Cheap paint gun set

Huckster79

Huckster79

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Huckster79
So I’ve started doing some touch up work, my color is available in duplicolor color perfect match rattle cans... I’ve tested area under the tail and it’s spot on, with some wet sanding blending will be no issue... pure white helps that too...

BUT those cans have a very high percentage of solvent... they don’t go far. I was wondering if an inexpensive detail gun would be a better option? What is the spray pattern of a small gun compared to a rattle can? Biggest section I’m doing will be passenger side panel under the door, rest will be touch up, would a small gun for that panel and then an airbrush for touch up spots be best?

The duplocolor brush thingy is not gunna be the trick as it’s difficult to not get brush marks, thinking those tiny spots an airbrush would be easier to blend in than this..

Rattle can under pilot door turning out nice! No more seat belt ding marks all over...I’ll post pics tomorrow, without natural light the picture of the fresh pure white paint looks yellowed...but only in pics, not to the eye.
 
Harbor Freight's "purple gun" has worked very well for me. With a real spray gun, you set the pattern with air pressure, fluid control, and fan control. The fluid and fan control are adjustment knobs on the gun.
 
Nice, I think I’ll go get one...
 
Yeah, that’s a great little gun.


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What size of a fan does that give? Would I still need the airbrush for little chip spots?
 
Huckster79 said:
What size of a fan does that give? Would I still need the airbrush for little chip spots?
Click to expand...

I’ve tried to use an airbrush for little chips an stuff and always come up short. That little purple gun is my chip fixer. If the chip is too small it’s not worth touching up is my approach.

The purple gun does with my HVLP gun won’t do and that is shoot a small pattern. Sometimes HF has a winner for next to nothing in $$$. This has been one of them for the past 10 years. It ‘s a known commodity in homebuilder circles. If you clog is up by not cleaning properly, get a new one.


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Bill Watson said:
I’ve tried to use an airbrush for little chips an stuff and always come up short. That little purple gun is my chip fixer. If the chip is too small it’s not worth touching up is my approach.

The purple gun does with my HVLP gun won’t do and that is shoot a small pattern. Sometimes HF has a winner for next to nothing in $$$. This has been one of them for the past 10 years. It ‘s a known commodity in homebuilder circles. If you clog is up by not cleaning properly, get a new one.


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Click to expand...

I'm smelling a trip to HF Aviation soon! Thank you guys, this sounds like its the ticket, especially if you can dial in a small pattern.
 
Don't forget, you are still going to have to add around 50% reducer and a hardener your paint if you're using an hvlp gun. Don't forget a mixing cup and strainer.
 
Chip Sylverne said:
Don't forget, you are still going to have to add around 50% reducer and a hardener your paint if you're using an hvlp gun. Don't forget a mixing cup and strainer.
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Yes. thank you. I'm lucky- being new to painting with anything besides a rattle can that my local NAPA guy is great and has been very helpful. I really like NAPA being the actual store is locally owned not just a corprate "big box" auto store that has similiar stuff but basically just employs check out clerks who are of little help... He walked me through all that I would need to get going besides just a gun and compressor today, as I am ignorant of the steps.

Is there a cheap paint I can get that would be similar in how it sprays and such to the single stage paint he is going to mix up for me, so I could mix it with the reducer and hardener and paint some old car panels I have laying around for practice before starting to hit the old bird with it?

Is just a basic HF air/water/oil seperator filter sufficient? Do I put that on gun or on the compressor? I suppose if I put it on compressor end I probably should have a new hose as my hose probably is filled with typical nasty compressor "crap"???
 
Make sure you fully disassemble and clean the purple gun every time. If not, I guess they're pretty near disposable at $10 a pop!

Definitely get one of those crystal dessicator thingies to keep the air supply dry. My HF 21-gal. compressor worked great, and a new hose is cheap insurance. No prior paint gun experience for me either, but lots of test passes on cardboard and scrap aluminum allowed me to dial in the pattern pretty well.
 
airdale said:
Never buy cheap tools.
Click to expand...
Unless they work. This HF micro-sprayer #92126 is well known to be go-to tool for touch-up spraying for at LEAST the last 20 years. Nobody has even come close to the versatility IF YOU FOLLOW the directions and clean it RELIGIOUSLY after you use it. Or spend $10 and get another one.

BTW, you might look up the difference between cheap and inexpensive. This tool is inexpensive.

