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Dakka:

So I bought an Iwata Neo CN and a Badger 80-3N compressor (24 psi max).

My paint (Citadel, Vallejo Air, and Vallejo Surface Primer) is always thinned, but getting the brush to lay down a good coat for more than 3-5 minutes is a nightmare. I've oiled the brush, plumber's taped all of the threads, and I still get bubbles in the cup and air making it through from the trigger sticking. I'm about to give up on airbrushing after a year of small hits and generally big misses.

Did I just go too cheaply on my first set-up? Should I keep thinning my paints past "skim milk?"

Thanks in advance.

Could you better describe the exact problem your facing?
What happens exactly when you try and spray, from mixing paints through to setting up and physcially using the airbrush, to cleaning it... your problem could be caused by literally hundreds of things not being done right, or not being right to start with and you never knew any better to question it.

edit; airbrushes can be finicky beasts. But treat one right and youl fall in love My only gripe is having to clean the thing out so thoroughly that I wont use one for every job that i perhaps could do.

So I just spray primed some models with Vallejo Spray Primer Black that I have thinned with Vallejo thinner to 2:1 or a little thicker. I get good velocity and coverage (mind you it's a broad spray) until about 3/4 through the cup that's 1/4 filled. Then I get sputters, blobs, and a mess. At the same time the cup is bubbling over with airbubbles covered in primer. It's a mess.

I break the brush down, take it to the sink, use my cleaning brushes on it after flushing with water cause the thing is now covered in primer, clean it, oil it and go back in. The trigger doesn't always get reset in the gun and requires a flick or two to get the air from flowing through it.

I can try to describe more but that's about it.

Sounds like the nozzle became blocked. Perhaps by a lump in the paint, or by tip dry.
if your thinning the paint out yourself take extra care to make sure its evenly thinned, any lumps will give you a headache. Profesional sprays actually filter the paint out into the spray guns they use to get out pigments that are larger than the rest, let alone lumps of un-thinned paint.

give the nozzle a damned good cleaning out, be careful with it tho as its delicate. the shape is very important, dont distort it in anyway.
I've assumed your mixing the paint in the airbrushes cup? (perhaps im wrong) but try mixing it in a seperate container and pipetting some into the airbrush, this can help avoid thicker bits settling down to your nozzle.

With acrylics the tip will always build up dryed paint because of all the dry air rushing passed it, its a hazard of using acrylics without potent thinning chemicals that you probably dont want at home. Every now and then its worth gently scraping the dryed material away from the needle, I use the removable needle guard of my airbrush for this task.

Also another tip might be to put less paint in your cup, use it up, then flush the cup out with some cleaner and then water, and then refil the cup with paint and do some more.

Edit; what do you thin the paint with? and what do you clean the airbrush with?
Water alone isnt really good enough for either of these jobs. For thinning it destroys the surface tension of the paint and also increases dry time far too much. I use Liquitex Airbrush medium, its a very fluid acrylic binder that mixes with paint in any ratio. Another favorite is alcohol, and the popular windex (although window cleaners can contain things that ruin airbrush chrome coatings)
For cleaning, again you need something a bit more than water to remove the dryed residue, alcohol is good, acetone can be good, but might ruin the seals inside the airbrush. Iwata do a cleaner under a brand called medea, theres a badger one too and a few others. Isoproyl alcohol and an old paint brush should work fine.

There's a whole bunch of issues that could be going on, but if I want to mix the paint and thinner in the cup, I will place my finger over the nozzle, which, when done carefully, cause air to come back into the cup and mix the contents.

Now, taking this to a logical conclusion from what you describe, I suspect you are getting a build up of dried paint around the needle and this is doing effectively the same thing.

I normally keep a few cotton buds (q-tips in Merican) to hand, soak them in thinner or airbrush cleaner and use them to clean the tip periodically.

I've never had as bad a problem as you describe though, so I'm not completely confident that's your problem, but my brush is a Chinese knock off and may well be a little more tolerant!

