Hello,

I'm desperately wanting to use my airbrush for several projects but I've never used one before and have a few basic questions. I live in a flat on the 2nd floor in San Francisco.

What is the best way to use an airbrush without annoying my neighbors? I am renting so I can't make any modifications to the place. I am primarily concerned about the fumes and discoloring walls. I am only interested in using acrylics.

I thought about renting a small studio but it would be great if I can stay home. Do any of you have any experience with using an airbrush in a dense city environment? Are there any tricks or equipment that I can use?

Thanks,
Andy

Hi Andy,

I don't live in an apartment, but I figure you've got two major concerns: noise levels and odor.

For noise, you might want to look at your compressor. If you have a noisy one, they you might want to check out some of the "silent" types such as the Iwata SmartJets or PowerJets.

For smell, you might want to look into purchasing or building your own spray booth with a vent fan that sucks the overspray and smell out through a dryer vent hose. You won't have to make permanent mods to your window, just make a template for your window and feed the hose right out of it. You won't be bothered by tinting your walls either!

Hope that helps!

Frank

Hi Frank,

Thanks for yr response. I have a compressor that sounds pretty quiet so that will probably work out.

The spray booth looks to be a good option but I'm concerned about the fumes leaving the exhaust opening. Won't it stain the outside wall to some degree? Also I have a neighbor upstairs but I imagine acrylics are relatively non-toxic and odorless?

Thanks again.

I mainly use thinner for my paints so it definitely has the usual thinner odour. It becomes more obvious when put through an airbrush.

Staining on the outside wall would be minimal depending on how often you use it but i dont believe it would cause a huge stain though. I'd give it a try if i were you otherwise your only other option is to move to a landed property.

Andy,

The spray boothes that I've seen have a filtration system built into them, usually a furnace-type filter. That should catch most of the overspray.

Additionally, acrylics dry fast in the air, so they shouldn't be wet when they hit the outside. Not to mention that the majority of your paint will be hitting your model.

I've been airbrushing acrylics into a box in the basement until I can get something rigged up and the only thing with overspray is the surfaces inside the box, usually within a few inches of the spray area. The back wall, which is only about a foot or so from where I spray, doesn't have any sort of paint coating.

I think you'll be good to go venting outside.

- Frank

Hey Andy,
Berkeley native here, transplanted to a studio apartment outside St. Louis.
I use Testors' Enamels and mineral spirits. Very smelly. Whenever I paint, I put my box fan in the window blowing out (exhausting).
Never a comment from any of the six other tenents.
Don
On edit; I paint on my kitchen table, any overspray seems to wipe-up, like dust.

Agree 100% no worries with a filter. Airbrushing has very little overspray to start with, even when doing base coats. Painting one model with spray primer leaves more overspray then 20 airbrush cammo jobs. Its extremely efficient.

Fantastic! I've been hesitant to invest 200-500 bucks for a spray booth and have it collect dust but this is great news. Thanks again for all the responses.

If you are painting with acrylics, you will have no problems with fumes. You might be able to smell it a little, bur just open your window and you wil not have any problems ( your neighbors definately will not) I also spray on a large kitchen counertop, I just open up a newspaper and spread it out. Airbrushes will spray a small patern, ans i have never had a problem with the overspray.

I do enamels exclusively and I keep saying to myself to pick up some acrylics for the winter projects at least and I still compulsively buy the darn enamels. I will probably do the M2 with acryl so I can spray in the kitchen

In the apartment acrylics are the only way to go. next to no odour if you use windex or alcohol to thin paints..


Dave

Right now I use the deck to paint unless its something very small which I will do it right on the desk like touch-ups...Often in the worst winter months I will have 5 or 6 builds in primer waiting for paint.

When spraying, the droplets of paint that don't hit a surface will usually dry in the air forming dust-like particles. These won't usually stick to anything, but there are concerns that these can be breathed in and may cause harm. So if you don't have an efficient ventilation system that sucks the overspray away from the work area, you may wish to wear a mask. You can always check by blowing your nose after a spray session and investigating the results to see if this is an issue!!

One thing to add to all the info that has been said here is concerning what you use to clean your airbrush. I spray acrylics through my Aztek and I use Aztek airbrush cleaner. That is some of the nastiest smelling stuff I've ever ran across. The one time I was fool enough to try and clean my airbrush by spraying that through it indoors the whole house was stunk up. If at all possible I'd strongly advise using something else to clean your brush. Even though the weather is quite cold here now I do my cleaning outdoors.

I'm using the Medea Airbrush Cleaner on my Iwata Revolution CR. It's "environment friendly", but does get a bit stinky. What I've started using is a Iwata Cleaning Station. Basically, it's a glass jar with a place to slide the airbrush tip into and spray. There's a filter in it as well. It does block the majority of the fumes, but some does escape. But not enough to stink up your house.

- Frank

On the noise issue, if you think your compressor is too noisy, use a tank of compressed CO2.
capnjock

Noise is my primary concern because I too live in an apartment. I do have a detached garage, so I can fill my compressor without worrying about disturbing my neighbors (but if they get too uppity with the TV or stereo, then I have no problem firing up the ol' Campbell-Hausen 2-gallon unit as a 'hint').

I use Tamiya acrylics quite often, so odor isn't much of a concern. I will drape a plastic tarp over my painting station (re: kitchen table) which is also large enough to cover the surrounding area - I haven't had any overspray/residue issues yet with either enamels or acrylics.

If I use enamels, I will open windows, run the ceiling and floor fans and turn on every exhaust vent I have (over the stove, in the bathroom, etc. I will also use a mask to avoid breathing as much oif the fumes as I can. I refuse to use either Glosscote or Dullcote anymore as the fumes from the lacquers is overwhelming - be it from a spray bomb or thinned from the bottle and airbrushed.

I suppose you could do some airbrush practicing with the 12-oz cans of air available at most hobby shops instead of a compressor, but they can add up cost-wise if you have a big project and buy a lot of them (also, they can ice up). My Campbell-Hausen was just over $100 at Wal-Mart; the moisture trap add-on was only a few extra dollars.

My 2 cents.

why not just do the dullcote outside?

I switched to Future for gloss and Testor's Clear Acrylic Flat a few years ago. The last time I used Glosscote and Dullcote was for a Polar Lights 1/1000 USS Enterprise (the JTGraphics decal instructions stated that Glosscote/Dullcote was recommended for their decals).

For reducing noise:
Buy a firm pillow.Place a thin sheet of plywood on top.place/bolt your compressor to that.This should isolate the vibration from the floor,and you can check the ambient noise by running the compressor and going outside your door and listening.

Hey guys I do not mean to steer this conversation in another direction, but what are your thoughts on say using the stove's overhead range fan as a spray booth area. I was thinking of fashioning a carboard cubicle to wall off the burners, sides, and back splash and just using the range hood? You guys think that would work ?

I guess it could. I just think typical airbrushing acrylics with a bunch of newspapers or plastic around the area won't have enough overspray to really worry about a fan. I have painted so many things in my hand with no overspray even making it on my fingers....

Yes, I know it would help if I start lowering my PSI - I have had it set waaaay to high...