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I've wanted to get an airbrush for model painting (acrylic paints) for a long time now, but I haven't because of several concerns:

1. We live in an apartment, and I would have to use our guest room to spray
2. I live in Sweden, it's pretty cold most of the year and even if I got a spray booth I probably wouldn't be able to vent outside most of the time
3. Most importantly, I have an 18-month old, and I won't risk his health for any reason, although any painting would be done after he has gone to bed.

Is there a setup that I could use and still be 100% safe, given the above concerns?

Anything you do will still need venting.

All buildings have vents of some sort, is there anything you can tap into?

I got a portable spray booth that has a tapered attachment to the end so I can poke it out of the window with minimal opening. I appreciate UK winter isn't as harsh as Sweden winter but it is preferable to exposing your little 'un to particulates and fumes.

It is surprising how much is generated with even a small amount of spraying. Don't ask me about paint bogies.

I have a portable airbrush booth with a filter on the back. I do not however have a hose attachment so what I do is aim the back of the booth towards a window and pop a fan in there. The filter gets most of the particulate and the fan gets out any smell or leftover particles. I still use a small mask because like notprop said

 notprop wrote:
paint bogies.

Mymearan

use only good acrylic paints and everything will be ok


Automatically Appended Next Post:
acrylic paints also better for rubber parts of airbrush as they re neutral

I haven't had any problems using my airbrush and Citadel paints with Vallejo Airbrush Thinner where needed. The only thing that throws off a bit of a rough smell is the airbrush cleaner I use. But, if you spray it into one of the airbrush cleaning jars (for example: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000VADIVC?keywords=iwata&qid=1445879371&ref_=sr_1_8&sr=8-8), it filters out all of that before it goes into the air. I don't have any issues using an airbrush indoors.

Now, when it comes to aerosol primers (Citadel/Krylon/etc.) and aerosol paints (like Citadel), I do that all outdoors with a particulate mask on.

When it comes to an 18 month old, that I don't know about... maybe consult a doctor/nurse first? Otherwise, I haven't had a single problem airbrushing indoors without any kind of specially rigged ventilation system or mask. I only use Citadel Acrylic paints though (regular and air).

SG

If you aren't using either a spray booth or a mask, or preferably both, you're getting atomized paint sticking in your lungs and increasing your risk of things like lung cancer by quite a lot depending on how much you use the airbrush, from what I've read. This happens no matter the type of paint, since it's the paint itself doing this. It doesn't go away either, it stays there. That's why I'm being so cautious here, especially for my kid.

I would use a booth with a filter and use a mask if you can't vent outside and avoid using harsher chemicals through the brush. When I want to spray a cleaner through my brush but don't want to open a window I just spray it in to a drinking bottle, while covering the top and then seal the bottle and dispose of it.

I'd also stick to spraying actual airbrush paints and paints that tell you what they contain. Some colours apparently require less-than-healthy pigments which are fine to hairy brush on but not so fine to inhale when airbrushing like Cadmium.

And maybe I'm paranoid... but if I had a little one wandering around I'd keep my hobby area completely locked off to them. I started building model planes when I was 7 and it wasn't until I was about 16 that I realised I was reacting to a couple of the chemicals I was using when painting and modelling. It took me so long to figure it out because the symptoms weren't immediate and lasted for several days after I'd finished (it was only when I took a break for a couple of years and then the first week after I came back the symptoms popped up again that I made the connection ).

Granted I know I'm being paranoid, but I don't think there's any need to expose a kid to it so I'd just avoid it.

I highly recommend this:

http://www.amazon.com/Master-Airbrush%C2%AE-Portable-Airbrush-Extension/dp/B00B2TESUQ/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1445905067&sr=8-2&keywords=airbrush+booth

It's only $90, and it will suck up all the paint dust. It's actually larger than it looks on the picture; it's 16.5" wide and 13.5" high, large enough to airbrush almost any GW model other than terrain boards (which are 2' x 2') and the taller titans if you wish to airbrush them fully assembled. These can also be doubled up to make a 33" wide unit (but it's still just 13" tall).

The exhaust pipe is entirely optional. Some people don't even use it. What I do if I want to airbrush in my painting room upstairs is I run that into a carboard box that has a HEPA filter (made for a heating furnace), with a slit cut in it for the exhaust. A little bit of duct tape, and it works perfectly.

If you airbrush with any sort of booth, you should do so at a lower PSI, with a smaller needle, as this will greatly reduce overspray -- the amount of excess you get with a 0.66 needle at 30psi compared to a 0.2mm needle at 12psi is huge.

