Airbrush and "spotting" advice - help!?

Question

OK,I have a great Badger 360 airbrush and a Paasche compressor with aregulator...and I still cannot seem to get a good "spotting" effect. I amlooking for the best way to get dark spots dots on a lighter background witha semi scale overspray...1/48...like North Afrika Luftwaffe units...how doyou all do this?Masks? (Seems unnecessary with the equipment)Freehand? (I cannot get it right this way)Reverse (spray dark first, then put blue tack down and spray light - toolate for my Ju-88 already painted Sand-Gelb)Thanks,Shawn

Rob de Bie · Accepted Answer

I tried it all, and I just couldn't get the mottles I was after. Then I tried pastel powders, and they turned out great. Check out my 1/72 scale Me 163B: luck!RobMy models:    Me 163B site:

Alan Dicey · Answer

Mask is one way - cut irregular holes in a piece of card, hold it a centimetre or so above the surface and spray through it - adjust mask-skin distance to soften or sharpen the boundaries.

I use a Badger 150. With the fine needle/tip I can *just* hand-spray soft camouflage lines in 1/72 (very time-consuming and they are very soft: close masking is needed for "semi-hard" lines). I must admit that I haven't tried to mottle yet :)

Spots are hard because they have to be right first time - no lead-in. For a really good mottle I suspect that you need to be able to spray a much finer spot to start with, then expand it to the size you need.

The 360 is not a brush I am familiar with: looking at the Badger site, it appears to be one from a company they took over - Thayer & Chandler? Am I right in my guess that it is a double action brush with only one size of needle/tip available? If so, the brush may simply not be capable of lines or spots as fine as the Badger 150 or 100 can manage with the Fine needle and tip. But you should be able to get results using a mask held off the surface.

David E. Young · Answer

After a year of working with my airbrush, I'm able to do this sort of thing by hand. I've a Paasche VL, and I just finished a 1/32 Hasegawa Dora with a mottled finish. I used a #1 tip/needle, and applied the mottling in light, quick "bursts". It took an almost simultaneous application of air and paint; I started in close and quickly pulled pack from the model. I'm quite satisfied with the effect.

Cheers,

Keeper · Answer

I'm not familiar with the 360; if it's anything like the 350 you'll need to use a mask. you can make one out of index card and hold it just off the surface. I can get nice spots and mottles with my Badger 150. The paint has to be thin, air at 12 psi (your compressor should have a tank on it) and you have to be real close. hth

The Keeper (of too much crap)

Airbrush and "spotting" advice - help!?

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