Laurie,
My wife made that rule.

Wow, is it expensive down by you. I only pay $8.25/bottle. But I don't know what that equals in Australian money.

For cleaning the airbrush, I use cheap, run of the mill Lacquer cleaner, not the expensive Tamiya stuff. Save that for thinning their acrylics.

I have a jar with a lid that I keep just enough lacquer thinner in to cover the cup. I don't use the jars simply because you need to mix way more paint then you'll need, and you never put it back in the original paint jar, so you're wasting paint.

For cleaning the needle, cone, and cup, I use a real pipe cleaner cut in half so they go twice as far. Use white, not colored ones, and don't get the stiff bristle type. Qtips and a piece of paper towel that I cut into quarters. Ok, I'm thrifty.

I spill the excess paint from the cup into a waste jar that I keep for that purpose, and dispose of once the jar is 3/4 full. Then using a old pair of tweezers I put the cup into the thinner jar, then put the lid on, and swirl for 30 seconds. Then I just leave it in there. I loosen the allen screw on the bottom of the gun so that the needle moves, then I hold the gun over the waste jar again with the back of the needle pointing into the jar, and slowly open up the cone. The remaining paint will flow out the back of the needle into the jar. Now over the paper towel remove the needle and cone. One at a time using the tweezers dunk them into the lacquer thinner a few times till it comes out clean. Now with the 1/2 pipe cleaner that you dunk into clean lacquer cleaner, ream each one out. Get the pipe cleaner down to the opening in the needle by twisting it. Then twist it in the other direction and pull it out. Now do the twist again with a Qtip soaked in LC into the back of the needle, then the cone. Take your air brush and put the tip right up against the back of each one and run air through them. It will dry them instantly. Wipe the outsides. Now put them together but not in the gun. Do not tighten down, just half way to protect the cone from being spread. Now put it back in your case that came with the gun. Now clean out the cup. Run the pipe cleaner through a few times, then using dampened paper towel clean the inside, then outside. That's it.

I know it sounds like a lot to do, but a internal gun takes much longer. I can clean my needle/cone/cup in a little more then 3 min. I often will do this procedure several times during a painting session as I need to change colors and or types of paint.

BTW, 90% of your painting will be done with the #3 needle and cone. I leave the tip for the number 3 setup on for when I use the #1 needle and cone. I never use the #5 setup for modeling.

Joel

Hi Joel
Our dollar is pretty well on par. I think we our AUD is 95cents of the American dollar. Only runs into a dollar or 2 difference but in Australia we just get ripped off. I think the hobby shops know what the US shipping costs are and put up the price.
When you say lacquer cleaner is that the same as lacquer thinners. Is lacquer thinners different to enamel thinners?

I will have to go to the tobacco store and get some pipe cleaners. My bong doesnt need cleaners (only kidding) I used to smoke cigarettes when I was young. Everyone in my era used to smoke. Amazing the bank tellers would have an ash tray at the counter and would be smoking while they served you. Everyone in picture theatres smoked and getting on a train was like going into a smoke box. I havent smoked for about 30 years now. Glad I gave it up apart from the health advantages I dont think I could afford it now. In Australia a packet costs about $30 I think. I used to pay 20 cents for a pack of 20 Peter Stuyvesants

Regards

Laurie

Laurie,

I haven't smoked in almost 23 years, but my wife still smokes!! Cigarettes cost here between $8.50-10 per pack. I can't imagine anyone spending $30 per pack. That's $300/carton. They must be very rich, or they rob banks. I still remember everyone smoking everywhere too. Now you can't smoke in any public place. But they still smoke.

I'm sorry for intermixing Lacquer Thinner and Lacquer Cleaner. They're the same thing. For cleaning get the cheapest stuff you can find. For thinning Tamiya paints, I prefer Tamiya Lacquer thinner (Yellow cap), it's not as hot and safe on plastic.

Enamel thinners are completely different. Testors Model Master enamels are thinned with Mineral Spirits or Odorless Turps.

