Heather's Workbench - Hobby2000 1/72nd Bristol Beaufighter MkI

[CedB]

Nice work Heather - looking smart  

[Col.]

Tidy work so far Heather and you're covering all the subtle details and differences well

[Heather Kay]

After a few days of paying work, I decided it was time for some Beaufighter love.

 

 

I warmed up the loft paint shop, and the aerosol car primer, and got a coat of grey on the plane. It wasn’t warm enough, obviously, as the primer spat grollies everywhere. I’ve been over the thing with fine emery paper, and tidied a couple of areas the primer showed up.

 

After researching small compressors for years, I’ve made a decision. I’m ordering a Sparmax ARISM jobbie later. I also think it’s time I looked at airbrushed primer coats, too. More on that another time.

 

 

I carefully drilled out the exhausts, as far as I dared.

 

 

I brush painted the exhaust collector rings. Using enamels, I started with an overall coat of Humbrol 53 Gunmetal. Once that was dry, I cracked open matt black and Humbrol Metallic 12 Copper, mixed them to a sort of dark coppery glint, then dry brushed the leading edges of the ring and exhaust outlet. I was after the "delivery mileage" look seen in the photos of R2069 posted earlier in this thread. If anything, the finish is a bit dark, but I’m fairly happy with it.

 

Now, off to order that compressor… 

[Marklo]

I’m relatively new to airbrushing but I do find it goes a lot better if I prime before camo. 
 

I’ve been using grey ultimate primer, it’s water based and premixed also available in black and white. And so far has gone on well ( used it on my Bristol racer, typhoon, mustang, and Albatros so far. All over in the RFI forum)

Edited February 14, 2020 by Marklo

[Heather Kay]

Cheers Marklo. I will need to bone up on airbrush primers.

 

I know many people swear by the classic Halfords grey acrylic aerosol. The problem is I want to move my airbrushing into my downstairs workshop, and squirting stinky aerosols about - even with an extractor booth - isn't ideal. Another issue is where the heck I'm going to put the extractor booth, but that's for another time!

[CedB]

Looking very smart Heather, very smart indeed  

 

1 hour ago, Heather Kay said:

After researching small compressors for years, I’ve made a decision. I’m ordering a Sparmax ARISM

Now that made me look. I may be in the market for a new compressor soon too. It looks like the new Arism has two versions, the 'standard' and the 'Viz'.

The Viz seems to have "Smart Stop and the Silver Bullet Plus", whatever that is…

(Looked it up - 'Smart Stop' uses a sensor in the holder to pause the compressor. Hmmm)

Do they both have tanks do you know?

Do you have to have the 'Silver Bullet' at the airbrush end for a moisture trap? Looks a bit clumsy?

How do you control the pressure? I can't see a knob.

Asking for a friend…  

 

1 hour ago, Heather Kay said:

I also think it’s time I looked at airbrushed primer coats, too

I vote with Marko. Ultimate have branded my beloved Badger Stynylrez - great stuff and it's never let me down.

Perhaps Ultimate is easier to spell though  

[Heather Kay]

 

23 minutes ago, CedB said:

Now that made me look. I may be in the market for a new compressor soon too. It looks like the new Arism has two versions, the 'standard' and the 'Viz'.

I wasn’t planning on going into details, but since you asked. 

 

https://www.graphicair.co.uk/product/sparmax-arism-compressor/

 

Having compared and contrasted, this model seemed the best overall. It doesn’t have a receiver tank - from what I can tell, that adds several zeros to the price, and at the low pressures I want to use I don’t think it really matters as much as people say. A nice long hose should give a similar effect to a tank at the low pressures we generally use. There's a moisture trap, pressure gauge and knob. I looked at the models with the fancy switch doodah, but it seems this model stops when you release the airbrush trigger, and starts again when you press it, which seems a simpler option. Airbrushing a small model aeroplane shouldn’t need more than fairly short bursts of air at any time, really. The 40 minute run time was good, and again short bursts won’t tax the machine overly anyway.
 

I still have the professional compressor in the upstairs workshop, which has a mahoosive tank and enough pressure to drive most garage air tools if I wanted it to! It’s just a bit of overkill for the small work I want to do these days.
 

[roginoz]

Love the result you've got on the collector rings, Heather, surely one of the hardest colours to get even approximate, they change so much  with the light and the angle of observance.

 

I brew my own mix which is fairly satisfactory, but I've run out and lost the recipe. I'll see if I can find it and we'll compare notes.

