Airbrushing, soooo much to wrap my head around.

So I’m always looking to learn from you guys I search the archives on topics. By no means do I consider on alot of big time production levels. Been doing boards for over 10 years and still looking to improve and perfect them. 

So I’ve been thinking lately about airbrushing and looking over past posts. Noticed some things that could already make my airbrushing better maybe, but there’s so much to it. 

First, My equipment: Gravity Fed Airbrush HVLP gun, 8 gallon 2hp air compressor and I use water based aryclic paint.

Forever I’ve mixed my paint with water, doing search I see that alot of you use Futures Floor Polish instead of water. Should I switch to that?

Tape I’ve used cheap tape before, Mistake. Paint would bleed or tape just come off. I use better tape now that makes a huge difference. Along with tape, Heat Gun thank you so much for that tip. I had paint come off from pulling tape. Use the heat gun and tape just looseness up and falls off. 

Now I just picked up another one sealing the paint with spray can clear aryclic coat and taping to do pinlines, I’m insterested in trying that one. 

A couple of questions I have on the airbrushing: I do PU blanks should I acryclic seal the blank then airbrush or that more an EPS blank thing? Should I seal it with an aryclic coat after the paint before I glass? On the cutlaps I would use tape, so score the glass heat the tape and pull? 

I’ve also noticed some areas after the board is glassed, That I’m sure the resin is just not penertrating the paint, mainly along the rails. No delams yet, but I wanna clean that up and tips? Maybe I’m putting too much paint on? I thought what if a brushed the rails with resin first then flipped the cloth down and glassed as normal? 

Thank you all for the help both directly and in directly thru your tips and advice in other posts.

Foil,
Im not a production guy myself and no pro either but have a little experience with airbrushing. I used to airbrush without sealers and found that i had to be extra careful with not over handling the blank after painted and also when glassing. Usually smudged it or the color ran when glassing. Found sealing after spraying or mixing sealer in paint when spraying has been the best option for me. Dont really see the point in sealing before spraying because its an extra step and will keep the paint from absorbing into the blank causing runs. Sealing after or mixing into paint keeps smudges from happening and also allows you to change tape lines and allows taping over painted areas to change colors.


That’s a nice paint job, do you use what sealant do you use and seems to be rough a 30% ratio, that about what do?

 

Never really used ratios. Just pored the paint in the gun canister and added Futures or other sealer till it was a good consistency. 30% seems about right for sealer amount. Had to play around mixture amounts to get to right amount. Depends on paint whether it be acrylic or tempura. Some paints are thicker than others. To much Futures/sealer will thin it out and will make it run. Too thick wont spray right, gun will spit or not spray at all. Ive also tried other sealers like granite sealer and concrete sealers. Futures works great and cheap if you can find it. My stores dont seem to carry it anymore. Seal Krete concrete sealer works great too and also on finished board as a seal coat to sanded hotcoat. Consistency should be a bit like milk or a tad thicker.

Heres another old board i did using Futures. Been doing more resin pigments and tints lately.

As for sealing before spraying, Ive found some people tape out what is going to be painted and then spraying a clear sealer down over tape line to help keep paint from bleeding under tape. If you’re using good tape and running finger, razer edge, or small squeegee down tape to bond tape to foam you shouldnt have to preseal it. My usual bleeds were from por tape/foam contact or por quality of tape.

It’s called art for a reason. There’s rules and lots of rule bending. Surfers call spray painting “AIRBRUSH”. In any other industry an “air brush” is a tiny spray gun that fits in the palm of your hand. I’d like to see a photo of your HVLP Gun. That’s something you would use to paint a car.

Tap water is full of contaminats. Not good for thinning paint. I use distiled water. Art stores sell products for thinning paint and Sways is full of other tricks and tips…

Light coats are best… Play around painting cardboard to set up your spray gun / airbrush. Air pressure and how you thin the paint matters…

It’s art… you can’t say thin the paint with 30% water… you have to feel it…live it.

stuff

 


Yep, Ray’s comments above are all true.      The first fellow I knew of doing spray color on surfboards, was John Bredin, at Surfboards Hawaii.     John worked with both spray gun, and airbrush.       Freehand and using stencils.         Before John began using Tempura, and later Acrylic water based paints, (drum roll)…John was spraying catalysed pigmented resin !       Talk about commitment !!!        The switch to water based pigment really opened up the artistic range of what was possible.        In my mind John, along with Gary Brummett, were the real pioneers of this artform.     Those were the guys that were on the cutting edge, well ahead of the pack.    

Love the tips!  

Question, at what point is there too much paint where the resin does not make a good bond with the foam?  Is there such a limit or is it so stupid thick that no one ever does that?