Joel

Hi Joel
Yes I will be able to buy lacquer thinners. I also have a bottle of Mineral Turpentine. Is that what you use for washing enamels or does lacquer thinners also work on enamels.
I see that you can buy pipe cleaners from craft stores. Apparently kids use them for something. Are they the same as you would buy in a tobacco store. I imagine they would be totally different. I will check out the tobacconist store.
Also if you are using acrylics what is the best cleaner?
I have read isopropyl alcohol is used.
Another question when using enamels etc or acrylics in your airbrush do you ever use drying retarders etc

Regards

Laurie

Laurie,
I'm pretty sure that Mineral Turps is ok for thinning and cleaning enamel paints. All I've ever used is the store brand of Mineral Spirits from my local discount hardware store/chain. That's also where I bought the lacquer thinner, and even some denatured alcohol that I use for cleaning, but not for thinning acrylics.

Craft pipe cleaners are generally to long and too thick. You can cut them into 1/3's, but it's the thickness that's the issue. While pipe cleaners at a tobacco shop are expensive as I mentioned, I cut them in half as you only end up using a inch or so at each end. Double the fun for half the price.

For cleaning the air brush parts I use the store brand lacquer thinner straight from the can. I have a nearly endless supply of glass jars with lids, so I don't clean them out when they get full, but depose of them according to our towns regulations. Everything is regulated here

For cleaning my paint brushes used with acrylic paints I use the 70% Isopropyl Alcohol or the Denatured Alcohol which is much cheaper from the discount hardware store viruses the Iso that I have to buy at the local pharmacy. For cleaning brushes used with enamels, I use Mineral Spirits.

Tamiya Acrylic paints: I thin with their Yellow top Lacquer Thinner as 1st choice or their X20-A (Alcohol based) for quick jobs. I'm trying to use up my supply. I bought both in the large size 250 ml rather then the smaller bottles. Price wise go with the biggest size you can get. Their X20-A is basically 70% Iso, some retarder, and a flow agent. You can make your own. I don't think it's worth the effort as I almost never use it these days, but if you want to go that route I'll send you all the information you need plus a link to a great vid from Bobby Waldron who came up with this formula. Lacquer Thinner breaks down the paint particles to a much finer size, which translates to a smoother finish. The only drawback is the order. I paint small jobs right at my workbench, and clean the gun there as well. I also have a homemade (cheap but effectlive) paint booth that fits my window so I can paint in it and no smells in the room or house. Well, almost none.

If you decide to go with Iso Alcohol, do not use the 91% as it evaporates much to fast, causing the paint to dry before it reaches the model. You want the paint to go on wet, yet controlled. Even better is 50% Iso if you can find it in a pharmacy. To the cup of paint, no matter how much or little paint I add two or three drops of retarder. I'm using Vallejo's as I bought it when I 1st tried their line of paints, but any brand from a art store will work just fine, just make sure it's for acrylics not enamels. Then 1 drop of dishwashing detergent or if you can find Photo flo. It's use was in developing film, so a good camera store might still carry it. A large jar will last you a life time.

For Model Master enamels I thin with Mineral Spirits, or their Red can of thinner, which I never remember to buy since I rarely airbrush enamels these days.

Joel

Laurie,
Basic air brush paint guides. I measure all paint with an eye dropper, so the amounts are approximate, not exact. One day I'll actually buy some pipets. I usually never add more then a 1/3 of a cup of paint and a 1/3 of a cup of thinner. More then that and spilling it happens all the time. Also be aware of the angle of the cup so that you don't spill paint. Never all thinned paint back to the bottle.

Tamiya Acrylics: thin 1:1

Model Master Enamels: thin 3:2 for lighter colors 1:1 for darker colors.

Airbrush:
#3 cone/needle/tip
set static tank pressure on the gauge to 20 psi
push the trigger on the gun and watch the gauge, the pressure drops. That new psi is your flow rate. That's what you need to paint at. The drop is always the same for your set up.