Rog

[CedB]

2 minutes ago, Heather Kay said:

Having compared and contrasted, this model seemed the best overall. It doesn’t have a receiver tank - from what I can tell, that adds several zeros to the price, and at the low pressures I want to use I don’t think it really matters as much as people say. A nice long hose should give a similar effect to a tank at the low pressures we generally use. There's a moisture trap, pressure gauge and knob. I looked at the models with the fancy switch doodah, but it seems this model stops when you release the airbrush trigger, and starts again when you press it, which seems a simpler option. Airbrushing a small model aeroplane shouldn’t need more than fairly short bursts of air at any time, really. The 40 minute run time was good, and again short bursts won’t tax the machine overly anyway.

Thanks Heather, that's useful  

 

OK, not that I'm obsessed or anything, but I've had a look at some videos… hopefully useful for others looking for a compressor.

 

The Arism and how the new Viz compares.

 

Looks like the pressure is controlled by the MAC valve and, as you say, the 'standard' does turn on and off when you need it (except at lower pressures).

Both are nice and small and the Viz can run off a battery.

Tempting (when my current one gives up).

[Marklo]

Tbh my airbrush and compressor were €40 off eBay and I’m getting good results. Now I did buy a second hand badger compressor and I have my eye on a better airbrush for detail work. But I do believe a good result has a lot to do with preparation and how you use the equipment.

[Heather Kay]

13 minutes ago, Marklo said:

But I do believe a good result has a lot to do with preparation and how you use the equipment.

Absolutely. I’ve been steadily upgrading my gear as I can afford to. My aim has always to buy the best I can afford - which holds good for almost everything in life! - and to have access to the equipment on or near my workbench. The latter means I will be much more likely to use the kit, whereas currently I have to prepare a lot, even for small jobs.

[Marklo]

I do agree it’s nice to have good quality kit. I do have to fiddle with my Chinese knockoff to get it working the way I want. Hopefully this won’t be the case with a nicer airbrush.
 

My miserly purchased were as a result of failing miserably to get going at airbrushing 30 years ago. €40 was an amount very easily put down to experience if it hadn’t worked out. 

[lesthegringo]

I have a load of those knockoff chinese airbrushes, of varying pedigree, and while I can't say they match something like a Devilbiss Aerograph 63 for very fine work, 98% of the time they are absolutely fine. I basically have some I use for spares, or for when a deep clean and soak is required. The great thing is I can have four or five colours on the go and with paints like the Gunze series, which dry fast on the model but behave themselves in the airbrush,  I can do quite a lot of work in one session, especially when pre-painting sprues or finishing up a model.

 

As for compressors, apart from a couple of really big aircraft (144th B777) where a lot of one colour went down, I have never had my little compressor struggle.

 

You can spend a lot on these items, but with a bit of care and some practice,  you can get away with the cheapo stuff

 

Cheers 

 

Les

[Jackson Duvalier]

I've used quite a lot of spray can paint.  A good trick to get it to mist finely and lay down properly is to warm the can in hot water.  Weather allowing, I like to use them outdoors.

 

Have you considered using compressed CO2?  I got a tank from a beverage distributor and run it through a welding regulator.  An adapter allows the airbrush hose to mate right up.  Totally quiet, I can easily dial in any desired pressure, a full tank lasts me a year or so.  The rig cost less than a decent compressor and when I'm low on gas the old tank gets swapped out at a welding shop for less than the price of two Hobby 2000 kits.

 

Your Beau is looking good, especially those hard-to-capture Bristol exhaust collectors.  Hope mine eventually comes out as well.

 

 

[Cookenbacher]

The Beaufighter is looking great Heather, and all the backdating to Mk I details are a great reference for the rest of us.

This past year, I also invested in a 'hobby' compressor after getting tired of trips to the garage to use the loud but very powerful shop compressor. It was a very worthwhile investment, so much quieter and convenient.

[Heather Kay]

37 minutes ago, Jackson Duvalier said:

Have you considered using compressed CO2?

I haven’t. An interesting idea, but I think I’ll stick with a compressor. 

[Greg Law]

I have a Sparmax compressor with a tank. This was the best investment I have made. People say it is only air, but after using cheap compressors for years with all sorts of painting issues I'm in airbrush heaven with this one.the tank works well for me. For most of my painting I use a Sparmax airbrush.  I only use the HS Infinity for fine work and mottling.  The Sparmax airbrush is basically an Iwata airbrush.  Mine has been trouble free for years. I think Sparmax and Iwata are connected some how. They were really good to deal with as well. They offered to send me one direct from the factory because I couldn't get one in NZ. In the end I found one in Australia for a good price.

Excellent collector rings. Particularly as they are brush painted.

[TheBaron]

Lovely visuals on those collector rings Heather.

Hope the compressor comes soon!

[Heather Kay]

New toy here, as will have been noted in the "new stuff" thread.

