In the 05.06.27 MMD Chris Carlisle asked for advice on painting a band
organ case.  He is thinking of using a compressor.  The MMD editor gave
his opinion: "forget the compressor."

To start with: if Chris wants to get good painting results, he should
try to find a skilled painter in order to get some training.  Doing
this, he will certainly end up using a spray gun (and a compressor),
since this equipment allows you to do really nice painting in a
reasonable time.  But with or without compressor, the key to success is
learning the theory and training your hand and eye.

Pieter van Aken, a professional Dutch painter and member of the KDV,
specializes in painting organ facades.  He has published pictures of his
repainting of an important Dutch concert organ on his website:

    http://www.vanaken-paintings.nl/ 

In one of the pictures he demonstrates the use of a compressor-operated
spray gun, or actually a spray brush.  The results achieved using this
tool can hardly be achieved by hand brushing.  And it goes much faster.
He also shows some other skills needed for proper artwork on an organ
facade.

Jan Kijlstra