Completely new to airbrushing....

mejmea said:
Hmm ok. It's labled "Createx Airbrush Colors" and I don't see "Colours" on it anywhere. On the other hand, the instructions on the label talk about both "washfast results" (as if on fabric) and hard surfaces so I'm not really sure?

View attachment 58379 View attachment 58380
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My bad, I spelt it the Brit way. That’s the stuff I was referring to. It’s mainly used for painting on TShirts. People do use it on all kinds of pieces and it can be reduced to flow through smaller nozzles, just be aware that it’ll be very different to Comart.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Ha, ok - I wondered about that. Thanks for the information. I added some Createx reducer to my order from Spraygunner so I'll have that to play with when I actually get to a level of proficiency where I might even try it. If paints are not reduced enough I assume that, at worst, they won't even come out the nozzle but even if they do, they may intermittently "blort" out (to use my own technical term) rather than atomizing and spraying nicely?
 
mejmea said:
Ha, ok - I wondered about that. Thanks for the information. I added some Createx reducer to my order from Spraygunner so I'll have that to play with when I actually get to a level of proficiency where I might even try it. If paints are not reduced enough I assume that, at worst, they won't even come out the nozzle but even if they do, they may intermittently "blort" out (to use my own technical term) rather than atomizing and spraying nicely?
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Even the thicker (airbrush) paint will come out if you turn up your psi. I don’t paint tshirts but I’ve heard that some of those guys use up to 50 psi. But that’s thick paint hitting a surface that will absorb it. Don’t try blasting paint at 50 psi at a hard surface! But you’re right, blorting will occur if the paint is too thick and not enough psi. The trick is to match the viscosity to the psi. Good luck.
 
That was a lot to read through.. Glad I did though. Welcome to the forum @mejmea You have started in the right place (here) so hopefully your airbrush journey won't be as traumatic as some. The createx is primarily used for textiles but I was told on a group in FB that some RC painters use it on the lexan bodies so I assume they must thin the paint somewhat to use it, depending on what airbrush they are using of course.
I gave @SiRoxx an inexpensive "ebay" spraygun (I think its a 0.5) and he said it worked ok, which may be just what you want for "larger" quantities/volume of paint compared to using the smaller cup on an airbrush. A tip with paints is to practice with the ones you intend to/think you will use in the future so that you don't have that "learning curve" again when you change paints. It saves a lot of time and frustration. So, welcome and I hope we have made you feel comfortable and at home. We are a great bunch of peeps here with a great wealth of skill, knowledge and humour so hopefully it wont be long before your up and running and doing well.

Lee
 
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Hi Lee. I had thought about your point of "learn with the paint you're going to use" previously but it got shoved to the back of my mind by the rush of all the other information I've been trying to absorb and assimilate, so thank you for bringing it to the front again! I need to do some additional searching to wrap my head around what other people use paint-wise for models like mine. From the observations here Createx perhaps doesn't seem like the best place for me to start but fortunately I haven't inve$ted much into paint yet. If nothing else maybe I'll try a T-shirt! In the meantime it seems like the com art paint that came with the CS is a good place to start learning.

As for here, everyone has most certainly been kind and helpful and the camaraderie is immediately obvious and makes one feel very welcome. As someone who is literally COMPLETELY ignorant about this topic I have to admit that when I hit "submit" on my original post it was a bit hesitantly (picture scrunching your eyes closed, turning your head and leaning away from the keyboard so it is at arms-length, and then, after a long pause, tentatively tapping the return key with one finger.:))

I am blown away by the quality of work that I see here as well as the quality of the people. I have no aspirations of accomplishing the former as art is not one of my gifts (such as they are), but the latter is a wonderful gift for a newbie like me and, both are inspiring!

John
 
mejmea said:
Deep end, no floaties.....

If only there weren't that pesky "job" thing....:p
Click to expand...

And that’s how we all started our addiction. Resistance is futile and it’s to late to run lol

Don’t knock the ‘Job’ it pays for your next fix.
 
You have everything you need to jump right into the deep end
You have until the end of Feb to sign up for paint pal..... best way to break in your new gear..... go on, what’s stopping you ???!!

NOTHING ! there is NOTHING stopping you....
come on, in you jump
https://www.airbrushforum.org/threads/paint-pal-18-kicking-off-the-new-year.21563/

Read the first post and if you‘re confused just ask for clarification on that thread... now 3 pages long...
You have until the end of March to paint and mail out a 5” x 7” ( or 7 x 5 if you prefer) picture of anything you like. In return you will receive a picture that will likely cause your brain to explode and your jaw drop to the floor of its own free will.

