How to on a double action airbrush

[guppycatcher]

How to use a Double Action Airbrush




First you need to consider the distance

As paint particles spray from the tip of your airbrush, the paint disperses in a cone type shape. So the closer an artist holds an airbrush to the surface, the finer the spray pattern will be. Usually a thin hair line pattern is created by airbrushing as close as 1/2 inch away from the art surface. Larger and softer patterns are created from airbrushing a few inches away from an art surface. And really hard edges are usually obtained by masking.



Double action airbrush control.
A single action airbrush has a finger control button on the top. Pressing it turns the air flow on and releasing it turns the air off. A double action airbrush allows an artist to control paint volume and air flow with a finger button. Pressing it will turn the air flow on; pulling back on the button opens a paint valve. This is why they're called a “double action airbrush". The more you pull back the button the more this causes the valve to open and so more paint will release.


The speed and control.
Time is a big factor when airbrushing. Moving over an area slowly will deposit more paint than moving quickly over the same area. If you maintain consistent paint volume and distance but have variable speeds of movement across a surface, you will create variations of color and density between slow and fast movements.
Double action airbrushing technique
You will realize that good technique comes with practice and learning to master the three controls all at one time. To see exactly the effects of each control, beginners should practice controlling one control at a time.

With your double action airbrush, push control button down keeping air flow on constantly. Maintaining a steady distance and speed, vary the paint volume by pulling back and forth on the finger control button as you airbrush across a surface.
Now do the same but maintain steady volume and distance but vary your speed across a surface.
Next practice distance control. Maintain a steady moving pace and paint volume but vary the distance to the surface. Practice all 3 until you can see the effects of each control.
Distance, speed and volume are primary factors in controlling spray patterns. The effect of controlling speed may be less noticeable but it is possibly the most important to master. To demonstrate, hold your double action airbrush approximately 1/2 inch away from the surface & take 10 seconds to airbrush a steady circle. After that, airbrush a circle same size but faster without compromising volume or distance. Although your circles might not be the greatest, the one airbrushed faster will have smoother contours and should appear to you more pleasing. It may take some time for you to learn how to airbrush quick strokes, but it's essential for you to learn to produce clean, well formed lines + tones.

[Jared]

There are a lot of choices for double action airbrushes. Perhaps the most common start up double action are Paasche VL airbrushes. They are reasonably priced and come with several different needles which you can swap out for different paint widths as well as different viscosity paints.

There are also many options for dual action airbrushes on ebay that, though they may be copies of bigger names in the industry such as Iwata and Badger, a very inexpesive but do superb jobs. One company called TCP Global makes some top notch brushes like the G44, G46 and G33 which can all be bought for 60 bucks or less which only a fraction of the top of the line brand name airbrush they mimic

[beer980]

I have the Master G46 from TCP. It was cheaper to buy it on Ebay from their store then their web site. I just picked up a table yesterday to use as a lure crafting bench in my garage. I hope to get everything unpacked today so I can get going again.