air brushing decoys

xstreme357 · 12-15-2008, 04:11 PM

anyone do it? what's your thoughts on that game?

i have a feeling im getting one for xmas and then its game on. i used to do a lot of it in high school but that was a couple years ago now. im going to use it primarily for decoys and fishing stuff. used to be good at it, but we'll have to see.

chris

Chesapeake · 12-15-2008, 05:05 PM

I've often looked at the air brush units and thought it would be nice.

The only reason I havent done it is because I dont know where to get good paints, of the right colors.

xstreme357 · 12-15-2008, 05:44 PM

i have a feeling that will be my problem also. they say a good base coat or two is nice, but hard to do with an air brush. from the folks ive talked to said they are best for detail, but can easily spray an entire decoy no prob. im sure there are a few ifishers out there lafing to themselves as they read this post...

buckhunter · 12-15-2008, 07:00 PM

Isn't there a guy named Dave,,, something,,, here on ifish that has done it before a time or two??????

BH

adobe wall · 12-15-2008, 07:20 PM

An airbrush will certainly paint a decoy without any problem at all. You'll have an easier time if you set out a dozen, or more, and paint each decoy with one color before cleaning the gun and adding the next color. You'll find that you have more time in changing colors than you do spraying.

What I don't think, though, is that you'll find the right durable dead flat paint that you want. Finding or blending the right color is no problem but getting that color to adhere and not scrape off easily is another issue altogether. Airbrush paint needs to be thin as milk to spray easily.

Maybe a matte finish clearcoat on top of the color? I dunno.

regards, aw

xstreme357 · 12-16-2008, 12:15 AM

buckhunter, yeah heard of the guy. wouldn't mind if him or a brad or a bryan or any of those guys helped with some input but then again, those guys are in the busy season and probablydon have time to chime in.

aw, i too think that it wouldn't be hard to do an entire deek then go back and clean up what needs detailing. as far as the flat clearcoat goes, i've got that one figured out so that's the easy part.

thank you for your input.

Tilla · 12-16-2008, 05:29 AM

Or you can take a few of those oldies and give them to DU for the Greenwings projects.

CombinationLicense · 12-16-2008, 08:26 AM

Createx is a popular brand of airbrush paint but you can use multipurpose acrylic paint from the craft store if you thin it down. I've found that like in most painting, prep is everything and it seems to be really hard to get good adhesion to decoys. There is also an acrylic "cure" additive to make the paint more durable and clear matte for the final coat. All that being said, the $25 hot buys look better than anything I've been able to do but it's still fun trying...

"CL"

xstreme357 · 12-16-2008, 09:04 AM

tilla, i have given them a few... about a dozen.

combo, i dont think ill be doin much in the way of ducks... if so maybe just touch up. i was talking to jim @ wingsupply and he provided me with names and stuff to consider. but you are right, prep work is 90% of the battle.

Dave Smith · 12-16-2008, 11:00 AM

Hi guys- yes, I got the hint- he he. If you want to put down a base coat or primer coat, just buy a really inexpensive touch-up gun from Home depot, but do all your colors and detailing with your airbrush.
You're way better off to use really flat, durable paint and no clear coat, then to try to kill the shine with a flat, clear afterwords. Testors dull coat, is one that has a pretty low film thickness and does get super flat if you go that way.
If you're repainting factory decoys, do NOT strip them down to the bare plastic- you'll never get paint to stick to bare polyethylene. Pain over the factory paint and hope it sticks.
As for paint, I wish I knew- the paint we use is not available to hobbyists- it's incredibly expensive and touchy to work with. You can always use airbrush paints with flattener added.
Dave