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Trying to airbrush some leman russes and I haven't used an airbrush before. I've had massive problems all afternoon trying to get the paint to spray evenly. So far I've tried high pressure, low pressure, thick and thin paint and I get the same speckled effect that refuses to dry every time. I'm using water as a thinner, I tried white spirit but it wouldn't mix. Just using standard citadel paint. Any advice or ideas why I keep getting the same result?

It all comes down to thinning, and pressure, and how you handle the airbrush.
Depending on the paint used, you will need to thin it. Water is ok, but I recommend airbrush thinner instead. Windex (or similar window cleaning products) will also work in a pinch, but keep in mind that cheap solutions aren't always best when it comes to airbrushing.

Vallejo, Liquitex, Golden and Createx all make very good airbrush thinners.
Make sure you thin properly. What you are looking for is paint that will flow easily, but isn't too watery. Experimentation is key here.
For pressure, most of the time you want to run between 15 and 25 PSI, but again, this may vary depending on paint, thinning and desired application.

Make sure the airbrush is clean - I mean REALLY clean. Even a tiny speck of paint can obstruct the flow and cause problems like you describe.
Try the following: Put only water in the airbrush and spray. If the spray "sputters", your airbrush is clogged and in need of cleaning. Even if it the spray if fine with water, clean the airbrush anyway.


I would recommend practicing out on old models or even paper before trying to apply to a model you intend to finish.
Also note I usually recommend never to pull the trigger fully back when spraying paint. Control is key when airbrushing. A very light, controlled spray in several layers will give you great results (and the paint will dry almost instantaneously upon contact)

Regardless of advice or opinions, there can be no substitute to experience and that is what you need right now. Practice practice practice!

I hope this helps

One thing that a lot of newcomers fall victim to is the mixing. Make sure you mix your paints outside of the airbrush cup NOT inside it. I can't stress this enough.

There are a hell of a lot of variables when it comes to airbrushing; experimenting and watching a ton of YouTube videos is the way forward and through these dark woods.

If it's speckling, I would guess that it may be you're holding the airbrush too far away and its partially drying before it reaches the model.

How come mixing in the airbrush cup doesn't work?

There were no blockages, as the air brush is brand new, and it definitely wasn't drying to fast, if anything the opposite was the problem.

Mixing in the cut does not work, because once you pour it into the cup, some of the materials get into parts of the brush that your mixing cant reach.

For example, once you put a liquid into the cup, it flows into the needle tip. Then if you put a second substance into the cup, and stir or shake, that only mixes the stuff that is in the cup, and not around the needle.

Welcome to airbrushing....it is just like painting a brush...a bit of an art. Its amazing and you will love it...but airbrushes are a bit temper-mental.

Just a note; the finer the brush, or the poorer quality the paint - the more temper-mental your experience (a fine brush has small openings and tolerances that it does not like paint without very fine ground pigments).

there are literally hundreds of posts on airbrushing, and airbrushing advice. Check them out.
No seriously. hundreds.

Also check out;
awesomepaint job. com
buy painted
airbrush tutor

these are great channels on youtube.

I have used white spirits for cleaning, but its not ideal - it is certainly not ideal for mixing paint.

Clean with either 91% alcohol, or airbrush cleaner or mineral spirits.

You can get a blockage in the first 2 seconds of painting in a brand new brush - once you put anything in your brush, it is no longer new (I did not believe this either when I started....).

A few things that will help;
Use real airbrush medium (any brand, I prefer golden but liquitex works well). Its worth every penny. No really. It is.
Mix external to the brush
Clean your needle, a lot.

as a very successful and seasoned airbrush user, the one piece of advice I can give (and gave yesterday in fact, on this forum..as I said...this keeps coming up);
Experiment and keep trying things. With an airbrush, nothing, I say NOTHING replaces experience as there are so many variables.

best of luck, and have fun!

Im using a siphon fed brush rather than gravity fed (its super cheap but I've no intention of using it for detail work) so the paint never gets into the workings of the brush, just the siphon tube from the paint pot. I've also got hold of some proper thinner rather than just water


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Gonna give it a go with a slightly thicker mix and using a different thinner, will let you guys know how it goes


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Well everything went swimmingly, used screenwash as a thinner at a ratio of about 4 paint to 1 thinner and worked really nice, got 7 russes fully done and another about half done. Cheers for all the tips!

I mix exclusively in the cup but put in a drop of thinner first, then paint, then more thinner.

I highly recommend buying and ultrasonic cleaner. They cost about $30-40 and can be used to clean air-brush parts, jewelry, etc. Very handy and finds sludge and dirt in places that only Prince would sing about.