Getting Started with Airbrushing Part 5. Practice with Airbrush.

Let's Paint

Right then all the previous posts have been leading up to this. The fun bit.

Before we start painting we will need to connect the airbrush to your compressor. What ever type you bought it should come with instructions on how to do this. If you can tie your shoes then you can do this. One end of the hose screws onto the compressor, the other to underneath your airbrush.
It will look something like this.

Now sit down at your painting area and lay out you paper in front of you, have some paper towel, cotton buds, water, maybe a brush, airbrush holder or cleaning pot nearby and of course some paint. Stick on your mask and open that window.
Switch on your compressor and you will hear it start to pump air into the tank. Look at the gauge on the top of your compressor and set it to 30 to 25 psi. Wait for the compressor to stop ticking away and your tank is full.
Right then 1st I would flush your airbrush out. It's new and it's best to do this and it takes no time at all. Pour a little bit of water into the airbrush and either spray the water out onto some paper towel, or into your cleaning pot. Once you stop seeing or hearing the water come out, lower your psi to 20ish and grab your paint or primer, give it a good shake then add to your airbrush, 2-3 drops will do.
Grab that paper and practice on it.
Just play with it, draw lines and patterns and see how the airbrush works for you.
Something like this.

If you bought a dual action airbrush you will see the further back you pull the trigger, the more paint will come out and the thicker the lines. We don't want to go mad, less is more. Remember just like normal painting, thinner multiple coats of paint are better than one thick one. Some of the practice numbers and letters on this paper have a "spider" effect around the edges. We don't want this. This is caused usually by having your paint too thin and or water still in the airbrush from the previous clean or flush out. If this happens to you don't worry just spray out the remaining paint in your brush and start again. This is where having paints already premixed for airbrushes is a distinct advantage, they won't be too thin. If you start to notice a splatter effect in your paint, have a quick look at the needle of your airbrush. Your most likely to see a build up of paint. Cotton bud in water, give it a wipe to get rid of the build up and your good to carry on.

As your playing don't be surprised if you hear the compressor come back on again, that's normal. It's just topping up your tank to keep your psi at your set level.

If it switches off entirely then you've been painting for ages and overheated your compressor. Don't worry it will sort itself out. Go make a cup of tea or cup of coffee, have a biscuit and wait for it to cool down. To be honest this rarely happens. But always good to take a break every now and then.

Congratulations, your airbrushing.

Next post were going to actually paint a model :)