Well, it has begun, the airbrushing of the Academy 1:72 F-16A. And it worked way better then I thought it would. At least it appears too. The light gray pieces have not been painted yet with the lighter color that I guess is close to the color it is now? More pieces on the sprue's out of the picture to the left. What do you think? Although I did have some run's and spatters while airbrushing they are not noticeable with this dark color. And it was my fault, as I am still learning. I never got anything close to this with a paint brush. Really like my investment at this point. I'll do another mock up after they dry some, and post another picture, so we kind of have an idea how it will look.
I watched, yesterday evening, a video of an "unboxing" of the exact same model of airbrush that I have purchased and am waiting for its arrival: The airbrush parts were inspected, easily assembled, and even tested on camera. The user seemed to be tickled pink about its performance. So was I! I was surprised at how small the compressor unit was (the Amazon photos don't give a good idea of the size), and how quiet it was - more of a whirring than a lawnmower... I'm not too fond of running lawnmowers in my apartment (neither are the neighbors...) I figure this will be great for weathering (making things dirty) and scenery touchups, and maybe some outright painting once I get confident handling my new toy... erm... tool. Yes... that's it... tool... I can't wait for Christmas in July...
Looks good to me! Nice and even coverage. Very encouraging. I get spatter and runs with rattle cans too if I don't take care to spray evenly and carefully, so that's not a problem with the airbrush. That's me! Keep us posted on your progress with your new toy/tool.
Here is more progress, the pieces are just laying on the towel for the most part, no glue at all yet. Light color parts are just the sprue color and have to be airbrushed with a different, but lighter color. If I take my time, this should turn out really well, I hope? Decals are always a challenge for me. And there aren't many.
That's looking good in2tech! Makes me want one as well. It's on the Amazon list but the CFO hasn't approved it yet.
Thanks for all the information guys. It is one thing I will consider after I build some scenery buildings.
Nice view of the 20mm gun port. There was a CAS (Close Air Support) version of the F-16 (for ANG, I think?) that used an external, center-mounted 30mm gun pod, with it's own ammunition store. During integration flight testing, the rapid firing of the 30mm gun created enough thrust (backwards) that made the Flight Control Computer (FCC) decidedly unhappy during testing. They had to implement a signal from the gun pod to the FCC, to tell it the 30mm gun was firing, so the FCC could compensate. A smaller, four-barrel version of the seven-barrel gun on the A-10A, it was one deadly gun pod!
Well I went to clean my Autolock for the first time, I mean really clean it, take the needle out and clean, and other simple parts as they recommend once in awhile, a deep cleaning. So looked at a few YT videos on other brands, decided this should be super simple as long as I did not bend the needle, etc... Of course it did NOT go that way. After reassembly the Rechargeable Airbrush would not work. It would however send back pressure to the bowl, and paint would bubble up and come out of the bowl, the thingy you put the paint in For 6-10 hours I could not get it to work, of course taking cursing breaks often. So I did the unthinkable, I completely unassembled the airbrush part. IF you me, that is NOT a good idea, but I was frustrated. So after taking an hour break, one of them, I came back to the bench ( hobby table ), and was putting the back end on the airbrush when the screw thingy feel on the carpet, thank goodness that are shiny metal looking. Went I went to retrieve it, there was another part on the carpet. I go what the heck is this. Turns out it was the ALL IMPORTANT needle I had been needing the entire time for it to work again, and it had been laying on the carpet for hours. Thank goodness I found a site, that had instructions for almost my exact airbrush. Took me forever to put the springy thing back in it. I would have never figured it out as when I took it apart some pieces kind of fell out, and I had no idea where they went. End of disaster is it WORK's again and I am never cleaning this thing again Not true! Painted some parts a darker light gray after airbrush was working again!
I'm glad you got the thing to work again. Phew! Some tense moments there. Based on your experiences, I sense that my swear jar is going to overflow. I'll be all the more careful when the time comes. Thanks for sharing your experiences and the great results of your work so far.
Following your travails closely, going to get started with airbrushing soon and this item looks promising for my small work.
