Spray paint booth

[dtstein]

Hi-
I have been frustrated of late not being able to paint what is a growing collection of builds
during the ongoing cold season. Does anyone have good plans or suggestions on making a
spray paint booth with a blower one could install in the basement (?vented to the outside)
that works well for you and is easy/inexpensive to build/purchase?

[Commanche3]

I read about one being built out of PVC pipe and plastic sheeting. They installed a vent fan on the top if I remember correctly.

[o1d_dude]

I wouldn't mind see photos of what other BARs are using for spray booths.

[cas2047]

I wouldn't mind see photos of what other BARs are using for spray booths.

There were a couple of threads that had some pics on TRF before the database blewup. I know the guys who had been holding the discussion are still around so maybe some of them will weigh in.

I'd really like to build one myself. I live in the North East where the weather isn't optimal for outside painting even in months when it isn't near or below zero!

[o1d_dude]

I have family up in Maine so I can sympathize with your weather and temperature situation!

Here in Cali, the weather is quite a bit better but I can see still see the snow in the Sierras in July.

Thanks for the tip about checking with TRF...I'll post a thread over there.

[cas2047]

I have family up in Maine so I can sympathize with your weather and temperature situation!

Here in Cali, the weather is quite a bit better but I can see still see the snow in the Sierras in July.



I'm jealous! Sounds like you've got a great view and weather to boot.

My cousin lives up in ME where the weather is even colder than here, which is hard for me to grasp!

[Bob Kaplow]

For many years my "spray booth" has been assorted rolls of Econokote, an iron, and a heat gun :)

[cas2047]

There was one guy who said he used his bathtub with the window open. And I think he was renting. I bet when it was time to move he tried to pass the tub coloring off as artistic expression.

[Bob Kaplow]

There was one guy who said he used his bathtub with the window open. And I think he was renting. I bet when it was time to move he tried to pass the tub coloring off as artistic expression.

Many years ago I saw a notable scale modeler airbrushing the final details on his scale model in the hotel bathroom.

[o1d_dude]

I don't think Mrs. OD is gonna go for me using the bathroom as a spray booth! :chuckle:

Most of the time I take advantage of the weather here in Cali and do my building and painting in my outdoor workshop under the shade of the maple tree.

Sorry...insensitive of me what with most of the country still in the Mini Ice Age of 2009.

[Bob Kaplow]

I don't think Mrs. OD is gonna go for me using the bathroom as a spray booth!

I said HOTEL bathroom :)

Most of the time I take advantage of the weather here in Cali and do my building and painting in my outdoor workshop under the shade of the maple tree.

Sorry...insensitive of me what with most of the country still in the Mini Ice Age of 2009.

See if you're still laughing after California falls into the ocean, leaving behind pristine Nevada coastline.

[Mark II]

...
Most of the time I take advantage of the weather here in Cali and do my building and painting in my outdoor workshop under the shade of the maple tree.

Sorry...insensitive of me what with most of the country still in the Mini Ice Age of 2009.
No, that's OK, but this isn't an ice age here; it is just normal winter weather out here in the Kuiper Belt. :D

I do the same thing as you; I paint outdoors, too. But I have to wait until the second week of June to do it, and then have to suspend all of my painting for the rest of the year after the middle of September.

Mark \\.

[o1d_dude]

"And if California slides into the ocean
Like the mystics and statistics say it will,
I predict this motel will be standing
Until I pay my bill ."
He musta been listening in on our conversation. :D

I live in Northern California in the shadow of the Sierras. It's raining here today and the temp is a blustery 40 degrees. Oddly enough, California is home to the only permanent glacier in the Lower 48. So much for stereotypes, eh?

My rocket building is indoors this time of year and that's why I was asking about spray booths.

[Mark II]

...Oddly enough, California is home to the only permanent glacier in the Lower 48. So much for stereotypes, eh?
Yes, but do people live on it...? :p :chuckle:

My rocket building is indoors this time of year and that's why I was asking about spray booths.
It's a good topic for a thread. I was wondering about them, too.

Mark \\.

[cas2047]

It's raining here today and the temp is a blustery 40 degrees.