You should not need to thin Vallejo Surface Primer at all. The trick is to run the right sized nozzle and needle and higher pressure plus keep a q-tip at the ready soaked in airbrush cleaner to clean the needle and nozzle tip. At least for me mine gums up there. I shoot it straight out the bottle from my Badger Renegade Velocity, but with the fine tip/needle, not the ultra-fine it came with. I do not remember what size they are to compare it with your Iwata, but something does not sound right in your scenario.

Also, what pressure are you shooting?

It sounds like you are having paint dry on your needle. All acrylic paint will do this, as will the Vallejo Polyurethane-Acrylic Surface Primer. A q-tip or tweezers will solve that problem as it occurs, but there really isn't anything to do to prevent it. It just comes with the territory.

What you are thinning with? A custom made thinner (check AwesomePaintJob's YouTube channel for a good video about it) or by a premade one. Liquitex, as HairySticks said, is a decent one. I used it myself until I switched to the Vallejo thinner. However, thinning with alcohol and Windex is bad advice. Alcohol and water-based acrylic paints don't always play well together and adding alcohol speeds up the paints already quick drying time. As for Windex, just don't use it... It is a glass cleaner with lots of fun chemicals in it so use it as such.

I keep a q-tip and water close by and swab the needle tip every few minutes. I use the full cap to protect my needle but on many youtube videos, you will see the exposed tip and the artist always going in and using their thumbnail to clean it off. I get bubbles in the cup mostly while using white primer or paint mostly.

Inside the needle caps, there may also be 3 holes to route the air to the output hole that the needle sticks out of. Over time if not cleaned fully, they may become blocked by dried layers of paint. I noticed this on my Iwata when it started to spray at a weird angle. You may also have blockage there. Soak it in hot soapy water and let it sit over night and try again.

On a related note, you may also find the following link helpful for a diagram of your brush as well as other reviews and tips.

https://sites.google.com/site/donsairbrushtips/neo-for-iwata

Thanks to you all! I tried the qtip with thinner method and got a whole hour of painting with four different colors one after another!!! I think I experienced actual joy while painting with an airbrush! Thanks Dakka.

glad that you can finaly enjoy your airbrush, theyre great
rick factor mentioned about people who use the airbrush with the needle cap off, I do this, and not for fun! its the only way to get the best quality of spray from your brush. I didnt start out airbrushing models, i started on canvas and cars and smooth panels etc. To achieve a hairline detail with an airbrush you need highly pigmented, transparent over thinned paint, a low pressure and the needlecap off and you need to be closer to the surface than the cap actually allows. This puts your needle at risk,and needs a really steady hand. For base coating models its not really worth risking it as you dont need a hairline. but do keep it clean from build up as it will definatly affect your spray when it has nowhere to escape at the sides.

Most airbrushes, even cheap ones are capable of pulling a line comparable to the width of the nozzle in the hands of an experienced user.

edit; theyre finicky beasts at the best of times and take patience, and experience to get the most out of. When i got my first one i nearly packed it away and quit more than once during the first year, after 2 years im so glad i didnt, and for all the little tricks and tips you need to figure out it still worth it

Looks like you found a solution that works for the particular problem you had. A couple of related issues I've had that you may encounter:
1) pre-thinning vallejo and citadels has given me heartache. I pre-thinned them in plastic dropper bottles but as they ages the crusty bits from the inside of the bottle would fall into the airbrush and clog it. Now I mix the paint colours I need then thin them in a clean glass jar before spraying them. seems to have cut down on clogging quite a bit.
2) Seals are a pain. I now look for airbrushes that either don't have them at all or have them in standard sizes. The rubber seals are critical to your airbrush, make sure they are in good nick.
3) haven't tried plumbers tape, but i've had decent success with either chapstick or wax on the threads to make sure they are completely airtight.
4) clean, clean, clean. The more you clean, the more consistant the performance. Just bought an el-cheapo ultrasonic cleaner (30$ ebay) and it's made cleaning SO MUCH easier.

Stick at it, you can get some GREAT results quickly with them.

And if you have not watched them, go find videos on You Tube by the following people:

- WG Consortium
- Buy Painted
- Awesome Paint Job

There are LOTS more, but just watching these guys is so dramatically helpful it is not funny.