Case Painting (Automotive)

[mabaty]

I want to start playing around with painting my case, but i was wondering if airbrushing guns would be sufficient to paint a case and other small parts? can an airbrush gun even spray automotive paint?..i would just hate to buy a full gun setup for small pc parts...plus an airbrush would be great for small parts like the key board etc... anybody have any knowledge on this??

thanks

 

[WR2]

Look here for ideas: http://www.mnpctech.com/CaseModTutorials.html
Be sure to visit the WizD Discussion Forums there.

 

[raytracer06]

an airbrush can normally be used with any paint, as long as it is fluid enough, and as long as you perfectly clean the airbrush after use. conclusion : if you have the adequate thinner, you can use automotive paint...

the only thing to consider is the capacity of your airbrush (mine had a very small paint reserve, which limited its use to small parts). if your airbrush is a bit small, it will be hard to paint big parts with it. you could use spray paint for the main background color, then the airbrush for the rest, and for small parts.

instead of car paint, you could also use Humbrol model paint. it is very fluid, there are lots of colors, and you can cover a good surface with very few paint

 

[nugundam93]

some airbrushes like the tamiya spraywork basic (singe action) has interchangeable paint cups, i think the biggest was like 40cc. if you are resourceful enough, you can actually do a hack-and-slash mod job to make an even bigger paint container (like maybe sling the container on your shoulder and just attach a gravity-fed paint feed line to where the paint cup would formerly attach to)

i have used it with automotive paint and it works fine, though since i work with nearly a 2:1 thinner to paint ratio, you might not be comfy with that kind of ratio. and it coagulates quickly, so i find myself cleaning the whole thing after every 30 minutes of spraytime use.


and always...stay safe when handling these stuff, wear a mask, use proper ventilation.

 

[tallywhacker]

Car paint should not coagulate if using the correct thinner at the correct ratio (don't dick around with mixing how you like it, follow the instruction from the manufacturer for your application and learn to use it correctly, thicken it up and gimp your finnish, thin it down and risk a run or worse) , in the uk traditional paint is banned commercially (maybe not for public use) and waterbase is used for undercoat, thus in this case obviously water should be used to thin, preferably distilled or reverse osmosis water; if using traditional paint or laquer 2k thinner should be used. If you are doing this and your paint is going bad, buy better paint, it pays. Garages store the stuff for months, it is too expensive to chuck after a spraying session.

You also should not need to worry about cups, keep a premixed 'mixing cup' and get handy at topping up on the fly, it becomes very easy very quickly.

Besides, an airbrush is not the tool for the job, it is a detail/highlight tool for art; get a HVLP touch up gun (1/2 - 1/4 scale gun) and set it to 2.2 bar pressure if you have a compressor with a good CFM rating. They are a similar price and the work wont look crap. Good quality aerosols are a good option, not halfords or diy shop crap, a good paint shop or garage will pre mix and can it for you with proper paint (i used to do this at one of the garages i worked at when requested). The only drawback is you will need to keep the nozzle perfect and use a cellulose based laquer opposed to a 2 pack laquer. Fine in most application except external, it wont be as tough unless baked on well.

Since you are asking to use a tool that is not at all suited here is a quick 101 in case you need it

The trick is this:
Preperation is the most important part, a bad job will make a good coat of paint look rubbish, a good job will make the paint application easier too. Use the correct primer for the application on any unpainted areas (plastic, cellulose, high build or etch primer) and apply to a 240 (dry) grit key minimum, you can work up to that grade should you need to remove any flaws. Prime, three good coats over where it is needed (you only need to prime things that are not sealed with paint already, spot priming metal/plastic/filler areas only on a repair is common and good practice), allow to touch dry then add a dust coat of black any primer to highlight scratches when flatting. Once set flat with 400 (dry) grit minimum, i recommend 800 wet and dry, proceed until all the dust coat is gonee, if you rub through reapply or the colour coat will sink.

Now give it a panel wipe to remove any silicon or grease, or prepare to waste your paint on a reaction, especially with plastics. Finnish with a tac rag and warm it up to a moderate temp >30C if you are new to it or it will dust up on contact (if too warm), if you dont warm it up you are asking for a run. Make sure the area is free of dust (ventilation is key) and wet the floor to lock down any dust down near the job.

Then finding the correct distance and pace is key (between 1 - 2 feet away depending on the gun), keep the gun perpendicular to the job, move steady and at a moderate pace. Better not enough and dry than too wet and a run, a run is a disaster, you can almost garuntee your back to stage 1, if dry (powdery) you can bake it off, wet flat it smooth with 800 + and then continue until a good coverage is achieved.

Once you are happy with coverage let it dry (touch dry) if the finish is fair proceed, otherwise wet flat with 1200 - 1500 wet and dry before laquer. Laquer is next and best applied first as a dust coat to seal the work, then allowed to warm up. If you have the knack now you want it warmer than before and to apply a heavier coat, if not then apply as base coat.

Now get it as hot as you can to a max of around 65C for an hour or two to bake it, or leave it in a warm place for an extended period of time, you can go higher but go easy not to burn anything. If it looks poor at the end (orange peel or too dry) provided you gave a good coat of laquer you can wet flat it smooth with 1500 - 2000 wet and dry and polish with a good compound like farcela g3.

Silvers (metallic) are the hardest to get a consistent finish on, and darker colours like black highlight preperation flaws. Lighter colours like white hide preperation flaws.

Best of luck, be confident and it becomes a walk in the park

Source: I am i time served paint and motor vehicle repair technician.

 

[Guest]

You make me think of something when you said this i use Plati-dip on a lot of my automotive cosmetic stuff and its very easy to use so maybe try it i might even test it out on my old case and some other parts to see how it turns out best part about it if you mess up just peal it off and start again dipyourcar.com

 

[hongan3000]

an airbrush can normally be used with any paint, as long as it is fluid enough, and as long as you perfectly clean the airbrush after use. conclusion : if you have the adequate thinner, you can use automotive paint...

the only thing to consider is the capacity of your airbrush (mine had a very small paint reserve, which limited its use to small parts). if your airbrush is a bit small, it will be hard to paint big parts with it. you could use spray paint for the main background color, then the airbrush for the rest, and for small parts. hyundai santafe 2014 new

 

[mikamiko]

I think the airbrush paint can answer all your wishes. that if you master the technique of painting.