Basic overall coverage for Tamiya acrylics static rate of 18 psi for light colors, 20 psi for darker colors. Flow psi drops 10 psi on my system. You can see how low of a pressure I paint at. I keep the gun within 3-4 inches of the model, shooting at as close to 90 degrees as possible.

I set Alcads as low as static 15 psi, as the paints are that thin.

When mixing paints add the thinner 1st, then the paint. Never the other way around, or when you 1st try to spray you'll clog up the cone with unthinned paint.

Keep a Qtip soaked with LC near by. You will periodically need to wipe the tip of the cone down as the paint will dry no matter what you do.

To start, have the cone closed, then open two turns and start to paint, adjust till you get paint flowing. Now adjust for the pattern you want. Always keep the gun moving while painting. Practice getting board areas painted by opening up the cone and moving back some, then closing down the cone and moving in to draw a finer line. The cone will clog every so often, that's when you use the Qtip, you can also close and open the cone to help clear the clog.

All of this becomes 2nd nature after a while. I airbrush almost everything, changing colors several times through a paint or build session.

There are times when you want the paint thinner, especially for weathering, but that comes later. Basics 1st. You just never want the paint thicker. Some shoot straight from the bottle and call it "Neat". The resulting paint is a very rough surface. I personally never use that technique.

Joel

Hi Joel,
Very helpful and informative. Thanks a lot. Do I assume that you use mainly Tamiya acrylics to paint the models other than when you use Alclad for the NMF models. It sound like you dont use enamels very much.

Really well done, I wish my first NMF had been that good.
The F-86 wing type is a minefield! The one you depict "Dennis the Menace " was an F-86 F with the hard leading edge and wing fence (your slat on top of the wing)
The F-86 at Duxford is an A identified by the smaller bulges at the tail plane roots,
which has been retro-fitted with the later wing with fences.If you're interested in the F-86 and Korean War aircraft in general there is an Osprey series called Frontline Colour by Warren Thompson (a fellow Australian) each volume of which deals with a single type, volumes 2 and 6 being the Sabre in fighter and fighter-bomber marks. The Squadron "Walkaround" book on the Sabre is also pretty useful with more information on the different wings. Hope this of interest. John

Laurie,
Tamiya Acrylics are my go to paint for a few reasons. My LHS carries the full line. Their Gray primer is the best primer that I've used (lacquer based), all their paints have excellent adhesion qualities both on primer and raw plastic, and they cover very well. Tamiya paints dry rock hard, thin well with LC,X20-A or my own Alcohol mix, and don't generally pull up with Tamiya tape.

I thin MM acrylics the same way as Tamiya acrylics, but they don't have the same adhesion qualities on primer and even less on raw plastic. I always have issue with paint pulling up even with detacked Tamiya tape, and it scratches very easily. BTW, their gray primer is terrible. Not even their own paints adhere to it very well.

Advantage is That MM has a much more complete color range of FS and ANA numbers. Tamiya paints need to be mixed the vast majority of the time.

I've tried Vallejo and Italeri paints. I didn't really care for either line, as I had adhesion and scratch issues. And no matter what I did, Tamiya tape pulled the paint right up.

For Natural Metal Finishes, I use Alcad via my air brush, but I also use Model Master Metalizers for special non-air brush applications.

