Airbrushing gadget

[donstu71]

Hi All,

I wonder if someone could help me?

My missus makes personalised hampers and gifts and is currently painting wooden boxes (just smaller than an average shoe box) she is priming them as suggested by the local paint shop and then painting them with coloured emultion and decorating etc. She wants to give a really good image and offer quality in everything she does but with the box painting I don't think she is happy with the quality because of brush strokes left etc.. Is there some kind of airbrush she could use that gives a better finish and also speeds the process up? Is emultion the right paint to use?

Thanks in advance

Stu

[donstu71]

Emulsion even lol

[glynisrose]

Use the tip of the bristles in a stippling manner to reduce or remove brush marks when the paint is still wet.

[Valkyrie]

I wonder if your wife is being too hard on herself and looking for a "factory finish"? Sometimes handmade things benefit from the more relaxed look they have... Although I get hung up on aspects of things I make too.

[donstu71]

Thanks for that glynisrose, I will pass that on.
I have hinted at coming onto sites like this to get valuable advice, don't think she has yet?

Stu

Use the tip of the bristles in a stippling manner to reduce or remove brush marks when the paint is still wet.

[donstu71]

Hi Valkyrie,

Yes I think she is too, she's a bit of a perfectionist, which isn't a bad thing now and then but can also hinder what she does, especially if she has a few orders, she gets stressed because she's behind.
I think you're right actually, because they're handmade, it gives the pieces a bit of rusticness (if that's a word?) lol

Thanks anyway

I wonder if your wife is being too hard on herself and looking for a "factory finish"? Sometimes handmade things benefit from the more relaxed look they have... Although I get hung up on aspects of things I make too.

[glynisrose]

If she needs to paint lots in one go them you should look into a mini SPRAY gun rather than an airbrush. I believe you can still get the Badger mini spray and airbrush kits, they can use a can of compressed air as well as a compressor which makes them a great idea to see if they work for you!!

[donstu71]

Excellent, will look into that thanks

If she needs to paint lots in one go them you should look into a mini SPRAY gun rather than an airbrush. I believe you can still get the Badger mini spray and airbrush kits, they can use a can of compressed air as well as a compressor which makes them a great idea to see if they work for you!!

[Uffe]

I use both brushes, airbrushes and spray guns and for small project i do recommend using an airbrush with big nozzle. Neither a spray gun nor airbrush is faster as you will need to cover up parts you don't want painted and then there is the cleaning of the ab or spray gun. The cleaning is time consuming but you have to be thural in order to keep the tool funktional.

What ever tool you use to apply the paint the prep work is always the most important, second most important is the sanding between layers (this isnt possible with all craft paints). Third is the final sanding and polishing. Once the prep work is mastered you can get a surface as smooth as an industrial finish even with a paintbrush.

On a wooden surface the easiest way to get the perfect starting point is to begin by wet sanding with fine grit sand paper (400 grit), but instead of using water you use oil, the type of oil depends on the paint you will be using. Personally i wetsand with boiled linseed-oil thats mixed with turpentine then i paint with oil based paint.
The oil wet sanding fills the grain with fine dust and the oil will bind it. After the sanding you will pretty much have the smoothest possible starting point