Is it pathetic or what that at this point raining and 40 degrees sounds like a real nice day to me. :p

Actually they say that our weather is going into the 40's next week. I'm gonna throw on the swim trunks and put a big old beach towel out on the front ice flow so I can catch some rays! ;)

[PaulK]

Hi-
I have been frustrated of late not being able to paint what is a growing collection of builds
during the ongoing cold season. Does anyone have good plans or suggestions on making a
spray paint booth with a blower one could install in the basement (?vented to the outside)
that works well for you and is easy/inexpensive to build/purchase?This doesn't exactly answer your question, but I'm in WI, and during the winter months, I simply paint my models in the attached, unheated garage, which is maybe 10 degrees warmer than outside, and wind-free. I keep the paint in the model in the house, bring to the garage, spray on a light coat, and bring back in the house. I use a big open-sided cardboard box to catch the overspray. I tend to get better finishes in the winter than in the summer, with the humidity problem. (Shh, don't tell - If the cars are pulled in too close to the back of the garage, they have been known to get a bit of a dusting, but it wipes right off. :o )

[cas2047]

Hey Kit! Thanks a bunch for starting all of this Spray Paint Booth talk. Now I want one! And I'm probably gonna have to go out and build one! :)

Building the box is the easy part. For me designing how the filtration system should work will be the more difficult part. The (way too expensive) Hobby Model booth uses a three stage design that sounds pretty cool.

Info below from Artograph: http://www.artograph.com/products/spray_1530.htm
1st Stage: 100% polyester pre-filter media that traps the bulk of the initial spray and provides a continuous clean work surface. Spray Booth includes 5 pre-cut sheets. Replacement Pre-Filters available in a pre-cut 20 sheet pack or unique cost-saving 50-yard roll.

2nd Stage: Under the pre-filter is a 1" thick non-woven polyester air-laid material with a blue PVC tackifier binder on the exit side. This material, unlike fiberglass, is non-toxic, will not migrate on the air exit side and offers excellent filtration for particles 5 microns or larger. Spray Booth includes 1 each of this non-woven polyester material.

3rd Stage: A carbon-impregnated polyester (poly-carb) offering high odor and further particle-trapping efficiency. Spray Booth includes 1 each of this filter.


I think I'll think on the filtration part and start out by visiting Granger to see what kind of exhaust fan would do the job. Thanks Again Kit! ;)

[Mark II]

Hey Kit! Thanks a bunch for starting all of this Spray Paint Booth talk. Now I want one! And I'm probably gonna have to go out and build one! :)

Building the box is the easy part. For me designing how the filtration system should work will be the more difficult part. The (way too expensive) Hobby Model booth uses a three stage design that sounds pretty cool.

Info below from Artograph: http://www.artograph.com/products/spray_1530.htm
1st Stage: 100% polyester pre-filter media that traps the bulk of the initial spray and provides a continuous clean work surface. Spray Booth includes 5 pre-cut sheets. Replacement Pre-Filters available in a pre-cut 20 sheet pack or unique cost-saving 50-yard roll.

2nd Stage: Under the pre-filter is a 1" thick non-woven polyester air-laid material with a blue PVC tackifier binder on the exit side. This material, unlike fiberglass, is non-toxic, will not migrate on the air exit side and offers excellent filtration for particles 5 microns or larger. Spray Booth includes 1 each of this non-woven polyester material.

3rd Stage: A carbon-impregnated polyester (poly-carb) offering high odor and further particle-trapping efficiency. Spray Booth includes 1 each of this filter.


I think I'll think on the filtration part and start out by visiting Granger to see what kind of exhaust fan would do the job. Thanks Again Kit! ;)
Expensive? Oh, yeah! :p The only commercially-made spray booths that I have seen were this one (http://www.micromark.com/15-x-20-STANDARD-SPRAY-BOOTH,8034.html) and this one (http://www.micromark.com/15-x-30-LARGE-SPRAY-BOOTH,8037.html). Ouch! :(

But the price for the Artograph is even worse (http://www.shopatron.com/product/product_id=AOG225-345/318.0.9448.0.0.0.0)! :mad: Sure, maybe it's a Mercedes-Benz of a spray booth, but I've got a Yugo budget!

