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Hey all. So I am a little distraught with my recent airbrush purchase and was hoping that you guys could lend me some helpful information that could help me figure out what exactly i am doing wrong.

To start off I will list all of the products that I have been using so that it will hopefully narrow down the problems.

Mostly Citadel Paints. Badger Renegade Velocity Gravity Feed Airbrush. Liqutex Airbrush Medium. Distilled Water. Iwata Airbrush Cleaner. Small pipe cleaner brushes. The working pressure for the brush is about 20 psi.

Now the problem that I have been having that even though I have been mixing my paints down to that oh so holy "milk" consistency using the airbrush medium and paint and a hint of distilled water, the paint is continually drying out on the airbrush needle after only seconds of use. This is obviously making it difficult for me to continue painting, because i have to stop and dislodge the dried paint from the needle, sometimes having to dismantle the entire airbrush just to get to the dried paint.

I was wondering if there was anything else that I could be doing? Adding a paint retarder to the airbrush medium? Would Flow Aid help, I've heard good things about that product. Is the psi too high causing the paint to dry too quickly?

Any and all help would be appreciated!

Try changing up your water/medium mixture. (add more water)

Also some airbrush lub wouldn't hurt.

Tip dry is inevitable with acrylics, Youl never eliminate it entiirely.
You can combat it a little with drying retarder and airbrush lubricants on the needle though. Work at a lower pressure too, as low as will spray okay, maybe thin some more if you still want to go lower.

Psst-psst-psst. Not pshhhhhhhhhhhhht. Shorter bursts and the occasional wipe of the tip are the order of the day. Helps manage the tip dry,

What's your spray pressure? Too high there and that crap will dry up the tip in no time.

2 things.

1) Citadel paints have a quick drying chemical in them
2) water quickens the quick dry.

Also forget about the airbrush medium, its overpriced junk, just use windex and invest in a mask.

99% of airbrush issues come from cleaning. You have to clean out the tip pretty much everytime you use it, no amount of spraying cleaner will fix that.

invest in these:

There is some debate on what to thin with...this topic has been covered dozens of times (there are plenty of threads on it - do a search if interested) as a person who has used both windex and actual mediums, my vote is on mediums - but each their own (for more info, or if anyone disagrees - please take it to one of the dozens of thinning threads....lets not clog up this one...).

So...moving on....

1 - Yeah, pressure, maybe to much - others already covered this well.
2 - I would suggest actual airbrush paints - either vallejo model air, or minitarie brand. Both are good - minitaire has a slightly wider color selection while the vma specializes more in military colors.
3 - Try drying retarder.
3 - The velocity - this is an excellent brush....I have one. However, I hope this is not your first airbrush...as although it is very high quality (it is) it is quite...picky (to use a technical term).
It is very temperamental for anything that is not real airbrush paint - which is not just about the viscosity of the medium, but also about the types of pigments and how they are ground.

When I do thin paints (usually vallejo game color, or model color) I spray them at about 15-20psi.

Where as actual airbrush paints, I spray them between 13-15 for very fine control.

Best of luck!

Thanks for the tips guys. Now I see that airbrush lubricant was suggested, but no brand or type. Any chance anyone has a product that they can recommend for me, I have none At the moment. Guess that is something that I should look into getting next. I will try lowering the pressure down to 15 instead of the 20, maybe that will help.

As for what ravenous d suggested, I actually have the Iwata cleaning station and a set of brushes to clean. So at least I got that much right.

I guess if all that still fails, I'll need to look into actual airbrush paint. Where do you guys get yours? My FLGS does not carry any of the airbrush ranges. Amazon?

What about ultrasonic cleaners. I saw that there has been a lot of buzz about them recently. Worth picking one up? Thanks again!

All the different brand has different ones.

Badger has needle juice IIRC so that's probably a place to start.

For airbrush paints (not a necessity, but very very convenient - and most brush on just fine).

I would suggest the following;

Vallejo model air - some hobby stores carry it, or get some of the starter packs on line.
Check Ebay, the warstore, frpgames etc. Look for vallejo model air basic kit.

Minitaire paints - these are very good paints....they dry a bit glossy, and have a great color range.
These are relatively new paints, but have already got quite a few good reviews.
I got mine from amazon in a bundle....they are very expensive individually.

Createx airbrush paints - honestly, I would stay away from these - They seem to be designed more for larger models or artwork - they just seem a bit....tempermental in my experience.
I have very rarely seen them suggested.