Either way, you should always wear a 95% or 100% mask, especially if you are airbrushing with paints meant for paintbrush, and thinned. Some of the pigments may contain cadmium, which is carcinogenic when inhaled; other paints may contain irritants.

You should also close the door of the guest room while airbrushing and let all the paint settle while you paint and after you finish (15 minutes will do the trick), because there may be very slight odors that other people may find distasteful, particularly in solvents used clean the airbrush.

Oh yes, an Iwata cleaning station (or Sparmax) is a really big help.

And always remember, if you grow a third arm, don't rush to blame the airbrush chemicals... it could be that you have been corrupted by Chaos!

I too am struggling with this question - and think I might go with the master spray booth.

On the flip side though - I've watched countless hours of videos and just about none of them appear to be using a spray booth or mask. Am I wrong?

svep84 wrote:

On the flip side though - I've watched countless hours of videos and just about none of them appear to be using a spray booth or mask. Am I wrong?

That's probably because it is hard to make good videos from within the spray booth

I also got one of those booths that Talys suggested. Super practical because you can stow it away easily.

svep84 wrote:
On the flip side though - I've watched countless hours of videos and just about none of them appear to be using a spray booth or mask. Am I wrong?

A lot of them do wear masks while spraying. The commentary (that makes it sound like that aren't wearing a mask) is done afterwards. They probably also have decent ventilation in their area, given many of them paint for money they might even have larger extractor fans that you can't see.

AllSeeingSkink wrote:I would use a booth with a filter and use a mask if you can't vent outside and avoid using harsher chemicals through the brush. When I want to spray a cleaner through my brush but don't want to open a window I just spray it in to a drinking bottle, while covering the top and then seal the bottle and dispose of it.

I'd also stick to spraying actual airbrush paints and paints that tell you what they contain. Some colours apparently require less-than-healthy pigments which are fine to hairy brush on but not so fine to inhale when airbrushing like Cadmium.

And maybe I'm paranoid... but if I had a little one wandering around I'd keep my hobby area completely locked off to them. I started building model planes when I was 7 and it wasn't until I was about 16 that I realised I was reacting to a couple of the chemicals I was using when painting and modelling. It took me so long to figure it out because the symptoms weren't immediate and lasted for several days after I'd finished (it was only when I took a break for a couple of years and then the first week after I came back the symptoms popped up again that I made the connection ).

Granted I know I'm being paranoid, but I don't think there's any need to expose a kid to it so I'd just avoid it.

Thanks, yeah I am a bit concerned about all the chemicals and stuff in my hobby area, although he's small enough that he can't reach most of it... yet. On the plus side, I can simply close the door and he can't open it, at least not without me noticing.

Talys wrote:I highly recommend this:

http://www.amazon.com/Master-Airbrush%C2%AE-Portable-Airbrush-Extension/dp/B00B2TESUQ/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1445905067&sr=8-2&keywords=airbrush+booth

It's only $90, and it will suck up all the paint dust. It's actually larger than it looks on the picture; it's 16.5" wide and 13.5" high, large enough to airbrush almost any GW model other than terrain boards (which are 2' x 2') and the taller titans if you wish to airbrush them fully assembled. These can also be doubled up to make a 33" wide unit (but it's still just 13" tall).

The exhaust pipe is entirely optional. Some people don't even use it. What I do if I want to airbrush in my painting room upstairs is I run that into a carboard box that has a HEPA filter (made for a heating furnace), with a slit cut in it for the exhaust. A little bit of duct tape, and it works perfectly.

If you airbrush with any sort of booth, you should do so at a lower PSI, with a smaller needle, as this will greatly reduce overspray -- the amount of excess you get with a 0.66 needle at 30psi compared to a 0.2mm needle at 12psi is huge.

Either way, you should always wear a 95% or 100% mask, especially if you are airbrushing with paints meant for paintbrush, and thinned. Some of the pigments may contain cadmium, which is carcinogenic when inhaled; other paints may contain irritants.

You should also close the door of the guest room while airbrushing and let all the paint settle while you paint and after you finish (15 minutes will do the trick), because there may be very slight odors that other people may find distasteful, particularly in solvents used clean the airbrush.

Oh yes, an Iwata cleaning station (or Sparmax) is a really big help.

And always remember, if you grow a third arm, don't rush to blame the airbrush chemicals... it could be that you have been corrupted by Chaos!

That's a lot of useful information in one post, thanks a lot! I wonder if that spray booth is purchaseable over here, I'll have to look around a bit. It seems that venting indoors is possible, although a bit of a hassle. I might be able to vent outside even in winter if I have a tapered hose and just crack the window open a bit. I'm feeling more positive about this now, although buying an airbrush+compressor+booth certainly won't be cheap... anyone have one of those cheaper AS186 compressors off Ebay?

