Airbrush Problems

[Guest]

Hey guys, I just recently got an airbrush, the PointZero Dual Action Airbrush Kit. I know how to clean it and whatnot but I'm having trouble actually spraying the paint. I like to use Vallejo paints, now I just got regular acrylic paint to my understanding. I don't know if it's compatible with an airbrush or if I'm mixing things wrong. I've gotten it to spray but only if it's very thinned down so it's more liquid. Any help would be great. Thanks people!
-Have a good day, Joe

[Guest]

If you’re using regular acrylic paint, that doesn’t say on the bottle that it’s ready for airbrushing, then you need to thin it to flow correctly. The problem (well, my problem anyway) is always: how far do you thin it? It’s mostly a matter of experience, so your best option is to experiment a bit: thin your paint so it seems to flow well, then try it in the airbrush on an old newspaper or something similar. If it’s too thick, put straight thinner through the brush to get the thick paint out, thin the paint some more and try again. If it’s too thin, mix a bit more paint into the cup.

[Jim R]

Hi Joe
If you are using Vallejo Model Color then it is a bit of a so and so to get to spray. It needs thinning down a lot. Water will do but Vallejo thinner is better. Vallejo Model Air is made to go through the AB but still needs some thinning I feel. Personally I prefer a thinner paint and a lower air pressure and give a few mist coats to cover. You will find that a few drops of retarder will help. The warm weather we are having won't help either. The paint will tend to dry on the airbrush tip and also it can actually dry before it hits the model so you'll get a grainy finish.
Jakko is right - practice and experiment with air pressure, dilution and all the other variables. It will all come right in the end :smiling5:
Jim

[langy71]

Hi Joe,
When thinning paint for use in the airbrush i tend to thin the paint until it has the same consistancy (..ish) of semi skimmed Milk, and build up the final colour using lots of light passes.

I even thin the 'vallejo model air paints'.. just a odd drop of thinner in to the mix helps out loads..
P.S. i always put thinner into the paint cup first and then add the paint, it helps with mixing it up...

Also you can cover the airbrush tip with a finger and gently pull back on the trigger whilst pushing downwards on it, allowing a little it of air through the brush, this will cause the air to 'backflush' and bubbles will appear in the cup to show the air is mixing the paint for you, HOWEVER, only give it a small amount of down pressure on the trigger as too much will blast loads of air into the paint cup and all over the place...trust me i know this very well....lol

Have a quick look at this ... there's quite a few vids about airbrushing

[Guest]

consistancy (..ish) of semi skimmed Milk

I’ve been reading that rule of thumb for over 30 years, and though I've drunk a glass of milk on well over half of all those days, I find it very difficult to judge whether I thinned my paint to the same consistency.

What I would really like is a more scientific method, that’s still easy to do at home with no specialised equipment. IOW: maybe I should just pay more attention to the consistency of the milk I drink.

[Tim Marlow]

Hi Jakko
A scientific approach would be to make up incremental dilutions of the paint in question, and then try each dilution at a series of air pressures...taking notes on each dilution’s performance through the airbrush. When you have a dilution you are happy with, mark it on the paint bottle for future reference....of course, you would need to repeat this at varying temperatures and humidities to get rigorous and repeatable results.
The empirical approach of adding thinner until it seems right, then adjusting the air pressure to suit is much more rewarding though....and ultimately far more useful :nerd:
Cheers
Tim

[Guest]

Hi Joe,
When thinning paint for use in the airbrush i tend to thin the paint until it has the same consistancy (..ish) of semi skimmed Milk, and build up the final colour using lots of light passes.

I even thin the 'vallejo model air paints'.. just a odd drop of thinner in to the mix helps out loads..
P.S. i always put thinner into the paint cup first and then add the paint, it helps with mixing it up...

Also you can cover the airbrush tip with a finger and gently pull back on the trigger whilst pushing downwards on it, allowing a little it of air through the brush, this will cause the air to 'backflush' and bubbles will appear in the cup to show the air is mixing the paint for you, HOWEVER, only give it a small amount of down pressure on the trigger as too much will blast loads of air into the paint cup and all over the place...trust me i know this very well....lol

Have a quick look at this ... there's quite a few vids about airbrushing

Thankyou for the video. Very helpful!

[Guest]

If you’re using regular acrylic paint, that doesn’t say on the bottle that it’s ready for airbrushing, then you need to thin it to flow correctly. The problem (well, my problem anyway) is always: how far do you thin it? It’s mostly a matter of experience, so your best option is to experiment a bit: thin your paint so it seems to flow well, then try it in the airbrush on an old newspaper or something similar. If it’s too thick, put straight thinner through the brush to get the thick paint out, thin the paint some more and try again. If it’s too thin, mix a bit more paint into the cup.

