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About airbrushes and painting
For many hobbyists painting their first RC car body comes in question when they buy the first unassembled kit or it is time to renew the body of a faithfull basher. Many hobbyists start painting with spray paints (Hobbynox ja Tamiya PS) which is the fastest and easiest way to start. Using spray paints do not need any special equipment or accessories. Painting with spray paints is a good option when you paint one or two bodies in a year and body schemes are simple and have a couple different colors. Spray bottles have a quite wide painting line which rules out several different painting effects.
If you paint several bodies in a year and or you want to desing more complicated schemes or use more finer effects in them, then an airbrush is the way to go. There are spray guns (Hobbbynox Ruby) for larger painting areas and then there are airbrushes for more fine detail painting. One often overlooked asset when painting with airbrushes is that they do not draw as much paint as spray cans. This means that you can paint more bodies with same amount of paint and there is not as big risk of paints drying up in cans (spray can's nozzles tend to dry up and get glogged).
Choosing the first airbrush
When choosing the first paint gun for RC bodies a airbrush is the one to go for. Choose something from the mid range, so you will have possibility to get spares (o-ring, needles and nozzles) for it later on (friendly advice from a fellow painter). Airbrushes in the mid range (60 to 100€) are already good guality and thanks to the spares the lifespan of the airbrush is long and there is no need to to upgrade your airbrush very soon.
There are many uses for airbrushes and that is why there are various different options to choose from. Variants have different size needles and nozzles 0.2, 0.3, 0.4 etc. Smaller the nozzle thinner and finer is the line you can paint. When painting bodies the medium sizes 0.5 and 0.8 are the ones to start from. 0.5 is enough fine to make most effects used in bodies and the mist is fine, so all the fades look nice. Finer 0.2 0.3 nozzles are mainly used by artists or the lure makers who need the finest lines possible and not forgetting the model makers. It is important note that when using finer nozzles the thinner must the paint be for the paint to flow smoothly through the nozzle. When using larger nozzle you can use thicker paint which covers way better and covers wider areas easier and faster.
When choosing an airbrush for painting RC car bodies it is good to notice that finest precision airbrushes have very small (2-5cc) paint cups and when painting bigger surfaces you would have to fill it up all the time. For body painting airbrushes with a bit larger volume paint cups like 5 to 15cc is a good option to go for ( HN002-20).. There are also the airbrushes with bottom feed which allows you to use even higher capasity bottles but for beginners the top feed option is easier to learn .
Compressors
Airbrush (and paint guns) need compressed air to work. Air compressor uses a piston to compress the air, so the air pressure rises and enables needed air flow for the airbrush to work. Airbrushes need from 1 bar to 3 bar of pressure to work, so basically the pressure is not high. Steady air flow and clean air (no water or oil drops) are the most important things. Most compressors for airbrush painting are using oil free foil type pistons which are quiet and have enough capasity needed for painting. These compressors come with an air tank (Hobbynox) and without a tank (sparmax). Both versions get the job done but there are difference on how steady the air flow is. Compressors with the tank have steady air flow from the moment you push the trigger, when the compressors without the tank have tendency to give higher burst of air when you push the trigger. The burst of air is something you must live with but it is easily manageable. Cheapest silent compressors for airbrushes start from about 60€ in hardware stores and compressors with airtank like Hobbynoxes start from about 150€.
Connecting and using
Compressor is connected to the wall socket and the airbrus is connected to the compressor with a hose. You can mix different brand compressors and airbrushes without a problem. When you choose the hose just make sure the fittings are correct to fit between your airbrush and compressor. If you are having trouble to find a hose with just right fittings, no need to worry you can always use adapters to make them fit. Important thing when choosing a hose is that it is nimble and does not cause tention to your wrist when you paint like cheap spiral hoses do. You can check the fittings from the specs of the products and if you are not sure, you can always ask from the customer service for an advice.
Accessories
Basically all you need for accessories is a some kind of stand or holder for the airbrush and some cleaning station or cleaning jar. Holder is essential because you must be able to put the airbrush aside from time to time and it must be held upright when there is paint in it. All sort of holders can be made fit as long as it is something you can mount on your painting area. For cleaning you will need a station or some sort of jar which has a hole for the airbrush nozzle to fit into and hole with a filter for the air to get out. Airbrush is cleaned between each color change and of course after the painting is finished before storing it.
The paints
There are specific paints for the rc car bodies which are compatible with lexan bodies. Paint manufacturers have their own product lines for airbrushes that can be thinned to the right viscosity or painted straight from the bottle. These paints are a bit flexy and they have good adhesion to the smooth lexan surface. Nowadays these are non-toxic waterbased paints and good thing is that you can use paints from different manufacturers in the same body. It is very rare that dried up paint would react with another one when painted on. Unlike spray paints, where the risk is always there. With spray paints it is always wise to stick to one brand paints. There are numerous airbrush paint manufacturers like Hobbynox, Vallejo Premium-series, Createx, Wicked Colors, Faskolor ets. All manufacturers have their own color chart. You can of course mix your paints yourself but when starting to paint it is wise to stick to premixed paints. Rule of a thumb is that always use the thinner and the paint from the same manufacturer. This ensures the best result.
Painting area
When painting with anything which involves compressed air there will be paint mist floting around the painting area, so the good ventilated space is essential. We also recommend using a painting mask to protect your lungs and set of vinyl gloves to keep the paint away from your skin. There are some reasonable sized paintbooths available on the market like Panzag HS-E600 which is large enough for painting rc bodies. Paints are quite odourless and non-toxic, so the catching of the paint particles is the main purpose for the paintbooth or ventilation system to reduce the mess around the area. If you have a possibility to paint outside, where you are protected from harsh wind that is a good option always as long as weather is above 15 degrees celcius.
What we here at EuroRC recommend
Hobbynox compressor with smaller air tank HNAS186A
Hobbynox Flow-TF airbrush which includes the connection hose HN002-20
Hobbynox cleaning jar HN018-00
Hobbynox airbrush holder HN017-00
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