 

 

Just so I can play, I set the extractor box up on the workbench. That means moving everything else off, so the paying work is currently safely stashed on a nearby shelf! I hope I can find a better way to set things up eventually, but this works okay to see how it all works.

 

 

Here's the ARISM, set up with my Iwata Eclipse. The braided hose, moisture trap and bleed valve, and the box-top holder, all come in the box with the compressor.

 

You would think, with the Silver Bullet moisture trap and the bleed valve attached, the airbrush would be unwieldy to operate. If I’m honest, the stiff hose is a worse problem. The additional attachments didn’t get in the way at all during operations with the airbrush.

 

 

The bleed valve consists of a control knob which lets you choose how much pressure of the compressor's maximum 2 bar/25psi reaches the nozzle. The 0 mark is full pressure. At this position, the compressor cuts in when you depress the airbrush trigger, and out again when you let go. Turning the knob round gradually lets more air bleed out, lowering the nozzle pressure. As you reach the extreme end beyond 3, the compressor runs all the time, regardless of the trigger. I found at what is effectively the 4 position there is hardly any air getting to the nozzle.

 

I still have to master the dual action airbrush, having worked with a single action one for so many years. Hopefully, having the compressor right here in the workshop, I’ll be more tempted to break the gear out and practice.

 

 

The Beau now has a nice coat of Sky on the undersides. Rather than rush things, I think I’ll let the Xtracrylix I’ve used dry for at least overnight before I risk masking it for the camo to go on. I even felt brave enough to mask and airbrush the prop tips yellow. Now, that’s progress! 
 

  

[CedB]

Looks good Heather, thanks for the details  

[Jackson Duvalier]

Happy to see your new rig is working well.

 

I've worked exclusively with my Iwata HP-C since I bought it, but there are some applications where a single action would be less nerve wracking.

[Heather Kay]

9 hours ago, Jackson Duvalier said:

but there are some applications where a single action would be less nerve wracking.

Totally. In fact, the more I try to master the dual action, the more I find I miss the old single action airbrush. I think I may end up buying another one eventually. 
 

Anyway, enough of that defeatist talk! Airbrushing is nice and easy to do, isn’t it. Isn’t it?

 

 

Oh well, nothing for it. Time to mask the undersides. My favourite. 

 

 

And after an hour of fiddling about, getting tape stuck everywhere but where I want it, I’m ready for a coat of Dark Earth.

 

It makes a change from primer grey, I suppose. I think I’m going to need to attack some areas with more brown, so it’s as well I mixed up enough for a second go.

 

More later? Certainly, provided we aren’t washed away by all this damned rain. 

[Marklo]

Liking the beaufighter so far, I built so many in my youth. 
 

I bit the bullet today and ordered an Iwata cn off the interweb, not the top of the tree but should be a much more precise tool than my current air brush.

[lesthegringo]

I have some old Badger 250 single action airbrushes, and for large areas of single colour they are better than all the dual action ones due to a larger coverage area (compressor capacity allowing of course). The problem is that you tend to waste a lot of paint with the jars and the syphon tube, but they still have a place on my workbench. 

 

One thing I did that really helped was buy those quick release couplings, easy to find on ebay / amazon. Worth the small amount they cost.

 

If I have any problem with my gear, it's water in the line. I  have a proper water trap on the compressor outlet, and in Budapest it really is overtaxed. If I  don't drain it every five minutes or so I get water making its way to the spray head. I'm interested to know whether the one you have there is effective,  as I may consider adding one as a secondary defence

 

Cheers

 

Les

[Heather Kay]

10 minutes ago, lesthegringo said:

I'm interested to know whether the one you have there is effective, 

I can’t say at the moment. The workshop (actually, my front living room, but I own the house and I do what I like!) is actually quite dry. That’s probably down to using an air source heat pump to warm the house, which tends to dry the atmosphere.

 

 

Blutack sausages and masking tape for the dark green. I always manage to miss the light pencil lines I draw first. Ho-hum. Let’s see how this turns out, and how much brown gets pulled off.

 

 

Oh, that’s not too bad. It’s actually picked off over the port engine block where I made the mistake of using standard masking tape and actually holding the model for some awkward areas to get painted. The pressure of my fingers on the uncured brown paint lifted it. It could have been a whole lot worse.

 

 

A larger chunk came off under the tail. Rather than impatiently wait for things to cure overnight, I set the airbrush to low pressure, filled up with more brown paint - told you it was a good idea to mix up more than I needed! - and carefully squirted paint to repair freehand with no masking. I might have got away with it.

 

I'll leave that for a while before I see what damage has been wrought underneath. I expect the worst, so if it turns out okay I’m happy.