Amount of paint used by airbrush

The Paasche VLs I use come with a color cup (1/2 oz capacity I think) and 1 oz and 2 oz bottles. I use the 1 oz bottle most of the time and always have plenty of paint. Now, I don't spray the Humbrol tinlets, which are pretty small, but maybe you just need to buy 2 at a time.

Mark Schynert

Urgh... I've just finished painting an entire 1/48th Corsair using no more than

20 drops of each color (white, interm. blue, sea blue and interior green). I don't think I've used more than 5 drops of aluminum to airbrush the landing gear, and 2 drops of tire black. And for stuff like cockpit detailing or pre/post-shading, we're talking _one_ drop of paint... In my experience, one Humbrol tinlet is more than enough to airbrush two layers on five or more 1/48th plane models.

The fact that the Badger is cheap doesn't mean that it is not a good airbrush. Basically, it is the single action version of their 100 model and, since the Badger's air control is crappy to say the least (that is, once you had the opportunity to compare with a really good double action airbrush), the single action 200 is a very good pick.

First, check that you're using a 0.2 or 0.4 mm nozzle and no more than

2-2.1 bars of air pressure. Higher pressure and larger nozzles will dramatically raise paint flow. Next, don't try to cover a large surface at once with the spray cone. Try rather to spray a thin layer of paint in parallel strips about 3/4 of an inch wide, first in one direction until you've covered the entire area you want to paint, then spray another layer with the strips turned by 90°. If you're airbrushing a vehicle, the strips of the last layer should be parallel to the front-rear axis.

my mistake. It turns out to be a 250, not a 200.

No idea what nozzle diameter it has, but it looks way larger than that. And I'm using aerosol cans with no real airflow/pressure control.

I've been using the same technique that works well with the Tamiya spray cans: spray from about 20 cm away. This will just about cover the entire

1:144 model in a single pass. To get "a thin layer of paint in parallel strips about 3/4 of an inch wide" I'd have to move the brush very quickly indeed.

Hmm... maybe you are hoding your airbrush (or rattle can) too far from your model, thus letting most of the paint go to waste.

I use a Badger 200 and when I paint a 1:24 scale model car body I can get a single layer of paint on the car while using about a 1/3 of the standard glass bottle attached to the airbrush. I think it is a 1/2 oz. bottle. I only fill it 1/3 full and I usualy have some paint leftover for the next coat.

When I paint cars, I open my nozzle quite a bit (Large nozzle) and use about

12-16psi.

Peteski

Ah, yes, indeed. That's not an airbrush, that's a spray gun. Rather adequate name, BTW...

Okay, then, no wonder you're using so much paint. That kind of equipment is adequate for real world automotive touch-ups, t-shirts, art or, if you really want to use it for scale models, to spray varnish. Okay, then, get yourself a model 200G or NH, or even a double action model, such as the 100 or 150 (or, since you appear to be in Europe, you might want to take a look at

And a compressor.

Yup. That's how it should be done.

oz and 2 oz bottles. I use the 1 oz bottle most of the time and always have plenty of paint>>

I also have a VL, and I always use the metal cup, but I still seem to waste a lot of paint. It seems I have to fill the cup at least halfway to maintain enough suction to get the few drops I actually need. This is why I'm getting a toploader (probably an OMNI 5000G). That way, if all I need is a few drops, that's all I put in. I haven't decided the fate of the VL, sell it or keep it in case I decide to enter the T-shirt wars.

When once you have tasted flight, you will forever walk the earth with your eyes turned skyward, for there you have been, and there you will always long to return. --Leonardo Da Vinci

Yeah, I've been planning to get a good airbrush and a compressor. The Badger was a gift, and I've been using it just to see how spraypainting works before I blow $++ on equipment. Now that I know they can't really be compared anyway, I'll just have to take the plunge. Anyway, thanks for your comments. They've been helpful.