Until a pro sprayer chimes in I’ll just say that you should still feel/see the foam texture after painting. If its so thick that there’s no foam texture then my opinion is there’s too much paint. There shouldn’t be so much paint that it has a dry paint texture like thick dry spilled paint looks on the ground like when its thick and cracking, if that makes sense. My short experience is that if you’ve sprayed multiple coats lets say past 3 or so and its still not covered in solid color then you either have it too thin or your gun is set too light where not enough paint is being picked up and sprayed. Like stingray said, play around with settings, mixtures till you get what you’re looking for. Try scrap foam from shaping or cardboard or even the wall of your shaping room which many artists do. Sooner or later trial and error will have to take place for the extra tips to really sink in and help to the fullest.

golden tips

all the best

 

Nice paint work BlueFin. Your posts have a link at the bottom. Takes us to a web page. You are a PRO. You have something to sell.

Don’t down play it… Live it. Celebrate it… If your work is not worthy stop posting a link.

I like your work… So are you Pro or Bro?       Keep posting… I’m Bro…can’t make money here…

Stingray.

myself being a pro glasser i have had to deal with all sorts of colouring and paint problems,mostly  I have had to work on boards with thinner based arcylic paint jobs…to much paint being the major problem,A good spray job on the foam should still feel like foam…not sharp and course,.the less paint the better,

,. paint sprayed on too dry not enought thinners  or  with to much pressure makes  a dusty mess thats hard to work on…retardent thinnners  is good in hot humid weather to stop it drying in the air before it hits the board    

.overloading with  paint at the ends of the board where the rails  pinch up  makes  a place where  resin will cystalize ,i have seen a perfect lam job with the right hardner level turn  to  cystalized  mess overnight, heart break .

… nowdays any board  i see with suspect looking colour or texture i will seal with resin  { yelllow epoxy spreader  is the best tool for the job, plastic bags on stands when you turn it over to glasss}…i worked on boards in bali indonesia with high humidy we  had to seal everything this way to avoid problems ,even with reallly good spraying…

fluro colours  need to be sealed and oftern change colour at every step of the glassing process .usuallly fading all to one colour after couple of days…

Stingray,
Im more bro backyarder than pro. I do sell my boards but like you i cant make a living doing it where i live. I make my living being a firefighter and make boards on the side for pleasure. The money i make from them goes back into the next one which seems to keep it going. As for being pro, i think of a pro as being someone that does this day in and day out, making a living with it, thousands of boards under their belt. Only 85 under mine, still making goof ups. Would rather keep it fun as a hobby than to go big and hate it like a normal job.

Are you thinning that at all on the seal coat for that seal krete?

 

The day the guy from the city showed up at my house I was at work. Someone complained about the noise and said I was running a Surfboard Business out of my garage. My wife talked to the guy and told him I was at work. She also told him I have a Surfboard hobby…No junk laying around, no broken down cars, no drugs, no poly smell because I do mostly epoxy…no problem.

The day the guy from the city showed up at my friend’s house…he was out in the shed power planning a blank. They had his FaceBook information and his Web Page. Broken boards and foam cut offs laying in the yard. $600 fine for running a business without a proper permit! and I’m sure the IRS want in too…

I wheel and deal. Low key, underground. Web page = Business. I’m not the City or the judge. You decide.

I like your paint work.

Multiple coats with dry time in between.  Behr Floor and tile sealer doubles as a sealer and a thinner.  Way better than Futures.  If you have used both you know why.  Lowel

Lets start with the Paint you are using. Is it a very good quality paint? I have found Nova Paint one of the best you can buy for spraying a Board. Nova is sold on line only.   Golden makes a airbrush ready paint it cost more but no mixing or strining the paint before you spray. Createx makes some really nice ready to shot professional grade paints for airbrushing.  Wicked colors by createx has a few interesting color choices. They can be used on top of fiberglass as well as on the foam.  The wicked clear coat is excellent. really good UV protection. 

The cheap paints like Liquatex basic and the Micheals Craft store brand are poor quality. spend the the money buy a better quality paint for better results.  it will help a great deal in ending the crystallization resin pulling colors and poor bonding.   You don’t use cheap cloth when building aboard or cheap resin. You use the best tape for the job at hand, Yet you spray with a poor quality paint? Why?  Oh and yes distilled water is recomended.  We are all one turn of the tap from Flint Michigan.

Lets start with the Paint you are using. Is it a very good quality paint? I have found Nova Paint one of the best you can buy for spraying a Board. Nova is sold on line only.   Golden makes a airbrush ready paint it cost more but no mixing or strining the paint before you spray. Createx makes some really nice ready to shot professional grade paints for airbrushing.  Wicked colors by createx has a few interesting color choices. They can be used on top of fiberglass as well as on the foam.  The wicked clear coat is excellent. really good UV protection. 

The cheap paints like Liquatex basic and the Micheals Craft store brand are poor quality. spend the the money buy a better quality paint for better results.  it will help a great deal in ending the crystallization resin pulling colors and poor bonding.   You don’t use cheap cloth when building aboard or cheap resin. You use the best tape for the job at hand, Yet you spray with a poor quality paint? Why?  Oh and yes distilled water is recomended.  We are all one turn of the tap from Flint Michigan.