Airbrush Antics

• April 6th, 2006 • • airbrushing, supplies •

As both my husband and I are interested in using the airbrushes we found for different purposes, it was decided after much muddled debate to purchase an air compressor specifically for airbrushing. My previous scheme to buy a regular ol’ hardware store compressor did not seem feasible upon investigating various models. (It didn’t seem like a good idea to hook up something capable of >200psi to a delicate device.) The fellow at the hobby store we frequent was quite helpful and confirmed my suspicions: if I bought a cheap compressor, I would need to buy all sorts of adapters, scrubbers, regulators and so forth so that the cost would end up more than a mid-grade compressor. So, I chose the lovely 50s green-colored Paasche D100. Hooray!

Excitedly, I got home and hooked up the hose and brush, carefully filling the cup with some brown watercolor. After flicking on the switch the brush produced only a few spits of paint. Rather anti-climatic considering all the hard work I invested in cleaning the damned brush! So I check connections, I re-clean openings, pull out the needle and polish it shiny. Nothing. Upon reaching down to check the connection again I noticed a direct breeze on my wrist coming from the hose! Well! Obviously living in a garage frequented by mice leaves tubes open to being munched on. I never noticed as the hose is covered with cloth. Ah me!

A friend and I discussed online the distinct need for all-night art/craft/hobby supply stores. Tomorrow, we’ll give this a try once more!

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