Will this stuff work?

[Guest]

Will

Hi Joe
If you are using Vallejo Model Color then it is a bit of a so and so to get to spray. It needs thinning down a lot. Water will do but Vallejo thinner is better. Vallejo Model Air is made to go through the AB but still needs some thinning I feel. Personally I prefer a thinner paint and a lower air pressure and give a few mist coats to cover. You will find that a few drops of retarder will help. The warm weather we are having won't help either. The paint will tend to dry on the airbrush tip and also it can actually dry before it hits the model so you'll get a grainy finish.
Jakko is right - practice and experiment with air pressure, dilution and all the other variables. It will all come right in the end :smiling5:
Jim

Will this stuff work?

[stillp]

Yes!

Pete

[Guest]

A scientific approach would be to make up incremental dilutions of the paint in question, and then try each dilution at a series of air pressures...taking notes on each dilution’s performance through the airbrush.

Obviously, but I was more thinking along the lines of a more scientifically-based test that’s easy and quick to do. Something like this:

but doable with the very small quantities of paint we modellers use.

The empirical approach of adding thinner until it seems right, then adjusting the air pressure to suit is much more rewarding though

I strongly disagree with “more rewarding” — I find it annoying to have to keep tinkering with stuff to get the paint to come out right. I just want to put paint on a model, and with an airbrush preparation and cleanup take far longer and are far more effort than the actual painting.

To put it another way: my hobby is building and painting models, not messing around with an airbrush until paint comes out correctly.

</rant>

[Tim Marlow]

Hi Jakko
I understand your rant, but unfortunately mate, like a lot of this hobby there is no shortcut....it really is more of an art than a science and takes a little experimentation and time served practice.
Personally I gave up with water based stuff for spraying ages ago. It’s simply too much trouble. I use Tamiya for spraying, thin to 50% with Mr Hobby levelling thinners and set the brush at about 15psi. Sometimes a couple of drops more thinners and less pressure if I need to get fine lines or more pressure for wide coverage. Sprays like silk every time, but needs a mask. To be honest, for airbrushing I think the quality of the air supply is more important than the airbrush itself...I use a side feed Iwatta so pressures might be different for others.
Cheers
Tim

[Jim R]

Hi Joe
That thinner would work fine.
It would be lovely to have a 'rule' for paint thinning. Do A, B and C and the airbrush will spray perfectly. Unfortunately it is impossible to have such a straightforward approach. There are too many variables.
If you thin paint then you affect the concentration of pigment and you dilute the 'structure' of the paint. I prefer to use a proper thinner, rather than water, because I feel that although the pigment will still be 'diluted' the thinner will help maintain the paint's structure. I sort of believe that say Vallejo thinner will have the same basic stuff in it as their paint except for the colour part.
Jim.

[rtfoe]

Hi Joe,

Every paint has its own quirkiness of thinning - Acrylics dry fast so you will need to occasionally do a blow back or clean the tip of the needle with a solvent. Lacquers spray well only if they are diluted heavily or else they come out like spider webs, unfortunately the dilution means many coats until you see any pigment. Enamels can get powdery depending on the air pressure, this sometimes creates orange peel when the next wet coat is applied.

I've used all and I have no problem with any of them as long as you know what to do with them and what you want to achieve with them. If I'm going to coat large areas then I don't need much thinning and apply with higher air pressure. Any thin panel lining is done with the very diluted paint (almost like water and translucent) at very low pressure and the nose tip nearly touching the surface...best if the crown tip of the airbrush is removed to avoid air build up and forcing the paint to not flow properly.

[ATTACH]302867[/ATTACH][ATTACH]302868[/ATTACH]

I practised airbrushing while in artschool during my sparetime for a semester and that was on a flat surface with inks until I experimented on 3D objects and different mediums. What you need is practice and experience until you're comfortable to get results you want. Not everyones a Pele, Picasso or Jimmi Hendrix.

Cheers,
Richard

[Guest]

I understand your rant, but unfortunately mate, like a lot of this hobby there is no shortcut....

I had kind of figured that out over 35 years or so of building models In this case, though, it feels to me like there should be a way to actually measure how thick your paint is, but unfortunately the only ways there seem to be, either involve wasting a lot more paint than you’re going to use (per the video I posted above, which probably works fine if you’re spraying a real car or something) or require expensive lab equipment.