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so i bought my son a master starter set for christmas and he has yet to paint any damn thing.
reminds me of why i never started air brushing...

so i know that theres a lot that go wrong but he thins his paint from milky to almost water consistency and nothing.

i found out that he mixed his needles, nozzles and nozzle caps though so im sure thats not good.

i can visually see a difference in one set which i'm assuming is a 0.5 vs the 0.2 and 0.3 he has so we tried that and still nothing.

a good guide or something feels like it would help... its frustrating the crap out of me.

should i buy a new needle set?

when we tried what i think was the 0.5 we just ran solution throuh it and got some sputtering but no real "spray"

any thoughts or help would be appreciated.

Try this:
https://www.airbrushguru.com/start-airbrushing-right.html
https://www.airbrushguru.com/airbrush-basics.html

You will need to get the mix-up sorted, that is indeed important.

I got a lot of assistance from this video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WezhNoebA2Y

I also picked up general advice from youtube videos, that if something is going wrong, it probably means that you need you clean your needle

Even if it looks clean, it may not be. Airbrushes have pretty fine tolerances.

thanks guys.
i wonder if it can be the air?
it has a quick connect on it with a flow control valve and no matter which way i turn that valve it seems like the same air always come out.
maybe ill see if i can bypass that when i get home.

If nothing is coming out, is the needle retracting properly when you pull back on the trigger?

checking the airflow from source to nozzle is a good idea as well. You could have some defective part in there somewhere.

Its rubbish when you have something that should be awesome, but doesn't work and you can't see why. I just had to rebuild my PC several times to track down a busted component...

no, some stuff comes out, just not paint...lol
i can hear/feel air and it bubbles out of the tip sometimes, just no "spray"

An airbrush is actually a pretty simple device, but a lot can go wrong! If it is a dual action (press down to get air and pull back to start spraying) the needle does need to sit into the nozzle, but only just barely tight. Unscrew the end where the needle is secured and loosen it, pull the needle out a bit and then gently slide it back in. Secure it and check to see when you pull back the trigger the needle moves back. If you do not have any paint loaded you should still feel the air coming out of the nozzle when you press down the trigger.

You can load it up with water to test and make sure it sprays a fine mist. If the air is coming out but no paint, make sure your air psi is between 20-30 and you do not have a clog anywhere. One way to check and clear some clogs is a 'blowback' where you press the trigger, block the tip with a paper towel or such and pull the trigger back. The air will blow back into your paint reservoir. But, be careful, as if it is a open paint cup you can blow your paint everywhere.

thank you all so much... hopefully this can help someone else too.

we did make some progress.
apparently we have a defective quick disconnect. it has a flow control valve on it that even says on and off. no matter how much i turn it the air flow always seemed to be the same and definitely never shut off. i bypassed the quick disconnect and connected the hose directly to the air brush and a ton more air came out. for now we will adjust air flow by the regulator on the compressor.

he definitely has some issues still because we weren't getting any spray with paint but when he started to clean it it started spraying although very watery. hes trusting youtube a lot and i think his paint may still be too thick. i also dont like how he mixes it... like 10 drops of flow control 3 drops of paint and he stirs it in the airbrush a few times with a toothpick. that doesnt seem very well mixed to me but im old and dont know much...

i ordered a new needle/tip set so we'll see what happens after that.

on a side note youre right mdsw, its pretty simple but a lot of variables. he decided to take apart he trigger without telling me so when you pushed down on it nothing happened(double action). on the bottom of the trigger theres a little pin that goes through a little hole that pushes another little pin to release the air... the pin on the trigger wasnt in the hole.

did i mention how little everything is? rofl...