Learning to spray paint

On Tue, 21 Aug 2007 02:50:58 +0000, Ernest Christley
wrote:

Morgans wrote:
"cavelamb himself" wrote

I second the HVLP approach.
Mine is a $90 Harbor Freight cheapie that I've used for the last 8 years.

It makes very little overspray, and works fine.

I should add that there is not enough tea in China to make me spray a
fuselage with an airbrush, when I could fill the quart HVLP gun one time, or
perhaps two, and do it all. The waste factor difference would be very
small, indeed.


I second the cheapy HF HVLP sprayer. The suck at spraying regular
paint, but the watery aircraft paints are a perfect match for it. It
puts down PolyTone in a perfect layer.

I used a $6 airbrush from Northern Tool to spray a lot of the tube on my
project. It clogged up beyond repair about halfway through the
fuselage. It was actually beneficial that it was so small, because I
couldn't have gotten a touchup gun into all that small spaces between
tubes. I ended up doing a large section with a 3" roller. That worked
really well for everything except the tight corners. If I had to do it
over again, I'd roll as much as I could and hit the corners with the
modeler's airbrush.

you tried to get by with just one???? :-) :-)

buy a dozen of them :-)
expect them to gum up and replace them.

I must throw out the 5 gummed up ones I still have in the workshop.
Stealth Pilot

Stealth Pilot wrote:
On Tue, 21 Aug 2007 02:50:58 +0000, Ernest Christley
wrote:


Morgans wrote:

"cavelamb himself" wrote


I second the HVLP approach.
Mine is a $90 Harbor Freight cheapie that I've used for the last 8 years.

It makes very little overspray, and works fine.

I should add that there is not enough tea in China to make me spray a
fuselage with an airbrush, when I could fill the quart HVLP gun one time, or
perhaps two, and do it all. The waste factor difference would be very
small, indeed.


I second the cheapy HF HVLP sprayer. The suck at spraying regular
paint, but the watery aircraft paints are a perfect match for it. It
puts down PolyTone in a perfect layer.

I used a $6 airbrush from Northern Tool to spray a lot of the tube on my
project. It clogged up beyond repair about halfway through the
fuselage. It was actually beneficial that it was so small, because I
couldn't have gotten a touchup gun into all that small spaces between
tubes. I ended up doing a large section with a 3" roller. That worked
really well for everything except the tight corners. If I had to do it
over again, I'd roll as much as I could and hit the corners with the
modeler's airbrush.


you tried to get by with just one???? :-) :-)

buy a dozen of them :-)
expect them to gum up and replace them.

I must throw out the 5 gummed up ones I still have in the workshop.
Stealth Pilot

I painted the garage walls when we moved in here.
Nothing fancy - just a coat of water based Kilz.

The Wagner Power Painter was my first choice, but even thinned 50:50
(way too thin for this stuff) the WPP would gum up in less than a
minute. It was a prolem withthe pump piston - not the spray head.

I gave up and tried the HVLP. Thinned about 10% he Kilz went on
beautifully. No overspray at all hardly/

Go figure.

The whole 2 car garage tool an hour to paint.

Along the door frames a simple cardboard mask made nice sharp edges.

HVLP - it ain't yer grandpa's spray painter...

Stealth Pilot wrote:

I used a $6 airbrush from Northern Tool to spray a lot of the tube on my
project. It clogged up beyond repair about halfway through the
fuselage. It was actually beneficial that it was so small, because I
couldn't have gotten a touchup gun into all that small spaces between
tubes. I ended up doing a large section with a 3" roller. That worked
really well for everything except the tight corners. If I had to do it
over again, I'd roll as much as I could and hit the corners with the
modeler's airbrush.

you tried to get by with just one???? :-) :-)

buy a dozen of them :-)
expect them to gum up and replace them.

I must throw out the 5 gummed up ones I still have in the workshop.
Stealth Pilot

You live and learn. It was my first time, and I didn't know any better.
By the time I knew, it was late on a Saturday and the frame was
already sandblasted.

Can you tell me the model of the HF HVLP cheapy that you're talking about?
There are many on their site.
Thanks


"Ernest Christley" wrote in message
...
Morgans wrote:
"cavelamb himself" wrote

I second the HVLP approach.
Mine is a $90 Harbor Freight cheapie that I've used for the last 8
years.

It makes very little overspray, and works fine.

I should add that there is not enough tea in China to make me spray a
fuselage with an airbrush, when I could fill the quart HVLP gun one time,
or perhaps two, and do it all. The waste factor difference would be very
small, indeed.


I second the cheapy HF HVLP sprayer. The suck at spraying regular paint,
but the watery aircraft paints are a perfect match for it. It puts down
PolyTone in a perfect layer.

I used a $6 airbrush from Northern Tool to spray a lot of the tube on my
project. It clogged up beyond repair about halfway through the fuselage.
It was actually beneficial that it was so small, because I couldn't have
gotten a touchup gun into all that small spaces between tubes. I ended up
doing a large section with a 3" roller. That worked really well for
everything except the tight corners. If I had to do it over again, I'd
roll as much as I could and hit the corners with the modeler's airbrush.

--
"Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely
in
a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside,
thoroughly used up, totally worn out, with chocolate in one hand and wine
in
the other, loudly proclaiming 'WOO HOO What a Ride!'"
--Unknown

"George Warner" wrote in message
...
Can you tell me the model of the HF HVLP cheapy that you're talking about?
There are many on their site.
Thanks

Wow, the prices for these have really come down.