Joel

Hi Joel
That is good news because my collection of paints so far is all Tamiya. I have about 10 bottles of acrylic comprising greys, blacks, yellow, red, white and olive drab. I have a couple of enamels also. I will have to get their primer ordered. I will also order the Alclad shortly.
Not sure where I am going to do my painting at the moment. My wife has a hereditary lung condition and is very sensitive to anything so I imagine I could end up in hospital if I start spraying in the house. I have a little area outside where there is an enclosed area under cover and protected to some extent by the house walls where they shoot off at right angles. I might get a large cardboard box and put it on a table out there which would not only protect from the wind but stop the spray particles going everywhere.
I read in that airbrush article by Don that he found a metal hole filler that he used to put on the top of the paint cup on his airbrush which stopped any spill problem. Next time I am down at Masters Hardware I will see if I can get a plastic hole cover that will fit. I anticipate that there will be times where I will put the airbrush down and it will tip over and as Don says in his article it is just one more thing you dont have to think about.
Sometimes I wish I had a little outside shed where I could set up a table and chair and just go in there and get lost. Wives dont seem to like the shed idea. I think they dont like to think that we might actually enjoy ourselves in there by ourselves. I had a relative who bought a new house which had very high piers underneath and he got underneath and burrowed out a few rooms. It was a bit like a rabbits warren and he had all these little rooms. He hooked up electicity and benches and had all his tools down there. He used to spend most of the day under there and would come back to the house a dinner time. BTW I forgot to say he also had a good supply of wine under there as well.
I dont think my wife would let me do that
I had a friend at my golf club who just got married and told me that his new wife wasnt very happy about him going to golf every Saturday. He told he he really loved his day at golf. I said that is your mistake. If she thinks you are enjoying yourself at golf she will not like it. So I told him to make out he is that keen on it. I noticed he wasnt at golf for a few weeks. Then he turned up one Saturday and told me my advice was spot on. She asked him why he wasnt going to golf and he said to her that he had lost interest and didnt enjoy it that much. She said no it is good for your health and you should go even if he didnt enjoy it. Problem solved and lesson learnt. Dont let them know you are enjoying yourself. They dont like it.

Regards

Laurie

Hi John,
Thanks for the encouragement and advice. I see you are from France but your name doesnt appear to be French. What is your nationality Aussie?. As I have outlined I used rub n buff and it was a good experience with that. But it has its problems. On Joel's advice I have an airbrush and shortly a compressor. I will try and get some airbrushing skills and then will use Alclad which seems to get a lot of ticks. See Joels picture above. That looks so authentic.
I love the Sabres. I will be doing a Mig Fagot next to sort of give it some realistic company. They saw a lot of each other in Korea. the wing strut on this model was a pain. It was very hard to work with as it was so small and I kept knocking it. So I just left it off. Same with the antennae on the end of the wing. I kept knocking it and eventually it just fell off. I did learn a lot from the experience. Really looking forward to using the airbrush.

Regards

Laurie

Hi Joel
The air compressor arrived. The airbrush connection is not the right size. The connection on the aircompressor is a 1/8 and the hose of the Paasche airbrush appears to be a 1/4. I am not very mechanically mind. Do I ask for an adaptor like this one?

http://www.amazon.com/Master-Airbrush%C2%AE-Fitting-adaptor-Compressor/dp/B002VZUKH0

Also red cover release valve is slightly different to the one I posted above. I think you said you can release the air from that but isnt that a pre set one that releases in case of the pump not turning off. Do you let the air out by loosening the one underneath the cylinder?
http://s1293.photobucket.com/user/Laurie_Hallam/media/022_zps4a52a3a6.jpg.html

http://s1293.photobucket.com/user/Laurie_Hallam/media/021_zpsb2c6d543.jpg.html

Regards

Laurie

Hi Laurie, I am originally from the UK but retired to France for a less stressful life after 40 years in Air Traffic Control, 30 of them spent at Heatheow.
I also used Rub n Buff for some time but it became difficult to find.I now use Tamiya rattle can AS12 decanted into an airbrush jar and sprayed at about 12-15 psi for the basic metal finish and add various other colours for individual panels. The AS 12 seems to weather like real aluminium over time but can also be lightly buffed if you want a more shiny finish, I bought a pot of very finely ground aluminium powder many year ago at a UK IPMS competition and use that.
It's very hot here at the moment (37 deg C today) and I ' m writing this sitting in the garden, in the shade, with 3 dogs waitiing for the youngest, 3 months, to go to sleep so that I can get on with other things.
What a tough life!
Good luck with the Mig 15
John

Laurie,
1st and foremost, congratulations on your compressor and Paasche air brush.

