197 replies to this topic

[John DePaula]

Check out the difference with these ones.  This was the first mold I splattered and some of the splatter was still wet when I went on to spray the next colour. 

I also realize that some attention must be paid to getting all sides of a rectangle sprayed equally.

Kerry - what mold did you use for these? I've been trying to find a long triangular mold without much luck. This rectangular one seems like it might be a good substitute for what I'm looking for.

Your effects look great.

Are you looking for a mold like this one?
Oblong Shape Triangle Mold at JB Prince

[John DePaula]

I’ve been collecting materials for the past few weeks so that I could begin airbrushing chocolate. I’ll try to give you a quick overview of what I’ve done so far.

First, I needed a good place to spray the chocolate so that I’m not breathing the atomized chocolate and not getting it all over my clothing. Since I can’t afford a nice chocolate spraying cabin like Design & Realisation offers, I decided to convert the space by my stovetop which, of course, has a nice strong exhaust fan. I wanted something that I could setup and breakdown very quickly.

I went to a recycled building materials store here in Portland and found a nice piece of Corian kitchen counter top that was already cut to exactly the right dimensions. For only $10, it was almost like stealing. Next, I purchased a shower curtain to wrap around the exterior of the hood and keep the chocolate sequestered under the exhaust fan. I bought magnets at Home Depot but they weren’t strong enough so I ended up using some kitchen clips. Four rubber feet and a wooded dowel, also from HD, to support the corian and keep it above the burners were about $4. Total cost of my make shift chocolate spraying cabin: less than $20.

Here are some before and after pix:




I needed a hook to hold my spray gun, a Fuji XT-2, and the pull on the recessed cutting board was just the right size:


To begin with, I put my spray gun atop a heating pad and covered it all with a kitchen towel. I’m paranoid about the chocolate setting up inside the gun and I think the pre-warming helped. May not be necessary…

Although I specifically searched for a surface that would not be harmed by scraping, I decided at the last minute to just lay down some wide plastic wrap (film) to make cleanup quicker. I’m really glad I did that. Be sure to tape it down or the spray gun will blow it around.

While the gun was warming up, I tempered some dark chocolate thinned with 15% cocoa butter. It seemed pretty thin but next time I may increase that to 30%. I loaded up the canister and off I went.

So here’s a pic of beginning to spray a chocolate bar mold:


And another:


Notice how big the splatters are… That’s not especially good for what I’m trying to achieve: a smooth, shiny, seamless, and bubble free finish. I still have a bit of a learning curve to go through to get the aerosolized chocolate blobs smaller.

I sprayed the mold pretty heavily, maybe too much?, and then filled with the left-over chocolate that I used for spraying.


Here’s a close-up of the bar mold after spraying:


Cleanup was as easy as removing the plastic wrap:


Results
I was very happy that the bars did not have any bubbles, but the finish was less than what I wanted. You can see some splotchiness and they were not shiny at all.


Compare that to bars that were brushed in manually:



The bonbon cups were successful: bubble free and shiny.


The African mask, like the bars, was bubble free but the surface was not that great:


The spraying cabin worked perfectly. There was absolutely no chocolate spray outside of my work area and more importantly, in my lungs.

I need to figure out why the surface was not that good on the bars but other than that I consider it a good first step.

[Kerry Beal]

Looks fabulous for a first go. I really like your spray booth. Did you find that the screens of the exhaust fan got a lot of chocolate on them? What temperature was your 'paint' when you put in the gun?

Looking back in my notes - it says at least 30% additional cocoa butter. The 'thick' chocolate might be why you splattered more than you hoped. I get splatter (intentionally) when I turn the incoming air down, the higher I turn up the air, the more atomization I get.

I've been playing today too. Going for splatter. I'll have pictures of the effects I got over the next few days as I make up the molds I sprayed today. I was working in the basement where it was quite cool, and I had the turbine out in the garage (where it's about -10º C today). I had a few blockages, but by hitting the area behind the nozzle (the fat round part) with the heat gun, I was able to get things flowing again.

I really need a second person to wipe the surface of the molds as I'm going along. I find I don't have enough hands.

I'll post some pictures of the set up I used today for my spray booth - no where near as elegant as yours.

[gfron1]

My first thought was the same as Kerry's - the air from the exhaust fan I would think would cool the chocolate and cause it to stick to the screen, the vent walls, the fan blades, everything, which might lead to problems with pests or buildup. I'm not sure what the solution would be except maybe a finer screen that would be considered disposable or washable.

