How To Airbrush For Plastic Models - From Painting To Cleaning 

Man, thank you so much for ALWAYS going the extra mile to teach people and really drive the lessons home. I just got my first airbrush kit and because of your videos I got started without a single hitch and even managed to start getting great applications by my 6th spoon. Your tutorials really help newbies tackle how intimidating this whole step of the hobby can be lol.

Whohoo something to listen to on my drive home from work

Awesome video as usual. A video on masking would be cool. Tapes, techniques, liquids, cutting devices, etc.

Great information. No harm in revisiting the basics.

This is a great video for airbrushing beginners! You showed all the basics and the inexpensive supplies to make airbrushing easy. The only comment I could think of is to take your time and practice on plastic spoons first. When I started airbrushing I went directly to painting a kit which turned into a disaster 🙄 We all appreciate your time and energy in making these videos! Looking forward to your next video!

The timing of this video is PERFECT, I just got my first airbrush setup this week while im working on my PG unicorn. got a Creos PS-289 .03 with timbertech tanked amazon compressor and amazon spray booth, starting with the Gpaint kit since it was on sale and im just starting out. got it all hooked up about to practice a bit.

Thanks, Robert. I just got my first airbrush and air compressor and am ready to dabble in the mystic arts of airbrushing! And watching your videos have given me so much knowledge on what to do and to expect. You're like a father who's teaching his 'sons' (everyone else, not just me) how to begin and polish our art and style on the way to becoming real men. Thank you!

Your videos have helped me immensely. A few weeks ago I bought one of the cordless starter kits from no name and although it was alright I was having som trouble. I ended up watching through a lot of your videos for tips and tricks. Well, this weekend while the wife and I were estate sale hunting I came across an Iwata Smart Jet Pro and Iwata Eclipse HP-CS for…$40 for the set! Barely used, got home and using all the things I learned finished my first airbrush project. It came out amazing. Wish I could post pics here.

I’m so glad you stressed keeping the bottlenecks clean. Too many people overlook that and then blame the paint for going bad because air got in from a poorly sealed lid. Not to mention, Tamiya will give you that crust that always falls in the bottle if you don’t.

Thank you for this video!!! My airbrush skills have gotten 110% better with this one video! You are awesome!!!

Love your vids! I’ve followed your advice since I bought my first airbrush and got back into car modeling last year. I started doing this when little Testors bottles were a dime…the .69¢ spray cans were waaay out of my budget. 😄 The most helpful improvement to my set up was upgrading the air pressure gauge on my regulator. The gauge that came on the regulator from Spraygunner, was only 1 1/2 inches wide and read all the way 150psi. I seldom spray at over 20psi but mostly 12 to 15psi. 0 to 30psi was about a 1/4” of calibration. I had great difficulty setting the pressure at a specific number. I found a gauge on Amazon that is nearly 3” and only reads to 60psi. This has half of the gauge showing 0 to 30psi, in clear and easy to read calibrations. Check it out. Love your channel…watch every episode! 👍👍

You could make use of those plastic cups you don’t like by turning them upside down and use the bottom to mix small amounts of epoxy or to hold ca glue. Sometimes the epoxy pops off after setting.

Great! Something I learned a long time ago is you don't know everything and that there might be a better way to do something. I always keep an opened mind, because I'm always learning something new from people and sometimes being reminded about something I forgot. I was having a laugh about the cups because even though the one I got don't have the nib, they ran the plastic temperature too hot at the factory, the cups are almost stuck together, and the graduations are hard to read. You always have useful information!

LEGEND. Thanks so much for this amazing video! Really helpful. You rock, sir.

Thanks for the updated guide. I really like seeing what's changed with your process and setup over the years

Thanks for another good video. Yes buying airbrushes can be very additive. As you know (putting this in for those not familiar with paint chemistries) it is a common misconception that "Acrylic" paints are all water based. "Acrylic" refers to the Pigment being a man made polymer (plastic) and not natural (plant , clay, etc)material. There are Acrylic Enamels (mostly used in artist paints now but once popular for automotive paints), Acrylic Lacquers (Tamiya for instance being a alcohol solvent based lacquer paint), and water based Acrylic paints (such as Mission Model paints.) As an aside, Vallejo started as a acrylic paint for animated films (cartoons) in 1965.

Thanks for the vid, I'm looking at airbrushes and needed a comprehensive overview like this.