Come on in..... the water’s fine

*cue the ‘Jaws’ music *
 
JackEb said:
Haha yup!
Then some of us will be able to say ‘we knew him way back when he started’ when you’re famous
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Ha, you are clearly a glass half full type of person! :)


The old engineering joke goes like this:

To some the glass is half full.

To others the glass is half empty.

To an engineer the glass is........twice as big as it needs to be!:p
 
Ok, serious question now about the Harder and Steenbeck MAC valve - I think the one that I got may be defective but I want to double check here before I talk with Spraygunner.

1) Is it supposed to be able to shut the air all the way off? (My assumption would be "Yes" because that's one typical purpose of a valve.) Mine does not stop the airflow and, in fact, turning the control knob seems to have on effect on the airflow whatsoever.

2) Speaking of turning the control knob, approximately how many turns should the control knob turn from fully closed to fully open? My assumption would be "quite a few" since the purpose of the valve is to give you fine control over the air. On mine, it takes less than 3/4 of a turn from fully closed until the control knob is actually unthreaded and will pop right out.

Neither of the above seems correct to me....?
 
I’d have to check when I get home, it’s one of those things you don’t pay much attention to.

mejmea said:
Ha, you are clearly a glass half full type of person! :)
Click to expand...

lol, yeah, kind of ! as long as I can refill my glass then its all good :)

mejmea said:
Ok, serious question now about the Harder and Steenbeck MAC valve - I think the one that I got may be defective but I want to double check here before I talk with Spraygunner.

1) Is it supposed to be able to shut the air all the way off? (My assumption would be "Yes" because that's one typical purpose of a valve.) Mine does not stop the airflow and, in fact, turning the control knob seems to have on effect on the airflow whatsoever.

2) Speaking of turning the control knob, approximately how many turns should the control knob turn from fully closed to fully open? My assumption would be "quite a few" since the purpose of the valve is to give you fine control over the air. On mine, it takes less than 3/4 of a turn from fully closed until the control knob is actually unthreaded and will pop right out.

Neither of the above seems correct to me....?
Click to expand...

I'll double check when I get home tonight (about 6 hours before the boss releases me ) it sounds like the Iwata ones I had, all or nothing in a 1/4 turn (not quite but still not enough wiggle room for my liking) so they're sitting at the back of a drawer somewhere.

someone may have one handy before I can get back to you :)
 
Ok, thanks JackEB. I did contact Spraygunner and describe the symptoms and they didn't really question it so I think my instinct is correct but if you don't mind checking too and posting what you find that would be great. If I'm wrong that would give me time to contact them first thing in (my) morning before they ship another one out. It's hard for me to imagine that it's correct as-is but you never know.

On a related note I can no longer say that I've never used an airbrush!

I grabbed a piece of spare glass, drew up some practice patterns to go behind it like in Seamonkey's video, and gave it a shot tonight. I learned a few things:

1) I was able to hit the glass.
2) Ok, I could actually hit sort of where I was aiming. Worked on lines, filling in defined areas, drawing spheres and such.
3) I am initially finding the PS-290 easier to use than the HP-CS. I think that's primarily because the pistol trigger is more instinctive to me. I tried the CS first, then the 290, and then tried the CS again. The CS was easier the second time but my brain to finger connection is still clearly operating in serial mode rather than parallel mode with it.
4) The 290 definitely goes through paint faster than the CS, especially with the fan tip. No surprise I guess but it does go to the points that have been raised previously about potentially using a detail spray gun for larger areas so as not to have to continually refill.
5) I have no idea how anyone makes fine lines. The best I could do in one pass was maybe 2 mm even at very low spraying pressures. Maybe the glass/hard surface isn't helping in that regard because even 5-10 psi I was seeing spidering if I got too close or pulled the trigger too much, and the "lines" were not very dark at all.
6) The Com-Art paint sprays just fine right out of the bottle (at least to my inexperienced eyes). If that will work for my models that may be the easy way to go.
7) I also tried some Createx transparent black, thinned approximately 3:1 (thinner : paint) per what Seamonkey mentioned in his video. It worked, no problems with clogging, but it didn't seem to lay down quite as nicely and, oddly, it was tougher to scrape off of the glass when it came time to "erase". As you've all said, looks like it would take a bit more experimentation to optimize things.

