How to Build a Spray Booth

For some things in the model horse hobby, a spray booth is handy to have, and you can build one yourself!

First, you need to create the booth body.

You will need something like a large cardboard box or even a storage tub that you will be able to cut a hole into.

We used a large box from a carpet cleaner. The original top of the box was not large enough to use as the open side of the booth, so it was taped shut and the largest side of the box was used.

The box was cut across the top and the bottom, and then down the center of the box to create doors so that I can test spray onto the doors.

You can also cut the whole side off instead of having the doors, or use a plastic storage tub.

Note the additional hole on the top, which we will get to shortly.

Next you will need a fan for exhaust.

This particular fan is a bathroom exhaust fan with a dryer hose attached.

You can use a regular large box fan, or any other fan that can be placed with the back side of the fan very close to the back of the box. I have purchased a small box fan (about 10" across, around $10 from Walmart) that would work great for this as well.

If you are spraying more toxic sprays like primer or sealer, you would want to send the exhaust (the air being pulled out of the spray booth by the fan) outside. 

You would need to position the fan and spray booth right up against an open doorway or window to send the exhaust outside.

By using a bathroom exhaust fan with a dryer hose, you do not have to have your spray booth against an open window or door, as you can just put the end of the hose out the door or window!

Note: a bathroom exhaust fan is meant to wire directly into a house. A plug/cord has to be purchased separately and someone with some electrical experience can wire it to the fan. A cord with a switch on it would be nice as well, so you could turn it off at the switch instead of unplugging it.

You will need to add a hole to the booth that is a similar size or smaller than your fan.

The hole can be on the top or side of your box, depending on if your fan sits on the table against the box or directly on top. 

My fan sits on top of the box, where we placed the hole.

A filter is needed to help catch spray particles.

This is a filter for a heating/air conditioning system for a house. You can pick them up from a home improvement store or even Wal-Mart or Target.

The filter should be placed between the booth and the fan, and the fan needs to blow air AWAY from the spray booth, as it is pulling air from inside the spray booth and blowing it away.

Here is my spray booth all set up for airbrushing.

I put some paper on the "doors" of the spray booth to do test spraying on, and some newspaper on the bottom and back, although this is not necessary.

A lazy susan is great, as you can put your horse on it and gently turn it to turn your horse in different directions without picking it up.

Having a lamp or 2 shining into the booth helps as well, as it can be dark in there.

Here is my NaMoPaiMo (National Model Painting Month) test horse that I used to practice/test the color I want to paint on my real NaMoPaiMo horse.

Thank you to my unicorn chin rest Casper for "supporting"me as I typed this,

and to my boyfriend who put the spray booth and exhaust fan together for me!

Happy painting!

Painting with Test Horses

Trying something new with painting? 

Use a test horse!

Using a test piece allows you to try out something new or practice something that will hopefully help you to not mess up the "good" one!

In this instance, I gathered some horses that were bodies or horses that never sold and sprayed them with primer to use as airbrushing test pieces. 

Now I can just grab one that is ready to be used as a tester whenever I have the whim to try, as they are primed and ready to go.

Test horses are great for trying different colors, as well as painting styles and techniques:

This test model was painted the same color on both sides, but I tried different shading techniques on each side.

The lighter colored layers show through more on this side.

My friend was teaching me more about airbrushing, and allowed me to use her airbrush, since mine was not cooperating. (So this was also a test model for trying a different airbrush.)

I decided to try a dark/liver chestnut on this side and went for a lighter chestnut on the other side, using the same colors.

I really liked how the light side of the horse came out!! 

Happy accidents can become inspirations, as the lighter chestnut color inspired the next horse that I painted.

Here you can see my "super fancy" cardboard box spray booth. :]

In the booth, I have a naughty pony and her trusty test model by her side!

I applied each color layer on the test model  first before putting it on the pony.

Here we are, a few paint layers in. 

I decided at this point to try a different color combination on each side of the test horse before painting the pony to see which color I preferred.

Here is the "red" side.

This is the "not red" side.

Both shades would make for nice chestnut colors.

However, I was going for a bay!

I chose the "red" side and added black points, to see how they would look.

I decided to stop for the night at this point, and I decided not to paint the face so that I could test paint it immediately before painting the pony's face the next day!!

Here it is after test painting the face.

I really like how the test piece came out!

When it came to painting the actual pony, I decided to go a bit darker and reduce the red shade of the bay, as I was going for more of an Exmoor pony color.

Here is Matilda, the finished pony!

She is my 2nd fully finished airbrushed model and I am still learning. 

She's not perfect and I learned some things to do differently for next time, 

but I think she came out really nice, 

thanks to using my test horse!!

Prepping: The Water Sheet Test

Prepping a model horse is the art of preparing the surface for painting.

I was washing some artist resin models, and decided to try an experiment of a cleaning test technique from another hobby of mine.

(This technique can be used in a combination with other resin cleaning  methods, too.)

The Water Sheet Test is a technique that comes from vitreous (kiln-fired) enameling in prepping the surface to receive enamel.

Above are copper pieces, with and without enamel.

The process of enameling requires that the prepped metal surface be very clean, in order for the enamel (essentially glass powder) to fuse to the metal at around 1500 degrees in a kiln.

I will be painting an artist resin model horse for NaMoPaiMo (National Model Painting Month), and experimented with the water sheet test when washing several resins, to see if there were similar results to cleaning copper for enameling.

The experiment worked!

Artist resins often have an invisible coating of mold release, which is something that is applied to the inside of the mold before resin is poured into it, so that the resin doesn't adhere to it and allows the resin to be removed easily from the mold.

Artist resins must be thoroughly cleaned before priming and painting, often done with Comet cleaning powder, water, and a toothbrush.

Step 1: Run water on the resin.

Step 2: Take a look at the resin. 

See how the water is beading and seems to be repelling from the resin? 

The resin needs to be cleaned.

Step 3: This artist resin cow has been dampened and sprinkled with Comet powder. I wet the toothbrush and make sure to scrub the entire resin, especially any nooks and crannies.

(Note: you may want to wear gloves and/or eye protection, as this cleanser contains bleach and other chemicals, and the Comet paste sprays everywhere from the toothbrush! )

Step 4: Rinse resin to remove Comet.

Step 5: After removing the resin from the water, notice how the water is *sheeting*.(covering evenly across the model and not beading up.)

This means that this area is clean.

Run the model under the water a few times to check different areas to make sure that water is sheeting across the resin.

If you find a spot like above, where the water is beading/repelling, wash that area with Comet again.

Here is the same area after rewashing, and you can see how the water is sheeting across the model, instead of beading/repelling. 

This means that the surface is clean. 

(It doesn't hurt to wash the resin a second time to ensure that it is completely clean, or use other known resin cleaning methods.)

Video 1: Watch as the water repels off of the chest.

Video 2: After cleaning with a toothbrush and Comet, the water sheets across the chest instead of repelling.

Another quick view of the water sheet test:

Water beading/repelling after running resin under water. 

Needs to be cleaned.

Water sheeting evenly across model after running resin under water, following a scrubbing with Comet.

Continue prepping and priming to let the painting begin!