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Hey guys,
So, I am new to the airbrush world. I have to say that I love it already, can see it saving me a ton of time on the most boring parts of painting and makes vehicles much easier. It's also really fun to use.

I am using Vallejo Game Air paints. I know they say that they are ready to use right out of the bottle, but have read everywhere that I should thin them down. But whenever I do, be it with water or with Vallejo's thinner, my brush gets clogged, or dry tips or splatters. I have found that the best method is to play with the psi with each paint, and use them straight from the bottle. What am I doing wrong? I have tried all kinds of different ratios and mediums to thin (haven't tried "airbrush" thinner yet though). My airbrush is a badger patriot 105 and my comp is a tc-20t.

Dont thin them. I dont use any thinner with any of Vallejo's air paints, game or model.

If it sprays fine without a thinner then you can use it without a thinner.

One of the first things I learned when airbrushing was that Vallejo Air paint is far better if it's slightly thinned. But that's going to depend on what airbrush you are using and what technique you are using, I know a lot of people spray it straight from the bottle. I find it horrible spraying straight from the bottle.

What Vallejo Thinner are you using? Is it called "Thinner medium"?

I've never used the "thinner medium", but that might be your problem, it's designed for hairy brush painting, not airbrushing. The airbrush thinner is different in that it includes solvents and flow improvers. The solvents in the airbrush thinner are too strong for hairy brush painting, they'll strip the underlying paint, but they're great for airbrushing in that they lay down a smoother coat, reduce clogging and tip dry.

Also make sure you're cleaning out your brush properly, sometimes clogging can be the result of paint not being cleaned out thoroughly after each use, so it starts to build up and gets to the point where you can still spray but clogs very easily.

My main brush is the same as yours; I find that it takes quite a lot of abuse and will work with a lot of different paint thicknesses without too much complaint.

Firstly strip it down and give it a major clean to make sure you are as close to factory fresh as possible. Get some picks to clear the nozzle after a good soak in airbrush cleaner. You will be surprised of much crap builds up in there!

I use mainly vallejo air; it can be used neat but I may often add in a bit of thinner (vallejo airbrush thinner) - maybe 1 drop fo every 4 of paint. I then mix well using an old brush before spraying at between 10-15psi.

Dry tip and clogging can be reduced by shutting off the paint flow before shutting off the air flow when you stop spraying, and starting the air flow before your paint flow when you start spraying. Having a cloth or cotton bud handy that you can wet with airbrush cleaner and just give the needle and nozzle a quick clean also helps if you are sprayung for a while.

I've just started using these too and have found the same thing. Someone told me to add a bit if water but it seemed to cause splatters and inconsistent flow. I decided to use it straight from the bottle and it's much better.

I can't say I've tried to thin Vallejo Air with water as I gave up on water as an airbrush thinner pretty early in the game. But if you're getting splatters and inconsistent flow after thinning it typically means you either didn't mix it properly (so you're getting paint that's too thin then too thick then too thin, etc) or you used an incompatible thinner (so the paint is actively trying to separate or goop up while you're spraying). It might be that the water isn't very pure or maybe water is just a bad thinner for Vallejo air.

Occasionally you do just get a pot that doesn't spray as nicely. Gunze lacquers are my favourite paints to spray largely because they are so silky smooth, but for some reason my Gunze Medium Sea Grey lacquer tip dries like crazy and blows chunks like crazy. I have no idea why. But it's more likely you just aren't thinning it right or aren't mixing it properly.

Thanks for the replies guy.

I will have to look into getting airbrairbrush specific thinner if I am going to thin them down. Have been using vallejos thinner medium, didn't think there would be a huge difference between that and airbrush thinner.

I always keep some paper towels and q tips with Windex to help with dry tip. Basically, I always try to thin down the paints when I am first using them, but then get a clog and after working through it I decide to just use it straight from the bottle. So far none of my models have been ruined or even turned out bad. It's just when I try to thin them down and do some test sprays that things go wrong.

I don't think I will be doing any details work at the moment, just sticking to painting large surfaces/ base coating and doing initial shading/highlights with the airbrush. Still use a regular brush for details and such.