Golden Airbrush paints - the brand name is "golden" you can get them from high end art supply stores. The color range is limited (compared to what wargamers might want) but the paints are amazing.
Expensive, but I have to say....these spray and cover even better than the vallejo or the miniatire. Look for them online as well.

If you want more input on airbrush paint - do a search - you will literally get back hundreds of posts - much more comprehensive info than the incredibly brief summary I gave here.

best of luck, and have fun!

So. I had this exact problem with an Iwata HP-CS. Identical issue. Tip dry (or so it seemed) in seconds no matter what I did. Citadel, Model Color, Vallejo Model Air. It seemed impossible that people were getting the results I was seeing on youtube videos. I thought maybe I had a defective brush.

Then one day, that stopped happening. It just started working. Perfectly. I'm not 100% sure why. I'm pretty sure I took the thing apart and cleaned it VERY thoroughly. Cup, nozzle, cap, inside and outside - everything. Then bam, it started performing as advertised.

Now it doesn't give a crap about anything. With the exception of metallics, it eats anything I throw at it at almost any consistency. Aside from the brush, my setup is identical to yours - liquitex airbrush medium, 20 psi.


One of my theories on why this seems to happen is this : New guy buys an airbrush. In his excitement he starts fiddling with it and manages to get it clogged up internally very quickly without realizing it. The first time he sits down to "really" use it, it is already hopelessly clogged. When he eventually gives in and gives it a detailed clean, it starts working.

Another theory is : the airbrushes are packed with some kind of goop or other material that causes this issue early in their life.

So yeah - clean the CRAP out of it - even in places that don't seem like they could possibly make a difference. Pretty soon you'll be spraying like a madman, clog-free.

My first thought is lower the pressure (I start at 16 psi and lower [if "fuzzy"] or increase [if blobby] as needed).

Check ambient heat: high = more retarder.

The paint is a big deal depending on how fine the pigment is ground, I found the Liquitex paints work better (if you must use a non-airbrush specific paint, GW is .. problematic without lotso retarder).

I tend to "gesso" a bunch of cardboard sheets and "dial-in" the brush on these before I have a go at the model (try dot,dot connect dots practice). I would suggest starting low on pressure to avoid the mentioned drying on the needle.

Good luck!

So I've been looking into some of the products suggested here. Here is what I found so far.

Needle Juice. Badger Airbrush Lubricant. This looks good for the price and the reviews support it as a good product.

Now I have a question about these two different products. What exactly would the difference be?

Liqutex Flow Aid

Liquitex Slow-Dri

They look like they would be a very similar product but I am sure they are used for different things. Any luck with using either of these products?

Flow aid cuts down viscosity

Slow-dry makes the paint dry slower/allowing for blending

both are not substitutes for lub (which is also useful for keeping the mechanics from jammin.

edit:Woops yeah sorry surface tension like adding a drop of soap.

And both are more expensive then windex which basically does the same thing.

As a note Ive been airbrushing with GW paints for a long time and they are utter hell on airbrushes, I very much suggest finding friendlier paint.

As Desubot says, Slow-Dri is a drying retarder, which does exactly what it's name suggests - it makes acrylics dry more slowly. Flow-Aid, however, isn't exactly designed to decrease viscosity, so much as surface tension. It's a surfactant which, as the name again suggests, allows paint to flow more smoothly, instead of "wanting" to bead up, impart unwanted texture (i.e. visible brush strokes), or cling to the rest of the paint on a brush. It won't thin a paint in the same sense that water will, but is nonetheless a useful adjunct, whether spraying or brushing on by hand.

Windex (along with windshield washer/wiper fluid and their glass-cleaning ilk) is NOT a drying retarder. Windex contains solvents which dissolve acrylic paint and is designed to evaporate quickly and completely. Depending on your mix's formulation, rate of spray, etc. it's as likely to increase tip dry as it is to avoid it - same as rubbing alcohol. Again, like alcohol, it has lower surface tension than water, but its volatility (tendency to evaporate quickly) makes it less reliable than a lingering surfactant, like Slow-Dri or even the old standby, dish soap. Plenty of people have sprayed successfully with Windex, mind you, but they hit the sweet spot, whether through dumb luck or determined experimentation. Generally, it's a better cleaner than it is a thinner.

There is a very practical solution that I am surprised no one has mentioned.

