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I recently bought an airbrush off amazon (https://www.amazon.co.uk/Complete-Airbrush-Compressor-Airbrushing-Accessories/dp/B002RI8K8C), a cheap one to basecoat and get used to before I purchase a better one.

Ive been using the citadel airbrush range. I clean it after each paint change and after each session by taking the airbrush apart and thoroughly cleaning each component. Ive even bought some airbrush cleaner which I run it every 5 minutes to make sure it all runs smoothly.

After my first batch of models everything went great and I thought this was a great investment, it speeded up my painting by alot and gave a smooth consistent finish which id struggle to do easily with a brush.

After this though the problems started occurring, the airbrush would constantly stop putting paint out and the general area of paint would gradually get lower like it was stuck inside the brush. Even after cleaning the problem would persist about 3 minutes into trying again. I thought it was the paint as this particular pot was thicker than the rest, so I thinned it down and even got GW to replace it as it was wrong. The new paint and the thinning down still makes the airbrush jam up.

The compressor is fine and with just water it sprays normally. Ive tried everything I know with the paint to make it work but with no luck. Is it my cheap brush?

Any help would be great thanks, as I dont really want to spent alot of money on a brush just to get started.

The Gravity fed one or the siphon one?

I was having similar issues with a cheap gravity fed china clone of an iwata.

I find running some alcohol through it helps clear up some junk.

check the inside of the tip as well some times chucks dry in there.

never really had to do a full break down of the thing besides like once a month. just flushing it hard with water and or iso for the most part kept it running.

Dont worry this is a common thing to happen, and is actually normal.

No matter what you are painting with, small little bits of paint will dry on the tip of the needle as you paint with it, and then clog the flow, even the $400 air brushes will do this.

what you wanna do is every couple of seconds, pull the trigger back and then flick it forward, this will dislodge the paint on the tip, and get the paint flowing again.

Again, this is normal air brush paint happenings. I even brought this up to a golden demon winner and he told me yeah thats normal.

Thanks for the replies. The airbrush is gravity fed. I run cleaner through it every minute to keep it clean but i dont clean the nozzle unless im swapping paint or ive finished. Whats the beat way to do this and whats this flicking motion? Do you push the trigger forward every few seconds? I did find if i shake the airbrush sometimes flow can come back but it does seem annoying to do all the time.

Also i dont understand on my first session i painted constantly for 2 hours and didnt have this problem once?

Im going to assume this is an iwata clone as well.

did clean the small inside tip?

the part that actually contacts the paint and needle?

probably because it was a brand new fresh needle.

So all you need to do if you notice the paint not flowing, just pull the trigger back, and let it get flicked forward by the force of the spring, then pull it all the way back and fire a quick spritz fully open on a paper towel, you should see it flowing again.

You dont need to clean the nozzle that often, the only time i would, is if you are swapping to white, you only really need to clean the nozzle after you are done and wont be using it for a while.

When swapping paints what i do is just blow it all out, then run water through it until its clear, then just a sqritz of cleaner, then water again.

Like i said this is totally normal behavior for an airbrush, at least from what you have told me so far.

 Backspacehacker wrote:
probably because it was a brand new fresh needle.

So all you need to do if you notice the paint not flowing, just pull the trigger back, and let it get flicked forward by the force of the spring, then pull it all the way back and fire a quick spritz fully open on a paper towel, you should see it flowing again.

You dont need to clean the nozzle that often, the only time i would, is if you are swapping to white, you only really need to clean the nozzle after you are done and wont be using it for a while.

When swapping paints what i do is just blow it all out, then run water through it until its clear, then just a sqritz of cleaner, then water again.

Like i said this is totally normal behavior for an airbrush, at least from what you have told me so far.

Thank you so much! Used this technique and airbrush is working spot on, i do it every 10 seconds and paint is flowing smoothly. Im glad i asked here as i would have bought a new airbrush. You've just saved me money, thanks for the advice. If i knew you the beers would be on me!

Are you sure you're cleaning out the nozzle properly? One of my airbrushes which uses a short screw in nozzle I shove 1 or 2 bristles of a toothbrush through the nozzle like I'm flossing the paint out.

My other airbrush has a really long nozzle, I use one of the pipe cleaner style airbrush cleaners but that won't go all the way through, so I use an old needle to carefully loosen up the paint then reassemble the brush and put a bit more cleaner through it.

Simply spraying cleaner through it usually isn't enough to ensure it's cleaned out, at least with acrylic paint. That was one of my first mistakes with my AB, thinking the cleaning solution was actually getting all the residue out and after maybe 10 spraying sessions I was getting clogs almost straight away because the effective size of the nozzle had reduced from gradual paint build up.

It can also help to use a small amount of lube on the tip of the needle, not too much, just a little bit. Badger's needle juice is good for this.

Also what are you cleaning it out with? Some cleaners leave the nozzle/needle very dry, like lacquer thinner or isopropyl alcohol. Vallejo's AB cleaner is a bit softer, I find if I clean out with Vallejo, next time I spray it'll be less prone to clogging. Sometimes I'll do an initial clean out with lacquer thinner but then do a final spray through with Vallejo AB cleaner.

Lastly what are you using to thin the paint? Some thinners will be less prone to blocking up than others. Typically thinners which are high flow, slow drying and a stronger solvent will tend to keep the needle and nozzle cleaner for longer.

Another thing that can be a problem, if you look down the airbrush at the air cap, nozzle and needle, if they aren't concentric you'll tend to get paint drying in the nozzle or on the needle on one side more than the other which will tend to lead to the brush clogging quicker (and a slightly uneven spray pattern).