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Hi folks,

I'm writing for help with my airbrush. I'm new at airbrushing, started with one of those master airbrush kits (compressor + airbrush). It worked fine for a couple of weeks, then my son left paint in the airbrush and never got it working properly again. I assumed it was from the paint, so I bought an iawata eclipse hp-cs airbrush. Very slick, very nice. I'm still having the same problems.

When I start airbrushing, it is inconsistent. Occasional splatters, if I go past 50% on the slider too much paint comes out and it gets all nasty. Fine, so I airbrush in the 10% to 35% range. But then within minutes the paint just stops coming out. If I toggle the switch back and forward, paint comes out again for a few seconds, but then slowly stops coming back out again. And then eventually it just stops coming out. It isn't paint dried on the tip (that occasionally happens too but is easy to get rid of with a finger). This evening, for example, I had a semi-decent ability to airbrush for about 1 or 2 minutes before it started going south.

While I've experimented with multiple different PSIs, none of it seems to make a difference. My default is around 25 PSI charged, 23 PSI when running (you know, the needle dips a bit).

I'm at wits end here. I've stripped it each time, cleaned the heck out of it, run airbrush cleaner through it, you name it. I just can't get it to have a smooth output. Or even a half decent output. Or quarter decent output.

So far, I've just been using Citadel Air paints (which are annoying because i hate having to clean the dropper I'm forced to use, but since I've always used citadel paints, when going to airbrush I wanted to keep the colours consistent). I've tried adding airbrush thinner to the mix, but it doesn't seem to make any difference whatsoever. Oh, but airbrush cleaner runs through it just fine.

For those who have the lore of airbrushing, help me for the love of all that is mini-painting

Thanks,

--Me

How thoroughly did you strip it down? Did ou remove the nozzle and clean it out?

1. have you tried upping to about 30 PSI?

2. Have you run airbrush cleaner through the airbrush and cleaned the needle tip/nozzle end ?

Edited - I actualy re-read your post: As John Prins says I think you are getting dry tip.
What colour are you using? I found Citadel Air Flash gits yellow seems to dry up like every 45 seconds :(

I have that model of airbrush. The main problem I have seems to be paint getting gummed up in the outside nozzle - not the inner brass nozzle, that's the one the paint comes out of, but the outer steel nozzle, the one air comes out of. If you get clogs in that, then you've got restricted air flow. I think this happens when you've got tip dry and you pull back the needle and some of the dried paint back up into the outer nozzle ring. It seems very sensitive to the pigment load of the paint being used, as I find pigment rich paints like Vajello Game Color Deep Violet and Deep Blue love clogging it up.

I'm surprised that Citadel Air paints are doing that as well, as I generally don't have issue with those - Mephiston Red seems to run through just fine, but you might want to consider a thinner and/or flow improver, Lately I've been mixing my paints/thinners/etc in a small plastic cup before putting them into the gravity feed cup, as mixing in the airbrush seems to be a recipe for clogging.

I also find that backflushing the airbrush during cleaning really helps getting clogs out. Flush out the cup with water, then fill with clean and block the nozzle with some paper towel. You'll get bubbles in the cup as the air pushes remaining paint out of the inner nozzle back into the cup, hopefully taking some of the clogs with it. If all else fails I soak the business end parts (all nozzles) in cleaner than run it through my Ultrasonic cleaner.

Have you tried adding the thinner to the cup before the paint? I also have had some dry tip problems with standard GW yellow. I haven't tried the air range yellow so couldnt comment on that. Having a cotton but with cleaner on it to hand to clean the outer tip helps. Just retract the needle with no paint flow and wipe the cleaner across to loosen the gunk.

Also what tip cover are you using? When I got mine it came with 2, a cylindrical thingy that was almost fully enclosed and a very minimal 2 pronged thing. I found the cylindrical one really interfered with paint flow making it go all.spattery, but the 2 pronged tip barely interferes at all. Did your airbrush come with options?

There are some things that can help with Dry tip
Vellejo Flow improver
Minitaire Drying Retardant.
Needle Juice

These will slow the drying time of the paints and allow them to not do that.
Also, if you can get once, get a Ultrasonic cleaner and throw some windex in. IT will clean your airbrush and it will come out like it was fresh from the factory.
Airbrushes are finnicky little Divas and you have to get mixtures just right

The splatters usually mean the paint is too thick. No surprise that you are also dealing with dry tip.

A few bits of advice:

1) Consider using Flow Improver and a Thinner. I use Vallejo and it works fine with Citadel Air Paints.

2) Clear your airbrush. Blast it full pressure for a moment every once in a while. Knocks out dried paint in the tip.

My 2 cents:

Unless you like pain, shift your Citadel paints to a pack of empty plastic dropper bottles from Amazon. The Citadel pots are already bad for use with a regular brush, but for airbrushing they are just horrible.

There is no universal set of settings you can follow for airbrushing. You already bought good equiment, what you are missing now is most likely just a bit more understanding.

Paint is always comprised of pigment and medium. The medium carries the pigment and when it dries, it leaves a layer of paint. Pigment is made from many different materials and the pigment particles have different sizes. Whiich is why some paints (whites typically) tend to clog more than other colours, even in the same range.

An Airbrush has a bunch of factors that determines how much medium and paint is comming out the front. The aperture for the paint, defined by the needle/nozzle kit is the first factor. Recommended for acrylic colors in general is 0.3mm. You can pick something between 0.2 and 0.4mm, but it will have drawbacks either way. clogging on the one side and less control on the other. Less control because the first factor, the aperture, is relatively large. The next factor is how much pressure you use. More pressure makes more medium and pigment go through the aperture.