Glad this story had a happy ending! Like a good drama, it wasn't sounding too good for the home team for awhile! I've seen some hobbyists take a work apron, and staple the lower front flap to the underside of their worktable/bench. They "put on" the apron when seated at the bench, and it forms a broad pocket in their lap, between themselves and the benchtop, to catch small parts that might slip or roll off the bench in front of them. Just don't forget to untie the apron from around your neck before you stand up to take a break, fetch something, etc., especially if you have a light-weight work table or bench!
Naturally, a light colored work apron, if you can find one, might help see the parts before you untie the apron and dump them on the floor anyway. Or just drape the upper apron back over the benchtop when you get up. You might roll up the bottom edge of the apron a few turns and staple/nail/screw through that, to keep it from tearing loose easily.
@Mike VE2TRV Be very careful when cleaning it, I mean the deep clean as I call it removing the LONG needle and especially the FRONT needle pieces as you will remove one possibly often. That is where the SPRAY tiny, tiny, tiny NEEDLE is. I'll post some pictures and the website I found, ( be very CAREFUL of website site, it is click bait heaven. DON'T click on anything there, it's a trap ) as I could not have put it back together if I had not found this site. And in most YT video's it states that TINY needle screw's ON, but ours has a O ring on it, and I couldn't get it to screw on, so I just put it inside the one screw item ( hard to explain, pictures will follow ) and try it. Just try distilled water first, see if it will come out on the paper. It's the #3 item in the first picture that was laying on the floor to make it work. I also did not get a wrench with mine either? I don't think ours screws an my airbrush is working now. Very confused, but heck it works and that's all that matters! The second image replacing the Auxiliary Lever, item #1, let the cursing begin when trying to put it back! There are more pictures on the website for reassembly. I added text and such to these! WARNING!!! DON'T CLICK ON ANYTHING ON THIS SITE! Just read the instructions and look at pictures! You will need this at some point. https://www.sweetsugarbelle.com/2015/03/how-to-take-apart-and-clean-your-airbrush/ You have been WARNED!
I'm far from an expert, but as I understand what I have read, and seen online, steps 7 through 10 are seldom required, and appear to be on this model airbrush, a royal PITA. There are many similar airbrushes that are made in China, and this supplier may be changing between them based on availability, price, etc.
You are correct, usually just cleaning the LONG needle, and basic maintenance are ONLY required once in awhile. IF I had noticed the #3 needle had falling out, (at least now I know where it is and will be careful ), the process would have been a 15 minute clean. It was ALL my fault that I had to completely take it apart. But now I know how too. An unexpected process that I now know how to perform. Although I wish I didn't know this information I wonder where you can get parts for these if you lose something or it breaks, or say you bend the long needle, or lose the auxiliary lever, or the #3 needle, by accident, etc...?
Are you going to be brand NEW to airbrushing? The big questions is how long will the battery/tiny compressor work over time? I have looked for just the compressor and can't find one yet. Was thinking of buying a backup to use while one is charging. Although I really don't need it, cause I only use it maybe, 15-30 minutes at a time, if that much!
Wow... there are a lot of little fiddly parts in that contraption. I have been warned! If any more of you get one like this, we'll have to form a club...
If you have a compressor in your garage, you can use a 5 gal compressed air tank ($40 @ Harbor Freight) that will run an airbrush for at least a half hour. Then you can choose any airbrush(es) you like, preferably one with spare part support. You would need to add a pressure regulator and filter/water separator for the tank. I remember seeing a video on youtube from a guy that did this. Ultimately, he decided to get a dedicated compressor, but he was wanting to paint for longer durations. Of course, this would total more $$ than the battery powered unit.
Heh, I've owned a single-action Badger airbrush for about 30 years, never used it... My first order of business will be to build a paint booth. I'm going to couple it to my 3d printer ducting so I can use the same exhaust fan. My painting will not be much more than what you're doing on the F-16, so the USB brush might be all I need.
You nailed that one. I live in an apartment, which limits my options considerably. A big compressor that makes as much noise as a DC-3 taking off will definitely be frowned upon by the other tenants... That's about it. I won't be doing any airbrushing of artwork on large surfaces either. Just small stuff like HO scale pieces of various types - not painting large artwork on the hood of a 1:1 car.