[Kerry Beal]

So here is my spray booth today - a speed rack wrapped in plastic.



I taped a piece of guitar sheet to the cardboard and sprayed on it while I was adjusting my spatter. I figure it will make a great transfer sheet for the next time I'm dipping something in dark.



Not sure how well you can see it - but I found a great little stand that was no longer needed in the OR - kind of like a short IV pole - it holds the spray gun with the hose attached, so this time I didn't need to uncouple from the hose every time I needed to change colours.

Things I'll do different next time - I'll leave the yogurt warmer plugged in so the coloured cocoa butters are still liquid at the end of two hours in the basement. I'll have a little something to keep the bottles in to make sure I don't knock one over - my red cocoa butter was perfect blood colour - looked like someone was murdered.

But you notice that other than the splatter on the cardboard lining my spray booth, there wasn't any significant amount of overspray on the plastic. I love this spray gun - my days of airbrush fear are over!

[John DePaula]

Looks fabulous for a first go.  I really like your spray booth.  Did you find that the screens of the exhaust fan got a lot of chocolate on them? What temperature was your 'paint' when you put in the gun?

There was very very little chocolate on the exhaust fan. That may change when I get the droplet size smaller. The nice thing about this setup is that the exhaust fan assembly is designed to be easily taken apart and the screens can even be placed in the dishwasher, so it's super easy to maintain.

The paint was about 33C, and it was tempered. I viewed a video on Callebaut recently and they said you needed to temper the chocolate for spraying, but I was sure discussions (on this thread?) said that tempering isn't necessary.

Looking back in my notes - it says at least 30% additional cocoa butter.  The 'thick' chocolate might be why you splattered more than you hoped.  I get splatter (intentionally) when I turn the incoming air down, the higher I turn up the air, the more atomization I get.

I've been playing today too.  Going for splatter.  I'll have pictures of the effects I got over the next few days as I make up the molds I sprayed today.  I was working in the basement where it was quite cool, and I had the turbine out in the garage (where it's about -10º C today).  I had a few blockages, but by hitting the area behind the nozzle (the fat round part) with the heat gun, I was able to get things flowing again.

I really need a second person to wipe the surface of the molds as I'm going along.  I find I don't have enough hands. 

Yes, I was saying the same thing today. Best to have all of the molds ready with an assistant ready to scrape away. Then you can hit them, boom, boom, boom, all in one go without having to stop the spraying for too long. Good to know that the heat gun will keep things moving.

I really need to bump up the amount of cocoa butter. I knew it should be at least 30% (50% is probably better) but when I started adding it I just couldn't bring myself to add that much. Will do better next time.

One good thing I learned from it, though, is that you can still get some nice splatter from the thicker chocolate.

I'll post some pictures of the set up I used today for my spray booth - no where near as elegant as yours.

[mostlylana]

I decided to convert the space by my stovetop which, of course, has a nice strong exhaust fan.  I wanted something that I could setup and breakdown very quickly.
Total cost of my make shift chocolate spraying cabin:  less than $20.

John I love your spray booth. You have some wonderful ideas. Thank you for sharing. I actually bought velcro to use on my plastic. I'm definitely going to try magnets first. I think you can buy some pretty powerful ones. And the shower curtain - genius!

I needed a hook to hold my spray gun, a Fuji XT-2, and the pull on the recessed cutting board was just the right size:

Love it!

To begin with, I put my spray gun atop a heating pad and covered it all with a kitchen towel.  I’m paranoid about the chocolate setting up inside the gun and I think the pre-warming helped.  May not be necessary…

I think it is necessary. Paul DeBondt said the spray gun must be at the same temp. as the chocolate. He said to use little blasts of the heat gun quite often to keep the gun at temp. What I do before spraying is put my gun in the oven on a cookie sheet with the oven light on. If I turn on the oven light first thing in the morning it's nice and warm in there by the time I need it. I try to leave the gun in there was at least 15 minutes before spraying.

While the gun was warming up, I tempered some dark chocolate thinned with 15% cocoa butter.  It seemed pretty thin but next time I may increase that to 30%.  I loaded up the canister and off I went.

