Airbrush advice needed

[Deleted]

Hi all!

First let me introduce myself, I've been lurking around these forums for a while looking at all the gorgeous models being made and have decided to step up my game a bit as well. So far I've been using an old Kopykake airbrush ( www.amazon.com/Kopykake-C3500R-Air-Master-Airbrush-Compressor/dp/B00CO4MGV6 ) I got for free from a relative. While I'm definatly enjoying it over brush painting I'm having some trouble with airbrushing and I'm not sure if they're the airbrush's or my faults.

First of all, it seems very difficult to clean. The first couple of times using it, it was spraying Revell Aqua Color range products. Later I switched to Vallejo model air. To clean the brush after painting I fill the cap with Vallejo airbrush thinner and spray it all at varrying pressures and flows. Despite this paint builds up in the crown cap and internals. When picking it up for a new session the needle is always stuck and requires a bit of force to be pulled out.

Second the spray can be rather inconsistent. It seems extremely sensitive to paint thickness as after a while I need to pull the trigger further and further back for paint to come out. At some point it stops all together and only sprays a bit when I move the trigger. In addition the spray pattern is very grainy/has a lot of speckles making free handing camo impossible.

I'm very interested to hear if any of you have experience with this type of airbrush as I'm running a bit out of ideas. Also any advice on better cleaning it or suspected damaged parts would be welcome (the needle has been damaged once actually, but after an here-goes-nothing repair job it sprayed exactly the same as before the damage).

An alternative for me would be to get a new, better airbrush, was thinking about a Badger 100 series myself. Would this type be more forgiving in its use or be a step up in quality? Also, would I need a new compressor for it?

-Thanks

[dupes]

I'm not familiar with that brush in particular, but some of the issues you're having should be common to any tool.

Cleaning - do you remove the needle each time to wipe it down? If you aren't, there could be a good bit of paint buildup inside the brush.

Inconsistent spray - that's most likely tip dry. Take a wet q-tip and wipe the end of the needle and nozzle-hole.

Speckles - sounds like your paint is too thick. Add some more thinner and you should be able to smooth those out. Sometimes it takes a LOT more than you think - I personally thin my Tamiya acrylic 30/70 paint to thinner if I'm going to be freehanding camo.

Hope this helps!

[vindicareassassin]

As Dupes said, you should be wiping down the needle every time you use the brush in some of the thinners you use to thin your paint. By the look of the brush in the picture its a top gravity feed so is really easy to clean out properly with the right thinners and a long bristle brush.

The other symptom sounds like 'tip dry', its most obvious with acrylics as they dry really fast, not so much with spirit based paints. I use purely Acrylic or water-based paints in my model building, when I spray I sit with a small jar of acrylic thinners and a Q-tip by the side and clean my nozzle and needle every 3 to 5 minutes to take the paint build up off.

I mix all my paint to the consistency of milk before I spray, as this helps to prevent splatter, though if you hold the brush still for to long you get 'spiders legs' instead so you have to be quick and careful.

I've just been given a Badger 100 series LGF by my good lady wife, and its awesome, and all I've done with it so far is undercoat my Balrog 

[John Everett]

Good advice above. If the needle is becoming "glued" to the insides every time you let it set overnight, then there is still paint on the needle when you put it away. Consider removing the needle when you store the brush. That's a bit extreme. But doing so will ensure that the needle is always inspected and cleaned.

Over time there may have been several layers of junk which have built up inside the nozzle. Consider using a "harsh" thinner, like M.E.K. or denatured alcohol to soak through those areas of the airbrush when the needle is removed. (Caution: M.E.K. will melt plastic--this is why it's great as an acrylic solvent) A long, thin paint brush, synthetic bristles seem to work the best, will be a good tool for scrubbing the insides while the nozzle is submerged in solvent.

Avoid hard things like toothpicks or metallic objects to clean the fine parts. These will generally do more damage than cleaning.

[Deleted]

Thanks for the advice guys! Going to give them a try and practise some more with what I have before rushing into buying a new brush . Will let you know how it all goes and hopefully I have something worthy to post here in the future as well .

[charleygnarlyp290]

Something else I have found helpful is to back-flush the airbrush.
Here's how I do it:
1. Pour some airbrush cleaner in the cup
2. Spray a bit out
3. Get a soft cloth or napkin and cover/pinch the tip of the airbrush
4. Pull the trigger... bubbles should back up into the cup, kind of like when you have a straw in a soda or some such and you blow into it
5. Do this for a few seconds, then dump out the contents.
6. Pour in some more cleaner and spray some out.
7. Repeat a couple of times until the back-flushed fluid is clear and not cloudy.

When you do this, especially with acrylics, you might see some little bits/flakes of paint. I have found that this keeps my airbrush clean and smooth operating.

Another thing I have found is it is best to use the manufacturers cleaners/thinners since they are formulated for their brand of paints.

[TRM]

First, welcome aboard 'Dude'! I'm glad to see you jumped up from the "lurking" status to hanging about!! Great bunch of folks...as you can already see by the responses!! Looking forward to seeing some of your work n the future!!

As for the AB....ALL of the advice above is solid and you should see a vast improvements in the performance of the brush. While I an not totally familiar with the brush, the basic mechanics to a duel action AB are the same. Periodic tip cleaning and ull cleanings after sessions will make things much smoother. Like aboave, here is a basic rundown:

- With water based acrylics (Vallejo, AK, AMMO, LifeColor), keep and old brush handy near you when painting. After a couple minutes of spraying, swipe the brush across the tip and needle. This will loosen and remove residual paint build up. Wth Solvent based acrylics like Tamiya, this is not needed as much as the solvents in the paint work to keep the tip clean somewhat.

