AM at the very very latest. So progress is going to be substantially slower and I'll be more addled and dyspeptic from here on out. I had hoped to have more done, but this is a good start, and I'm possibly almost to the painting stage, which would be nice. We'll see! 14 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
06/24 Posted January 5, 2018 Author Share Posted January 5, 2018 A little package on the desk at work... Untitled by jongwinnett, on Flickr 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
(ex)Sgtrafman Posted January 5, 2018 Share Posted January 5, 2018 I'd be lost without my airbrush! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gorby Posted January 5, 2018 Share Posted January 5, 2018 45 minutes ago, (ex)Sgtrafman said: I'd be lost without my airbrush! Is it good at reading maps? 1 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ex-FAAWAFU Posted January 5, 2018 Share Posted January 5, 2018 2 hours ago, 06/24 said: A little package on the desk at work... Untitled by jongwinnett, on Flickr Ah, the old “deliver it to work address and hope you can sneak it into the house un-spotted” ploy, eh? Sometimes works! 1 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
06/24 Posted January 5, 2018 Author Share Posted January 5, 2018 5 minutes ago, Ex-FAAWAFU said: Ah, the old “deliver it to work address and hope you can sneak it into the house un-spotted” ploy, eh? Sometimes works! Well yes, but... More a case of, deliver it to work so there's someone to receive it, honest 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Procopius Posted January 5, 2018 Share Posted January 5, 2018 Oh, one bit of advice, Jonners! Get some of those little plastic medicine cups (like these, sold in packages of 100 here) for mixing your paint in, rather than doing it in the colour cup. Saves many a headache. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
06/24 Posted January 5, 2018 Author Share Posted January 5, 2018 I bought a bunch of little glass jars with screw tops, should do the trick 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Killingholme Posted January 5, 2018 Share Posted January 5, 2018 33 minutes ago, Procopius said: Oh, one bit of advice, Jonners! Get some of those little plastic medicine cups (like these, sold in packages of 100 here) for mixing your paint in, rather than doing it in the colour cup. Saves many a headache. Plastic shot glasses do the same job. Doesn't save quite so many headaches though. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
06/24 Posted January 5, 2018 Author Share Posted January 5, 2018 25 minutes ago, Killingholme said: Plastic shot glasses do the same job. Doesn't save quite so many headaches though. Don't think you're supposed to drink the thinners. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dogsbody Posted January 5, 2018 Share Posted January 5, 2018 21 hours ago, 06/24 said: Airfix part E5 appears to be a representation of the tropical filter, maybe not perfect but I think it'll do for me. Actually, it's Part # B-5 that's the tropical air filters. Freightdog makes a tropical filter for the Airfix Gladiator. It comes two to a pack and they do look like they'd fit on a Blenheim. https://www.freightdogmodels.co.uk/military-products/military-aircraft-conversions/1-72-scale/freightdog-models/freightdog-1-72-gloster-gladiator-tropical-filter.html Chris 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Procopius Posted January 5, 2018 Share Posted January 5, 2018 35 minutes ago, dogsbody said: Actually, it's Part # B-5 that's the tropical air filters. Freightdog makes a tropical filter for the Airfix Gladiator. It comes two to a pack and they do look like they'd fit on a Blenheim. https://www.freightdogmodels.co.uk/military-products/military-aircraft-conversions/1-72-scale/freightdog-models/freightdog-1-72-gloster-gladiator-tropical-filter.html Chris Barracudacast also make a full-spectrum set for the Blenheim, including those dorky-looking trumpet intakes. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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