There is such conflicting info about the temp. of the cocoa butter. As I didn't get any concrete answers to my earlier quandry about the molds not releasing properly, I called Callebaut in Montreal as we were told after our course to call with any questions. The Chef (Derrick) is calling me tomorrow so I'll see what he has to say about release problems and working temp. of the cocoa butter. The last few days I've been using dark chocolate thinned with 30% cocoa butter that I keep in my yogurt maker. The temp. of the mixture is 40C.
By the time I get it in the cup and am ready to spray it has cooled a few degrees. Everything is working fine and the chocolates come out shiny. Paul DeBondt said you can add up to 30% cocoa butter to tempered chocolate without having to temper the cocoa butter but it must be at the same temp. as the chocolate. It's odd you say that a Callebaut video said you must temper the mixture first. Here is a link to a Callebaut tutorial saying to melt to 40C and then let it cool to 35C... http://www.callebaut.com/uken/2625
Can you provide a link to your Callebaut video?

Notice how big the splatters are… That’s not especially good for what I’m trying to achieve: a smooth, shiny, seamless, and bubble free finish.  I still have a bit of a learning curve to go through to get the aerosolized chocolate blobs smaller.

I was told by the fellow who sold me the guns to turn down the fluid knob and turn up the air knob to get finer atomization. I have read the same thing many times (I read quite a few autobody painting sites!). The first time I sprayed, mine was orange-peely as well. I've now found the settings for a nice atomization. Keep playing!

I have a question... once you've sprayed, how do you remove the overspray from the mold? Scrape while wet? Wipe while wet? Scrape when dry?

[Kerry Beal]

I have a question... once you've sprayed, how do you remove the overspray from the mold?  Scrape while wet?  Wipe while wet?  Scrape when dry?

Ideally I wipe while wet - with paper towels laid flat, I just place the mold face down and push it across the surface.


Pictured here.

[cmflick]

John, the spray booth is excellent. Very clever. The shower curtain is a great idea. When I spray, I cover all the counter surfaces with freezer wrap. I have a "spray booth" made from a large box that is covered with freezer paper. By the way, freezer paper is great for dealing with chocolate. I cover the counters with it whenever I work. It has a shiny plastic coated side that releases chocolate really easily. You can just scrape off any spills when they harden and then roll the whole thing up and throw it away. I don't have access to any kind of exhaust fan and that has been a problem.

I think it is necessary. Paul DeBondt said the spray gun must be at the same temp. as the chocolate. He said to use little blasts of the heat gun quite often to keep the gun at temp. What I do before spraying is put my gun in the oven on a cookie sheet with the oven light on. If I turn on the oven light first thing in the morning it's nice and warm in there by the time I need it. I try to leave the gun in there was at least 15 minutes before spraying.

I turn my oven on to warm for about 5 minutes, then turn it off. It heats up to 110-115F. I stash my airbrush in the warmed oven and that seems to have eliminated my clogging problems.

Ideally I wipe while wet - with paper towels laid flat, I just place the mold face down and push it across the surface.

I like this idea. What kind of paper towels are these? The ones that I use are not really smooth and I think that if you pushed anything across the surface they would just tear. I have tried wiping across the top with paper towels and it just doesn't seem to get enough off. I've been just leaving the overspray and cleaning it off after I unmold the chocolates. This makes for a difficult cleanup though and some of my molds have a definite color cast to them from overspray. I usually clean the molds by soaking in hot water and wiping with a sponge. The cavities are fine as when the chocolates release the color comes with them.

There is such conflicting info about the temp. of the cocoa butter. As I didn't get any concrete answers to my earlier quandry about the molds not releasing properly, I called Callebaut in Montreal as we were told after our course to call with any questions. The Chef (Derrick) is calling me tomorrow so I'll see what he has to say about release problems and working temp. of the cocoa butter. The last few days I've been using dark chocolate thinned with 30% cocoa butter that I keep in my yogurt maker. The temp. of the mixture is 40C.

I'll be interested to hear what they have to say. I haven't been worrying too much lately about temper, just heating whatever I'm spraying to about 35-40C. Since I've been obsessing less about keeping things in temper, I've had less problems with release from the molds!

My biggest problem with airbrushing now is that I'm getting air bubbles on the surface. I suspect this has to do with my molds being too cold when sprayed. They're stored in the basement at about 55F. I guess that I need to hit them with the heat gun before airburshing.