To answer your questions, yes, you need the adaptor. It's not uncommon for there to be a difference in the thread size you need to what the unit is manufactured with. My present compressor has an adapter too, then a quick release adapter. I also had to install the male end of that adapter to the Paasche hose. All you need is some plumbers white tape. Wrap a few times around the threads in the same direction that you tighten the adapter. Here it's clockwise.

As for the red release valve, yes, it's the safety pressure valve, but it's also great for emptying the tank after use. You just pull open that metal ring in the front of it. You never want to leave these tanks with compressed air in them for safety issues.

My wife isn't thrilled with the smells either. The compromise is that I took one of the bedrooms and converted it to my computer/modeling room. The other bedroom is the guest room. Our son lives in the finished basement (I keep on telling him to move out, but he never does).

I shoot Acrylics at my workbench, enamels and Lacquer based paints I shoot in my home made paint booth in the window. For small jobs I shoot right at the bench, but open the window and or have the spray booth in it, and the fan on.

The compressor nose is an issue, but the large tank makes it livable. I can't paint when she's sleeping. After a while, everyone gets use to your modeling routines, and it becomes livable. In your case, make sure you paint with the window open and a exhaust fan sucking out the fumes. I'm presuming that you have a separate room to model in. I have a few Canadian friends who paint in their garage. They do keep it clean, and they use a rather large heater in the winter. You really can't paint when it's in the low 40's. He doesn't build in the summer because of outside activities. His indoor season is like 9+ months, so he gets a lot of modeling done.

I never tried painting outside with any kind of shelter. Dust, Humidity, and wind seems to be major issues.

BTW, the issues you had with small parts, glue them on after the model is complete. For the wing fences, running a bead of Extra thin with slight pressure on the fences would have solved that.

Joel

Hi Guys
Off to Masters Hardware sometime today to get the adaptor then the supermarket for some food dye and then I will spray colour all over the house walls in practice. Keep an eye out for some headlines "Wife stabs husband after painting argument"
Hey Joel We have a lot in common I think. I have a son too. He is 30 years old and has never left home either. He lives upstairs. He is a chartered accountant but lets me pay for everything. Internet, food etc. I cook his food, his mother irons his clothes and cleans his room and she even buys his clothes. He has a hard life playing video games and going to golf (He plays off +1 handicap) He doesnt seem interested in girls so I think we are going to have him for a long time. Thought about moving without telling him (I am sure he probably wouldnt even realise) Oh the pleasure of having kids.
Surprised at how small the compressor really is. I am glad as it doesnt take up much space.
The photos in the advertisement made it look a lot larger. Cant wait to get going. Will try the recommended airbrush exercises on a piece of kitchen towel with the food dye and I was thinking of using an old plastic container and try painting some real paint sometime soon. My MIG Fagot should arrive next week.

Speak soon

Regards

Laurie

Laurie,
We could be related !!

Times have sure changed. I couldn't wait to move out and be on my own. Of course I wasn't prepared, and was shocked at what it cost to live with a wife on our own. Living home who knew what heating oil, electric, and a phone cost. Sure found out soon enough. Somehow we survived, and made out way. I've even offered my son a one way ticket any where in the lower 48 states, and I'd pay to have all his stuff shipped to him. He's still here

Your compressor is small, but it's functional, and will serve you well. I would strongly suggest that you practice with Tamiya paints and not food color. It's like painting with water. What works with it, most likely won't work with paint. You need to learn how to thin paint, and get it to flow. Water isn't thinned, you can shoot it at just about any psi and cone/needle setting. What you paint now doesn't matter, learn how to use the gun with paint 1st. Then basic painting on plastic. Then a model.
Joel

Hi Joel
I am a bit worried about this adaptor I need. I think it is a 1/8 female connection from the compressor and the Paasche has a 1/4 female so I will need a 1/4 male connection. Looked on the internet and all seem to be the otherway around i.e. 1/8 m to 1/4 female. I was just thinking if I have trouble finding the 1/8 female to 1/4 male then if I get a 1/8 female to 1/8 female and a 1/4 male to 1/8 male it would connect.
Can you get your head around that.
Then I hope the threads are the same.