Great video as always. Again thank you for your dedication to the hobby. I’ve bought a lot of my paints, tools and supplies based on your review videos! I appreciate you

I have that Fortress compressor I got at Harbor Freight. I use it for blowing dust off my workbench, models and to fill the air in my tires. Haven’t tried using it for airbrushing yet because it is so loud I prefer using my no-name airbrush compressor.

Thanks! Your videos gave me the courage to fire up my first airbrush. I'm pleased with my first attempt, I did a two color WWII plane. Rattle canned the bottom because I already had the color, and airbrushed the top. You can tell the difference big time. I'm hooked, gotta practice. Thanks again.

Thank you !!! I learnt some great new tricks and got some great recommendations for accessories cheap !!!

This is a great overview! I've been working to encourage a friend to get into airbrushing to help him improve his scale models, and this will be an excellent reference to share.

Great video, I’ve just started airbrushing and got a lot from this. Thanks heaps.

Very helpful. Thanks for taking the time to break it down.

i am glad i came across this. unbelievably helpful as i start my airbrushing again! Things have changed in 30 years since my old badger!

Just purchased a gsi creos ps-290 due to this video thanks! I was looking for something with a 0.5mm nozzle for a few months now and seeing that air redirector thing sold me on it! Got it from spraygunner so i can get one of those pipe cleaners aswell, very helpful video today i appreciate it!

5$ Ikea milk skimmer was THE BEST tool I ever bought for paint mixing. Takes 2 seconds to modify it and it lasts forever.

Living in Hawaii, my moisture traps do WORK! So humid in my area. I can water the lawn with all the moisture it collects lol

Love the teeth cleaning tools they are a life saver!! Great video! Keep up the great work ! I need all your paints and kits! If you want to send me a kit would be my first!😎 I always send your videos to all the people who have questions! You are a valuable RU-vid video creator

Thank you for all of the great info!

Thx for the very simple straight forward and informative video :) Knowing you tested a lot of paints and gear makes your rules of thumb way more valuable:D

Love it.. been waiting on a refresher video

Another gold mine of info!

Thank you , just entering into the hobby of model cars and this was very informative and helpful 👍😊

I just remembered this. When detailing and you need some fine pointed shape to get into a spot, consider an orangewood stick. Used by manicurists to help with fingernail shapes. Orangewood sticks can be obtained from a beauty supply store. Really cheap maybe $.25 ea.

I only hope I enjoy painting as much as the hunt for the equipment. Interesting how researching products kind of leads you around in a circle. Such as researching the No Name compressor, which I see you use, and finding it at Spray Gunners, then find out they label and test them in house, which turns out to be just down the road from where I live. So I bought the Cool Tooty today with some paints. What a nice setup Spray Gunners has and the guys were super helpful. I dropped your name and told them I found them through you and no surprise that they knew you. I never seen so many paints in my life. Also bought a returned and refurbished airbrush from them. Some German make. The price was right and Gary stripped it down and went over the entire cleaning process with me. So thank you for all your videos and recommendations. I’ll probably get setup and test this out tomorrow. BTW for those interested. That 2 gal air compressor at Harbor freight is on sale right now for $169 and that’s not the members price. That’s only $10 more than their 1 gal pump. To be honest it looks better than the Tooty but you will have to modify it a bit with fittings and air filter and the regulator looks useless for the lower pressures of air brushing. I’m buying everything to get going so that made it out of my budget this round. 😮

Your tutorials are awesome. Love ‘em 👌

Great video. I always put the thinner into the mixing cup first then the paint. Keeps the paint from sticking to the cup before you can mix it, and you wind up with more pourable paint that way.

For cleaning, I've always used mineral spirits. Works great 👍

Thank you for doing this video, I was trying to figure out some things and this has answered those questions.

I'm barely starting with solvent base paints, I've watched so many of your videos and every single one of them has been extremely useful, thank you very much for sharing all this knowledge, you're amazing ❤

Thank you so much for telling us about your airbrush stands. I've been wanting to know about those for a long time.

What a great resource. Thanks.

