Any Airbrush Guys / Gals here ?

[Andy Greene]

Just looking for a little advice and tips - wife bought me a pretty decent set , 2 dual action guns gravity feed and suction /and matching compressor, and air brush paints. Been playing around with it after I get off work here and there , but its a steep learning curve for a novice with zero artistic skills. Watched a bunch of videos on you tube trying ghost flames - and they are tough, I scare it from time to time and almost get close and kill it with too much paint-
Reaching out for tips if any of you guys play with this stuff. Thanks in advance

 

[spigalau]

Just started playing with it here too.

Advice I had was:
1) 20 PSI
2) Start paint on before the frame and end after the frame
3) Light coats, lots of light coats

Using AMMO Acrylic Paints.
https://www.migjimenez.com/en/acrylic-colors/565-titanium.html
After a couple of coats, the Tycho II looks like this so far:



And on one of the other Red Shift mini's it looks like:


I still need to apply top coat clear to things.

 

[Zeus-cat]

An airbrush can be horribly finicky. PSI, paint/thinner ratio, other stuff works one day and won't work the next. Temperature and humidity can cause all sorts of issues. Do you have a moisture trap? Honestly, I think you need one even in Arizona.

There are some basic books on practicing drawing lines and stuff. Start with that. Use cheap paints to get a feel for the brush. And then switch to more expensive stuff. Yes, the PSI and mixing ratios will change, but learn with cheap stuff and then switch to the better paint. However, to be honest, I have had great luck with cheap craft paints from Wal-Mart on rockets.

Use different needles for their intended uses.

Clean the thing after every session and purge one color thoroughly if you switch colors in a session.

Accept your limitations. You may be destined to paint more like Van Gogh than Canaletto.

 

[Cape Byron]

The best advice I ever got on airbrushing was 'dilute paint to the consistency of milk'.

That and practice, practice, practice.

Then practice some more.

 

[spigalau]

That and practice, practice, practice.

Then practice some more.

I brought 100 plastic spoons for that exact reason - try, try, try some more...

 

[David Schwantz]

Use carb cleaner to spray it out. Cuts everything and the pressure gets into everywhere.

 

[Jim Hinton]

Hi There;

I've been running a Paasche VL for many years. If it won't shoot, thin the paint more, or bring up the pressure, check and make sure the head assembly is on the gun tightly. An air leak there will shut you down and it isn't obvious. For what it's worth, I live in CO and I do not use a moisture trap. I mostly shoot acrylics though and they are more forgiving about water in the line. The biggest part of airbrushing is just doing it. You never finish learning. I was spraying a plastic model yesterday with Vallejo OD. I had it well thinned, about 60 % thinner, I was running about 25 psi to minimize paint delivery. I discovered that the pigment would foul the brush after lots of use and thinner alone would not clean to restore function. I blew it out with thinner at 45 psi and we were good again. I never saw that kind of build-up before. Completely tear down your brush after every use and clean thoroughly. When using multiple colors, start with your lightest and work to your darkest. Blow thinner through the brush between colors until it sprays clear. It is frequently necessary to back flush the brush by covering the discharge with your finger and spraying with thinner in the jar. Makes a mess in the jar but frequently restores function. NEVER TRY THIS ON ANY TYPE OF AIRLESS EQUIPMENT!! You will lose a finger in the deal. Thinning for spraying usually requires specialized thinners. Acrylics frequently will not spray if thinned only with water. Use the least aggressive thinner required for the job. Super volatile solvents like toulol and xylene are hard on airbrush seals.
Let me know if I can bore the hell out of you further.

Jim

 

[Knuckledragger]

When you think you need to hit it with one more pass, don't. Its hard to resist that urge but it goes from being a shadow to a hard line. White, black, grey, and red paints are pretty heavy pigments and can handle a little more thinner but that works in your favor especially when you return adding a hi-light or shadow. There is coverage where you want the body to have a base coat, opaques are good for that. Transparents are thin on pigments but great for adding a see-through layer. If you're watching videos look at the amount of paint a gunner uses to lay down the base detail; its very, very little paint for a lot of detail. I like Wicked and Createx paints in my Paasche probably because they're readily available but they're also pretty forgiving and easy to work with