I am new to the forum and returning to airbrushing..

[Milo]

Hi everyone, I stopped painting a long time ago (over 10 years).. due to illness and life issues.

My wife reminded me of something I said I would make her and it brought up two projects to do. One is going to be on T-shirt the other will either be on T-shirt or canvas/clayboard/gesso'd masonite. Well once I start practicing again.

After 10+ years of course I assumed any opened paints I had would be bad (I had comart and golden fluid with airbrush extender, as well as some comart textile (jurek) paints. I have some unopened holbein paints after taking a dru blair workshop but never got to use them.

I have a few questions so pardon some hopefully simple questions.

To do the project I figured I would need to get some new paints. We had to go through Anaheim recently so we stopped by Coast Airbrush and the guy told me I should go with Createx Wicked Paints. I had taken a workshop with Dru Blair before and they had a Dru Set of Wicked Paints. Turns out more than one, he had quoted me the normal, and they had an illustration set which I had grabbed and had him swap as I didn't have that kind of money to spend on the illustration set. He also gave me some reducer (500). Now with the Comart and the Illustration paints we used in the workshop I never really 'reduced' just straight out of the bottle or if I had to thin I could add a drop of water.

So apparently the Wicked (there appears to be two types, wicked and wicked detail and one regular createx due to not having a specific blue for the tutorial I am going to follow. I also got the 500 Reducer (not the 100)

I have an HP-C HP-SB and a CM-SB. I hope to just use the CM-SB for this. As I had that unit serviced by coast airbrush after my one attempt to paint again and well lets say my illness raised its head I ended up damaging the needle.

So here are the questions:

First did I buy the wrong paints?

Reducing: How much do I reduce LOL. Does it depend on the surface, type of paint, which airbrush? It says on the bottle for a .5 and I believe the CM-SB is a .15 (I think). Is there a ratio? I assume that I mix it in a separate disposable cup or with a brush in the cup? In both workshops I took we normally only put a few drops in at a time when painting, for shirts I would use quiet a bit more at a time. I may use the HP-C on the T-shirt. Initial project is a Shirt the other would be Canvas/Gesso'd masonite/Clayboard

Is there some guidelines or basic rules to follow for this. I assume you would only want to use the Createx brand reducer.

On another forum someone said you have to wait 10 mins after reducing to start painting with it? That could be painful

Cleaning: It says it needs a specific Createx cleaner for the wicked, not to clean with water between the colors. THey didn't sell me any cleaner but my wife is going into the closest city tomorrow and is going to stop by hobby lobby and pick me up some of the cleaner. It seems rather expensive on the web for the cleaner.

Is there a more economical cleaner that won't damage my airbrush? Previously with the other paints I would mostly clean with water and then run a small amount of airbrush cleaner. Someone suggested back then some Vodka or 91% Isopropal Alcohol. I know widex and those are out because they can strip the chrome off and I don't want to damage the O-Ring.

Painting indoors:

There seems to be more in this paint making me concerned for spraying inside even with a mask and a box fan with filter (maybe two box fans). They have some flow material apparently in it. Any thoughts on this are appreciated.

Other:

Are there any other things I should have bough such as extenders or base (just things I saw on the website.) I understand that Wicked just has to be heat set for shirts and no additional coating is needed?

These also seem from reading accounts that the wicked are fairly color fast?

Hopefully tip dry isn't too bad on the Wicked. I took a chance getting the set. When I first tried createx paints way back I had a heck of a time painting with them.

A question off the track some. I see some people painting on Gatorboard I would assume that isn't archival for having your painting last?

I am trying to see if I can still paint, if I enjoy it or if I should move more digital.

Thanks for your time
I need to get familiarized with the forums.

 

[splasha]

Hi, Milo.
Welcome back to AB'ing!
I would think that returning to painting would be a little like riding a bike, once learned - never forgotten.
As with all things worthwhile, Practice, practice and more practice.
Just do it for the pleasure of it.

 

[Mr.Micron]

Welcome home Milo. On the Wicked just get some W500 reducer and you will love it. W500 is the newest reducer made by Createx . Createx also makes the new Illustration paint which Dru aided in the development of it to my understanding..It will shoot straight out the bottle through you micron
I am sure you will have to build back up your muscle memory but I am sure that it will come back quickly.

Look forward to seeing your work and maybe picking up some tips .

 

[wmlepage]

Welcome to the forum .


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

 

[shadow2462]

Hello again Milo, as for the paints..Createx has several product lines such as regular create for textiles it is heavier in consistency, then there is the illustration line for as its name implies, then there is auto air mainly for bike and auto use and lastly but not least the wicked line which can be used for any application. for textiles besides paint should also have (if needed) trans base, and w500 reducer...w100 is good but w500 is best. Thinning your paints is a hurdle we all deal with but a good start point would be textiles with a .3 & up .5 nozzle= 30 psi & up, for art work on other media I would start with (wicked) @ .2 nozzle 5 - 20psi and a min 5:1 reduction. As for "cleaning" just water between color changes and a few drops of cleaner/reducer for cleanup before putting away works well. NOTE... these are some of my suggestions and im sure others will have more or different options so not saying what I recommend is the only way.

 

[WhiteKnight]

Welcome from Canada

 

[Milo]

Thank you for the information shadow2462. That is helpful. My wife had to run into the city and hopefully can pick me up the cleaner and a few odds and ends. I will post how it goes (I tried quoting the reply but when I post it says I can't post any links)

Thank you also Splasha, Mr.Micron (love the name) I did get the w500! and for the Greetings wlmepage, WhiteKnight!

 

[Cuda]

Welcome back Milo, I'm new here and trying to play catch up !

 

[ko.]

GLAD YA MADE IT Milo you will find out what you want to know here and yes things have changed a bit scroll around a bit and give the gang some mind teasers LOL I Use the the createx line also but not the original.. Wicked is great and AA still rocks for special effects with the micron you may want to try the illustration at least for detail.. Homebrew cleaner works best for me for everyday cleaning

 

[Milo]

I haven't dug around in the threads (my day kinda went sideways). shadow2462 you mention a 5:1 ratio that would mean 5 drops of reducer for every 1 drop of the color.

I did Ko! THanks! Yes I need to dig into the forums a bit I don't want to ask questions that are hiding in plain site so to speak I will dig around for the HomeBrew cleaner too.

You mention the Illustration paint for the Micron if I reduce the wicked that I have it shouldn't be an issue though I understand the illustration is finer and usable right out of the bottle. Before I open these if I need to swap (my wallet just cried a little) I wanted to make sure. Since it is a .18mm and being reduced so much it should still flow okay?

I am working on my painting space tomorrow and changing out the oil in my compressor. If you hear wailing and nashing of teeth you will know how that went.

Thanks again for all the help.

 

[Milo]

Thank you again for the information. With the Holiday I had my time all re-allocated on me, but I did get to do some playing. I reduced 5:1 to start and just play and relearn some. It was smooooth with little tip dry issues. I mixed in the cup and just.. kinda shook it a bit. I haven't tried the micron but used the HP-C and -SB. I did learn that I might not be able to use the HP-C as my fingers don't work as they used to and the cup puts them in a position that great for me. The cleaning wasn't an issue.

Now to actually do something with it.

I didn't change the oil in the compressor, its not overheating and still major quiet. I figured I would let a sleeping dog lie for the moment. Again thanks for the help.

Now to learn when I need to reduce more or change pressure.

Onto my promised project.