- Since you mentioned Vallejo Model Air and I happen to do technical support with them along with Rob (Scratchmod here on the site), here are a couple things to remember with the model air:

- Model Air is airbrush ready and in most cases does not need to be thinned. If you are going to thin the paint, I would recommend thinning 1 drop of thinner to 4 to 5 drops of paint with Vallejo's Airbrush Thinner. This is not for the reasons of sales but as this makes sense in all brands of paints. Airbrush thinners are actually designed by the manufacturers for their paints. And while there are many different options people have come p with...myself included, the best is always the manufacturer's thinner. (See Cleaning below....important in saving a little $$ in the cleaning process)

- You can shoot Model Air comfortably between 2 and 15psi with most brushes. Some brushes will require higher pressure...close to 20 or even 25 and some, the lower range. This depends on a number of factors like needle size, thinness of paint and environmental conditions. If the airbrush set up is the tank-less compressor seen in the link you provided, you can purchase a small inline regulator off of Ebay for a couple buck. You ma need to track down a small coupling depending on the size and thread pattern of the hose attachment. Then you can dial in the pressure until you see you are getting the best results.

- Higher pressure with Vallejo Model Air will dry the paint around the inside of the tip and around the needle quicker. This will result in clogging. Sometimes the quick swab of the tip will clear things up, but most of this is due to pressure. This is not seen as much in solvents, as I mentoned, they will effectively clean the tip as you paint.

- Lower pressures will cause spitting and clogging. Spitting happens when the paint is thin enough but just not enough pressure to flow the paint through the tip. If the paint is too thick for the lower pressure it can spit or clog. Thinning the paint more for lower psi application will help this.

- Shooting within 4 to 5 inches from the surface....this will help with application. Too far away and the paint can dry before it hits the surface...too close and you will saturate things. The lower the pressure, the closer you can get.

- Cleaning....Full cleaning of any airbrush is always a good thing! Here is a disassembly schematic to the brush you have - www.kopykake.com/airbrush-cleaning.html If you want to save some of your thinner and/or airbrush cleaner, you can clean the bulk of the paint from the cup with water first...both while in a painting session and full cleaning. Harsher solvents, like lacquer thinner as John mentioned above, work well...just remember to flush the cup and needle before adding paint. Acrylics like Vallejo don't mix too well with solvents. Usually a quick blast of water or airbrush cleaner/thinner will work. Try and avoid windex, which will work, but the ammonia in the windex actually will degrade the brass fittings over time.

- Damaged parts....The company might offer replacement parts. The tip and needle of your brush looks a lot like the Badger tips...the AB003 Nozzle (tip) in the schematic of the breakdown. This little brass piece can develop cracks which will cause a number of issues...like bubbling, no flow. I have bought some for around $5 on ebay before. If you can track down the size...which looks like .03 since the code was AB003, it would be a small price to pay to see if it works. The needles can usually be rolled back into shape on a hard surface....or replaced.


There are a bunch of other things that can come up, but one step at a time...lol!! Badger does make a great brush btw. The 100 is solid...the Krome is a little more versatile though. But again, one step at a time. When it comes to AB's, it is best to get one into your hands to feel its weight and balance...try them if you can.


I am heading back to my coffee now...... Have fun!!

[Deleted]

Thanks for the even more advice guys! Definatly going to try these as well. I've already given some parts of the brush a good soak in white gas (thought it was the same as white spirit but according to wiki it's not ) which cleaned up some junk, but some still remains. Would giving it a clean with white spirit be more effective?

@charley; Back flushing the AB sounds good, while I Always use the brand airbrush cleaner afterwards to clean it I can imagine this will do a more thorough job.

TRM; Thanks for the big write-up! First of all I do need to clarify it is a single action brush, not dual action. I imagine this speeds up paint drying on the needle/nozzle as the airflow is always flowing there.

At the moment I'm using the Vallejo air paints (and their primers and varnishes) and usually thin them 50/50 with the Vallejo air thinner. I'm a bit reluctant to add more thinner because I want to prevent running paint. Unfortunatly there is no way to check what pressure I'm using though as the only control on the compressor is a unitless knob.The manufacturer says it delivers 0-30 psi though, so I'd guess I usually run it at 5-10. They do offer a lot of replacement parts for the brush though. Are needles always brand specific or is it possible to use one brands needle in another brands airbrush?

[TRM]

White gas is not really the same as White spirits/Mineral Spirits....but close. What you are experiencing with the parts not coming clean is the non compatibility between acrylics and oil based thinners. Paint thinner or mineral spirits will have no effect on acrylics when trying to remove dried paint. Try Isopropyl alcohol or lacquer thinner. These should loosen the dried paint for you. Strip the brush and try and clean as much of the brush as you can. You can let the tip (small brass feral) soak in some lacquer thinner for a while.

Yes, the single action will promote drying like open spraying on a double action brush. A lot of the drying still has to do with pressure and making sure you keep the tip clean though. You should be able to dial in a few pressure setting even without having calibration marks. If you know you have 30 psi max, turn up the compressor to it's max and make a mark. Then mark all around the dial leaving an 1/8 inch or so. You should be able make note of where things are set. If you can find the half way setting it might get you close to the 12 to 15psi which is ideal for Model Air application in most cases...without thinning.

Needles are less specific than the tips themselves. I only noticed the tip from the brush in the link I provided was similar to the Badger. Best to field strip your brush and have a close look. Maybe you can find something comparable out there of and when it is needed.

[adt70hk]

Dudealus

Thanks for highlighting some of the unfortunate issues you're having and I really hope you get them sorted out. I've recently acquired an airbrush so I've been following this with interest.

Let me know how you get on and good luck with it.


thank you everyone who's taken the time to respond I've found the info very informative.

Andrew