| fozzybear | 08 Nov 2014 9:36 p.m. PST |
Can you all please share any stories of airbrush fails, maybe I can learn from them. Just a bit ago I was trying to spray from parts RLM gray, interiors, landing gear and such. I was using testors model master enamels and testors thinner … I've done this so many time and all the sudden … the paint .. fails .. I cant think of another way to describe it. it was as though the thinner was contaminated .. but I've used it before with out issue. This time the paint and thinner began to separate as it was drying, which it never really did dry. have any of you had this problem. What was even more strange .. I switched to an acrylic and had even more problems! |
| christot | 09 Nov 2014 12:55 a.m. PST |
I've owned 2 airbrushes over the years, both times I've read instructions, tips, do's and don'ts, set them up, and both times its ended in swearing, frustration and airbrushes being thrown back in a box….the whole business is some sort of witchcraft, it works for some, but obviously not for me. |
| McWong73 | 09 Nov 2014 3:26 a.m. PST |
Weather is my greatest bane with airbrushing, especially humidity. |
| Cold Steel | 09 Nov 2014 6:07 a.m. PST |
I am no expert with an airbrush, but that sounds more like a problem with the paint or thinner. |
Joes Shop  | 09 Nov 2014 6:10 a.m. PST |
I think I know what happened but… Where were you spraying-? What was the humidity level-? How old was the RLM 02-? How old was the acrylic you tried as a replacement-? Regards, J. P. Kelly |
| Midgetmanifesto | 09 Nov 2014 11:59 a.m. PST |
I do not have much experience with my airbrush, and admittedly numerous experiences are problematical. 1- paint with too thick pigment. Jammed the brush. I noted later with hand brushing I could see chunks of pigment. I tossed the bottle. 2- dry tip. Apparantly vallejo (not model air) is classic for this. The paint dries too fast and tends to progressively clot the needle. Frequent cleaning of the tip can help. 3- Weird flow of paint. I've been thinning down acrylics with windex. I find if I do the proportions 'off' the paint tends to bead up and flow weird. I think it's usually too much thinner to paint. 4- Pressure issues. Till I got a good microregulator I had weird splattering/failure to lay down much paint/fast blockage of the brush. |
| fozzybear | 09 Nov 2014 5:09 p.m. PST |
I discovered the problem … contaminated thinner. problem fixed … for now .. |
| Joes Shop | 09 Nov 2014 5:58 p.m. PST |
Sounds like the thinner caused the binder to separate from the pigment. |
| Garand | 10 Nov 2014 11:54 a.m. PST |
Also the not drying really suggests contaminated thinner, which Fozzybear seems to have figured out… I learned this too, the hard way. I figured why was I paying so much money for Testors airbrush thinner, when I could buy thinner from Home Depot in much greater volumes for the price. Discovered that did not work (paint never dried). Also figured since lacquer thinner is the awesomest thinner evar! I'd try that. Worked great with old Humbrols, not so much for testors enamels… I use mostly acrylics these days anyway… :) Damon. |
| ridgeback123 | 10 Nov 2014 4:38 p.m. PST |
I have said this before but will repeat. If using acrylics try using air brush cleaner as the thinner I have been doing this for years & never had a problem with clogging or dry needle.
Ian |
| Simo Hayha | 11 Nov 2014 6:48 a.m. PST |
lacquer thinner will wreck the O rings and teflon in your brush. Although it does allow you to thin paint to a 10 thinner to 1 paint ratio. |
| fozzybear | 16 Nov 2014 5:48 p.m. PST |
Garand … that was exactly the problem …. thinner from home depot …. my can of testers was and old can that I had added home depot thinner too …. no Bueno! |
| Painter Jim | 09 Feb 2015 8:35 p.m. PST |
This will be very helpful info, as I am a airbrush newbie myself. |
| specforc12 | 18 Feb 2015 11:52 p.m. PST |
Also, make sure you have a moisture trap in the line before it reaches the airbrush – some are inline or the better ones are connected to a regulator on the compressor (much better). Also, if you have a reservoir compressed air holding tank and regulator then you also don't get the pressure flucuations so common to a ruined paint job. Furthermore, a ultrsonic cleaner will astound you with how much "crap" comes out of an otherwise "clean" airbrush. And, lastly, having a quality airbrush can't be overstated. You should be able to find a top-notch airbrush, like an IWATA ECLIPSE HP-C, gravity feed (best, better than sucking paint from a bottle) for about $130 USD on eBay. Good luck. And, like the others have said, use fresh, quality paints, like Vallejo, or AK Interactive Acrylics. Acrylics clean up and dry so much faster because they're water soluble. Also, check out some excellent on-line tutorials by expert airbrush users who make models. They know their stuff. And, all the best methods and techniques of diluting the paint and so on. |
