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Hi guys,

I'm very much a beginner when it comes to using an airbrush, so i'd appreciate any help you can offer

I was using my airbrush today to prime and base coat some marines when it started 'hissing' and it was spraying 'dots' instead of a mist. I took it apart, rinsed it and tried again and it still had the same issues. What is causing these problems and how do i fix it? My airbrush is currently soaking in water / airbrush cleaner mix.

Appreciate any help on this,

Thanks, Zambro

Needle clogged most likely

or the paint could have been to thick, or pressure to low, or quite frankly a mixture of the two..

Could be a few things;

Clogged nozzle, poorly mixed paint, worn out seal, bent needle, water in the airline....

Soaking in airbrush cleaner isn't really great for the seals inside it. If you clean it out promptly after each session, and in the middle of long sessions, so as to never allow any paint to actually set inside it, then soaking is not necessary.

Do you re-lubricate the needle each time you clean it?

How would i re-lubricate my needle? What what would lubing the needle do?

Typically places that sell airbrushes also sell airbrush lubricant... I know badger make one, as do iwata.
I apply a drop to to needle and wipe it along the whole thing with a tissue. But the badger video on it suggests dipping the needle into it as it only really needs to be at the tip.

It helps reduce tip dry, which causes spray defects if you dont remove it. Wont eliminate the tip dry, but certainly helps paint to not stick to the needle.

Get yourself a cleaning kit with multiple size cleaning brushes. These look like glorified pipe cleaners. For needle lube, Iwata makes a good one and for Teflon, delrin and orings I use Tri-Flow liquid in a pen style applicator. Small note; when using triflow use sparingly and run air through the brush to get any excess lubricant out.

The hissing is usually clog on needle or your nozzle is starting to fill with drying paint. This is pretty common if you don't use the correct thinner with the selected paint. Also, I soak certain parts of my brush in Tamiya Airbrush Cleaner, as long as you remove all oring you will be fine. I've only replaced orings in my Iwata a few times in 5 years of using it.

Vallejo Model Color suffers from this primarily if you don't vigorously mix the paint before you add thinner.

Some paints I've never had clog issues:
Vallejo Model Air
Tamiya
Model Master Acryl
Hannants Xtracrylics
For Metallics I use Alcladd (beware this is laquer paint and is poisonous)

My biggest suggestion is move away from the GW line and companies specific to war gaming and move into scale model paint brands and premixed airbrush paint. Premixed paint doesn't mean you don't have to thin your paint though.GW in my opinion makes garbage paint for airbrushing.

Hope that helps. PM me if you have more questions

the Lube that they are talking about is a teflon based lube you can pick up for pennies on the dollar at any place that sells gun cleaning supplies.. Also the pipe cleaners will void most if not all of the airbrush manufacturers warrenties.. So use those with caution, I have never had a reason to use them that a little bit of solution did not fix..

The airbrush specific pipe cleaners will not void your warranty.

Eclipseone wrote:
The airbrush specific pipe cleaners will not void your warranty.

You may want to check iwata and badger on that.. I have gotten emails from them saying it would and not to use them..

Sent back a 400 dollar iwata with Mac valve issues - cleaned with their brushes and they didn't say a word.

Case by case I guess so if Ruf thinks maybe it will void then use at your own risk - but I haven't been turned away from warranty work yet.

Just to be clear, there is a big difference between the pipe cleaners which you are mentioning and the ones which Ruff is refering to.

The actual pipe cleaners have a twisted steel wire core which is larger in diameter than most airbrush orifaces and when people try to cram them into the various parts of an airbrush they scratch and tear their way through. Most airbrush manufacturers will easily recognize the damage done with them.

The ones made for airbrushes have a soft brass or sometimes plastic core which is fine enough to slip through the smallest of holes. Even when it doesnt, the core is soft enough that it wont damage the brush itself. These are sold by third part companies and most airbrush manufacturers even have them as part of their care accessories.

You can get them quite readily at pharmacies as well, though there they call them interdental brushes. They come in a dozen or so sizes and can be had for dirt cheap. I usually use the size which is listed as twice what my airbrush nozzle size is. Gives it a good scrubbing and since they are designed for use against the fairly soft tissue of your gumline, they dont damage the airbrush but scrub out any dried paint.

Yes. I was only referring to them as pipe cleaners as that's what the tip resembles. Only use airbrush specific cleaners as I mentioned!

Looks like a problem with the needle to me.

Thanks all for the advice. I've actually gone a watched a few videos on cleaning airbrushes and maintanence - something which i should have done when i first got the thing.

I have cleaning brushes, and vallejo air brush cleaner, that i use when cleaning. I mostly just mix the cleaner with water and soak the parts overnight after using the airbrush.

Oh, and for reference i use Vallejo Model air paints in my airbrush