I have just got glasses (sight is not what it used to be...) and I wonder if I should keep them on while airbrushing or if the paint may adhere to them. I use acrilycs like vallejo, AK or ammo and do not have a spray booth -no room enough for one.

Sorry if it is stupid but it's something new to me!

First, I'd rather have paint on my glasses than in my eyes.

That said, I've used glasses since I was 12, and I've never had paint from airbrushing on them. Wall paint yes, airbrush dust, no.

If you still are concerned, get a set of safety goggles to wear over your glasses.

I'd worry more about not using a respitory mask, even though the paints you use are not supposed to be toxic the paint is still full of particles better left away from your lungs.

Arild

It's not stupid. The paint from an airbrush is usually dry by the time it gets to eye level. I've never had it adhere to my glasses. Rattlecans on the other hand can be a problem. I'm still polishing off rattlecan paint from three weeks ago.

Hello Carlos,

I'm nearsighted, which means I can see better the closer things are, so I have to wear glasses pretty much all the time to see far away objects or I'm blind as a bat. I.E. Driving.

I've not had any "overspray" hit my lenses when I paint. I do remove them for the finer details.

If you paint outdoors, which it sounds like you do, you shouldn't have any issues. If you do, just clean them off like you would normally do your airbrush. Remember to let them dry completely before returning them to your face. Sorry, Capt. Obvious moment.....

HTH

See ya in the funnies............

I've only got overspray on my glasses while airbrushing once and a sneeze was involved. But I cleaned them before the paint set. If you wear plastic lenses and you do get spray on them don't use a solvent to clean them. It could wreck the lenses even if they have a scratch proof coating. I've gotten tiny drops of paint on my glasses while painting rooms and houses with a commercial paint sprayer and used windex and a soft cotton cloths to remove them after they had dried. Both oil and latex came off with gentle cleaning.

Thanks all for your replies, very helpful!

Hi, Carlos!

Unless you're painting a full-size car with a an automotive-type spray gun, I wouldn't worry about any over-spray from an airbrush getting on your glasses. I had to start wearing glasses when I was 42, and I'll be 64 in January. I've NEVER gotten ANY over-spray on my glasses from any one of my airbrushes.

The spray-pattern of your airbrush is way too small for any over-spray to ever make it's way onto your glasses. As several other modellers in this thread have noted, your paint will be nearly dry when it hits your subject, so it's very unlikely that there will be any over-spray beyond a very small surrounding area of your model, anyway...

Airbrush to your heart's content!

One thing you can do in the future is get a second pair of glasses. Once your eyes start going they usually get worse. So when the eye doctor says its time for new glasses, you can keep the old pair for when you spray paint. That's what I've been doing for the 20 years I've been back in the hobby. (I get new glasses every 2-3 years.)

I went to walgreens Drugs and bought a set of 2.0 magnifing reading glasses. I use them because they magnify and allow me to get closer to the work when painting

Off Topic, but-

Boy, I wish it were that simple for me- I have to wear progressive lenses- Three different Rxs in both eyes, ranging from +2.25 down to +1.75. I've had to have cataract implants in both eyes; I'm unable to focus without glasses, so I'm stuck wearing them for anything and everything for the rest of my life. I'm used to it, but...

On the positive side, I have 20/20 vision in any scenario when I'm wearing my glasses! I still use a magnifier-lamp for really close work, such as painting eyes on my figures or when I'm working with miniscule PE!!!

I've always worn glasses and never given it a thought. Any overspray can be just removed with normal lense cleaner - at least in my case. Most lenses should come coated with an anti-streek coating and paint flecks really don't adhere to it - I'm talking acrylic (no experience with oil based). Sure they'll dry, but once dry the little dots of paint just flake off without any ill effects. Wouldn't recommend using paint thinner etc though.

Thanks again everyone, hope to start soon.

For the moment, building with glasses really makes a difference! Though for the Bronco kit I'm currently working in, I still need the optivisor...

You should never think a question is stupid Carlos !! There's probably a dozen people have the same question !

I spray with a sheet of Perspex across the front of the spray booth leaving a gap at the bottom for my hands/arms to go through. This keeps the spray in the booth and away from my face. I still wear a respirator to be safe.
The only time I get spray on the specs is when it accidentally put them down in the spray booth .


Simon

warm water will take off acrylic.

Carlos it's highly unlikely that you'll get paint on your glasses. I have to wear mine for modelling as I'm long sighted and I've never got paint on them. When you consider how far away your head is from the subject being sprayed it's not going to happen. The only thing you have to be careful of is your airbrush cleaner when spraying it into a jar to clean various airbrush bits as that can blow back so glasses are a must for that. A mate of mine ended up being rushed to hospital by his wife when he had that happen and it went into his eyes

On the subject of spray booths I use an old cardboard box as one as like yourself I don't have the room for one. Using an old box is free,expendable and does the job.