Confederate

I know this is kinda vague, but I'm thinking of getting into airbrushing. I've done large projects like painting cabinets and stuff using large sprayers but nothing detailed.
I already have an air compressor and such so I was hoping of going the airbrush route.
Anyways anybody know of any reasonable airbrushes, or how-to's online where I do some research.

Nancy

Try asking Clavus - he's the only one I know who use airbrushes from time to time and pretty good at it too

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I have all the characteristics of a human being: blood, flesh, skin, hair; but not a single, clear, identifiable emotion, except for greed and disgust. Something horrible is happening inside of me and I don't know why. My nightly bloodlust has overflown into my days. I feel lethal, on the verge of frenzy.
I think my mask of sanity is about to slip.

Lewis

check out my friend at www.chestermanart.com. He did the dynasaurs for Jurassic Park and lots of other stuff. He's mainly digital now, but he knows a hell of a lot about airbrush.

todd

I just recently (about 2 months ago) bought my first airbrush as well. I got a Badger Anthem 155, and have been VERY happy with it. Easy to use, and easy to clean.

I haven't tried painting any pictures, all i've done is paint things like models and such that only require one color at a time. It took me a bit to get the hang of it and learn the correct thickness of the paint, but now it's no problem. Now I much prefer an airbrush over a can of spraypaint or a paint brush.

Nancy

Lewis your links doesn't work

__________________
I have all the characteristics of a human being: blood, flesh, skin, hair; but not a single, clear, identifiable emotion, except for greed and disgust. Something horrible is happening inside of me and I don't know why. My nightly bloodlust has overflown into my days. I feel lethal, on the verge of frenzy.
I think my mask of sanity is about to slip.

majik_6

I would recommend picking up a few copies of Airbrush Action magazine. It's got a lot of good information on what airbrushes are best suited for different purposes, as well as how-to's and tons of other information.

I would also recommend the book Automotive Cheaptricks and SFX by Craig Fraser. It's mainly focused on automotive airbrushing, but can be useful for anyone that wants to get into airbrushing.

Good luck!

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it's all about self-indulgence

Confederate

thanks for the info so far, I guess I'm not exactly sure what I'm gonna use it on. eventually i want to get into auto applications, but to start off i want to airbrush randoms things in the house. I want an airbrush that can do fine detail work as well as medium jobs, like a cabinet or dresser. is there anything that can can handle this for a decent price.

clavus

In April I was given a new Badger airbrush by my lovely wife. I knew exactly Jack Shit about airbrushing, but thought that it would be cool to learn. Luckliy I had several weeks of high-school art instruction under my belt. Uh, ya.

I bought three books -
1) Ultimate Airbrush Handbook - Pamela Shanteau
2) Airbrush: The Complete Studio Handbook - Radu Vero
3) Jay Wiseman's Erotic Bondage Handbook

Um, never mind the third book.

Radu Vero's book is the one to buy. It will tell you everything you need to know about airbrushing and provide you with excerises so you can teach yourself. The other airbrush book was interesting , but ultimately useless.

I took a four-night class in Intro to Airbrush at the local College. It was worthwhile.

With the exception of a craft store in Reno that I stumbled into, I haven't found any stores with a decent selection of airbrush paint and accessories.

http://www.misterart.com looks alike a cool place to buy, but I haven't tried yet.

http://www.airbrush.com is a pretty cool place to lurk. I asked a couple of basic questions on the forum, and the people were really nice about answering.

One piece of advice - ventillation. Dust masks don't help. Open your garage door and windows before you paint. The brush puts very very tiny drops of paint into the air. They get stuck in your lungs easily.

My garage cabinets -

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Ass, gas or grass. Nobody rides for free.

Lewis

It works now:

http://www.chestermanart.com/

Take a look and wonder if it's even worth starting!

toxic515

Airbrush Action is an excellent mag for tips and tricks. As far as brush brands, it depends heavily on WHAT you're doing with them.. My standby and workhorse for almost everything is a paasche VL. pretty much handles everything without issue, and is common enough that almost EVERY professional has one, and parts are all over the place. That said, for finer work I have several Iwata brand brushes, and they're the best! they're also the fussiest and most expensive... (except the paasche AB turbo, and frankly, ignore that bastard unless you're drawing individual hairs on a miniature of some sort!) The real key for good results it to get a decent DUAL ACTION, INTERNAL mix brush.. Badger makes some, and there are a handful of others that I have not used, but as long as they're kept clean and functional there's no reason that they won't work. As your proficiency grows, so will your preferences... Flat out suggestion... Get the Paasche VL model, or the current equivilent.... the damned things are nearly bulletproof, and are adaptable to most any style of painting.

Get a good quality water trap and a high end regulator... it'll serve you well in the long run not to use the inaccurate one on the tank! Ventilation is important, as mentioned before, and I suggest MAKING an overspray catcher with a good box fan and a couple of furnace filters. (helps pull that dry paint out of the air you're trying to breathe!)

By the way, I order most of my supplies for everything but automotive work from dixie art supplies. (www.dixieart.com) I prefer Createx paint for textile and most fine art work, but have been known to use damned near anything that I can mix down to the right viscosity depending on what I'm trying to do. Oil paints and watercolours can easily be mixed into all kinds of neat colours and effects, but the Createx line gives a LOT of different colors available and they're very consistant, so I don't have to remember how I mixed a given color most of the time.

Good luck!

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Time flies like an arrow, fruit flies
like a banana.

rocinante2003

I really like my paasche VL. I use createx paints too, I get mine at the local hobby lobby, or even Micheals sells them.

Xepidemic

i too am interested in air brushing but is completely clueless. could you guys recommend a starter kit with everything i would need. airbrush, hoses, compressor, and whatever else. how much am i looking to spend?