Jim
 
I have an IR HLVP gun that I use on my regular compressor. Works pretty nice for under $100 (got it at tractor supply on clearance). Add a little flotrol/penetrol the mix and it works just fine. Sprayed varnish on the boat as well.
 
Huckster79 said:
Yes. thank you. I'm lucky- being new to painting with anything besides a rattle can that my local NAPA guy is great and has been very helpful. I really like NAPA being the actual store is locally owned not just a corprate "big box" auto store that has similiar stuff but basically just employs check out clerks who are of little help... He walked me through all that I would need to get going besides just a gun and compressor today, as I am ignorant of the steps.

Is there a cheap paint I can get that would be similar in how it sprays and such to the single stage paint he is going to mix up for me, so I could mix it with the reducer and hardener and paint some old car panels I have laying around for practice before starting to hit the old bird with it?

Is just a basic HF air/water/oil seperator filter sufficient? Do I put that on gun or on the compressor? I suppose if I put it on compressor end I probably should have a new hose as my hose probably is filled with typical nasty compressor "crap"???
Click to expand...

Put the water separator on the compressor side. Get yourself a regulator to attach to the gun.

Summit racing has relatively inexpensive paints you might want to try. Your local paint jobber probably has an inexpensive line of paint too.

Summit also has an inexpensive respirator which you'll want, and you'll also want goggles, a hat, and long sleeves/pants. PPE is important.

The idea of practicing before you shoot "the real deal" is critical. Spraying is a bear until you figure it out. RFTM goes a long way. After that, it is consistency and a good eye for observing what's happening on the panel you're spraying.
 
I painted the Beech 18 cowlings with a cheap ass Harbor Freight HVLP gun. They came out pretty good, not perfect but not worth doing over. The strip of aluminum, I put on later at the request of the owner to aid in putting the cowlings on the airplane. It's a common modification. Don't know if he's ever going to paint it.

Yes, you definitely want to thoroughly clean your gun each time you use it. He had a few of these Harbor Freight guns on the shelves and I only found one of them that I could use. I come from a fiberglass chopper gun operation background way back when so I know all about cleaning guns. Catalyzed polyester resin is very unforgiving of failing to keep things clean.

IMG_20181221_100829527.jpg
 
In the years I have been painting, California Air products are the best "cheap" paint equipment out there. But they're not $10.
 
To just practice setting up the gun and laying down good single stage color without sags, runs etc, use Rustoleum or any of the farm store paints. A dryer in line at the compressor and a small regulator at the gun handle is the way to go. If I recall, 25-40 lbs depending on gun, material and tip. You want a good, even cigar shaped pattern out of the gun. Set up the gun by shooting at some newspaper or cardboard. Once you start shooting a panel, keep the gun moving at an even pace perpendicular to the surface. Hold the trigger for a sec beyond the end of surface you want to paint. Use good light, you can't lay down good color in the dark. Wait for the paint to "flash", or the solvent to evaporate before a second coat. Flash time depends on the reducer, paint and OAT.
Eye and breathing protection go without saying. Disassemble the gun completely to clean it. Painting can be fun, but if the job matters, don't cheap out on paint. There's no worse feeling than doing a real nice job, and having the cheap jobber quality paint fail a few years later.
 
For small touch-ups, I use a $10 air brush gun. Works nicely around rivets and small areas.
 
JAWS said:
For small touch-ups, I use a $10 air brush gun. Works nicely around rivets and small areas.
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I think I’m going to get one of both... the purple gun and an airbrush, the airbrush makes all the sense in the works for areas around a river or a chip... on chips I’ll bring brush on the primer, sand it out and airbrush the spot, let set a week and wet sand it to blend it in
 
Preval Amazing Spray System

It's a jar that screws onto a spray can to power the little sprayer, no air dryer no air comp necc.

I use them for small gelcoat jobs.
 
So I see a purple gun in 4oz and 20oz size.... Which one is the hallowed "purple gun"? or either depending on project size? will the 4oz one be big enough to do a panel or two and touch ups? 20oz seems big if I'm not painting the whole thing at once...
 
Huckster79 said:
So I see a purple gun in 4oz and 20oz size.... Which one is the hallowed "purple gun"? or either depending on project size? will the 4oz one be big enough to do a panel or two and touch ups? 20oz seems big if I'm not painting the whole thing at once...
Click to expand...

The 20 ouncer with the regulator attached is the way to go.
 
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