What a great overview of a multifaceted subject....a terrific one stop primer for newbies, yet has plenty for old hands to review, ponder, and maybe learn a bit. Thanks buddy, you put in the work and it shows. 👍 May I....a "polite Canadian"🙄, give a couple tiny tips on your platform? OK, thanks 😉 luv ya man. I like to test spray on gloss photographic paper. It's waterproof and gives a good indication of how thinned paint will react on plastic or metal. One hundred sheets, gloss or semi-gloss, 4"x6" sell for under $10. They're compact, handy. and easy to store "back at the booth". Where I live, British Columbia, it's absurdly difficult ($$$) to buy Mr. Color self leveling thinner. Having it shipped from elsewhere in Canada or out of country is a wee bit dear, thus I treat it like liquid gold. Being a thrifty old gentleman, I mix it 50/50 with Tamiya X-20 and the paint doesn't seem to know the difference..... .....stupid paint.

lot of useful information for a beginner great tutorial extremely well done covering even the pressure adjustment in detail even explaining that drop of the pressure when u use the airbrush on the gauge

Thanks for the refresher!

Great video Robert! Thanks. My first go round with airbrushing was not so great, even though I have good gear and good paints, I am stoked to try again!!

Great video. Have to admit halfway through stopped to go to sleep for night and started when waking up. Maybe I’ll learn something 😂

Thank you for sharing your information with us. I'm just starting out with airbrushing and I'm finding this information helpful.

This video came.at the perfect time. Can't wait to watch it later

Great video. I am upgrading my single-action airbrush to a Iwata Neo so wanted to remind myself on how to take care of it.

Just want to point out. You say your compressor is good because the needle on the gauge doesn’t move much when the air is flowing. That’s a misconception and could confuse people who are new to compressors. Your gauge goes all the way to 100psi so that 1psi drop looks very small. I have a gauge that only goes to 30psi to increase the accuracy of my adjustments and the needle moves quite a bit when air is flowing, but it is still only a 1psi drop since the scale is so much smaller. Also, the drop you will see on the gauge is dependent on the hoses/ filters/ and tools you have attached, not the compressor itself. So to anyone shopping for a compressor, be mindful of the scale of the gauge and what kind of tool you are using when testing it. Besides that great video. I use it as a refresher sometimes

Awesome, one more step closer to airbrushing, i bought the Amazon paint booth you tested, really nice thank you for doing that video

That was a great video, very helpful for a newbie to modelling. Thank you.

I found some of the Hobby Mio stands at Canberra hobby. They charged me $13.63 each for three of them. Shipping was about $25

Getting started with monster and horror models and just got a compressor and Anthem 155 from my local hobby shop, so thanks for a complete all in one video instead of breaking it up over like ten videos which seems to be what so many others do

Great vid allows me to start the proper way instead of guessing. i will slowly make my way threw ya previous vids. keep at it now.😁😎

Excellent video. Thanks!

good show great work as always keep them coming

Thank you for posting and the awesome tutorial. I'm just getting into airbrushing, and this was very informative and helpful.

Grex makes a .3mm fan cap that works on ALL Grex double action airbrushes (Genesis and Tritium). It's perfect for scale model building for primer coats as well as automotive quality paint/finishes.

Thank you, Sir! I appreciate your videos so much, as they are very informative. Even though I am about a month into my airbrushing experience and refer to your videos daily.

I'm surprised you hated the neo. I went from Amazon setup, compressor and cheap air brush to the iwatta neo and it's been a world better. The cheapy I had trouble with it getting blocked up constantly. The neo has been good with I must admit not great care. I guess that means it only gets better from here

great details.. keep up the great videos.. thank you

Love the video thank you for the great video keep it up very good info

I enjoy your videos. I am also from Rhode Island.

Quite informative Thanks

Thanks very much it's a very informative video all the way in lay men's terms especially on the paints cause there's a lot of them in the market.

This is great! I was just trying to figure out which airbrush to buy and thought I'd check with you. Score! By the way, your intro to the videos is really cool. Thanks!

nice collection there mr B REX I HAVE THE CREOS 289 270 AND BADGER 105 AND CHINESEIUM MASTER 233 creos ps 771 due here feb first gr8 job on your videos

Another great vid!

yeah, dark tone chrome is something i been looking for

Oooh I need to watch this

I watched this, cause I’m moving to a gravity feed, trigger airbrush. I’ve been using 3 different types of siphon feed brushes for years now, because I have always thought that they were easier to clean. That was my biggest concern. My Badger, and Paasche, are still a pain to make sure that they’re ready for a color change, or putting away for the night. I’ve been watching a few RU-vid videos, and I’m looking forward to using my new airbrush now. Thanks for your help!

Pipe cleaners that are used for pipes, not the ones for craft work, they do really well for airbrushes. They work a lot better than those cleaning brushes.

