A week ago I came across a single action WREN airbrush at an auction. Twelve dollars later it was mine and I posted a question on this site as to what I had bought. Many thanks to Kelly Thorson, Joee Rees and Micheal Clayton (who all have the same airbrush gun) for supplying information on it.
Now I have decided to use it for a project we have to complete next week. I got so excited about trying this out that I went out yesterday and bought a SIMair TC2000 Air Compressor at the local arts supply store. This weekend I plan on setting it up and spraying some test pieces of acrylic. If it works out I will spray about 200 small 1/8" clear acrylic washroom and handicap symbols a dark blue next week. Symbols were laser cut so they have a very smooth edge as well as a smooth surface.
I am hoping someone can give me some advise here as to how to do this. What kind of paint should I use? Do I need a base coat first? Do I need to do any prep work on the acrylic first? How should I set up to spray them efficiently? Can I let the paint airdry or should I apply heat? How do I mix the colour that I want. Any advise you can offer will be helpful I am sure.
Basically I have to paint one side and all of the edge the equivalent of Avery Dark Blue. The symbols are fairly small (less than 3" tall). They are going to be used to identify washrooms in a 24 story office building. They will be mounted to a 6" circular piece of acrylic which will be siliconed to the doors.
Posted by Mark Matyjakowski (Member # 294) on :
We coat a lot of plex with vinyl screen inks ... but usually not sprayed. Spray bomb cans for that.
If your spraying "anything" get a good mask.
When spraying I use a small bed of nails under the letters to avoid build up around the edges.
Posted by Chuck Churchill (Member # 68) on :
This sure is a "bump"y ride!
Posted by Steve Barba (Member # 431) on :
Chuck
Your going to have to give the surface a "tooth" when you spray. With acrylic you can sand it with 00 steel wool, or similiar. All you want to do is dull the surface. Primer can be used, although I think its not necessary. Wash the pieces, air dry.
I would paint them with an oil based enamel. But, I'm not all that familiar with the water based stuff thats out there. As far as mixing to the color that you need- take a sample to your paint dealer. They will match it with thier machine.
Mix your paint to the consistancy of milk when you spray, like Mark says, wear a mask and ventilate. Air dry is fine. Does your compressor have a water filter? Might want to get one if not.
If you have any more questions, give me a shout.
Posted by Chris Lovelady (Member # 2540) on :
i do alot of acylic signs for Florida State, directional signs handicap ect... i use xim primer and then acylic on top and spray them all. they are very smoth and clean..though an air brush my be to small. a touch up gun from the hardware store for $30. you won't have to be constantly be filling that little cup.
chris
[ December 13, 2003, 11:48 AM: Message edited by: Chris Lovelady ]
Posted by Joe Rees (Member # 211) on :
Hi Chuck - still enthusiastic I see, and getting good advice. Mark's bed-of-nails idea is important - some way to keep the pieces from drying onto the tabletop - if they're too small to stand on nails, perhaps some kind of spacer under each one with double stick tape so they don't blow off. Steve's advice of washing the pieces beforhand is also recommended. I'd go with acetone or denatured alcohol.
I'd say use whatever paint you have on hand and are most familiar/comfortable with. Vinyl inks are great on plastic if you have them, but 1-shot will certainly work. You'll find each type of paint works best with a particular thickness that matches your technique.
Regarding technique - I have two very important and universal tips when spraying solid color panels;
*No.1) ALWAYS start and end the paint flow with the airbrish in motion. Better yet, if possible, start the pass OFF the side of the panel, move it across your piece and all the way off the other side before releasing the trigger. Otherwise you're prone to get a buildup at the very beginning and end of each pass. Another good reason to get in that habit is most sputters will occur at the very beginning or end of a pass. Better to have then happen OFF the surface.
*No.2) ALWAYS build up your finish in multiple coats with some "flash" time between. An all-wet coat, all-at-once is far more likely fisheye, puddle or run. Think two coats as a minimum. First coat can be very thin, maybe half coverage, then let it rest 10 - 15 min before following with a real wet coat. The thinner you run your paint, the more critical it is to build up to a final wet coat.
Both those tips are useless when airbrushing a scene. That's a whole different animal.
