L O N G post warning!!!
Hullo Barry (bodgerbaz). I have had quite a lot of experience of painting models, mainly aircraft (both the flying type, and scale plastic models), and lately, a little bit of toy painting (see my tractor & trailer post on this section a while back).
And I've even managed the re-painting of full size aircraft (where believe it or not, weight plays a big role, just like in flying models). So I do have some experience in this area.
And in response to some points raised on this Forum by DTR a while back, I had some inputs to make on the subject of airbrushing. Here's the link to that:
dave-s-wooden-stuff-t99301-30.html
(look about half way down page 3).
And as far as links go, a regular poster on the US Toy Makers Forum had quite a lot of useful stuff to say about spray painting toys just recently. Here's the link:
http://forums.toymakingplans.com/post/s ... sh-8439545
So let's get to it (as I see this subject anyway):
1. Like you, I'm not really a great fan of painting, but when it "must" be done..............;
2. Personally I agree 100% with the Toy Makers Forum post linked above - spray painting is NOT worth all the hassle unless you're going to be doing the work in batches. Spraying a one-off toy, especially if more than a single colour is involved, just isn't worth all the prep, masking, and cleaning up time needed. In other words, you need to save all your one-off toys until you've got, say, half a dozen ready for painting. AND (most important IMO), do NOT fully assemble the toys before painting, just leave them in "major sub assembly" state - MUCH easier to paint at that stage, then do final assembly after all the paint and varnish is really hard . So for one off jobs, just use either a brush (see item 6) below, or aerosol (see 7 below);
3. As well as the airbrush itself, plus the compressor of course, you also need some sort of lazy susan, plus a method of suspending the items being painted (hooks/string/wire/ pyramids, etc). And don't forget the over-spray catcher, though this can of course be just a big packing carton lying on its side - you don't need a proper extractor hood unless you're doing really big stuff, or spraying really dangerous paints such as 2 component type. But don't forget at least a simple mask, even for "just" acrylics.
In total, this is going to be a fair investment, although it does of course "pay back" if you're going to be doing a lot of spraying. But please do NOT think that just because you're spraying you'll automatically end up with a better finish than by hand brush or aerosol - without a fair bit of practice you won't - any more than by buying a super-duper scroll saw you'll automatically get better cuts without practising on it first;
4. As to what equipment to buy, see my own personal recommendations in the first link above. There are many choices. Most of my stuff was bought a long time ago, either in UK or Singapore, so I'm well out of touch with current prices, but for "us" this side of the channel, as a VERY rough ball park I'd think you're probably looking at 300 Euros and up for all the stuff listed at my item 3. above. Incidentally, that should all be OK for any toys up to about the size of a toddler's ride-on tricycle or rocking horse. Anything bigger than that really needs automotive-type spray gear, which is a whole different ball game. But there have been a number of posts in the Finishing section from people setting HVLP, etc, for spraying kitchen cabinets, etc;
5. Just like every other painting method, the majority of the effort goes into the pre-painting work - sanding in ever finer grits, then very fine rubbing down between paint and clear coat coats is the only way to get a good finish. DAMHIKT! (look at my recent tractor & trailer post again)! But if you are set on airbrushing, you need to add in the not inconsiderable time needed for a thorough strip and clean of the airbrush - after EVERY use of course, but also between different colours, AND if you're spraying several coats of the same colour, then between EVERY coat. Believe me, I've tried not doing this thorough clean several times and it ALWAYS ends in tears, regardless of the paint type;
6. Hand brushing can work really well, bearing in mind the caveats in it 5 above. You have much more "tolerance" in the amount of thinner needed for each coat and type of paint (and you can really feel the brush "dragging" when the paint is too thick) but that's much easier to fix than when air brushing, and it can be done immediately, rather than emptying the airbrush and refilling it with a slightly more thinned version - often several times before you get it right!. And of course, there's no chance of thinning the paint if using aerosol (but see 7 below).
And a HUGE advantage of brushing is the low cost - a set of, say, 4 good quality camel or sable paint brushes ranging from, say, width 5 or 6 mm to 30 mm from the artist's supply shop (but NOT from the DIY Emporium please!) will cost much less than the above compressor (and provided you clean them well - MUCH easier than cleaning an air brush!) they will last for literally years and years;
7. Aerosol is much derided but often (IMO anyway) that's because people don't use them properly. And they are VERY expensive (against buying just about any other type of paint). But "my" method below will ensure you use all that's in the can, will ensure that the paint is the right thickness for spraying, AND you have a huge range of colours straight off the shelf, from just about anywhere. Here's how I learnt to use them (over quite a long time, and from others experiences I must say):
A) Use your watch sweep second hand or a stop watch (really), and shake the can for a MINIMUM of 2 minutes (Yes, this is a L O N G time, but do it anyway, NO less)! And BTW, the time starts from when you first hear the rattle ball start rattling, NOT when you first start shaking. Half of the total shaking time should be with the can held nozzle up, half with the can held nozzle down;
B) After the 2 minutes, place the can, cap downwards, into a bucket of hot water (NOT boiling, but as hot as you can comfortably put you hand into);
C) When ready, remove from the bucket, remove the outer cover cap, wipe off any water, then invert the can (nozzle down) and spray onto scrap, paper, etc, until you see the colour spray emerging. Then apply the spray to the job with the can upright and the nozzle about 6 to 9 inches away from the job, using a regular side-to-side motion, and a parallel 6 to 9 inches throughout the hand sweep. Start the spray before your hand sweep meets the job, and continuing the spray until after your hand sweep has passed the job. Assuming you need more than one hand sweep for the job, or need to stop spraying momentarily for any other reason, wipe any excess dribbles off the nozzle with tissue, replace the safety cap and dump the tin back into the water, nozzle down attitude;
D) When ready to spray again, shake the whole tin again for AT LEAST 1 minute, remove the safety cap, wipe off the water, then start spraying again as per C) above;
E) When finished, invert the can again and spray on to scrap until you see no more paint coming out of the nozzle. Then wipe the can and nozzle off, remove the nozzle and store it in a jar containing water (if acrylic paint, or whatever the correct thinner/brush cleaner is for that particular paint type), replace the safety cap, and store the part-used aerosol INVERTED (cap down).
P.S. 1. Not all aerosols have exactly the same nozzle so it's worth keeping the "dead" nozzle (in thinners) even after the can is fully emptied. I now have quite a collection built up over time.
P.S. 2. Our local DIY Emporia sell a little plastic "nozzle/trigger" device which clips onto the neck of all aerosol cans. They're pretty cheap and I find them very useful because the trigger action gives a somewhat better feel than straight forward nozzle depression, and with my sausage-like fingers, I find that on some of the smaller aerosol nozzle designs, my finger "meat" extends over the nozzle head into the paint spray pattern with the obvious (bad) results. The trigger thingy prevents that.
I'm pretty sure that there's more in all the above than you (and everyone else!) ever wanted to know, but I hope you can pick the stuff which is useful to you out of all the verbiage!
I do have a couple of useful books on airbrushing which I'll happily lend you if you like (drop me a PM) and of course, these days, there's a lot of very good info on the internet. Google for various scale modelling web sites as a start off.
HTH
AES
