Posting this as a DIY inspiration for others.
So I do most of my airbrushing indoors (away from wind which carries dust, dirt, hair, and so on all over my fresh paint jobs) and I've recently moved away from airbrushing tamiya acrylics and ventured more into enamels and lacquers. As a result something had to be done about the fumes - apart from the horrid stench of enamel thinners and the toxicity of lacquer thinners, I find even lightish exposure to them can trigger my migraines, which is obviously not high on my list of "things I want to do today.
Solution: BUILD A SMALL SPRAY BOOTH.
My girlfriend donated the lazy susan - otherwise it's a black plastic tub with a hole cut out of the "ceiling". Attached to that is a desk fan blowing air upwards, which results in air being pulled through the box from the open front and exiting via the fan.
The light is a low-power LED fitting from a Fluval Edge aquarium that wasn't getting used. It's quite bright for how small it is.
This duct goes outside. The little desk fan actually manages to move quite a bit of air through it.
Total cost: $16 for the ducting and the bracket to attach it to. The rest of it was just stuff I had lying around the house.
Result: a significant decrease in the odour and fume exposure. You can still smell it a bit, but you're no longer in any danger of being suffocated by the stench or vapours. It's not perfect, I highly doubt it'd compete well against a professional spray booth, but for $16 nobody can really complain that it wasn't worth it.
Built myself a small spray booth.
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- Moongrim
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Re: Built myself a small spray booth.
Now that's using your noggin.
I just can't see why so many 'professional' spray booths you end up having to pay through the nose for.
I just can't see why so many 'professional' spray booths you end up having to pay through the nose for.
There are Times, Sir, when men of good Conscience cannot blindly follow orders. You acknowledge their sentience, but ignore their personal liberties and freedoms. Order a man to hand over his child to the state? Not while I"m captain.
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- J.L.Picard.
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Re: Built myself a small spray booth.
I think a lot of time you're paying for the privilege of not having to construct/engineer it from scratch. To be fair, a lot of pro paint booths are almost over-engineered and are pretty damn good at what they do.Moongrim wrote:Now that's using your noggin.
I just can't see why so many 'professional' spray booths you end up having to pay through the nose for.
- Silverloc
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Re: Built myself a small spray booth.
Oooh..I like that idea
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Re: Built myself a small spray booth.
Once I built an over complicated spray booth from foam core board, cut all the pieces to it notched together. I had a slot for a furnace filter on the bottom (the fan sucked from below), a sheet of plexiglass for a sneeze guard kind of thing, and a crazy strong fan I got at a surplus store. It got crushed while moving.
I have been considering making a new one, but it will probably just be a large rubbermaid container, a 5v case fan and light I can run off a USB wall wart. Toss in a tamiya turntable... blamo. I might work a furnace filter in there some how to keep SWMBO happy(ish).
Commercial spray booths are designed for high volume spraying and maximum removal of overspray, overkill for most modelers (imo)
I have been considering making a new one, but it will probably just be a large rubbermaid container, a 5v case fan and light I can run off a USB wall wart. Toss in a tamiya turntable... blamo. I might work a furnace filter in there some how to keep SWMBO happy(ish).
Commercial spray booths are designed for high volume spraying and maximum removal of overspray, overkill for most modelers (imo)
- el gato
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Re: Built myself a small spray booth.
A local modeler built a spray booth out of an (overhead) exhaust hood that are installed in household kitchens. This seems even easier. Thanks for sharing! I'll have to look into this
RogueWolf wrote:I've sacrificed many dozens (maybe even hundreds) of gummy bears to the dark modeling gods to grant me my wish... but I fear my offerings only amuse them, not appease them.
- slawton
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Re: Built myself a small spray booth.
I'm trying to get ready for an indoor airbrush and setup a spray booth. I went to an auction recently and picked this up:
I was not sure of the top opening - is that for a light? I've read that spray booths can have positive pressure from 2 fans - a stronger one pushing air in and a weaker one funneling air out. The positive pressure keeps out particles, dust, etc. (wouldn't it need to be pretty much sealed?). So you put the model on a rotating stand? Elevated to be able to reach all sides? Do you cover the spray booth box to prevent paint from covering it? Should I limit the size of the front opening to better allow the fan to pull all the paint & fumes out?
It has a working fan, tube, chamber, filtering material, a larger front opening and a smaller top opening. I'm trying to get a better understanding of the operation/how they are supposed to work and do I have everything with what I got.I was not sure of the top opening - is that for a light? I've read that spray booths can have positive pressure from 2 fans - a stronger one pushing air in and a weaker one funneling air out. The positive pressure keeps out particles, dust, etc. (wouldn't it need to be pretty much sealed?). So you put the model on a rotating stand? Elevated to be able to reach all sides? Do you cover the spray booth box to prevent paint from covering it? Should I limit the size of the front opening to better allow the fan to pull all the paint & fumes out?
I'm a modeler, not a doctor...
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- Halgebra
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Re: Built myself a small spray booth.
There’s got to be some online resources about this. Maybe even some handy YouTube videos?
- slawton
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Re: Built myself a small spray booth.
So here's what I got in the mail for a belated Christmas present:
It's so shiny and magical, its my, my, my Preeeecious!
Now I need to get some accessories to hook it up to my air compressor and start practicing!
Last edited by slawton on Sat May 02, 2020 11:53 am, edited 1 time in total.
I'm a modeler, not a doctor...
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- trekriffic
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Re: Built myself a small spray booth.
If you end up looking like that slawton ... I'd say you need a better spray booth!
"You broke your little ships."
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