Regards

Laurie

BTW I left home at 17 as I was working in the New South Wales Court system and got transferred to a country town so I got very use to looking after myself. My son doesnt even know what size shoes or shirts he wears

Hi Joel and John
Went to Masters Hardware. No luck. Went to local hardware no luck. I went to Reece which are a large plumbing supply outlet and took the compressor and the airbrush hose. They had the exact adaptor and so I have fitted it with tape. Will run it later to check if no other leaks. I suppose best way is to wipe some water with detergent in it around the seals and see if any bubbles appear.
Whilst at Masters I bought some Lacquer thinners.
I also bought a small tin of grey acrylic paint. I was going to take your advice Joel and test with paint rather than dyed water. But those Tamiya paints are very dear and the bottles so small that I thought rather than waste them on my practice with the airbrush I could use this acrylic which I will thin down with water. Do you think 50/50.
Also when practising is it worth doing what they suggest e.g. practice small dots, thin lines etc. Seems all you do when airbrushing models is fairly wide lines when you are trying to cover wings and fuselages. So should I just practice making wide sweeps seeking how far away affects the width and coverage. Maybe experiment with the adjusting of the cone and also with pressure. What do you think

Regards

Laurie

Laurie,
Nice job is getting the adapter. Most compressors need one or more. Because mine is more of a general home unit that I use for other indoor jobs including blowing out the sprinkler system. It comes with several adapters, and the quick change adapters as well. I have a 2nd, much larger compressor (and a lot older) in the garage for outside work including filling the car tires. It's not suited for modeling by any means.

As for checking the hose connections for a leak. If you used the plumbers tape, and tightened the nut down securely, it's fine. No need to test. If you want to anyway, use a solution of soapy water, as that's what plumbers around here do.

The reason that I suggested practicing with Tamiya paints is because that's what you will be painting with. It makes little sense to learn how to use your air brush and the various basics with paints you'll never use. All brands of paint seem to thin differently, especially in this case when you're not using paints intended for modeling. Odds are they're way too thick and will require a much greater thinning ratio. That will only cause you more grief in getting the paint to flow, including using higher psi's. Besides, you're not going to be thinning Tamiya acrylics with water.

As far as using the Tamiya acrylics, you're going to be using very little paint each time. Even if you practice for days, you will still not use up the whole jar, and it's worth the small investment. You already spent hundreds on a good air brush and compressor. Even the adapter and tape costs more then a bottle of Tamiya paint.

You also need to decide on what you'll be using to thin your Tamiya acrylics. I prefer their yellow cap Lacquer thinner, but it has a strong order. Next would be their X20-A, as it's Iso based. Start with one 250 ml bottle, as it will last a very long time. After that you can make your own. The mix isn't straight ISO 70%.

Invest in a cheap as dirt plastic model to practice on. You need to learn how to rotate the model for painting, and painting small irregular shapes and sizes.

I don't have a clue as to what you're learning program is from the articles. 1st learn how to take apart and clean your gun, then reassemble it. Figure out your cleaning procedures, and practice doing that. You'll need some supplies, Lacquer Thinner (which you just got), two or three smallish jars with screw tops. A pair of old tweezers, pipe cleaners, and Qtips. If you can't find real pipe cleaners, you can use a store brand of those bristle micro brushes for cleaning between your teeth. My brother uses them, and a few glass eye droppers with removable rubber squeeze tops, or pipettes. I've always used pipe cleaners cut in half, and cheap glass eye droppers. Don't use the plastic ones as they're very hard to impossible to clean.

Now spend a little time learning how to use your compressor. When you're ready to test your gun out, you're going to do it with nothing in it. Just shoot air. Set the regulator to 20 psi. That's your static line pressure. Depress the trigger on the gun and watch the pressure drop.
Do it a few times, it should always be the same drop for the same size tip, around 10 psi. Since you're never going to remove the #3 tip, that is the difference in your static psi to your flow psi. Almost everyone refers to the static psi as what they paint with. What you need to know is what your flow psi is. As an example, on the Allad site, their procedures refer to flow rates. If you tried to paint with your static psi set to that rate, you'd end up with a flow rate of almost 0 psi.

