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Liquid Mask- My main problem with painting is cutting out masks, is liquid mask as easy as drawing a design on the outside of boy, then using a paintbrush and painting teh stuff on in the inside?

Airbursh- I have a 4 gallon air compressor I use to clean my cars, can I use that to airbrush ? What would be a good airbrush to buy for this and what other pieces would i need?
thanks

Qranc

iTrader: (1)

If you have a regulator and water trap on your compressor it will work fine. For water based paint (faskolor etc.) you will need at least 30psi but probably will find more helpful. Some people spray at up to 70psi but I don't think that is practical for spraying the inside of lexan bodies.

I use a Paasche VL. It's an excellent all round hobby brush and if you get the kit you get 3 sizes of tips/needles. The #1 is a .5 mm to 25mm spray patter. The #5 is a 1.5mm - 38mm pattern. It has the most versatility and it has been around for about 20 years.

A lot of artists swear by Iwata. More expensive they seem to tend toward the fine art end of things. I have never heard any one using them complain. Some that have both ... prefer the Iwata. I think the HP-C (seems to be the popular model) is the most versatile of the litter? it has a tip size of .3mm. You can buy other tips and needles etc. I don't have one, will get one soon though just to have that Iwata experience Some of the guys that use the Iwata can maybe post some of their thoughts. I have friends that won't run anything else.

The problem with painting on liquid mask trying to paint within the lines of a drawn pattern is that the edge will feather. After you paint over the masked areas the feathered edge may not produce a clean edge because it itself is too light at the edge to pull up the flexible paint. How I have seen it used is to paint the entire body and then cut out your pattern. I have tried what you are suggesting and it didn't work well for me even though I built it up. I still use liquid mask but only for specific things, not just as a general mask.

Something else you can try as an alternative. Get some sticker backing (a used up sheet of labels with only the non stick left). Layout some painters mask on it and draw out your pattern(s). Cut it out with a blade then apply it to the inside of the body as you had designed it. Viola ... a relatively precise mask with no cuts to the lexan.