Step 1 - purchase some cotton swabs
Step 2 - purchase some rubbing alcohol or Windex, either is fine, I have also used simple green.
Step 3 - place a small amount of product from step 2 in your paint well, have a cotton swab near by.
Step 4 - when paint begins to dry, simply rub tip of needle gently with cotton swab that has been dipped in product from step 2
step 5 - enjoy hours of airbrushing with little interruption.

 Ravenous D wrote:
And both are more expensive then windex which basically does the same thing.

As a note Ive been airbrushing with GW paints for a long time and they are utter hell on airbrushes, I very much suggest finding friendlier paint.

Windex is NOT the same as Flow air or Retarder. Not even close. In fact, Windex will do near the opposite of retarder as it will tend to make the paint dry faster, not slower.

It's great that you like Windex and all but you aren't doing anybody any favors by spreading disinformation.

I sit firmly in the 'windex is bad' camp, sure it does thin the paint (pretty well tbh) but the issues arouind using ammonia based product, aswell as the colourant (blue) in it, and other bonus ingredients make it a poor choice, theres all kinds of chemistry going on with the paints, frankly Id rather spray pure acetone as a cleaner (not for airbrushes that dont boast solvent resistance though e.g Harder & steenbeck evolution silverline, and CR plus ranges make such boasting claims, and theyre not lying )

One should be really careful about what they use and thinners and cleaners if they actually value the expensive airbrush theyre holding. Far too many things will totally strip the chrome plating out of your airbrush, leading to all kinds of clogging issues down the line where paint cant flow properly through it anymore.

Its great that people want to help and make suggestions, but as Dullspork said, spreading disinformation and basically advising people to be negligent about chemicals and their health and tools lifespan is certainly not helping anyone achieve anything.

Can I ask what specifically is utter hell about citadels generic acrlyic paint recipe for airbrushes, compared to... oooh any other acrylic paint in the world right now?

I ask because Ive been airbrushing for years now, and our little plastic toy soldiers were not, and still are not the primary use for the airbrushes I own... I'm happy spraying any paint type and have tried looads of combinations. Citadel paints... well they all spray perfectly for me )havent (tried the metallics... as a rule I dont put metallics in my good airbrush)

 Dullspork wrote:

 Ravenous D wrote:
And both are more expensive then windex which basically does the same thing.

As a note Ive been airbrushing with GW paints for a long time and they are utter hell on airbrushes, I very much suggest finding friendlier paint.

Windex is NOT the same as Flow air or Retarder. Not even close. In fact, Windex will do near the opposite of retarder as it will tend to make the paint dry faster, not slower.

It's great that you like Windex and all but you aren't doing anybody any favors by spreading disinformation.

No, you are correct that alcohol when atomized with air makes it dry faster but the ammonia keeps it apart. I apologize for that I should have gone into detail. It does keep liquid latex from drying. But Im not a chemist, I just know what works for me.

Plus in my experience liquitex and golden mediums often mess with citadel paints that makes them not hold washes as well afterward. But whatever works is what you use right?

And Hairy, you should be more worried about breathing in paint then windex, plus you don't know what the mediums do to your lungs either so kind of pointless saying one chemical is bad without knowing what the others possible effects are. All in all, wear a mask, make a spray booth, replace filters. In regards to citadel paints its like what I said earlier, the quick dry agent gums up airbrushes more then any other acrylic I am aware of, I have a bottle of Golden red from 4 years ago that is still good to go, I cant say that for my citadel paints however, more cleaning means more wear and tear on your tools, that's what I meant buy "use friendlier" paint.

And you can spray metallics with an airbrush, just wear something over your eyes and use a spray booth, its no different then any other citadel paint I find.

I'm pretty sure all the mediums and paints that are marketed to the wargaming fraternity frequently carry the "non toxic" moniker, certainly unless you start buying some of the more specialist and unusual materials that won't really be of interest to the casual painter.

Ammonia, especially finely atomised, is decidedly more toxic than anything I would use on a day to day basis for mini painting, even if I were to include things like airbrush cleaner.

 Ravenous D wrote:

 Dullspork wrote:

 Ravenous D wrote:
And both are more expensive then windex which basically does the same thing.

As a note Ive been airbrushing with GW paints for a long time and they are utter hell on airbrushes, I very much suggest finding friendlier paint.