That is step 1. Now you can concentrate on learning how to air brush, starting with thinning paint.

As to your question about what to learn with the gun, you'll learn how to do wide general coverage to a nearly fine straight line. Dots, circles, etc. are needed for certain camo paint schemes, so you'll eventually learn that technique as well. You will need to have the confidence in applying the right coverage for a particular job, and you'll get there a lot quicker then you think. Certainly before your next model is ready for painting.

And speaking of next few models, go for a non NMF. Start with a mono or two tone paint scheme. You need to paint what you practice.

Joel

Hi Joel
Had a little play with the aircompressor and the drop in pressure is only 2 PSI when the brush is used.
I will do some practice over the next few days.
I got confirmation of my order from Hobby Link Japan (which you recommended) I purchased a Hasegawai F104C Starfighter and a F16C Fighting Falcon. At checkout I only paid $35AUD which included postage. That is fantastic and I will certainly be using them a lot.
I will order some Tamiya Acrylic Thinner and some Alclad paint from the local hobby store in Australia. What Alclad paints and thinners etc should I order. I think you mentioned Aluminium as the main one

Regards

Laurie

Laurie,
That's not a lot of a drop from static to flow. Was the tank full? So 20psi static dropped to flow 18 psi. We'll work with that.

Allcads.
Aluminum 101
Dark Aluminum 103
Magnesium or Jet exhaust.
Gloss Back primer
Gloss Kleer Kote.

You can mix a lot of colors if you want to. I have 6 colors in total. I didn't buy them all at once, plus Gloss Black primer and sealer.

Joel

Hi Joel
Yes tested it again only drops from 20PSI to 18 PSI and then holds steady.

Will order those paints today BTW you recommended Tamiya grey surface primer. I had a spray can but notice you can buy it in a bottle. Do you airbrush it or use the spray can?

Still bloody freezing on the Gold Coast. Clear blue skies are the problem. Havent had rain for months.

Regards

Laurie

Laurie,
The drop in psi is what it is. That's all we need to know.

As for the Tamiya Gray Primer, I have both the aerosol can, which I use for small, quick jobs, and the bottle for air brush use.

We just had one of the coldest, snowiest winters on record, so I know where you're coming from. It's the no rain/snow for months. Sounds like of scary. Are you running out of ground water?
Joel

Hi Joel,
No our dams are still pretty full. A couple of years ago we were on water restrictions because our dams were really low. Then we had a lot of rain and the dams filled up. In fact the main dam in Brisbane was so full the Government decided to release some water. They over did it and some country town near the dam were flooded and people died. Also Brisbane was flooded and there was major damage. The Government is now being sued over it.

Here is some photos
https://www.google.com.au/search?q=Queensland+floods&client=firefox-a&hs=kJ0&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&channel=np&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=f_zKU_f1HtaF8gXYz4JY&ved=0CD8QsAQ&biw=1581&bih=560

Here is another one at Toowoomba which is on a top of a mountain which shows how much rain we had after the drought

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kYUpkPTcqPY

I am going shopping with the wife today and will get some eye droppers etc. I just ordered some spare bottles from Hobbylink Japan. Also I am going to make myself a couple of airbrush disposal bottles. I saw a couple on Youtube. One is just a flap in a plastic bottle for use with cleaning your airbrush of acrylics. I will try and make another one for lacquers and enamels.

Regards

Laurie

Laurie,
Both the pictures and the video are amazing. And the gov't caused that flooding. Good Thing they hire professional, experienced engineers, who should know how to calculate just how much water to release, and how quickly.

I never used any of those jars you shoot paint and cleaner into. Just a combination of too lazy, and I stick to my old, outdated ways.
Joel