Spray Booth - comments

I have been using a cardboard box with some filter to spray in my apartment till now in front of an open window. However, I still get a lot of overspray and smell after work done.

I am thinking to get a spray booth, however most of them are over USD200. I saw HLJ has two of the spray booth, Mr.Super and Tamiya Spray Booth.

I have searched around and could neither find any comment nor anyone had mention about them.

Mr. Super seems like more space saving then the Tamiya one.

Does anyone know how good it is or any comment about it?

TIA. :)

I spray and i put it in the box the model came in. works like a charm, give it a shot with a test model.

Build your own spray booth. I'm sure both Tamiya and GSI booths are nice, but pricey and shipping will be high. There are several tutorials on building your own booth. I built mine. There is no other way to paint. $5 worth of MDF, $10 flourescent lamp, $10 of clear plexiglass, $5 in filters, and $40 fan.

i think he meant spray booth to keep the fumes out of his apartment.


i would say, spray outside, or in a garage, but if you aren't doing that, i assume you don't have a garage.

you could buy one of those exhaust fans like in toilets/bathrooms and place that in a piece of plywood the same size as the window, sit that over the open window, and put a fairly large diameter flex pipe thing over the fan, and have it rest above or near the model, that should suck the fumes out.


BTW: you'll probably need to get an electrician to wire a plug to the fan wires so you can use a wall socket.

Thanks guys, I have thought of building my own spray booth but after given some thought of the limited space in my apartment, I couldnt find a right spot to install the spray booth.

See, I live in a one bedroom apartment, my gf definitely doesnt wanna sleep in a room that looks like a workshop, so do I. :grinno: As for my living room, it was all nice and cool until I setup a little corner as my "hobby corner", which I think was nice, but not to others. :cwm27:

If I am gonna add a custom/permanent booth in my living room with a hose connected to the window, it will be very ugly. :rofl: And, me and my guests will have no place to play some games in the living room anymore.

I have a detached garage which has no use for modelling as it is too dusty to spray paint in there.

Now, everytime if I need to spray paint, I have to take at least 15 min to setup my so-called temporarily "spray booth" before I start airbrushing. If I can get something like the Mr. Super spray booth, it will be easier to store and move around. :)

I used the Gunze one before, and it's kinda low-tech, but worked well. You attach the filter element with double-sided tapes, and it gets dirty fairly quickly. Also the hood is thin poly-whatever plastic and probably not what you'd expect from a $200 system. But, the fan is strong enough and sucks the fume well, and it runs pretty quiet.

The duct of the Gunze system can only be attached to the left side of the system (left in the sense that you face the booth, not from the back), while Tamiya let you attach the duct to either side.

$200 is expensive, but the kit comes with everything (no time to search for parts to build your own) and after attaching the hood to the fan with some screws, put the filter and the duct, you're ready to spray.

Thanks Hiro. :)

I think it is time to invest in a house for modelling's sake. :banghead:

You could make your own with a cardboard box and a boxfan. Just cut the top and bottom of the box off, stick the fan in the window blowing the air outside. set the box on a table or something right in front the fan, then all you would have to do is put some sort of a light in it and paint away, the fumes and overspray go out the window.

Here is a link to a home built spray booth that looks easy to build and can store all of its parts inside itself for storing.
http://www.devinjpoore.com/models/booth.htm

I've researched this a lot, and the fan is basically the heart of the spray booth: It has to be able to suck the fumes out of your 'box' and propell them out the exhaust hose. Definitely do not skimp in the fan/blower.

If you live in an apartment, why not build yourself a little window box, that mounts right into the window and can be closed up and stuck in the closet when you are done? You could have the fan blowing right out the back, through the window, without any hose or piping.

I think once your GF sees how much the booth cuts down on the fumes in the apartment, she won't mind so much.

You could make your own with a cardboard box and a boxfan. Just cut the top and bottom of the box off, stick the fan in the window blowing the air outside. set the box on a table or something right in front the fan, then all you would have to do is put some sort of a light in it and paint away, the fumes and overspray go out the window.

That's kinda similar to what I did, but still get some overspray. Perhaps I should get a better fan.

Here is a link to a home built spray booth that looks easy to build and can store all of its parts inside itself for storing.
[url]http://www.devinjpoore.com/models/booth.htm

That is neat! I will try to make one like this.
One question though, how come he doesnt need to put some filter in the big canister?

Steve, right, I think I didnt get a good fan that help me to get rid of my overspray. I will see what I can get and go from there.

Thanks guys! :lol2:

Today, I have driven all around town to look for materials for my soon to be built spray booth. But, mission failed.... :crying:

I have found all the stuffs that I need except.... the FAN!!!

I went to Radio Shack and Computert Renaissance today to look for a pc fan, but they told me there is noway a computer fan can be plugged into the wall socket. I have read about people do use pc fan, what kinda trick that you guys perform to make it happens?

HELP~ :crying:

PC fans are 12v. Radio Shack also has AC fans around 4" and you get to buy wires and a plug yourself. On top of that, they don't blow all that well. Get searching on surplus electronics websites and look for discount fans with the highest CFM you can find/afford.

If you can, try to engineer your booth to be down-draft. That is, the paint should be sucked out the bottom of the booth assuming you paint from the front. This way dust goes in the front, then down through the floor without touching your model. Cross-draft booths, which draw air in through the front then out the back is a great way to drag dust from the room onto your model. Been there, done that.

I ended up using an upside down range hood as my booth floor but it's fairly permanent. For a portable you'll have to "imagineer" some to get good results.

Don't skimp or take shortcuts, ESPECIALLY when choosing a fan. You could pay dearly for taking a shortcut in the way of a fire or explosion resulting from the paint fumes igniting. Here's one of the best paint booth designs I've run across. Check it out:

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

I've found some good blowers (Technically not fans) on ebay, from a company called Dayton. They are way overkill, but you can always back off on the suction by drilling holes in the plenum.

I've also found them on regular websites, but I'm wary about buying from them, since they are 'hydroponic' growth sites.

Thanks guys. I am looking for a fan instead of a blower because I am thinking to design my booth without the duct. Basically, I will just stuck my booth to the window, so, the width of the fan got to be "thin" enough to place in between my booth and the bug net, which is about 3 inches.

I found in one of the threads someone mentioned about this fan ( model 1976K77) on http://www.mcmaster.com . But, when I check on Brian's web site, the diamension of the fan doesnt match the cfm of the fan. Would that be a matter?

If you go by the tutorial on Brian's Model Cars, and I don't see why you shouldn't, and you want to make the window box I suggested without the ducting, you don't need to factor in the piping in the CFM equation.

You'll still need a roughly 100CFM blower, which with a little head-scratching, should fit in the window OK. It's OK if the plenum/airbox doesn't fit all the way inside the window: The window is just the mounting base, and aside from the rear exhaust, it doesn't affect how the spray booth will work.