Windex is NOT the same as Flow air or Retarder. Not even close. In fact, Windex will do near the opposite of retarder as it will tend to make the paint dry faster, not slower.

It's great that you like Windex and all but you aren't doing anybody any favors by spreading disinformation.

No, you are correct that alcohol when atomized with air makes it dry faster but the ammonia keeps it apart. I apologize for that I should have gone into detail. It does keep liquid latex from drying. But Im not a chemist, I just know what works for me.

Plus in my experience liquitex and golden mediums often mess with citadel paints that makes them not hold washes as well afterward. But whatever works is what you use right?

And Hairy, you should be more worried about breathing in paint then windex, plus you don't know what the mediums do to your lungs either so kind of pointless saying one chemical is bad without knowing what the others possible effects are. All in all, wear a mask, make a spray booth, replace filters. In regards to citadel paints its like what I said earlier, the quick dry agent gums up airbrushes more then any other acrylic I am aware of, I have a bottle of Golden red from 4 years ago that is still good to go, I cant say that for my citadel paints however, more cleaning means more wear and tear on your tools, that's what I meant buy "use friendlier" paint.

And you can spray metallics with an airbrush, just wear something over your eyes and use a spray booth, its no different then any other citadel paint I find.

Actually Windex is just fine, take a look at the following blog post from Meg Maples, former Privateer Press studio painter. She brought the question to the guys over at Iwata, their response is below, bold phrases are from the actual letter;

Airbrushing: Windex
This is another hot topic in painting right now and a lot of information is swirling around confusing a lot of people. I know I was confused until I actually got in touch with Iwata. I'm still waiting to hear from Windex.

So, I have an Iwata airbrush.


It's a metal airbrush, no plastic parts in it at all, just a few rubber gaskets. Some people recommend using Windex (with ammonia) in an airbrush as a thinner for your paint and also to clean the airbrush. The other side says never to do it because atomizing ammonia will kill you and hurt your airbrush and ruin your paint.

Now, here's my take on atomization of classic Windex (with ammonia). How is it harmful if it's sold in a spray bottle in stores across the country (if not world) where you are atomizing it when you spray it on your glass? I'd think if there was a serious problem with atomizing ammonia based Windex it wouldn't be sold in a spray bottle. I've been using Windex to clean windows since I was old enough to put towel to window (very young in other words). I'm still here to tell the tale and I've been breathing in atomized ammonia for decades now. It can't be that bad.

The other part of why I don't think it's bad is because you should be wearing an organic respirator when you airbrush no matter what. I don't care if the bottle says non-toxic on whatever you are putting through your airbrush. WEAR A RESPIRATOR! Now, I don't mean a dust respirator. I mean a heavy duty, Sci-Fi looking respirator with cartridges you change out every month. They are about $30 and well worth getting. You won't have oddly colored buggers for days, you won't breathe in harmful chemicals, you won't burn your lungs. Wear one!

Now, in light of the arguments I've seen regarding ammonia harming airbrushes I went straight to Iwata and asked them a few questions. Here's the email exchange.


This is another hot topic in painting right now and a lot of information is swirling around confusing a lot of people. I know I was confused until I actually got in touch with Iwata. I'm still waiting to hear from Windex.

So, I have an Iwata airbrush. It's a metal airbrush, no plastic parts in it at all, just a few rubber gaskets. Some people recommend using Windex (with ammonia) in an airbrush as a thinner for your paint and also to clean the airbrush. The other side says never to do it because atomizing ammonia will kill you and hurt your airbrush and ruin your paint.

Now, here's my take on atomization of classic Windex (with ammonia). How is it harmful if it's sold in a spray bottle in stores across the country (if not world) where you are atomizing it when you spray it on your glass? I'd think if there was a serious problem with atomizing ammonia based Windex it wouldn't be sold in a spray bottle. I've been using Windex to clean windows since I was old enough to put towel to window (very young in other words). I'm still here to tell the tale and I've been breathing in atomized ammonia for decades now. It can't be that bad.

The other part of why I don't think it's bad is because you should be wearing an organic respirator when you airbrush no matter what. I don't care if the bottle says non-toxic on whatever you are putting through your airbrush. WEAR A RESPIRATOR! Now, I don't mean a dust respirator. I mean a heavy duty, Sci-Fi looking respirator with cartridges you change out every month. They are about $30 and well worth getting. You won't have oddly colored buggers for days, you won't breathe in harmful chemicals, you won't burn your lungs. Wear one!