Mark \\.

[Mark II]

BTW, on the weather segment of out local news this evening, the weatherman was crowing about what a beautiful and mild day it was over in one community in the area. And I completely understood why, too, because over there they enjoyed a daytime high today of 28° F! (Lucky dogs!) :chuckle:

Mark \\.

[cas2047]

Expensive? Oh, yeah! :p The only commercially-made spray booths that I have seen were this one (http://www.micromark.com/15-x-20-STANDARD-SPRAY-BOOTH,8034.html) and this one (http://www.micromark.com/15-x-30-LARGE-SPRAY-BOOTH,8037.html). Ouch! :(

But the price for the Artograph is even worse (http://www.shopatron.com/product/product_id=AOG225-345/318.0.9448.0.0.0.0)! :mad: Sure, maybe it's a Mercedes-Benz of a spray booth, but I've got a Yugo budget!

Mark \\.

I hear that Mark! I just can't justify spending all that money on something I can buiild in a couple of hours probably for less than two hundred bucks. That is if I can figure out the filtration setup.

Of course when I go to Granger I might find out the fan unit costs more than I expect and in that case I"m moving on to plan B, the bath tub! ;)

[Mark II]

I hear that Mark! I just can't justify spending all that money on something I can buiild in a couple of hours probably for less than two hundred bucks. That is if I can figure out the filtration setup.

Of course when I go to Granger I might find out the fan unit costs more than I expect and in that case I"m moving on to plan B, the bath tub! ;)
Oh, I'm guessing that you can build something acceptable for a whole lot less than that! My idea would be to construct the booth from some plywood and scrap Formica that you can obtain, for example, from one of your neighbors who is replacing their counters with granite. Then just buy the filtration material, either individually like these (http://www.micromark.com/FILTERS-FOR-15-x-20-SPRAY-BOOTH-PKG-OF-5,7912.html) or in rolls like this (http://www.micromark.com/1ST-STAGE-FILTER-ROLL-FOR-15-x-20-SPRAY-BOOTH-20-x-1800-,8036.html) (there might be cheaper sources, too), add a little bit of metal ductwork from your local home improvement store, connected to a shop vac with a discharge hose that is then connected to a vent that you build into one of your basement's windows, and... there you are! Could that work?

If the shop vac is too noisy, you could install an electric discharge fan into the system. I don't think that they would be that expensive. Try Harbor Freight.

Mark \\.

[RocketBoy 32]

I use the spray booth that I made to spray glazes in the ceramics shop.
It's just a large plywood box on legs. The base of the booth is at waist level and
it goes up to the ceiling of the garage.

Venting is via bathroom fan installed on the side of the box and attached to a
dryer hose that leads out the window. There's a furnace filter over the intake of the fan unit.
It works well enough and I think the whole thing cost me about 50 bucks.

P.S. If you're going to put a spray booth in the basement be sure to watch the humidity unless you like dull paint.

[o1d_dude]

Yeah, cas. Blame the n00-BAR. :D

I didn't even start this thread...here...but there certainly have been some excellent suggestions. Gonna pass on those expensive commercial booths, tho.

I like the Rocket Powered Preacher's setup so far. He builds a LOT of rockets and there's no overspray on any of his cars or garage floor that I can see so it looks to be fairly effective.

Early on in this thread, someone suggested checking over on TRF so I posted over there but the response has been much better over here. Go figure.

Thanks, guys.

[cas2047]

Oh, I'm guessing that you can build something acceptable for a whole lot less than that! My idea would be to construct the booth from some plywood and scrap Formica that you can obtain, for example, from one of your neighbors who is replacing their counters with granite. Then just buy the filtration material, either individually like these (http://www.micromark.com/FILTERS-FOR-15-x-20-SPRAY-BOOTH-PKG-OF-5,7912.html) or in rolls like this (http://www.micromark.com/1ST-STAGE-FILTER-ROLL-FOR-15-x-20-SPRAY-BOOTH-20-x-1800-,8036.html) (there might be cheaper sources, too), add a little bit of metal ductwork from your local home improvement store, connected to a shop vac with a discharge hose that is then connected to a vent that you build into one of your basement's windows, and... there you are! Could that work?