Anyway, the journey has begun, thanks to all again for the ongoing help and encouragement!
 
mejmea said:
Ok, thanks JackEB. I did contact Spraygunner and describe the symptoms and they didn't really question it so I think my instinct is correct but if you don't mind checking too and posting what you find that would be great. If I'm wrong that would give me time to contact them first thing in (my) morning before they ship another one out. It's hard for me to imagine that it's correct as-is but you never know.

On a related note I can no longer say that I've never used an airbrush!

I grabbed a piece of spare glass, drew up some practice patterns to go behind it like in Seamonkey's video, and gave it a shot tonight. I learned a few things:

1) I was able to hit the glass.
2) Ok, I could actually hit sort of where I was aiming. Worked on lines, filling in defined areas, drawing spheres and such.
3) I am initially finding the PS-290 easier to use than the HP-CS. I think that's primarily because the pistol trigger is more instinctive to me. I tried the CS first, then the 290, and then tried the CS again. The CS was easier the second time but my brain to finger connection is still clearly operating in serial mode rather than parallel mode with it.
4) The 290 definitely goes through paint faster than the CS, especially with the fan tip. No surprise I guess but it does go to the points that have been raised previously about potentially using a detail spray gun for larger areas so as not to have to continually refill.
5) I have no idea how anyone makes fine lines. The best I could do in one pass was maybe 2 mm even at very low spraying pressures. Maybe the glass/hard surface isn't helping in that regard because even 5-10 psi I was seeing spidering if I got too close or pulled the trigger too much, and the "lines" were not very dark at all.
6) The Com-Art paint sprays just fine right out of the bottle (at least to my inexperienced eyes). If that will work for my models that may be the easy way to go.
7) I also tried some Createx transparent black, thinned approximately 3:1 (thinner:paint) per what Seamonkey mentioned in his video. It worked, no problems with clogging, but it didn't seem to lay down quite as nicely and, oddly, it was tougher to scrape off of the glass when it came time to "erase". As you've all said, looks like it would take a bit more experimentation to optimize things.

Anyway, the journey has begun, thanks to all again for the ongoing help and encouragement!
Click to expand...
Sounds like you’re off to a good start Mate! Thin lines are something that takes practice. Air pressure, reduction and speed of movement all come into the equation, but the biggest factor is probably trigger control. It will feel like you can’t possibly have any paint coming out with any less of a pull, then one day it comes together and you do.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Congratulations on your first airbrushing experience! No swearing or throwing things??! Wow then you're doing good. Keep practicing and it will eventually start making sense.
 
Verdict: yours is faulty :)
Used my CS. Filled with water
PSI: 25 -( psi is ALWAYS set with the trigger pressed for air)

Looking at the dial and using mr.microns ‘clock’ analogy, the dial turns anti clockwise from off to on.
The mark was at ‘9’ on the ‘clock’when fully off.
When off there was no airflow at all
When I moved the dial even a minute there was air and water.
Turning anti clockwise there was noticeable difference until ‘11’ so just over 3/4 of a turn, I didn’t see much difference beyond that.
The dial would continue to turn but stopped when at its limits, it did not unscrew from the body.


As for your spidering on the glass .... welcome to the clan lol I can almost guarantee that we all did it when we started. I know I did.
Just keep a few things in your mind.
1. Even an opaque paint will need more than one pass to achieve full saturation.
2. The reason you are painting on glass is to learn paint/reduction/psi adjustments
3. The more confidence you gain the quicker you will move = less spiders.

Before you start painting clean the glass with ammonia windex / isopropyl / alcohol ... whatever it takes to get it clean. When you’re done and the paint is dry you will be able to scrape it off with a single edge razor and clean off with the windex.

When you’ve practiced on the glass use a dry erase/whiteboard marke and DATE IT ! Take a photo so you have a reference for your journey. You will be amazed how quickly you will improve.

It will be frustrating in the beginning but your action should be (with brush locked and loaded for action)
Move and continue moving, air on, paint on, paint off, air off, stop moving.
One day you’ll realise you no longer think about how to put paint on the surface nd it’s a great feeling.

Drawing fine lines does take practise but think about how you’d draw a straight line with a pencil (and no cheating using a ruler) What happens when you go slow ? It’s wobbly right ?
Speed up a little and it’s easier :)
 
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Looks like you're having fun! Glad to see you're off to a good start. Looks like you got some nice kit there as well.
I'm still waiting to see how ComArt works on a model. ;)
 
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