Spraybooths and General Modeling Safety

[TakeshiSkunk]

Is it absolutely necessary to have a spray booth?  I mean I can understand it would ideal to have something to catch the overspray and filter out the fumes, but if I was working right by an open door, or even outside would I still necessarily need it?  I'm just getting into building and the idea of spending so much money all at once on supplies is kind of...undesireable.

[FilmMkr]

Is it absolutely necessary to have a spray booth?  I mean I can understand it would ideal to have something to catch the overspray and filter out the fumes, but if I was working right by an open door, or even outside would I still necessarily need it?  I'm just getting into building and the idea of spending so much money all at once on supplies is kind of...undesireable.

In order - 1) no, 2) no (unless you want all sorts of airborne gunk landing in your freshly-sprayed paint, and 3) why do noob modelers think they have to have every single tool/component/brush/technique/accessory before they actually sit down and start building?

Why, back in the day my daddy would lay down some newspaper on a folding card table, hand me an x-acto knife, a tube of glue, a 10-cent paint brush, and three tiny bottles of enamel paint and I'd have a finished model within hours!  'Course the model looked like crap, but the most important thing was that I was building!  (And - more importantly - learning how to model!)

Forget the dang paint booth (and the airbrush and the CSC and all the fancy-ass tools and scribers and paint) - take what you already have, step away from the computer, and get to work!  Practice for a while and se 1) if you are any good, and 2) if you really like the hobby before you go spend hundreds of dollars on stuff you'll never use.

/Filmy's "Newbie Modeler" rant off

p.s.  Did I mention that you should get off the computer and actually build something? 

[TakeshiSkunk]

Is it absolutely necessary to have a spray booth?  I mean I can understand it would ideal to have something to catch the overspray and filter out the fumes, but if I was working right by an open door, or even outside would I still necessarily need it?  I'm just getting into building and the idea of spending so much money all at once on supplies is kind of...undesireable.

In order - 1) no, 2) no (unless you want all sorts of airborne gunk landing in your freshly-sprayed paint, and 3) why do noob modelers think they have to have every single tool/component/brush/technique/accessory before they actually sit down and start building?

Why, back in the day my daddy would lay down some newspaper on a folding card table, hand me an x-acto knife, a tube of glue, a 10-cent paint brush, and three tiny bottles of enamel paint and I'd have a finished model within hours!  'Course the model looked like crap, but the most important thing was that I was building!  (And - more importantly - learning how to model!)

Forget the dang paint booth (and the airbrush and the CSC and all the fancy-ass tools and scribers and paint) - take what you already have, step away from the computer, and get to work!  Practice for a while and se 1) if you are any good, and 2) if you really like the hobby before you go spend hundreds of dollars on stuff you'll never use.

/Filmy's "Newbie Modeler" rant off

p.s.  Did I mention that you should get off the computer and actually build something? 

Well I happen to have an airbrush and most of my modelling supplies handy from doing stuff when I was younger with my dad, stuff that he kept around from when he used to model (mostly stick and tissue aircraft models). And as for getting off the computer and building something, I would love to if HLJ would quit being out of every kit I order/ ship me the ones I did order :<

[blackito]

I put my post in the My Workshop (and yours) section. Made a mistake sowwy

[wingstrike]

I know someone before had asked this question and got an answer, but the URLs of the answer doesn't work so i'll ask again. Im thinking of getting a Mr Super Booth and was wondering if it's anygood, if anyone has it. Thnx

[Ezechiel]

Oh google...
http://www.escalemodels.com/forums/index.php?s=9c1051ac92baac13d3af909e35041ef4&showtopic=3197&pid=37134&st=0&#entry37134
http://plajapan.com/product_info.php?products_id=2195
Looks like an ok product. Not sure if it's the cheapest solution since it's seems pretty doable to build one.

[makalaka]

@wingsstrike

The Mr. super booth works but I think its overpriced. I think w/shipping mine cost $200. The fan is perfect its not underpowered or too loud and is in a sturdy metal housing.
But there are a few problems with it and they all revolve around the main booth part. It's made of some sort of cheap vacu-formed plastic that is quite flimsy. The inner filter is held in place by double sided tape but after a couple of filter changes it looses is stickiness which causes the filter to get sucked in to the fan. I fixed this problem with little magnets I got from one of those magnetic rod building sets. The outer filter is in a tougher clear plastic housing that held in place by the booth itself. But since the booth it so flimsy it doesn't fit tightly around it so there's gaps b/t the filter housing and the booth and the housing pops/slides out of the booth but you can easily slide it back in. Thats about it for the problems. It works really well for over spray but now that I think about it there's a little smell of what ever your spraying for a few seconds after you spray it so it doesn't expel all of the fumes right away.