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...emnumber=93305

This one (above) is good, because it will work at any angle. I have not used
the exact model, though. Plenty good for primer, and probably good enough for
finish. The gun body material is unknown, but it has all of the controls for
the best spray control. I think it is my first choice.

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...emnumber=43430

This is similar to the one I have used, but you have to be able to rotate your
work, because it can not spray upside down.

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...temnumber=7901

This one is the most costly, and reads like it should be the best.

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...temnumber=7902

This one has all the needed controls, and is smaller, but will not work
upside -down. The smaller size could be a good thing for getting into smaller
places. It reads as though it should spray a smaller pattern. (lower air
consumption)

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...emnumber=92541

High cost, but the name is one of the most trusted in spray equipment.

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...emnumber=46719

Another interesting choice in a smaller unit.

You are right. Lots of choices.

I think I would go with the first choice. Some of the other units do not have
as many controls, and that is one of the biggest keys to get the pattern you
need. I do like the spray lines instead of cup on the gun, so you can spray in
any orientation.

I don't need a new unit, but I am tempted to get this one. I don't have one
with the fluid line, instead of cup. I did find I could spray in many different
positions by putting a few elbows and couplings together, so the gun could go
upside down, and keep the cup level. It is kinda' a work-around, but it works
reasonably well for me. g
--
Jim in NC

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...emnumber=90977

Could be a good choice.

cavelamb himself wrote:

The Wagner Power Painter was my first choice, but even thinned 50:50
(way too thin for this stuff) the WPP would gum up in less than a
minute. It was a prolem withthe pump piston - not the spray head.

I have similar annoying experience with the Wagner PowerPainter.

The power roller on the other hand works really well with even
thick paints, but I'm not sure I'd consider painting a plane with
it.

When it comes to PolyFiber, read those instructions VERY VERY
carefully. The first few coats are required to be brushed on
to get the mechanical penetration of the fabric weave.

On Wed, 22 Aug 2007 07:45:48 -0400, Ron Natalie
wrote:

cavelamb himself wrote:

The Wagner Power Painter was my first choice, but even thinned 50:50
(way too thin for this stuff) the WPP would gum up in less than a
minute. It was a prolem withthe pump piston - not the spray head.

I have similar annoying experience with the Wagner PowerPainter.

The power roller on the other hand works really well with even
thick paints, but I'm not sure I'd consider painting a plane with
it.

When it comes to PolyFiber, read those instructions VERY VERY
carefully. The first few coats are required to be brushed on
to get the mechanical penetration of the fabric weave.



the OP was talking about spraying the fuselage tubes.

On Wed, 22 Aug 2007 02:19:29 +0000, Ernest Christley
wrote:

Stealth Pilot wrote:

I used a $6 airbrush from Northern Tool to spray a lot of the tube on my
project. It clogged up beyond repair about halfway through the
fuselage. It was actually beneficial that it was so small, because I
couldn't have gotten a touchup gun into all that small spaces between
tubes. I ended up doing a large section with a 3" roller. That worked
really well for everything except the tight corners. If I had to do it
over again, I'd roll as much as I could and hit the corners with the
modeler's airbrush.

you tried to get by with just one???? :-) :-)

buy a dozen of them :-)
expect them to gum up and replace them.

I must throw out the 5 gummed up ones I still have in the workshop.
Stealth Pilot

You live and learn. It was my first time, and I didn't know any better.
By the time I knew, it was late on a Saturday and the frame was
already sandblasted.


I hope you meant to write bead blasted.

"Ernest Christley" wrote

I used one of the self-contained units. It has the associated blower with
it.

I've never used one of the self contained units. I have read that they are
supposed to be better than the shop air "conversion" units. I wondered it
the cheapies would stack up, since they are usually much more expensive
than conversion units.

So you liked yours pretty well? Have you ever used a conversion unit, and
if so, how did they compare.

I might learn something new today, after all! g

Good guns have cork gaskets on the lid. I made one for one of my past guns,
after the included gasket swelled up enough to make it unusable.
--
Jim in NC

Morgans wrote:
"Ernest Christley" wrote

I used one of the self-contained units. It has the associated blower with
it.

I've never used one of the self contained units. I have read that they are
supposed to be better than the shop air "conversion" units. I wondered it
the cheapies would stack up, since they are usually much more expensive
than conversion units.

So you liked yours pretty well? Have you ever used a conversion unit, and
if so, how did they compare.

I might learn something new today, after all! g

Good guns have cork gaskets on the lid. I made one for one of my past guns,
after the included gasket swelled up enough to make it unusable.

I have an older self contained HVLP unit, a Croix, which was later
bought by Graco. I love mine. It was not cheap. I have a cheapie
conversion unit and my neighbor has a much nicer conversion unit. We
both like the turbine. There are pro's and con's to the turbine units.
On the pro's they don't require a big compressor and are very
portable. The air quality is great and very dry. My Croix/Graco will
lay down a really nice coat. On the con side, the hoses tend to be
cumbersome, not nearly as easy to move with as the conversion units. The
air is pretty hot coming out, so the paint flashes pretty quick,
particularly here in Texas. Still, all in all, I prefer the
portability and ease of use of the turbine. It had a steep learning
curve coming from a conventional DeVilbus guns shooting lacquer to an
HVLP shooting urethane, but the results look great and last. I have
multiple guns for my unit and a variety of cups and needles for
different paints. My only regret is that I didn't get one of the
gravity fed guns, but they were not in vogue for anything but airbrushes
when I bought mine.

Charles