Now, in light of the arguments I've seen regarding ammonia harming airbrushes I went straight to Iwata and asked them a few questions. Here's the email exchange.


Dear Iwata,

I am a professional painter who uses an Iwata Eclipse HP-BS and absolutely love it! I paint miniature toy soldiers and will often use my airbrush to get my projects started.

In the miniature wargaming community there is a lot of debate about what to use as a thinning agent to thin acrylic paint in an airbrush. I enjoy using windex as it doesn't have an adverse reaction with my paint and seems to be a gentle cleaning agent on my airbrush. I know there are other brand name thinners out there but I find I have an allergic reaction to most of them which is why I use windex, no allergies kick up.

A lot of people feel windex is a terrible product to use because it will damage the airbrush. I wanted to find out from the source if windex is ok to use in small amounts through an iwata airbrush?

I always us an organic respirator and gloves when airbrushing so the saftey hazards aren't in question. The specific question I'm trying to get answered is: will windex cause harm to iwata airbrushes when used to thin acrylic paint?

Thank you for your time,

Meg Maples


Meg:
I recommend water. It is the basis of the acrylic paint. Too much and that may be a lot, the paint won’t stick as well. I would test first to see what you can get away with.

As for Windex it will not hurt your airbrush. The only time that it will do anything to the brush is if you seal the brush in a plastic bag with windex and leave it for about a week. Usually people don’t do that.

If you have any other questions give me a call.

Kirk



Thank you, Kirk.

I've been using it with my company's specific acrylic paint line and it's been working wonders! There is a huge debate right now in my industry as to what is safe to use in an airbrush. I wanted to make sure I got an answer from a manufacturer to ensure the information I was disseminating was correct.

Thank you again,

Meg


Meg:

Almost all the airbrushes in use today are made with brass bodies. This is for the most part very durable. It will resist slightly base and acids such as windex. It will also resist solvents such as acetone, lacquer thinner alcohol and the like. The things that are difficult for an airbrush is that it has some soft o-rings in the body and the air valve. Most of these o-rings are resistant to solvents but not solvent proof. Meaning that if you soak an airbrush in strong solvents it may damage the o-ring. The needle packing o-ring that keeps paint from flowing back into the trigger is more likely to be a PTFE plastic and is usually solvent proof.

The real problem is that the way that acrylics dry allows them to dry very quickly in an airbrush. When paint has a chance to dry it does not come off with the airbrush cleaners all that well.

Kirk


What I ended up getting out of this exchange is that Windex is perfectly safe for the airbrush. And considering Windex is sold in a container on many store shelves that turns it into a spray, I don't see how running it through an airbrush is any more harmful, especially when you should be wearing protective gear to begin with.

I find it's a better cleaner than most airbrush cleaners, it doesn't make me cough if some does happen to get through a crack in my mask, I don't have a reaction to it like I do with brand name airbrush cleaners such as inflammed sinuses and we all probably have Windex under our sinks.

 Ravenous D wrote:


As a note Ive been airbrushing with GW paints for a long time and they are utter hell on airbrushes, I very much suggest finding friendlier paint.

Another bit of misinformation. GW paint is just acrylic paint. Sure, it has some minor differences with other acrylic paints but it is no more or less hard on an airbrush than any other paint.

True fact: I used Citadel brand paints when weathering the starship models for the original Starship Troopers movie.

Tip dry is inevitable.

Windex will increase tip dry.

Water will increase tip dry.

Vallejo, liquitex and golden airbrush mediums will reduce (but not eliminate) tip dry and enhance film strength of your paint.

 Dullspork wrote:


Another bit of misinformation. GW paint is just acrylic paint. Sure, it has some minor differences with other acrylic paints but it is no more or less hard on an airbrush than any other paint.

True fact: I used Citadel brand paints when weathering the starship models for the original Starship Troopers movie.

First a quick shout out to you Dullspork, I am subbed to your youtube channel and you have some of the most informative videos about airbrushing for beginners that I could find, and they really helped a novice like myself in more ways than one. They helped me with what to look for in an airbrush, what type I would like, thinning paints appropriately, you name it. So for that I thank you. Also, very cool that you worked on Starship Troopers, one of my favorite movies.