Since we want paint to come out in aa way that creates a coat of paint rather than a puddle, it is important to understand that control of pressure and aperture determine the working speed, i.e. how long you can spray a surface before it gets flodded.

If your airbrush's aperture is too small for the pigments you are trying to shoot through it, you can thin down the paint by adding more non-pigment stuff to it. People throw in everything under the sun, thinner made for your paint range makes the most sense, there are other things like retarder which lengthens the drying time with can be interesting.

You should make sure that you have a good airbrush cleaner. Best is a product made for the purpose, which both attacks acrylic paint and thereby removes it, but also acts as a lubricant for your airbrush. The later part and the fact that your seals might not like harsher chemicals is why you shouldn't just use straight up alcohol or cleaner made for other purposes.

Lastly, take a step back from your models, grab a bunch of paper and just go to town while you get comfortable with your airbrush. You will get it set up properly and will enjoy what it can do to enrich your hobby a loot.

Thanks for all the responses folks. I do clean the nozzle with a nozzle cleaner brush (have an airbrush cleaning kit) - forgot to post it in my thread.

The thinner hasn't helped, but I've ordered some retarder which should be arriving tomorrow. Hopefully that will sort it.

Maybe I just need to go a lot thinner than the default? I'll experiment with paint mixes (thinner plus retarder) to see if I can dial it in.

I have been experimenting on paper, because I can't use the airbrush on models, it is that bad. Either the paint doesn't come out, or it floods and then doesn't come out.

Y'all are the best, I appreciate the advice. I'll update on Sunday with the results of my experimentation.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

 Flinty wrote:
Have you tried adding the thinner to the cup before the paint? I also have had some dry tip problems with standard GW yellow. I haven't tried the air range yellow so couldnt comment on that. Having a cotton but with cleaner on it to hand to clean the outer tip helps. Just retract the needle with no paint flow and wipe the cleaner across to loosen the gunk.

Also what tip cover are you using? When I got mine it came with 2, a cylindrical thingy that was almost fully enclosed and a very minimal 2 pronged thing. I found the cylindrical one really interfered with paint flow making it go all.spattery, but the 2 pronged tip barely interferes at all. Did your airbrush come with options?

Mine only came with the cylindrical tip cover, I'm afraid.

I had this issue. The replies won't help. What you NEED to do is add either cleaner or flow improver and dip yer brush in the paint, then mix the paint into the airbrush. Sounds mad right? Well I have an Iwata Eclipse and I used to have all the issues you have. Now I use flow improver in a ratio of about 10 to 1 - if i need more paint then i add more. Airbrush hardly ever blocks up now. Even Air paints require MASSIVE thinning in my experience. After each colour i blast through cleaner and blow it back a few times then leave cleaner in the brush when not in use. Again people will say this is bad but hey, I use my brush every day and have done for the last 2 years.

 kravi wrote:
Hi folks,

When I start airbrushing, it is inconsistent. Occasional splatters, if I go past 50% on the slider too much paint comes out and it gets all nasty.

--Me

When I run into this issue it is usually that the needle is set too far back allowing too much paint out in the stream. Maybe try playing with needle depth?

The other times were that I was using an incorrect medium to dilute the paint and the thick stuff settled in the bottom of the cup (I have a gravity fed brush). Maybe try seeing if your diluted mix is settling out?

I also keep some q-tips soaked in cleaner handy to wash out dried paint on the nozzle every 5 models or so.

Good luck!

Dude, welcome to the suck.

That's a good airbrush and compressor, the problem is part of the learning curve.

Get your paint consistency right, thin as all hell to do multiple thin coats. Then make sure you're cleaning the brush properly, strip that bad boy down and get the nozzle clean.

 clownshoe wrote:
I had this issue. The replies won't help. What you NEED to do is add either cleaner or flow improver and dip yer brush in the paint, then mix the paint into the airbrush. Sounds mad right? Well I have an Iwata Eclipse and I used to have all the issues you have. Now I use flow improver in a ratio of about 10 to 1 - if i need more paint then i add more. Airbrush hardly ever blocks up now. Even Air paints require MASSIVE thinning in my experience. After each colour i blast through cleaner and blow it back a few times then leave cleaner in the brush when not in use. Again people will say this is bad but hey, I use my brush every day and have done for the last 2 years.

It is nice not being alone! I have new retarder and thinner - the flow improver is on the way. 10 paint to 1 thinner (or improver)? I'll experiment and thin it out, thanks!

Cheers!


Automatically Appended Next Post:

kb_lock wrote:
Dude, welcome to the suck.

That's a good airbrush and compressor, the problem is part of the learning curve.

Get your paint consistency right, thin as all hell to do multiple thin coats. Then make sure you're cleaning the brush properly, strip that bad boy down and get the nozzle clean.

Ha! I know that some day it will make my life better - I'm waiting for that day!

Cheers!


Automatically Appended Next Post:

mumsnarf wrote:

 kravi wrote:
Hi folks,

When I start airbrushing, it is inconsistent. Occasional splatters, if I go past 50% on the slider too much paint comes out and it gets all nasty.

--Me

When I run into this issue it is usually that the needle is set too far back allowing too much paint out in the stream. Maybe try playing with needle depth?

The other times were that I was using an incorrect medium to dilute the paint and the thick stuff settled in the bottom of the cup (I have a gravity fed brush). Maybe try seeing if your diluted mix is settling out?

I also keep some q-tips soaked in cleaner handy to wash out dried paint on the nozzle every 5 models or so.

Good luck!

Gracias. I'm good about making sure the needle is snugged up to the nozzle. I have a feeling I just need to better dilute (as mentioned above) the citadel air, and put in some retarder to boot (to keep it from drying to the needle/nozzle so much).

Cheers!