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How to airbrush???????

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I have been trying to figure out how to airbrush. I have the Vega 2000 with all three needles. I have looked at YouTube, but I haven’t found what is helpful. Any info or tips is appreciated. I’m thinking my paint is not thinned correctly. I’m using Createx airbrush paint.
 
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Hobby Lobby has books on AB. Check the local library. Main thing is to get old cardboard and practice.
 

john lucas

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createx is part of your problem. 2 things helped me the most. OK 3 things. One was buying the Grex airbrush and compressor. This is my third airbrush and I like it a lot better. The other 2 things I think made a huge difference One was using commercial air brush thinners. Not homemade stuff or thinning with water. It's just flat out better. I've used 3 different brands and all seem to work well. The other and maybe the most important for a new air brush user is to use quality paints. Using Createx right out of the bottle is terrible. Golden or GRex paints right out of the bottle work great. I have since learned to use createx and another brand from Hobby Lobby that I can't remember now but they only work with good thinner and you have to learn how thin to make it. It takes practice. A lot of test spraying. I keep a big note book handy and do test sprays on that with any paint I mix up. Also handy to make sure you have eliminated all color before starting with the next color.
 
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Thanks John. I am good (I think) with my air supply. I use my 10 gal compressor with a separate regulator system I have for piercing. Air pressure is controlled very well. I think my Vega airbrush is of decent quality that should be useable. That leaves the paint. I will get a bottle of Golden paint next week. I am using Liquitex airbrush medium to thin. I do have some Badger paint I got free with the airbrush when I bought it. I will try that straight from the bottle to see if it is better. I guess experimentation on thinning.
 

john lucas

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thinning is interesting. The books say it should be as thin as Milk. What the heck is that. Is milk thicker than water? I try to mix it so when I move the brush or container in a sort of circular motion you can easily see the paint slosh around. I know that's probably not a much better description than as thin as milk. If you get it too thin it does not cover well. Too thick and it simply doesn't spray well. I found a chart in a book that you supposedly copy and then paste this under a piece of glass. You put a drop of paint on the glass and count how long it takes to roll to the bottom. that sounds like a really good way to get to know how far to thin a a paint. However I have Never been able to try it because I got the book as an E book and can't for the life of me figure out how to download that image so I can print it. It's on my tablet and can't figure out how to get it to the computer.
 

hockenbery

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Joe Fleming - i bought my grex from him- does a lot of demos . His web site is loaded with information. Don’t ever try a pistol grip airbrush unless you plan to buy it because you will want to. That tricky guy, Joe, handing me his grex.....

I think you have the basics to making it work - clean airbrush, high flow paint, water free air, proper psi.....

Be carful visiting his site because you can get information overload.
https://www.airbrushingwood.com/education.html
 
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t However I have Never been able to try it because I got the book as an E book and can't for the life of me figure out how to download that image so I can print it. It's on my tablet and can't figure out how to get it to the computer.

John have you tried a screenshot which should be able to send to PC to print?
 

Donna Banfield

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Thanks John. I am good (I think) with my air supply. I use my 10 gal compressor with a separate regulator system I have for piercing. Air pressure is controlled very well. I think my Vega airbrush is of decent quality that should be useable. That leaves the paint. I will get a bottle of Golden paint next week. I am using Liquitex airbrush medium to thin. I do have some Badger paint I got free with the airbrush when I bought it. I will try that straight from the bottle to see if it is better. I guess experimentation on thinning.
I'll chime in here...In woodturning, it is possible to create superior turned work if you have superior skills, despite poor equipment. Alan Lacer, for example could produce a well turned piece, using an axe as a turning tool, held on a pole lathe powered by a foot/leg. But he is the equivalent of a super human woodturner.

Very few of us fall into that category where all those things align correctly in our favor. Don't make things harder for you. If you are trying to airbrush using poorly designed equipment, you won't achieve good results. I speak from experience here. I started with a Master AB (never could get it to work all) acquired an Iwata from Binh Pho, (struggled with the trigger on the top/using the index finger) and settled on the Grex from David Nittmann - the business now owned by Joe Fleming. The trigger handle AB is a much easier tool to use. If you are just getting started, start with quality equipment. If things don't work well, it will never be your equipment. And learning how to use an airbrush properly is easier when you're not fighting poor equipment or paint. You may be able to get your current equipment/paint to work eventually, but how much time to do you have to spend fighting with it?
 
