Airbrush How To

The first step is surface prep. Don't forget that rhyme because it can make the difference between a failed and successful paint job. In this airbrush how to you can assume that I always prep the surface after each clear coat job.

First I use a red Scotch pad to scuff the clear coated surface. I then soak a lint free rag with PPG DX330 de greaser and give the tank a thorough wipe down. Finally I use a tack cloth to remove any other lint or dust.

AutoBodyDepot is a great place to pick up whatever you might need.

Airbrush How To

When using a tack cloth don't press too hard. just lightly pass the cloth over the surface. Don't waste your time with surface prep if you don't wear gloves while your doing it! Remember, in custom airbrushing, the top is only as good as the bottom. Build a good foundation and you will save yourself a lot of tears.

Airbrush How To

For this airbrush how to I used a plotter to cut out the shapes of the tiger head and the internal shapes. I am a heavy believer in free handing, but learning how to mask is essential also. But as you will see, I don't use the masking slavishly either.

Here I am pressing down a piece of transparent transfer paper onto my design masking that is pre cut with the plotter.

In the second picture you can see the shape of the tiger head with all of its internal shapes stuck to the transfer paper. I will remove this completely and set it aside for later use. Transfer paper allows very complicated masking to be transferred to a surface in one piece without having to deal with all the individual pieces.

In the third picture I have applied the masking to the tank so that the shape of the tiger head is placed where I want it.

Airbrush How To

Now I take the internal tiger head shape and lay it down on the "canvas" so that the edges match up on the contour. I then selectively remove the pieces so that the white areas of the tiger and the facial features like eyes, nose, teeth etc. are left masked off.

I then lay down a piece of transparent transfer paper over a the entire thing and create a mask around it using a brand new exacto blade.

I finish by masking off the rest of the tank using green 3M Automotive masking tape and Scott shop towels. This saves on tape. I use old shop towels.

To paint the nose and the tongue, I use a dilute kandi red, then go over that with the oranges from the face of the tiger. Again, this creates color harmony and pulls the whole painting together.

Learn How to Airbrush How To 2008

I am now ready to create my white canvas. I call it that because that is the idea behind this technique. In this airbrush how to I am using transparent colors so I need a white surface for the colors to work properly. With some House of Kolor BC 26 white and an Iwata Custom Series airbrush, I fill in the tiger head shape until it is completely white. I lay it on slowly so that I don't get any runs. I am using House of Kolor RU 311 Medium Reducer . After I have it all filled in, I remove the masking and lock it down with a couple of layers of urethane clear coat using an HVLP Mini Gun . Once this cures, you have a protected white tiger head shape that you can sand if you mess up on the subsequent painting without sanding into the "canvas". Custom painting is great because you can lock down the different layers of artwork with clear coat.

Now I wet sand the surface with 600 grit wet/dry sand paper to eliminate any orange peel or other surface irregularities in the clear coat.

Then I follow up with the red scuff pad and the de greaser.

The colors I am using are called House of Kolor Kandi Concentrates . They are a concentrated dye that is added to either urethane clear or House of Kolor inter coat clear. In this airbrush how to I use the inter coat. I reduce it to fairly thin consistency using House of Kolor medium reducer. I mix KK08 and KK04 with a touch of lime gold to create a sienna brown. I choose brown to create the under painting because it is more organic and will go well with the orange and black to come later.

The airbrush I am using in this airbrush how to is an Iwata Custom Micron C. I stand by Iwata and use their airbrushes exclusively.

Here I am lightly "sketching" out the key areas and shapes of the unmasked areas. Once I get them laid out, I darken them down a bit to where I can see them easily.

I get the painting to about this point as shown in the third picture and then I ready for the next step; the Kandi black.

I mix a red, yellow and blue to create a black that will work. I do not use opaque black base coat because it will not allow the under painting to show through and cannot be layered slowly the way transparent kandies can.

Below are two progress shots showing the kandi black.

Below is the tiger with the black stage almost completed. I have removed the masking that is left so that I can soften the edges of the the hard lines created by the masking. Notice how I have also used the black to add shading to the face to give it form. This is imperative because when you lay down the color you want that shading to show through.

It's back to the kandies again. This time I mix House of Kolor KK11 and KK12. I will work with two mixtures of these same two colors. First I will create a yellow orange an then I will add more KK11 to the mixture to get the deeper richer orange.

In this shot the deeper red orange has been added over the yellow orange. The teeth have also been unmasked and are ready for painting. Notice how I have gone along the edges of the black stripes with the orange and warmed the black up a bit and have sprayed a soft warm haze around the outsides of them. Then I go back in and re state some of the white where the light is striking it. This really makes the whole thing pop!

To do the teeth I begin with the original sienna. I add the shadows to give them form and then use the yellow orange from the tigers face to tint them. using the same colors I already used instantly harmonizes the image.