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

 

Two of my Badger Anthem 155 Airbrushes

 

 

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Thinking about painting toys with an airbrush? We highly recommend the Badger 155 Anthem airbrush.

This versatile airbrush handles nearly any paint or finish for toy making. It's a bottom-feed model; some Badger airbrushes are top-feed. The Badger 360 works as either. For small amounts of paint, top-feed is ideal, letting you use just a few drops.

Badger airbrushes are made in the USA and come with excellent support. If you have questions or need help, Badger's team is ready 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 delivers great results every time.

Badger 155 - Anthem - Dual Action, Internal Mix, Siphon (Bottom) Feed

The Anthem, Model 155, offers comfort, reliability, proficiency, cost-effectiveness, and user-friendliness. Its two-angle needle tip mates with the cone-shaped nozzle, enabling a single needle/nozzle configuration to spray nearly any material, eliminating the need for varying needle/nozzle sizes. The body design prioritizes balance and user comfort, with performance suited for rigorous production environments.

FEATURES
• Single needle/nozzle for spraying all mediums, inks, dyes, watercolors, acrylics, enamels, lacquers, glazes, latex, Air-Opaqueª, Air-Tex®, MODELflex®, Totally Tattoo®, and Totally Tanª colors
• Single needle/nozzle sprays pencil lines to 3" (76mm) spray pattern
• Minimal spare parts to stock
• Easy maintenance and cleaning
• Fastest needle release on the market
• Finger-tight assembly tolerances
• Excellent for multiple applications for novice to advanced airbrushers
• Lifetime warranty on labor and PTFE seals
• Fine replacement parts now available

Badger 360 - Dual (Gravity/Bottom) Feed, Dual Action, Internal Mix

The Universal® Model 360 is the only airbrush that works as both a gravity-feed and a bottom-feed. No other airbrush offers this versatility—it's two-in-one.

FEATURES
• 360º front-end rotation to allow for either gravity or bottom-feed usage
• Single nozzle/needle sprays from pencil lines to 3" (76mm) spray pattern
• Single size nozzle/needle design for spraying all materials, acrylics to watercolors, inks to lacquers, Air-Opaque™, Air-Tex®, MODELflex®, Totally Tattoo®, Spectra-Tex®, and Totally Tan™ airbrush paints
• Easy access needle assembly
• Finger-tight assembly tolerances
• Correct weight apportionment balance system
• Ultra comfort, ergonomically correct trigger cushion
• Lifetime warranty on labor, rotational seal, and PTFE seals
• Fine replacement parts now available

 

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

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Any compressor can work for airbrushing if you can regulate the pressure and filter the air. Airbrush manufacturers do not make their own compressors; if they sell them, these are typically rebranded products from China. I have used both a standard two-stage tank compressor and a Harbor Freight model. Someone I know once painted a show car in their driveway using a spare tire and a valve stem adapter.

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 plan to spray only paints specifically designed for airbrushes. However, I often spray cheap acrylics, craft paints, and even house paint, which can have larger pigments that may clog smaller airbrushes. Remember that all paints are different; even different colors from the same brand can spray differently.

Airbrushing takes practice to master. It is not an instant solution, but with enough practice, excellent results are achievable.

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

Badger 155 Airbrushes

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Selecting the correct needle is crucial for achieving optimal results when airbrushing toys. Needle size directly influences paint flow and detailing precision.

I recommend a larger needle size, such as 0.5mm or 0.7mm, for general spraying. These sizes ensure smooth paint flow and ease of coverage of large areas. Airbrush needles are labeled Fine (F), Medium (M), or Heavy (H). For general spraying, use a Heavy (H) needle.

Smaller needle sizes are ideal for intricate work, but they often require premium airbrush paints to avoid clogging. I have not found smaller sizes necessary for toy painting, but experimenting may help you identify your ideal setup.

The airbrush model also impacts ideal needle size. I favor the Badger 155 Anthem, though there are many alternatives. Testing various airbrushes and needle sizes ensures you find the optimal combination for your projects.

I suggest a larger needle size, like 0.5mm or 0.7mm, for airbrushing toys. Larger needles enable smooth paint flow with craft paints and expedite coverage of broad areas. For detailed work, smaller needles may be needed, possibly with high-quality airbrush paints for a flawless finish. Testing different sizes and models will help you find your best match.

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

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 additives to slow down the drying time.

 You can spray shellac right out of the can. But you do need to strain it.

I own three Badger 155 Anthem Airbrushes and highly recommend them. Badger airbrushes will spray anything. Badger makes their airbrushes in the USA, and not only can you get parts for them, but Badger will rebuild them for shipping and the cost of the parts. My first airbrush was a Badger I had picked up at a yard sale for next to nothing. It sat on a shelf in my garage until I started messing with painted toys. I didn't know what I had, so I emailed Badger a photo, and they got right back to me with the model number and the parts I needed to buy and offered to do it for me. That's hard to beat support. The airbrush was more than 30 years old.

