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Showing posts with the label Airbrush

Painting Toys With An Airbrush: What airbrush do you recommend?

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  Two of my Badger Anthen 155 Airbrushes     My Etsy Shop If you're thinking about painting toys with an airbrush, you may wonder what airbrush to use. One option that we highly recommend is the Badger 155 Anthem airbrush. This airbrush is versatile and can handle just about any paint or finish used for toy making. It's also a bottom-feed airbrush. There are Badger airbrushes that are top feed. The Badger 360 can be used for top or bottom feed. If you only need a small amount of paint, the top feed option is excellent because it allows you to use just a few drops at a time. The Badger airbrushes are made in the USA and come with excellent support from the manufacturer. If you have any questions or need help with your airbrush, the team at Badger is there to help. Overall, if you're looking for a reliable, high-quality airbrush for painting toys, the Badger 155 Anthem is a great choice. It's reliable, easy to use, and will give you great results every time. Badger 155 ...

 Airbrushing for Toy Making: Which air compressor do I use?

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Visit My Etsy Store One important thing to note is that any compressor will work for airbrushing as long as you can regulate the pressure and filter the air. It is worth noting that none of the airbrush manufacturers make their compressors. If they do sell compressors, they are usually rebranded products from China. I have successfully used both a standard two-stage tank compressor and a Harbor Freight Central Pneumatic compressor. I even know someone who used a spare tire as an air source to paint a show car in their driveway (they used to sell an adapter that fits onto a valve stem to make this possible). The Harbor Freight compressor is a reliable and cost-effective option. It is quiet and portable, and it even comes with an airbrush. While I have no personal experience with the Harbor Freight airbrush, I have heard mixed reviews about its performance. It might work if you only plan on spraying paints explicitly designed for airbrushes. However, I often spray cheap acrylics, craft p...

What size needle do you use in your airbrush for painting toys?

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Badger 155 Airbrushes Shop my Etsy Store Choosing the correct needle is essential to ensure you get the best results if you're planning on using an airbrush to paint your toys. The needle size will affect the flow of paint and the level of detail you can achieve. I recommend using a larger needle size, such as 0.5mm or 0.7mm, for general spraying. These sizes will allow for a smooth flow of paint and will make it easier to cover larger areas. Some airbrush needles are labeled as Fine(F), Medium(M), or Heavy(H). For general spraying, I recommend using a Heavy(H) needle. While you can use smaller needle sizes for more detailed work, you may need expensive airbrush paints to prevent clogging. I have never needed to use any smaller needle sizes when painting toys, but you may want to experiment with them to see what works best for you. It's also worth noting that the type of airbrush you use will play a role in determining the best needle size. I prefer the Badger 155 Anthem airbru...

Some Thoughts Airbrushes and Why I use Badger 155 Anthems When I Spray My Toys

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Two of my Badger 155 Airbrushes Click on the photo to see some examples of my toys. I am not an expert on airbrushes or how to use them. I paint toys with them, and that is it. This post is just a jumble of some things I learned about airbrushes the hard way. I use airbrushes and spray acrylic paints, and shellac. Acrylics are no big deal for cleaning up. I use generic window cleaner to clean my equipment. It cost about $1 for half a gallon the last time I bought some. Shellac is more expensive to use, but the cleanup is simple, and if you don't get it all out, a bit of denatured alcohol will loosen it up. Shellac is very forgiving. Just don't spray it when the humidity is high. The alcohol will pull water out of the air. It would be best if you strained your paint and shellac. I use the Harbor Freight paint filters and those disposable droppers to strain the paint. If you don't strain the paint, you will get clogs. Depending on the paint you use, you may need some additiv...

What kind of paint are you using for your Bad Bob's Custom Motors cars?

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Bad Bob's Custom Motors I use a variety of paints from various sources. I like the acrylic house paints the best. All of the paints are nontoxic when cured.  I like to use a white primer to seal the wood and make the colors pop. In this case, I am using Zinsser B-I-N shellac based primer.  I prefer to use an airbrush for painting toys but, I have to paint outdoors, and the weather where I live does not cooperate, and I have to wait or use a brush. I used an airbrush for these wooden toy cars. My airbrush is a Badger Anthem 155.  I prefer acrylics over all other paints. They clean up easily, cover well, and are readily available in a vast array of colors. To clean, I flood with water to get rid of the bulk of the paint. The remaining paint is easily removed with ammonia-based cleaners such as window cleaner. I use household$ ammonia to remove dried paint.  I used the following to paint these wooden toy car bodies. Pink - Behr Acrylic House Paint Green - ...

Spray Booth For Painting Toys

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Spray booths need venting outside., Unless you like brain damage. I researched this subject a while back and experimented with some cardboard box with a fan and filters. Even with the box fan and filters, I got paint dust all over the shop. This method doesn't filter out fumes. I was using acrylic paint, so I was not concerned about fire. I would not use this configuration to spray solvent based finishes. If you re spraying outdoors that is a different matter altogether. I know someone who lets his the truck tailgate down and covers the back of his truck with a blue tarp to use for painting.  I have a table I make from saw horses to use when painting outdoors.  I don't use a backstop or a cover on the table. It's getting colorful. The inexpensive spray booths they sell on eBay and else where are very small and ineffective.  Worst of all they use proprietary filters. Larger commercial spray booths are available but, they cost prohibitive for a small shop and ...

What Airbrush Should I Buy For Painting Toys?

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I've made a lot of toys over the years. Most of the toys I made were not finished or had a little polyurethane on them. I didn't paint any of them. Then one day I saw some painted toys. that looked really nice. I decided that I wanted to try this out for myself. It seemed to me that air brushes would be the way to go. I had an airbrush that I had picked up at a yard sale years ago and an air compressor. I also went to school to learn autobody painting and worked as a painter for a short time. How hard could it be? It didn't take long before I realised that airbrushing toys was a lot more complicated than I had expected. The paints were very different and worst of all I could not just google up some videos about how to airbrush toys. Most people that were finishing toys were using mineral oil concoctions or rattle can paint. I didn't find a single tutorial how to about painting toys with an air brush. I was going to have to figure this all out for myself. I started...