[John DePaula]

There is such conflicting info about the temp. of the cocoa butter.  As I didn't get any concrete answers to my earlier quandry about the molds not releasing properly, I called Callebaut in Montreal as we were told after our course to call with any questions.  The Chef (Derrick) is calling me tomorrow so I'll see what he has to say about release problems and working temp. of the cocoa butter.  The last few days I've been using dark chocolate thinned with 30% cocoa butter that I keep in my yogurt maker.  The temp. of the mixture is 40C.
By the time I get it in the cup and am ready to spray it has cooled a few degrees.  Everything is working fine and the chocolates come out shiny.  Paul DeBondt said you can add up to 30% cocoa butter to tempered chocolate without having to temper the cocoa butter but it must be at the same temp. as the chocolate.  It's odd you say that a Callebaut video said you must temper the mixture first.  Here is a link to a Callebaut tutorial saying to melt to 40C and then let it cool to 35C... http://www.callebaut.com/uken/2625 
Can you provide a link to your Callebaut video?

I cannot provide a direct link since access to the video is restricted to those who have viewed previous videos. I think they store some cookies on your machine that indicate which videos you've already viewed and which, therefore, they will allow you to see.
Go here ->Cacao Barry Chocolate Videos to register. Then you can view 'Advanced Courses' and then, 'How to mold bonbons' (I'm doing this from memory since my computer skips this step after viewing the first video. - Yes, they made me view a video about tempering first. before letting me access the advanced courses.)

I reviewed the video and, yes, they say you need to temper the spraying mixture because it's cocoa butter. They're using something called 'Barry Glace' which I've not used before, but apparently it's mostly cocoa butter.

As a side note, the English translations are hilarious in spots. They hired someone with a lovely British accent but, évidemment, no culinary experience. What should be translated as 'fat bloom' is translated as 'greasy whitening.'

[Kerry Beal]

I just use the Bounty paper towels that I have in the house, but in Belgium we used the blue ones, which were strong and more like a woven piece of fabric.

[John DePaula]

I'll be interested to hear what they have to say.  I haven't been worrying too much lately about temper, just heating whatever I'm spraying to about 35-40C.  Since I've been obsessing less about keeping things in temper, I've had less problems with release from the molds!

My biggest problem with airbrushing now is that  I'm getting air bubbles on the surface.  I suspect this has to do with my molds being too cold when sprayed.  They're stored in the basement at about 55F.  I guess that I need to hit them with the heat gun before airburshing.

I think I'm not going to worry much about tempering the spraying mixture anymore. Sounds like it's not necessary.

About warming up the molds, I think that's a good idea; however, I'd try the oven trick over heating with the hot air gun. I always seem to get hot spots with the hot air gun. I think you could also pile a bunch of molds in the melter, cover with towels, set it to 34C and let it soak over night.

[Anna N]

I just use the Bounty paper towels that I have in the house, but in Belgium we used the blue ones, which were strong and more like a woven piece of fabric.

I wonder if the ones used in Belgium were anything like these:
click

[Kerry Beal]

I just use the Bounty paper towels that I have in the house, but in Belgium we used the blue ones, which were strong and more like a woven piece of fabric.

I wonder if the ones used in Belgium were anything like these:
click

Yup - more like those ones. I think Costco sells larger packages.

[mostlylana]

My hubby uses those blue paper towels and gets them at Costco. They're much stronger than the regular ones.
I've been letting the overspay on the mold harden and then scrape it off with a bowl scraper before I fill. That way I can reuse what comes off. With chocolate, there's probably more of a build-up than with coloured cocoa butter.
I learned this trick from a course I took with a chocolatier in Vancouver. She always does a 2 shell mold. She told us to 'clean' molds by scraping after finishing the first shell. The little bits fall that fall into the cups you can shake out - what's left doesn't matter. Then do your next layer. What a great way to keep molds clean if you've been messy.

[cmflick]

There is such conflicting info about the temp. of the cocoa butter.  As I didn't get any concrete answers to my earlier quandry about the molds not releasing properly, I called Callebaut in Montreal as we were told after our course to call with any questions.  The Chef (Derrick) is calling me tomorrow so I'll see what he has to say about release problems and working temp. of the cocoa butter.  The last few days I've been using dark chocolate thinned with 30% cocoa butter that I keep in my yogurt maker.  The temp. of the mixture is 40C.
By the time I get it in the cup and am ready to spray it has cooled a few degrees.  Everything is working fine and the chocolates come out shiny.  Paul DeBondt said you can add up to 30% cocoa butter to tempered chocolate without having to temper the cocoa butter but it must be at the same temp. as the chocolate.  It's odd you say that a Callebaut video said you must temper the mixture first.  Here is a link to a Callebaut tutorial saying to melt to 40C and then let it cool to 35C... http://www.callebaut.com/uken/2625 
Can you provide a link to your Callebaut video?