But what about those $9 Chinesium airbrushes?

I consider my Chinese airbrushes disposable. I use them when they will work for something I need and throw them away when they break.

I have several of these, and none have tip sizes big enough to spray acrylics other than the expensive made-for-airbrush brands. I can spray acrylic house paint through my Badge Anthem and use Behr Oops paint from Home Depot that costs me fifty cents for a sample can or $3-4 if I have it custom mixed. I also spray craft paint that I buy at WalMart. The Chinesium airbrushes will not spray acrylic house paint and do a poor job with the craft paint.

Sooner or later, you are going to need parts. You will break or bend the needle for sure, and a nozzle likely. At best, these parts are not readily available for the Chinese airbrushes. The first time I needed a nozzle and some needles for one of mine. It took weeks to find them and get them shipped here from Singapore. I did find a US seller that had a complete kit of all the parts, but it cost more than I paid for the airbrush. I can buy Badger parts on Amazon, Badger, or from many other sources.

You can spray lacquer through a Badger airbrush. It's a crapshoot to do lacquer thinner through one of the Chinese airbrushes. The solvent will dissolve the seals in some of them. I have cleaned out one of my Badger airbrushes with acetone without harming them.

I went through a lot of pain to figure all of this out. I have a drawer full of airbrushes. There is a lot of info out there, but 99% of it is for artists. I had to fit this all together with bits and pieces I gleaned here and there. The turning point came when someone gave me a Badger 155 Anthem. The first time I used it, I knew this was what I had been looking for all along.

 I use my shop air compressor with a filter and regulator just for the airbrush. I also have a cheap Harbor Freight compressor for airbrushes. It works just as well, but it runs all the time.

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

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 - Apple Barrel Gloss Green Acrylic Craft Paint
Blue - Behr Acrylic House Paint - Oops Paint
Yellow - Createx - Airbrush Paint
Red - Apple Barrel Bright Fed Acrylic Craft Paint
Lavender - Behr Acrylic House Paint - Oops Paint
Primer - Zinsser B-I-N

Spray Booth For Painting Toys

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 also use expensive challenging to find filters.

A DIY spray booth is the best alternative I could find. You need one that will spray anything including flammable finishes, filter out the paint overspray with relatively inexpensive, easy to find filters, and exhaust all the fumes outdoors. This DIY spray booth is the best I found. It's on my todo list.

 

 

Build Your Own Paint Spray Booth For Painting Toys

What Airbrush Should I Buy For Painting Toys?

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 with the airbrush I already owned soon discovering that it needed a bit of help. Fortunately for me it was a Badger and they have parts and support for old air brushes and I was soon able to get it up and running. I wanted to use acrylic paints mainly because the others I looked at required the use of expensive solvents with warnings on the labels about brain damage from inhaling fumes. They were also flammable.

My yard sale airbrush didn't work. I started buying airbrushes and trying them with a variety of acrylic paints. Most of them just didn't work with the paints I wanted to use.

I now own about 10 airbrushes. Badger and Chinese imports. The Chinese airbrushes work if you want to use the expensive paints made for airbrush artists. They didn't work for acrylic house paint or the $0.99 bottles of craft paint they sell at WalMart.

After lots of experimenting, the airbrush I recommend you start with is a Badger Anthem 155. It will spray anything you might want up to and including acrylic house paint and automotive paints. It will spray them all with the same needle. Badger airbrushes have seals that will stand up to lacquer thinners and other harsh solvents. Parts are available cheap from Badger, Amazon, eBay and other sources. You will break something. Drop the needle on a concrete floor and it will be toast. Parts and support are important. Badger will rebuild your air bush for the cost of the parts. Badger is a US company and all their parts are made here.

Badger 155 Anthem Airbrushes

Parts for Chinese air brushes are hard to come by and believe it or not expensive. I broke the tip in one of mine and the replacement cost more than I paid for the airbrush. In some of the Chinese air brushes lacquer thinners and other solvents will eat the seals. Good luck with finding the seals. Essentially they are disposables. If you don't mind buying a new airbrush everytime you breaks a part these may be just the thing you need.

Master Brand Made In China Airbrush Purchased On eBay

I spent way more time and money than I should have to to figure all of this out. The biggest problem was that most of the information that was available on the internet was totally unrelated to what I wanted to do or posted by people that really did understand paints and how they work.  I spent money on things I didn't need just to try them for myself. I have lots of airbrush stuff that I will probably never use again. Save your time and money.

Buy the Badger Anthem 155.

I don't work for Badger and they are not a sponsor.