Also, thanks for all the other repliers, this has been very helpful in deciding what products I would need to continue with the hobby, as far as painting goes. I took some of the suggestions as far as buying an ultrasonic cleaner, airbrush lubricant, and am in the process of getting Vallejo model air paint line, and hopefully see if that helps with all the troubles i have been having.

I will report back after all of the items I ordered arrive, and put them to use. Hopefully, everything works out! Thanks again all!!

 Dullspork wrote:

 Ravenous D wrote:


As a note Ive been airbrushing with GW paints for a long time and they are utter hell on airbrushes, I very much suggest finding friendlier paint.

Another bit of misinformation. GW paint is just acrylic paint. Sure, it has some minor differences with other acrylic paints but it is no more or less hard on an airbrush than any other paint.

True fact: I used Citadel brand paints when weathering the starship models for the original Starship Troopers movie.

No misinformation there. GW paints dry faster, drying faster means more clogging which equals more hell.

 Ravenous D wrote:

 Dullspork wrote:

 Ravenous D wrote:


As a note Ive been airbrushing with GW paints for a long time and they are utter hell on airbrushes, I very much suggest finding friendlier paint.

Another bit of misinformation. GW paint is just acrylic paint. Sure, it has some minor differences with other acrylic paints but it is no more or less hard on an airbrush than any other paint.

True fact: I used Citadel brand paints when weathering the starship models for the original Starship Troopers movie.

No misinformation there. GW paints dry faster, drying faster means more clogging which equals more hell.

No, they don't. They dry just as fast as other acrylics. I've been using them in my airbrush for the last four incarnations of their paint. They work just like other acrylics. If you know how to properly prepare hobby paint for your airbrush then you will have no extra difficulty with them,

 Ravenous D wrote:

 Dullspork wrote:

 Ravenous D wrote:


As a note Ive been airbrushing with GW paints for a long time and they are utter hell on airbrushes, I very much suggest finding friendlier paint.

Another bit of misinformation. GW paint is just acrylic paint. Sure, it has some minor differences with other acrylic paints but it is no more or less hard on an airbrush than any other paint.

True fact: I used Citadel brand paints when weathering the starship models for the original Starship Troopers movie.

No misinformation there. GW paints dry faster, drying faster means more clogging which equals more hell.

Yes there is most definatley misinformation here, coming from your keyboard matey. Citadel paints are plain old acrylic paints. So suggesting that they are hell to an airbrush is certainly mis information, because they are not, literally hundreds of post right here on dakka that will talk about alkl brands of paints.. and you are the first person Ive ever seen to describe citadel paints as 'hell' to an airbrush, please elaborate? hell is a pretty strong descriptive term for something that actually behaves like any other acrylic paint in the world.

I suggest that you just dislike citadel and want everyone to agree with you that theyre actively bad for airbrushes, which isnt true ATALL, Sadly your opinions are not facts, just opinions, and do not matter to anyone.
Fact is acrylic paint can be airbrushed, any acrylic paint, it will not cause any damage to the airbrush, or affect it it in any negative way unless the user is making serious errors, perhaps your made a stuipid user error and blamed your mistake on the paints? ... seems likely tbh.

I advocate no brand of paint, dont particularly like citadel any more or less than another brand, have no reason to suggest that theyre good or bad... either way. Just actual facts that they are acrylics, and behave just like all other acrylics on planet earth. (because if they did not.. then they wouldnt be acrylics, theyd be something else )

Edit;
amusingly what is actually hell on an airbrush can be those cleaning picks you suggested. Those things actualkly void the warrenty of many airbrush manufacturers because it scratches and damages the chrom coating on the inside of the brush, causing more clogging problems than before. The correct tool to use is actually a 'reamer', one made by the same people who made your airbrush nozzle (cheaper brands tend not to have them). having matching branding matters A LOT because the the shape of the 'cone' inside it is not the same for all brands. It has to match the needle pretty much spot on, or the airbrush will perform like crap. If you use the wrong tool; those picks, or the wrong reamer, then youre goign to deform it really easily and feth up a prefectly good tool. (just another snippet of misinformation coming from only one guy on this thread )

 Dullspork wrote:

 Ravenous D wrote:

 Dullspork wrote:

 Ravenous D wrote:


As a note Ive been airbrushing with GW paints for a long time and they are utter hell on airbrushes, I very much suggest finding friendlier paint.

Another bit of misinformation. GW paint is just acrylic paint. Sure, it has some minor differences with other acrylic paints but it is no more or less hard on an airbrush than any other paint.