If the shop vac is too noisy, you could install an electric discharge fan into the system. I don't think that they would be that expensive. Try Harbor Freight.

Mark \\.

Hey Mark that's even simpler than what I was thinking of, and simpler is almost always BETTER! Plus like you say it's a heck of a lot cheaper too. I think I'll leave the shop vac out of the equation (after all we've named him, and he's kind of one of the family and all). Anyway I'll try to purchase the electric discharge fan from either Granger, Home Depot or Harbor Freight. Not having to worry about an elaborate filtration system means it's just a box, one filter, a fan and some duct work just like you say. :D

[cas2047]

Yeah, cas. Blame the n00-BAR. :D

I didn't even start this thread...here...but there certainly have been some excellent suggestions. Gonna pass on those expensive commercial booths, tho.

I like the Rocket Powered Preacher's setup so far. He builds a LOT of rockets and there's no overspray on any of his cars or garage floor that I can see so it looks to be fairly effective.

Early on in this thread, someone suggested checking over on TRF so I posted over there but the response has been much better over here. Go figure.

Thanks, guys.

Hey I appreciate the nudge! If I can get this done it will definitely address one of THE biggest pains I have to deal with, painting.

The time that's right for painting outside is probably only seven months out of the year here, and the number of days out of each month that would work based on schdule and weather limits potential painting time severely.

I'd like to build mine in the basement. One of the things I'll have to consider is the humidity as rocketboy mentioned, but all in all painting inside using a booth still has to beat even the best day painting outside where there's always something going on from wind to rain to polin or bugs or leaves flying around, etc...

[Jeff Walther]

BTW, on the weather segment of out local news this evening, the weatherman was crowing about what a beautiful and mild day it was over in one community in the area. And I completely understood why, too, because over there they enjoyed a daytime high today of 28° F! (Lucky dogs!)

It was in the 70s most of this week in Austin, TX. Of course, we pay for it in the summer, typically with 30+ days of 100+ degree weather.

However, these last couple of weeks have been nice as I've worked through about 1/2 of my painting queue. Everything is at least through the priming stage now, except the four Alphas I built a few nights ago. And about 2/5 - 1/2 of the birds are fully painted now. I'll pick a color for the next day and do any necessary taping the night before. Then, after I've fed my son and driven him to school, I'll do my painting, do some morning stuff, paint another coat, take a shower, paint a final coat and then put on real clothes and go to work. My paint booth is eight garden stakes (the round kind ~1/2" diameter) sticking up in the back yard.

I'm not very good at multi-colored rockets yet, though. I keep getting tiny paint runs under my masking tape ruining the straight and fine demarcation between colors.

[jackman]

I use the spray booth that I made to spray glazes in the ceramics shop.
It's just a large plywood box on legs. The base of the booth is at waist level and
it goes up to the ceiling of the garage.

Venting is via bathroom fan installed on the side of the box and attached to a
dryer hose that leads out the window. There's a furnace filter over the intake of the fan unit.
It works well enough and I think the whole thing cost me about 50 bucks.


Hello RocketBoy, thanks for your post. I'm wondering how your paint booth has worked out for you. I've been working on a design of my own that turns out to be nearly identical to yours. Great minds think alike I guess.

I'm wondering if the fan you used pulls enough air. Can you tell me how many CFM yours has and is it enough. I've picked out a Nutone model 8210 which is 210 CFM. Two of them would pull 420 CFM which is more than some of the commercial tabletop booths.

I was also planning to use furnace filters. Can you say if that's worked as well.

[Bravo52]

I have one of the Artograph 1530s and love it. I use it for scale models and smaller rockets and it works great. The big stuff gets painted in the garage.... :rolleyes:

About the best tutorial I've ever read on model paint booths is at:

http://www.briansmodelcars.com/tutorials/tutorial.asp?TutorialID=23&CurPage=1

This guy breaks it down pretty good......even where I can understand it!

[AFlyingMonkey]

for the smaller models, a down and dirty way to do it:

quick and easy booth (http://www.militarymodelling.com/news/article.asp?a=3661#)