This place is going to the birds

Thank you!

Though I really would like to learn how to use an airbrush! It’d make painting much faster and easier.

Airbrushes are easy, the tricky part is making sure they stay clean so they keep spraying smoothly, so you can keep tight detail.

Another option is a detail gun, basically a smaller version of a regular automotive spray gun. They’re good for smooth fades and shading, but won’t do the pinpoint detail an airbrush will.

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If you have a Harbor Freight nearby, they have a really cheap kit you could practice with. Most people I know buy one, then throw it away after a few uses.

A really cheap airbrush kit or a detail gun? Does the detail gun require an air compressor (I have one, just hate how loud it is)?

An airbrush requires an air compressor too. There are small compressors made for use with airbrushes but the cheap ones are going to be noisy and vibrate across the floor (that’s the one I have). The quiet compressors are going to be more expensive. So I just use my shop air compressor, which is a piston type cast iron monster that’s not too loud.

Another option which is totally awesome for portability, you can run an airbrush off a tank of compressed CO2. Take it to shows if you do any work on site and not need any power. Or you can get just a portable emergency air tank that you could fill up from your air compressor in the garage, then bring just the tank inside and use it in peace.

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I’m curious. Back in High school (over 15 years ago…) I played a lot of Paint Ball. From that time I still have about 4 or 5 20oz bottles that are meant to hold CO2. Can those be re-purposed for air brushes?

When I played, I would put the canister in a holder on my back with a tube that delivered the CO2 to the Marker. This made it much lighter to carry around. I would think that this would allow the canister to sit nearby, and supply the air needed for airbrushing.

If you can find fittings that fit the threads, and pressure regulators, I’m sure you can. I don’t know if those are purpose built bottles for paintball industry or if the paintball industry adapted to standard threads. I would suspect the paintball industry adapted, so it’s likely an easy swap. I’d take one down to the local gas shop or welding/industrial supply and I bet they have a fit for it.

20oz bottles though, I don’t know what kind of longevity they would have. Might be fine for short quick projects. I know guys that would do t-shirt airbrushing at events and they would use 80 or 125 cu. ft. bottles, but they’re running continuously and all day long.

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Thank you! I’m going to try this :slight_smile:

Somewhere, I do have an air brush. When I bought it we were still living in a (small) condo where we couldn’t really set up decent ventilation or paint booth. Our neighbors definitely would have complained about the compressor. Here we have the space, but the compressor noise is still a real deterrent to me. Now that I know there’s an alternative, I may have to find (or replace) that airbrush.

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There are several options for air compressors but most are fairly loud unless you go upwards of $250+. I have several Senco PC1010 units that we use at festivals that are not as loud as some since they are designed for indoor nailguns and such.
One thing you must have, especially in humid locations is a moisure trap. With CO2, its pretty clean so not as necessary but with compressed air…definitely

20oz CO2 bottles wont get you any time or pressure for airbrushing. 5lb tanks would be the smallest and can last around 3hrs at 15-20 psi.
Unfortunatly they cost around the same to fill as the larger 20 lb tanks so not great on saving money…

I’ve been airbrushing for close to 25 years if you have any questions :smile:

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:slight_smile: 30 here, but I haven’t pushed anything more complicated than some simple fades on hobby stuff the past 10 years. Used to airbrush on cars, helmets, etc… slowly getting back to my roots now building my car so looking forward to eventually knocking the cobwebs off and airbrushing them back into portraits :smiley:

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@smcgathyfay also does simple stuff.

like people.

for magazines.

(Can you spell SI Swimsuit Issue?) :smile:

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Heres a few…not for a magazine…for a makeup show

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Your work always blows me away! These examples are really great, but also quite a divergence from the SI models that were mentioned earlier :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye:

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How long does it take to do a complete torso like that? :slightly_smiling_face:

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I use a paintball tank to push my beer some times.
This adapter allows you to use a regular CO2 regulator.

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About an hour or two depending on the detail…

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So cool! (Used to watch a guy airbrush T-shirts down at the mall…can’t imagine how much more difficult it is to do it on a non-flat surface like that.) :grin:

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Skin has its challenges…mostly you have to respect your canvas…take care of the model…
With t-shirts, its absorbent so you can get alot more detail quickly…with skin its a bit more tricky…lol

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Thank you…that means alot coming from someone who is uber talented!!! :grinning:

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Masterly! I’d love to be looking over your shoulder sometime!

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