True fact: I used Citadel brand paints when weathering the starship models for the original Starship Troopers movie.

No misinformation there. GW paints dry faster, drying faster means more clogging which equals more hell.

No, they don't. They dry just as fast as other acrylics. I've been using them in my airbrush for the last four incarnations of their paint. They work just like other acrylics. If you know how to properly prepare hobby paint for your airbrush then you will have no extra difficulty with them,

Yes, they do.

They have an active chemical in them that increases the dry time. I don't care what you say bud, your wrong. GW have openly admitted this.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

HairySticks wrote:

 Ravenous D wrote:

 Dullspork wrote:

 Ravenous D wrote:


As a note Ive been airbrushing with GW paints for a long time and they are utter hell on airbrushes, I very much suggest finding friendlier paint.

Another bit of misinformation. GW paint is just acrylic paint. Sure, it has some minor differences with other acrylic paints but it is no more or less hard on an airbrush than any other paint.

True fact: I used Citadel brand paints when weathering the starship models for the original Starship Troopers movie.

No misinformation there. GW paints dry faster, drying faster means more clogging which equals more hell.

Yes there is most definatley misinformation here, coming from your keyboard matey. Citadel paints are plain old acrylic paints. So suggesting that they are hell to an airbrush is certainly mis information, because they are not, literally hundreds of post right here on dakka that will talk about alkl brands of paints.. and you are the first person Ive ever seen to describe citadel paints as 'hell' to an airbrush, please elaborate? hell is a pretty strong descriptive term for something that actually behaves like any other acrylic paint in the world.

I suggest that you just dislike citadel and want everyone to agree with you that theyre actively bad for airbrushes, which isnt true ATALL, Sadly your opinions are not facts, just opinions, and do not matter to anyone.
Fact is acrylic paint can be airbrushed, any acrylic paint, it will not cause any damage to the airbrush, or affect it it in any negative way unless the user is making serious errors, perhaps your made a stuipid user error and blamed your mistake on the paints? ... seems likely tbh.

I advocate no brand of paint, dont particularly like citadel any more or less than another brand, have no reason to suggest that theyre good or bad... either way. Just actual facts that they are acrylics, and behave just like all other acrylics on planet earth. (because if they did not.. then they wouldnt be acrylics, theyd be something else )

Edit;
amusingly what is actually hell on an airbrush can be those cleaning picks you suggested. Those things actualkly void the warrenty of many airbrush manufacturers because it scratches and damages the chrom coating on the inside of the brush, causing more clogging problems than before. The correct tool to use is actually a 'reamer', one made by the same people who made your airbrush nozzle (cheaper brands tend not to have them). having matching branding matters A LOT because the the shape of the 'cone' inside it is not the same for all brands. It has to match the needle pretty much spot on, or the airbrush will perform like crap. If you use the wrong tool; those picks, or the wrong reamer, then youre goign to deform it really easily and feth up a prefectly good tool. (just another snippet of misinformation coming from only one guy on this thread )

Yeah and Im not going to listen to the opinion of a guy that would breathe in paint and mediums but get bent out of shape over windex and voiding warrenties with cleaning tools.

 Ravenous D wrote:

 Dullspork wrote:

 Ravenous D wrote:

 Dullspork wrote:

 Ravenous D wrote:


As a note Ive been airbrushing with GW paints for a long time and they are utter hell on airbrushes, I very much suggest finding friendlier paint.

Another bit of misinformation. GW paint is just acrylic paint. Sure, it has some minor differences with other acrylic paints but it is no more or less hard on an airbrush than any other paint.

True fact: I used Citadel brand paints when weathering the starship models for the original Starship Troopers movie.

No misinformation there. GW paints dry faster, drying faster means more clogging which equals more hell.

No, they don't. They dry just as fast as other acrylics. I've been using them in my airbrush for the last four incarnations of their paint. They work just like other acrylics. If you know how to properly prepare hobby paint for your airbrush then you will have no extra difficulty with them,

Yes, they do.

They have an active chemical in them that increases the dry time. I don't care what you say bud, your wrong. GW have openly admitted this.

Citation needed there chap, never heard the likes, and it really isn't in GW's nature to openly admit anything, even going back to the days of Coat D'Arms made Citadel, they weren't exactly an open book.

Oh, and does it reduce or increase drying time, as you seem to be saying both?