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Well, I’ve learned more from this thread than all of my previous research. The video taught me things right from the beginning. if I got the message:

1) Use Golden paint, are there other brands that are good?

2) Get the Grex, Would this be the right one?
Grex Tritium.TG3 Double Action Pistol Style Trigger Top Gravity Airbrush, 0.3mm Nozzle


3) Is there a preferred nozzle size. The Vega 2000 has 3 nozzles and the Grex only comes with a .3 mm. Would I need to buy more nozzles.

Donna, I tried the Master with the same result as yours. I thought the Vega would be decent. I gave up many months ago, but now I’m determined not to let this beat me.
 
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Your original question is really quite broad in scope. There are times when a touch up gun is a better choice than an air brush. If you are doing template work like Bihn Pho, the air brush is absolutely the tool for the job. But if you are trying to use it for applying dyes and color fades, a larger gun could easily do the job better. If you just can't get material through the gun, then you got all the right answers. But that is far from trying to figure out how to airbrush.
 

Donna Banfield

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Well, I’ve learned more from this thread than all of my previous research. The video taught me things right from the beginning. if I got the message:

1) Use Golden paint, are there other brands that are good?

2) Get the Grex, Would this be the right one?
Grex Tritium.TG3 Double Action Pistol Style Trigger Top Gravity Airbrush, 0.3mm Nozzle


3) Is there a preferred nozzle size. The Vega 2000 has 3 nozzles and the Grex only comes with a .3 mm. Would I need to buy more nozzles.

Donna, I tried the Master with the same result as yours. I thought the Vega would be decent. I gave up many months ago, but now I’m determined not to let this beat me.

I use Golden Paints most often, however, I have found the Creatix paints to work well, and they have a wider pallet/color selection than Golden. I have not used the Grex brand paints yet, but if they are anything like their AB, they would be fine.

The Grex Tritium TG3 is the AB that I have - 2 of them. I travel to do demos; always have a backup when it comes to equipment like that. The .03 needle is fine for most of the applications. I also have a .02 needle, that I would use for very fine delicate line work. The .05 needle is good for laying down color in a wide area. The fan tip works well with the .05. Joe Fleming Airbrushing Wood - Grex Airbrush and Air Tool products is my go-to guy for Grex products. He recommends when changing the needle size, change your nose and tip to fit the needle.
 

hockenbery

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I too recommend dealing with Joe. You will want to have a quick connect to make cleaning easy.

You may already have a hose and quick connect that will fit.

When I bought my Grex from Joe, he thought it was a 90% my existing coupling would fit. He was right but the backup plan was to send him a picture when I got home if it didn’t fit.
 

john lucas

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Just for fun I bought the cheapest HF air brushes to see what you can do with them. Fine dettail.work was out if the question but I found for broader work with masking you can achieve good results. Still very dependent on properly diluted paints and consistent air pressure.
 
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I use Golden Paints most often, however, I have found the Creatix paints to work well, and they have a wider pallet/color selection than Golden. I have not used the Grex brand paints yet, but if they

Do you dilute the Createx paint? The one YouTube I found indicates to dilute 5-10%. Createx is not high on John’s list.



Your original question is really quite broad in scope.

It was meant to be broad as after doing what I thought was research I was at ground zero. The responses have been great and will try again with the equipment I have. I don’t have the Grex, but I should be able to do something. I’m still going through the 2020 Symposium info Al provided. A lot of info that I forgot there was as airbrush wasn’t on my list at the time.
 

Donna Banfield

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Do you dilute the Createx paint? The one YouTube I found indicates to dilute 5-10%. Createx is not high on John’s list.





It was meant to be broad as after doing what I thought was research I was at ground zero. The responses have been great and will try again with the equipment I have. I don’t have the Grex, but I should be able to do something. I’m still going through the 2020 Symposium info Al provided. A lot of info that I forgot there was as airbrush wasn’t on my list at the time.
The Createx paints I have, even though they are formulated for the airbrush, are all pearlized acrylic colors. Many of my Soul Series pieces have pearlized colors. Those tend to be a heavier paint in comparison to the Golden High Flow (formulated for airbrushes). So I dilute the createx pearlized paints 1:1 using air brush medium. That’s made to thin paint, but unlike water, will not dilute the color.
 

john lucas

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Createx.isnt bad if I dilute it a little. Now that I have more.experience seeing how it flows in the cup when I have enough thinner I have had more success with a wider variety of paints. It is nice however to simply pour a.color.in the cup and start spraying.
 
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