I cannot provide a direct link since access to the video is restricted to those who have viewed previous videos. I think they store some cookies on your machine that indicate which videos you've already viewed and which, therefore, they will allow you to see.
Go here ->Cacao Barry Chocolate Videos to register. Then you can view 'Advanced Courses' and then, 'How to mold bonbons' (I'm doing this from memory since my computer skips this step after viewing the first video. - Yes, they made me view a video about tempering first. before letting me access the advanced courses.)

I reviewed the video and, yes, they say you need to temper the spraying mixture because it's cocoa butter. They're using something called 'Barry Glace' which I've not used before, but apparently it's mostly cocoa butter.

As a side note, the English translations are hilarious in spots. They hired someone with a lovely British accent but, évidemment, no culinary experience. What should be translated as 'fat bloom' is translated as 'greasy whitening.'

They say that Barry Glace is 64% cocoa butter on their web site.

[cmflick]

I just use the Bounty paper towels that I have in the house, but in Belgium we used the blue ones, which were strong and more like a woven piece of fabric.

I wonder if the ones used in Belgium were anything like these:
click

Hmmm. I get a link to the Canadian Tire Corporation with that link, but I don't see anything about paper towels!

[Anna N]

I just use the Bounty paper towels that I have in the house, but in Belgium we used the blue ones, which were strong and more like a woven piece of fabric.

I wonder if the ones used in Belgium were anything like these:
click

Hmmm. I get a link to the Canadian Tire Corporation with that link, but I don't see anything about paper towels!

Interesting - I checked it before I posted and just checked it again and it works fine for me. If you can get to CT then do a search for "shop towels".

[John DePaula]

I just use the Bounty paper towels that I have in the house, but in Belgium we used the blue ones, which were strong and more like a woven piece of fabric.

I wonder if the ones used in Belgium were anything like these:
click

Hmmm. I get a link to the Canadian Tire Corporation with that link, but I don't see anything about paper towels!

Interesting - I checked it before I posted and just checked it again and it works fine for me. If you can get to CT then do a search for "shop towels".

If you don't already have their cookies on your computer, the link leads to a 'Welcome' splash page where they ask that you put in your postal code. I just copied the sample one and pasted into the field. You're then taken to the Shop Towels page.

[cmflick]

I just use the Bounty paper towels that I have in the house, but in Belgium we used the blue ones, which were strong and more like a woven piece of fabric.

I wonder if the ones used in Belgium were anything like these:
click

Hmmm. I get a link to the Canadian Tire Corporation with that link, but I don't see anything about paper towels!

Interesting - I checked it before I posted and just checked it again and it works fine for me. If you can get to CT then do a search for "shop towels".

If you don't already have their cookies on your computer, the link leads to a 'Welcome' splash page where they ask that you put in your postal code. I just copied the sample one and pasted into the field. You're then taken to the Shop Towels page.

Thanks, John. I used the sample postal code like you suggested and it took me right to the paper towel page. I think that I have seen these in stores, so I'll have to check them out.

[Kerry Beal]

Some of my splatter experiments from the weekend. I splattered first with red, then dark pink, then light pink. I suspect starting with the lightest and working to the darkest might have been a more interesting effect.

Because I didn't have that extra body around to wipe the molds I heated the molds and wiped and scraped afterwards. You can see in the first picture on one of the hearts on the left, how some of the splatter got melted - making a different effect. I was worried that the heating might cause some unmolding problems - but the ones that got melted a bit came out just as well or better than some of the others.

[John DePaula]

Oooo, I love those! Interesting, that melty splatter is nice, too!

[mostlylana]

Nice splatter Kerry! Wow!

[cmflick]

Very, very cool. I love the splatters. The white chocolate (I assume that's what the shells are) really set off the splatters.

I'm not sure that I understand it when you say "I heated the molds and wiped and scraped afterwards". Did you finish your spraying, then hit the molds with the heat gun before wiping off the over spray? I just have terrible luck with unmolding if I use the heat gun (or in my case, hair dryer) once I have cocoa butter or chocolate in the molds.

[Kerry Beal]

Very, very cool.  I love the splatters.  The white chocolate (I assume that's what the shells are) really set off the splatters.

I'm not sure that I understand it when you say "I heated the molds and wiped and scraped afterwards".  Did you finish your spraying, then hit the molds with the heat gun before wiping off the over spray?  I just have terrible luck with unmolding if I use the heat gun (or in my case, hair dryer) once I have cocoa butter or chocolate in the molds.