Yes! I have that exact compressor+tank. It's been happily purring away since 2008 without any trouble or hassle. It's even relatively silent, nowhere near a hairdryer or vacuum cleaner. I'd say go for it.

I am in Belgium myself and I ordered mine off of ebay straight from Germanistan.

I live in sweden aswell, I paint in my apartment in a closed room . I just leave the room closed, open the wind and leave the room for an hour or two after painting. Works fine for me. I use a mask aswell.

The problem with not actively sucking air and paint spray out of the room is that it will eventually coat everything in your room with fine paint dust.
I have always used a mask or respirator, but after six years of living here, if I wipe down the glassware or top shelves in my painting room, it's usually the colour of the last paint used heavily. I spray on a windowsill with it open.

Also also. Airbrushing indoors without an extractor will kill tropical aquarium fish in a matter of hours, regardless of paint toxicity.
I didn't warn my OH and an hour of spraying wiped out my biotope.
If you wouldn't like it in your lungs, fish don't like it in their water.

 Mymearan wrote:

That's a lot of useful information in one post, thanks a lot! I wonder if that spray booth is purchaseable over here, I'll have to look around a bit. It seems that venting indoors is possible, although a bit of a hassle. I might be able to vent outside even in winter if I have a tapered hose and just crack the window open a bit. I'm feeling more positive about this now, although buying an airbrush+compressor+booth certainly won't be cheap... anyone have one of those cheaper AS186 compressors off Ebay?

If you're handy with a miter saw... or even duct tape and cardboard (this was my first airbrush hood!), you can just make one yourself, using any fan. It's really not rocket science.

1. Take a large cardboard box, cut the top flap back a bit so that the top lets light in. the top is also the least important, because you can't point an airbrush up -- the paint will dribble all over you
2. Cut out a part of a filter, like you'd use for a furnace. Hepa is good. Point it the right way!!! There is a little airflow arrow, so point it such that the air goes from the area you airbrush on towards the back of your box.
3. Stick a fan... any small fan... inside the box behind the filter. If you're fancy and minimally electronically inclined, you can use one or more of the fans used to cool PCs (like 40mm or 60mm fans). Point it to suck air from the front to the back. Close off the back, cut a hole in it, and use any kind of duct (dryer duct, portable air conditioning duct, etc.) to exhaust it out somewhere.

Really... that's all one of these get-ups is

If you don't have anywhere to exhaust it, blow it down into a large box that you seal off except for one side, where you stick like, 3 furnace filters (point them the right way!!). You'll have to change the filters every now and then, but it will work fine. The paint will tend to settle into the box, anyhow, because the particles are quite heavy.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

 Buttery Commissar wrote:
The problem with not actively sucking air and paint spray out of the room is that it will eventually coat everything in your room with fine paint dust.

Indeed! This happened to me when I first started airbrushing. I figured that inside my lungs was probably suboptimal.

 Buttery Commissar wrote:
Also also. Airbrushing indoors without an extractor will kill tropical aquarium fish in a matter of hours, regardless of paint toxicity.

This is something I did not know! Poor fish.

You can run PC fans on battery packs if you have no spare sockets, so you can even make it self contained with a little soldering skill. A lot of mascot and resin mask wearing costumers use these fans to stay ventilated, so the packs aren't uncommon.

And yeah, a lot of things can kill fish, but very few things can kill a well established fish tank. Goes without saying that bug bombs can, but any major particulate in the air channel (air freshener, large amounts of aerosol, brick dust).
Essentially a fish is a living water filter crossed with a lung. If it's in the water, it will "breathe" it. Solids and toxins just suffocate them dead.

I use a small desk fan, I don't think I'd want any less than that, especially if you're trying to blow the air through a filter. I wouldn't trust any of the fans I currently have running in my desktop PC, though I have one uber double thickness 120mm PC fan (from when I was living in a super hot environment and my computer refused to stay cool) that would probably do the job. Noisy though, desk fans are quieter for the amount of air they move.

But most PC fans when you place any sort of obstruction (like a duct or a filter) drop dramatically in flow rate. Even with my desk fan unless I'm blowing directly in to it I can sometimes get a cloud forming when doing high flow jobs like priming, basecoating or varnishing.

i have a HUGE fan I put in the window when painting and paint right in front of it, so that works out well. Yeah, when cold - I paint faster!

Lots of other good advice here, best of luck!!!