Just my luck

[Guest]

Picked up my airbrush today, it appears not to work. I have had it running for a bit but no air comes out the airbrush no matter what setting I have the pressure dial on. If I disconnect the hose and put my finger over the outlet, nothing... I think someone is trying to tell me something.... :-(

[Guest]

Are you using a compressor or cans Graham?

[Guest]

It is a compressor kit with airbrush. Has a very small built in tank, .3 litre but does not appear to be pushing any air at all. Not sure how long it should run before some air comes out, I would have thought a minute or so should get some hissing but nowt at all...

[Guest]

Then my guess would be some kind of stuck valve between the tank & hose? I assume that the comp runs ok and the cut-out operates when the tank has become full-lol I know that sounds like teaching your grandmother to suck eggs but years of IT work means asking even the silliest questions! How about the highly technical method of giving it a swift tap with a hammer? Stuck valves often respond to this gentle, well thought-out treatment ;o)

[Guest]

Well, I have boxed it up ready to go back tomorrow. Am I right in thinking that some air should be coming out quite soon? I expect it to take a while to get to a high pressure but something should come out.

[Guest]

Really the air should come out very quickly, no longer than 30 seconds or so to fill the tank at a decent pressure. Mine doesn't have the tank but at 25 PSI it's up to speed in moments. It's a shame that you've hit such a hitch Graham but fingers crossed that the replacement will work fine.

[Guest]

Trouble is, I think it was the last one in stock.... will see in the morning on the way to ASDA lol

[Guest]

Oh what a fun day we have had. Took airbrush set back to shop, exchanged no argument. Did the weeks shopping and put it all away, made a coffee then unpacked the compressor. As soon as I switched it on it sounded quieter and joy of joy a breeze came out the airbrush. Ten minutes later still just a breeze, air gauge at about 10psi. Repacked it and off we go to the shop again. Chap had a look at it and said "That's no good." I gave him an award for stating the obvious.

Off he went to get 'his' compressor. It turns out when they first started stoking them, he put one to one side for himself but it was just the compressor and had a different air hose bush. Took the adaptor of the faulty one and fitted it to 'his', switched on and ten seconds later it reached max and cut out. A few squirts on the airbrush trigger shows all was well and the compressor was kicking back in and out to keep the constant feed. Decided to give this a try as he was happy for me to take it and it had never been used.

Got home, mixed up a bit of green, with free bottle of acrylics thinners (£5.50) that he had given me. I doubt I got the mix right as it was just slop it in and stir it up. Got the sprues out of the box for the Breda anti tank gun and sprayed away in the corner of the kitchen. Superb pre build finish on the very finely detailed parts, very very happy.

Flushed it through with thinners and boldly switched to semi gloss white for the underside of the Super Etendard that I had put on hold awaiting air brush. Didn't get mix right this time, far too thin but lesson learned. Thought I would try something I had read somewhere re using screen wash to clean out the air brush. Disaster, the semi gloss white appeared to clean out the cup but it left lots of 'bits' which then promptly packed themselves into the nozzle stopping the needle from protruding. Half a very sweaty and nervous hour later, I had cleared it and got it back working again. I had not planned to find out how to do a complete airbrush strip and build this early.

Packed it away and sighed a sigh of relief. Looked at the sprayed sprues of the Breda and thought WOW, it has been worth it.

[Guest]

Sounds like a bad day mate , glad your happy with the AB now , maybe time to open a beer now Graham .

Richy

[Guest]

Indeed it would, but I don't drink, well not very often :grumpy:.

May be off out for an Indian later though Mmmmmm, Korma..........:hungry:

[stona]

Welcome to the airbrush club. Don't panic,you'll soon find settings and cleaning products/regimes that suit you. Sometimes things do react together,a while ago I had something go on between the Xtracrylix I was planning to spray and what I think was some Alclad residue. That took a while to clean out.

BTW white is the most difficult colour to apply,followed closely by yellow!

Cheers

Steve

[Guest]

I think it's my fault for your disaster Graham, as it was me who said about using windscreen fluid to clean your AB, although I've never had the problems that you encountered. Maybe it was the semi-gloss? Anyway, it won't be the last hurdle you cross with an airbrush! I'll look forward to seeing the results. Patrick

[Gern]

Hi Graham,

Now you're off and running with your A/B I'm looking forward to your future builds.

As far as your drinking goes, I'll open a few on your behalf and make sure you enjoy them. Does that sound OK?

Gern

[Guest]

Oh how i miss a good curry ))) I'm glad your A/B is now working and i'm sure most of us on here have felt like breaking the thing in half one time or another. I've tried to as much practice in as possible and the two most valuable lessons i've learnt are to keep the needle well lubed because that avoids a sudden jerk of the trigger and to control the air pressure from the compressor and not on the airbrush itself. For fine camo lines 10psi (for me) is an absolute max.

I'll go and have a vodka for you mate

Paul

[Guest]

Cheers Gern, yep crack a few open for me, thanks for the help lol. Do they not do a good Indian in Moscow then Paul? Maybe a bit of a marketing opportunity there. And no Tony, it was not your fault lol. I have read the tip about using screen wash in quite a few places. I may eventually go over to Vallejo Air for consistency, will have to experiment a bit first.

I have quite a lot of playing about to do to get used to it, to be honest I know it sounds silly but I find it a bit scary. Still, I still have quite a few aircraft kits to practise on so I hope to post my first AB pics soon.

Thanks for the comments and support guys, makes the world a lot less lonely on the modelling front to know you are all here :-)