These ones have a bit of white sprayed behind the splatters, but they are molded in white chocolate as well.

So to get rid of the overspray, because I didn't wipe as I went along, I reheated the molds later that day with the heat gun, trying to just soften the overspray, not the inside of the cavities. That was why I had a little 'meltage' inside some of the cavities - but it turned out OK - I probably just got lucky.

[RobertM]

I recently had the opportunity to meet the Tomric corporate Pastry Chef, Brian Donaghy who has produced some amazingly nice pieces of chocolate. In discussing his airbrushed pieces he uses a Badger 250 airbrush and an Iwata Smart Jet compressor. He sprays his colors at 92 degrees Farenheit.

I notice most of you are using larger spary guns - such as John DePaula with a Fuji XT-2. Has anyone tried using the smaller units, such as the Badger? Also, everyone here seems to be coloring their own cocoa butter, but there are pre-colored butters available, has anyone tried using these pre-done colors? (Chef Rubber has some amazing colors).

I'm seriously wanting to start practicing with spraying cocoa butters/chocolate - and really appreciate this entire topic in the forum. Just wondering what type of system to purchase -

Brian was also showing a fun effect - spraying colored cocoa butter on COLD chocolate produces a texture almost like "flocking" - Brian was spraying some molded easter bunnies - and the effects of spraying on the cold chocolate was really interesting. Can't wait to try it - perhaps this weekend as DC is scheduled for some nasty weather -

[RobertM]

I hope I won't get into copyright troubles but here is the information from Tomric on the use of colors...

Color 101:

These easy and ready to use colored cocoa butters, can be used in many different ways to color your chocolates or create your own confectionery designs. Use with a brush, airbrush or hand paint as shown below.



Steps 1-4:

Warm New World Chocolate Colored Cocoa Butters to 85 and 90 degrees farenheight. (Gold, white and purple.) Using finger, swipe gold in one direction inside each cavity of mold.Turn mold around and swipe using purple.



Steps 5-8:

Using airbrush, spray a thin coating of white into cavities. Create cavities using tempered chocolate.Fill cavities and insert roasted almond. Cap pieces and refrigerate until piece is able to be removed from mold.

Made in the USA - FDA Approved colors

Sorry the pictures did not copy/paste into the reply - if interested, follow this link:
http://www.tomric.co...tle=FeatureMore

[cmflick]

I recently had the opportunity to meet the Tomric corporate Pastry Chef, Brian Donaghy who has produced some amazingly nice pieces of chocolate.  In discussing his airbrushed pieces he uses a Badger 250 airbrush and an Iwata Smart Jet compressor.  He sprays his colors at 92 degrees Farenheit. 

I notice most of you are using larger spary guns - such as John DePaula with a Fuji XT-2.  Has anyone tried using the smaller units, such as the Badger?  Also, everyone here seems to be coloring their own cocoa butter, but there are pre-colored butters available, has anyone tried using these pre-done colors?  (Chef Rubber has some amazing colors).

I'm seriously wanting to start practicing with spraying cocoa butters/chocolate - and really appreciate this entire topic in the forum.  Just wondering what type of system to purchase -

Brian was also showing a fun effect - spraying colored cocoa butter on COLD chocolate produces a texture almost like "flocking" - Brian was spraying some molded easter bunnies - and the effects of spraying on the cold chocolate was really interesting.  Can't wait to try it - perhaps this weekend as DC is scheduled for some nasty weather -

I just got my Badger 250 airbrush late last fall after reading a lot of eG posts! Most of my colored cocoa butters are from Chef Rubber. I especially like the ones from their "jewel" collection that have a real shimmer to them. Before airbrushing, I used the Chef Rubber colors a lot for finger painting and brushing into molds. You can't beat the Badger 250 for the money. I got mine on Ebay for $20! I'm still studying compressors at this point. I just can't decide. Meanwhile, I'm using Badger canned air, which gets pretty expensive after a while, and comes with a whole set of problems of its own.

Edited by cmflick, 27 January 2009 - 09:42 AM.

[RobertM]

Is there a reason to use such a large HVLP spray gun as the Fuji?

[Kerry Beal]

Is there a reason to use such a large HVLP spray gun as the Fuji?

The main difference I find between the Badger and the Fuji is the amount of aerosolized cocoa butter in the air when I'm done. With the Badger I am covered with a fine mist in just a few minutes. Before the Fuji I dreaded airbrushing.