If anything I wrote sounds confusing I can add pictures and try to explain it better, hope I helped   

[wingstrike]

Cool, thnx guys. My local hobby shop guy says he can get them and sell them for $150, so I think it's pretty reasonable. And i was wondering, you smell a little bit of what you're spraying, but does it go away pretty quickly with it being turned on?

[UltraMagnus]

Anyone had any experience with these?

I did a little research, and while some of these are pricey, they seemed pretty good.

http://www.r-jweb.com/pace/

[ckrajci]

This seems like a nice booth for the right price.

Paasche Model HSSB-22-16 Hobby Shop Spray Booth
http://artistsupplysource.com/product.php?productid=16702

[Zircor]

This seems like a nice booth for the right price.

Paasche Model HSSB-22-16 Hobby Shop Spray Booth
http://artistsupplysource.com/product.php?productid=16702

I just picked up my special-ordered one through my local Hobbytown USA, for $250 or so.  Haven't had a chance to put it together yet (plus trying to figure out lighting for it, and waiting on some ductwork), but I'm looking forward to painting inside, away from the mosquitos  :)

[ckrajci]

I just picked up my special-ordered one through my local Hobbytown USA, for $250 or so.  Haven't had a chance to put it together yet (plus trying to figure out lighting for it, and waiting on some ductwork), but I'm looking forward to painting inside, away from the mosquitos  :)

When you get a chance let me what you think, I'll probably get one soon. 

[Indy aka Rex]

Ugh, I think I've made a huuuuge mistake.  I decided to cut back on expenses for a new spray booth by making it myself and I think this might end up costing me as much as a retail booth. Everything was going smooth but I decided to go with a tri-PC case fan design and after spending close to 40 dollars on fans and an adapter for the fans I just found out my decision to go "cheap" has come back to haunt me.

The adapter I bought doesn't work and so far the stuff I've read up online leads me to an adapter that w/shipping would cost me upwards of 30 dollars. Oh and to top that off I realized I can't use one of my fans because I can't use it horizontally, so I might need a new fan.

So far I've spent 10 on the case, 24 in fans, 10 for a filter, another 10-15 for venting materials, 10 for the power adapter and possibly an extra 30 for a working adapter and 15 for another fan. it might still be cheaper than most spray booths, but a 70 dollar project has ballooned to nearly 120...

[Indy aka Rex]

Alright so I have everything I need but now I need a little help with my set up. I've been dead-set on having a dual-draft SB with twin fans behind and a single high-speed fan on top, I've never tried a SB like this though and I'm worried about any ill-effects caused by having that kind of set-up. Has anyone used SBs with similar configurations?

[mtomczek]

I built my own spray booth using some 1/2" thick MDF and two high speed bathroom ventilation fans (the ones that go in the ceiling). One fan is on the back of the spray booth, and the other is on the top (which is angled down slightly.  This setup works really well but I need a new filter as mine is super dirty at the moment and is causing a ton of dust build up.

I'll try and snap some photos for you tomorrow.

[Indy aka Rex]

I'd really appreciate it!

Here's what I've got to work with (I didn't picture the filter or the exhaust):

Spraybooths and General Modeling Safety

The 2 on the left do about 70 CFM each and the one on the right does 130 CFM, though it's the only one I could place on top as the others are sleeve-bearing fans.

[Indy aka Rex]

Wellp after one failed attempt that left my original case broken in half (don't ask ><) and about 4-5 hours worth of work, I finally finished most of the work on my booth, here's the finished results minus the ducts:

Spraybooths and General Modeling Safety

Spraybooths and General Modeling Safety

Spraybooths and General Modeling Safety

[bustin]

I got a new compressor and airbrush for Christmas to starting airbrushing gundams... but i decided before I started that i wanted to make an airbrush booth.  I live in a small apartment and figure my wife (and my lungs) will thank me in the long run.

I decided to go with the downdraft polypropylene storage box version that I have seen several people build around the web.

I have some concerns though about using computer fans for exhausting the fumes causing a fire. I've read in some places that the low voltage computer fans have a much lower chance for sparking, but I still wanted to see what the community here thought.  So far Ive picked up mostly acrylic paints, but I also wanted to use primer out of a can.  Should I wait to prime outside, or is it safe to prime with a can using a DIY spray booth.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!



P.S.  here are a couple pictures of the work in progress.

Spraybooths and General Modeling Safety

Spraybooths and General Modeling Safety

Spraybooths and General Modeling Safety

[fulcy]

If the computer fans are brushless, they should be fine.  Brushed motors/fans spark alot more than brushless motors...

[fulcy]

Speaking of, I found this on ebay.  Looks interesting.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=390274965187