Should try a video of your all time absolute favourite top selection of bits n bobs paints guns model kit you have accumulated over the years so I know what is the best like lay out your top 1 of everything ❤

Thanks for doing this video

Wow I been mixing my paint way to thick no wonder I been fighting it so much this is like water

Great video

9:49 for people staying in a humid country pr region (85-99%), the in-line water trap right before your airbrush is an ABSOLUTE MUST. You rather go without a pressure regulator than without one of these. The moisture trap at the compressor will not help you with moisture forming in the hose and you will spurt within 10-15 minutes. You also want as short a hose as possible, to reduce the amount of pressure change and air within the hose to minimise the amount of water formation

Another great video Rob, can you put up a link for the Mason jars that you use for your lacquer and acetone cleaners? Thanks.

Bob, Excellent video ! Can you please list all the web site where you get your parts and supplies. Thanks for great content !

Ecelent video, lots of usefull tips as begginer I am using them a lot. That technique for gloss painting really works nicely. But my biggest struggle with airbrushing is when painting flat paints. When I do test shots on spoons or painting small pieces its all nice, but when it goes to paint for example some aircraft I really struggle with paint bounceback or how its called that on surface near every corner (like near wing roots, around some fairings etc) there is acumulating powder like layer of dry paint that makes surface really grainy and more paint i spray it gets worse. I would really like if you do some video about how avoid this phenomenon and get nice smooth flat finish even around complicated shapes :)

Thank you 👍

nice work I'd suggest investing in a small air compressor off FB market and a paint gun from Freight Harbor to get a smoother look but great job for spray can

Thanks!

Can you do a video on air brush equipment and a video on “the difference and purpose of all the paints, solvents, mixers”

I love ur videos keeping coming rob,,I love listening when I'm in bed

I use plastic shot glasses from the dollar store they have the ribs at the bottom too but I have never broken a stir stick yet

I really like those hobbymio stands!! Arghh

Got to get me a airbrush soon

For the Tamiya enamels, if you live close to the Canadian border, you can get them in Canada.

How do you keep everything so clean no dust?

One of my concerns is how n where to store and/or dispose of the wipes and swabs that are smelly and wet with acetone thinners and spirits . I’m always concerned about mixing used cleaning supplies and solutions together to avoid a fire hazard, not to mention the smells. Most times I simply lay them in the garage utility sink to air dry or in an open container. On occasion I’ve rinsed them with water, but I’d guess that may not be the best idea? Any good hacks out there for this?

I like the neoco

Would you give some advice on ambient room temperature. I model in an unheated basement and am concerned that the temperature is affecting the performance of my airbrush. I can’t thank you enough for your incredibly helpful videos.

Thanks for a very informative video. I'm new to airbrushing and have been watching your videos for a few weeks now. I live in an apartment so I'm sticking to acrylics for now. Just bought my first REAL airbrush, Iwata HP-BCS Value Set (I wanted the Iwata Neo gravity feed, about $65, to start with but the HP-BCS was such an incredible deal, less than $50 at an art warehouse that was going out of business and this was their last one, I had to get it). I need a good compressor ( probably the Tooty like yours) and down the road a gravity feed. If I understand correctly, the GSI Creos airbrushes cannot exchange needles and caps? Do you need a different airbrush to use a different size needle? If that's the case I'll go with the Talon or Patriot. Thanks for any advise. Can't wait for your video on acrylics.

Excellent video! I've always been fascinated with painting and airbrush technology, but I don't have any artistic skills. I recently got into RC, and we have to paint our body shells using lexan paint. I usually use the tamiya ps line because they are awesome! So is spastix for their mirror chrome it's the best I've seen. I always wanted to get into airbrushing but always felt a little overwhelmed because I don't know where to look or start for gear and how to, so I've been very interested & watching your videos. Any pointers to getting started? I've only used spray cans but bare minimum.

This video is perfect timing! I'm starting out the using Mr. Color for the first time. The paint to (Leveling) Thinner I've used is 2:4, and it looks to work fine, but what I saw in your video the ratio should be 1:4? Would this ratio (1:4) be the same with Mr. Color Clear (100) or Tamiya Clear? X-22? With Clear the "cup side wall" test is difficult to impossible to see.

Please look at the fisheye filters and the minnows the are the greats thing to catch all contaminates! They are all I use and life time guarantee on the casings! I would love to see a review of what you think! The owners name is Kenneth