December 19, 2015

Club Flyer Follow Up
We started the meeting discussing our club flyer.  Martin and Victor started the project and our resident graphics professional Blake took it to the next level.  We provided Blake with some suggestions and he's going to put on the final touches.  Thank you Martin, Victor, and Blake for your help on this project.  I'll have an image for you all shortly.

Excellent Tip from John
John had an excellent suggestion for handling his 1/700 ship models while working on details and painting.  John uses a block of balsa wood and puts down duct tape sticky side up to hold his parts while he works and paints them.

For ship hulls john labels his ships on the bottom and then uses double sided tape on the bow and stern to secure it to the block.  This allows him to work on the subject without touching the painted surfaces with his hands.  

Excellent suggestion John!


Airbrushing
We discussed airbrushing.... well mostly the tools for airbrushing.  Here's what we covered...

We reviewed the different types of airbrushes available today.  In our group our members use Badger, Harder & Steenbeck, and Iwata airbrushes.

Blake recommended Badger.  He's used his for a very long time.  He especially likes their customer service.  They guarantee labor for life!  Blake recently had an unsolvable problem with his airbrush and mailed it back to Badger.  They fixed it and replaced damaged parts and sent it back for the cost of postage.   Rodrigo also has a Badger 150 airbrush.

Hugh, Jerry, and Dave all have Iwata airbrushes.  They are excellent quality and reasonably priced.   The only down side is the paint cap is very small and you have to take care not to damage or lose it when you're cleaning.  For regular painting a good choice is the Iwata Revolution CR.  For large pattern painting Dave uses an Iwata HP-TH with is good for larger scale subjects.

Iwata Revolution

Iwata Hi-Line HP-TH

Dave and Jerry's favorite airbrush is the Harder & Steenbeck CR Plus.  It is solidly built and very easy to clean.  They also include an adjustable limiter to prevent over delivery of paint.  

Harder & Steenbeck CR Plus

For ship models and the paints we use, these are all good choices.  To help you make a good buying decision based on what you are painting and the paint you use check out Paul Budzik's video on airbrushes.

There are many good sources of airbrushes.  One of my favorites is Chicago Air Brush. 

http://www.chicagoairbrushsupply.com

Also Precision German Airbrush for Harder & Steenbeck is a good supplier based in Florida

http://precisiongermanairbrush.com

Air sources were also discussed.  Any of the following will work well.  It is strongly suggested that you have some sort of tank to maintain consistent air pressure

Purpose built compressor from Iwata which includes piston compressor, storage tank, regulator and pressure gauge.  Advantage is that these are very quiet and portable if that is important to you.

Basic compressor and tank.  If you need a compressor for other activities such as blowing out sprinkler lines consider buying a compressor that will handle all your needs.

An alternative to compressors is going with a CO2 or Nitrogen tank.  These can be filled at a variety of places and are long lasting.  They also don't make any noise!  Be careful to have tight lines so you're not waisting air.  

Safety Note.  Make sure you drain your compressor tanks daily so that rust doesn't eat through your tank which can potentially cause an explosion.  

Speaking of Health and Safety.  You want to get paint fumes out of your work area.  Not only to protect your health but to also keep dried particles away from your model.  Invest in a good quality paint extractor.  You can make your own or buy one like Rodrigo recently bought from Pace Enterprises.  Rodrigo reported that there are no more fumes in the house!

  

A significant advantage of using acrylics is eliminating the chance for combustible fumes.  The manufacturers of these booths will warn you against using combustible materials.

You can buy Pace Enterprises booths directly from their web site.

http://pacepaintbooths.com/pace/

Next meeting will be January 23, 2016 10:00 am at Rockler.  If anyone has any topics they would like to discuss let me know.