Airbrush Painting Tip 01.10.14 By Mike Rinnaldi

Painting Tip 01.10.14: When painting a model, airbrushing in particular, there are a number of small factors involved that often get overlooked. Primary amongst these is your immediate environment: the workspace, region of the world, season in which you live, and the model. For example, I moved from the arid dry desert climate of Southern California and Nevada, to the wet moist temperate climate of Northern Oregon, surrounded by numerous bodies of water that affect the humidity levels of my workspace. Winter here is very different to winters around the world being in a semi-coastal and heavily forested region, heavy fog and moisture are constant companions, all of which affects the minor variables with airbrushing, paint thinning and pressure ratios. I've had to continually tweak my previous mixtures to achieve a consistent result.

Keep this in mind, as the seasons change always experiment with your paint thinning and compressor ratios throughout the year.  They will change and alter how the paint sprays. There is no one recipe for each of us, you really do need to set up a practice run(s) and alter your settings to provide the best results for your situation.

Lastly, high-quality airbrushes and compressors are like any other machine, tool, that requires maintenance. Don't forget to replace o-rings if yours are older, these will dry and crack from the various chemicals we use.