Dust when airbrushing

[jgoldader]

Hello— I’ve had a lot of trouble with dust when airbrushing. It’s mainly lint, fibers 1-3 mm long. I can’t tell if they were on the models first, or were pulled in by my booth’s exhaust fan. Are there any tricks for reducing dust? I’ve tried using canned air on the models with limited success. I’m wondering if it’s a problem with static, which could be made worse by the canned air.

Would any of you have hints on controlling dust? Thanks!
-Jeff

[TurkeyVolumeGuessingMan]

I bought a dust catcher made by GSI Creos to use on my Wave airbrush. I live in Japan, so I've no idea what is available to you, but even with this dust catcher I still cannot eliminate all dust. Plus you're probably going to have all sorts of tiny dust particles flying around in your room you cannot see, except maybe when direct sunlight beams in through the window or something. I find this sort of dust is worse when I'm wearing winter clothing rather than a T-shirt in the summertime.

[Marco Scheloske]

It helps to spray water into the air just before airbrushing with a pump bottle. Some fellows put cardboard on the floor and walls on their spray booths and wet them before airbrushing. Helps a lot.

[seam-filler]

Another idea is to run one of those cheap de-ionisers before, during & after airbrushing. It also helps keep dust down when sanding.

[TurkeyVolumeGuessingMan]

It helps to spray water into the air just before airbrushing with a pump bottle. Some fellows put cardboard on the floor and walls on their spray booths and wet them before airbrushing. Helps a lot.

So the wet cardboard acts like a dust magnet? Neat! I'll have to try that.

[Marco Scheloske]

Not really as a dust magnet, but the high humidity in the airbrushing area helps to decrease the amount of dust in the air a lot.

[Kylwell]

I live in a very dry state so static is a constant problem. I've got a bottle of water that I use to mist my room before any critical painting. Keeps the dust & cat hair out of the air.

[jgoldader]

Thanks, all, for the advice!
Jeff

[Wug]

Hi jgoldader,

At a model club meeting decades ago, some of us complained about the troubles we had with dust. Others claimed they never had dust problems. The modelers with dust problems were all single. Married modelers were dust free. Apparently, the presence of a woman in the house keeps dust and lint from landing on scale models. Here are a few other things that help.

If you think the dust might be on the model before you start painting, try wiping it down with rubbing alcohol. Some modelers use tack cloths, I've never had much luck with those.

Like Marco Scheloske and Kylwell said, a while before you paint, spray the room with a plant mister filled with water. The water mist will knock some of the dust out of the air and help with static electricity.

Cover the model while it dries. I used cardboard boxes then changed to plastic storage containers. Now I use an unplugged food dehydrator with most of the trays cut out to make room for large parts. I cover the food dehydrator with a plastic bag. Remember don’t plug it in.

I try to reduce other sources of dust and lint. Instead of lining the painting area with newspaper, I use freezer paper. I wipe models and clean my airbrush with coffee filters instead of using paper towels. On this board years ago, someone recommended a specialized wipe made for either the medical or chemical industry.

If you’re painting and dust lands on the model, you might be able to avoid sanding and repainting. Stop painting and let the area around the dust flash dry. Try to blow the dust off. If that doesn’t work, you can try lifting the dust off with some masking tape. In my experience, this works about 10% to 20% of the time for flat paint.

I cleaned and dusted the modeling room before painting. A year or two ago I read an article in a model car magazine from the sixties or early seventies. A winner of one of the big national contests recommended not cleaning the room before painting because it stirs up dust. Now I don't know what to do. Do the other SSMers clean before they paint or do they let sleeping dust bunnies lie?

If you want a flawless deep gloss finish that wins at model car contests, you might need a wife or a maid.

HTH,

Mike

[aussie cylon]

If you want a flawless deep gloss finish that wins at model car contests, you might need a wife or a maid.

You mean they're not the same?

[naoto]

If you want a flawless deep gloss finish that wins at model car contests, you might need a wife or a maid.

a waifu nor meido would be helpful in this respect (considering they are fictional characters and usually only reside in the 2-D realm). And if referring to cosplay variety then expecting them to do housework for you is perhaps expecting too much. It probably would not be recommended to try character-authentic cooking from a cosplayer dressed as Mizuki Himeji ( https://youtu.be/4sw65uXoADE )