I would like to get past using monokote to cover, and get into painting my planes. I am looking for a good reccomended starting kit (compressor/brushes) and a pointer to a forum or other, that will help educate me on this.

Thanks in advance for any help.

BH

http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...&I=LXDEF4&P=ML

Badger and Paasche are the top brands for air brushes

http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...G+++&search=Go
http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...ssor&search=Go
http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...book&search=Go

Thanks W8ye, The testors kit is the way to start out, or should I invest in a Badger/Paasche kit? BTW, is this correct forum, to be asking for this type off help?

BH

What size stuff are you looking to paint? Will you be in your house or in a garage/shop? If you have enough room the best thing you could do for hobby & home use is to get a good 2hrse 20 to 30 gal compressor. Don't get a Sears (or anyone else) "oil less" direct drive unit. There NOISEY! You want a compressor that has enough reservoir (20gal) that the air does not pulse out as it is compressed (like most of the smaller "hobby airbrush" types do. The money you spend on the compressor will directly impact the quality of your paint jobs. Plan on spending about $300 on the compressor. Make sure the compressor has a good regulator, and then put a filter / water trap in the line after it.

I'd highly recommend the Paasce VL 2 action airbrush for smaller to medium detail work (it'll hold 30z of media) and a HPLV touchup gun from someone like Harbor Freight for larger areas. A double action works like this: push down on the trigger & you get air, pull back on the trigger at the same time it's depressed, and you get paint. You get finer control that way. The VL will give lines from about 1/16" to 1/2" and allow you to use water color to acrylics & enamals quite well.

OMC

I am looking at .60-.90 size models. Top Flite, SkyShark. I was hoping I could get a good starter kit (All in one package), that would include the compressor and brush. I really appreciate the feedback. It will be in my house, in the basement. I have a good size basement at 1500 sqft and walkout with 6 full size windows. I don't think ventilation will be an issue.

Back when I did painting on models I had a Miller outfit plus the Paasche airbrush gun and I still have these

The air brush is only good for trim

You need a gun that will hold four oz at least to spray a whole model

actually Iwata and a few other brands are much more expensive and regarded higher but quality is the main point here. you aren't going to make a living with your airbrush i don't suppose. check out the threads on using 3/4 oz fiberglass cloth and minwax waterbased polycrylic before you paint. it will be an eye opener.

I don't get along well with the smell of dope anymore

I like the Minwax. It smells strong enough

I've been using latex exterior house paint with minwax polycrylic with my airbrush. Cheap, easy.

are you using the polycrylic over the latex? or in the latex? thx.

Over the latex. Give the latex about a week to dry first.
With gas engines I clear over the latex with Krylon spray.

How about a reccomendation on a nice starter kit?

general question about painting. On an average 40-60 size model airplane. How many fluid ounces of paint is generally required to finish a model? Not accounting for different colours but a general total volume of paint? How much paint is required to cover a 500 sq inch wing?

Thanks,

Jim

The Testor's kit will be good enough

Check out your nearest harbor freight store on compressors, they are reasonable, not the best mind you, but it is good enough for this kind of painting. I have been using mine now for close to 10 years, with extremely good results.

I just bought this last week. They had it on sale for $44.
1/8 HP, 30 PSI

thats a good deal! But I would recomend a compressor with a tank and use a hvlp gun! But the 44 dollar deal is the cats meow for a badger... I use a tank for everything. Still nice compressor tho

If you think you will be doing painting on more planes in the future, it will be cheaper and wiser to invest in good equipment up front than to find out that what you bought is inadequate for future painting projects.

The Paasche VL is a great airbrush that I can highly recommend.

The advice others have given you to also purchase a larger touchup gun and a compressor with a tank is very sound advice.

If you plan to get an HVLP type touchup gun, you need to make sure the compressor you get can deliver an adequate volume of air as the HVLP type have a much higher volume requirement than conventional guns.

Here is my current painting setup:

Compressor - for small jobs, a Sears 1hp compressor with a 12 gallon tank. For larger jobs, a Sears 6hp compressor with a 30 gallon tank. (I had to upgrade to the larger compressor when I started using HVLP type equipment)

Airbrushes - Paasche VL for general airbrushing and an Iwata Custom Micron for fine airbrushing jobs.

Touchup gun - Sata Minijet III HVLP (I really love this gun)

For heavyduty spraying - DeVilbiss Finishline II HVLP full size automotive gun

Good advise but the guy's looking for a cheap starter kit.

I shot my entire 120 Corsair with a Paasche D500 compressor that I purchased used and the Paasche Model H
single action airbrush kit. I think I had $100 total in it.

So what if it took a week.

Check this out.


http://www.houstonhobbies.com/tips/p...ying-latex.pdf

the guy does have some nice equipment though.

I really appreciate evryones feedback. Thanks!

BH

I was just wondering what type of 40-60 size planes you're considering painting. If these are sport planes, please be aware that you are going to significantly increase the weight of these models and will increase the wing loading making them more difficult to fly. Even war birds that size would benefit from the weight savings of covering materials. Not to discourgage you from painting, but there is a reason that you do not see many planes of that size painted.

Sorry..just revisited your earlier posts and noticed that these are 60-90 size models. My comments are still the same as to weight.

there are also threads comparing plastic covering weight to fiberglass cloth covering weights. using a 1/2 or 3/4 oz cloth covered with wbpu, latex paint and a clear coat makes for a very light finish. not enough to eliminate this approach from your covering choices. the vast increase in work is probably the main reason for not seeing it a lot. but for me not having a shiny plastic finish with seams is worth all the effort.