Airbrush woes - is this how it should spray?

Ian

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Joined
Aug 29, 2012
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Here's the setup:

- Badger Krome with the ultra fine needle
- 50/50 mixture of Tamiya paint & Tamiya Lacquer Thinner
- @15psi

My first attempt at pre-shading (looking at what John Simmons did in SMA mag #2 with his Star Wars ship) but I'm having a few issues.

fCT4Ei3.jpg

YLor6KT.jpg

9uxsF1s.jpg


1. Shouldn't I be able to spray a finer line with the ultra fine needle?

2. Should there be that much overspray?

Here's a video where I test the AB on paper, and try to get as fine a line as possible.

Private Video on Vimeo

And here's a still image of what I ended up with.

H2iyrG5.jpg

Drb9ZHF.jpg

1jXc3nu.jpg
 
Hard to say precisely, but from the looks of it, thin your paint more or increase your air pressure or a combination of both.

I can get a hairline with my krome with none of that spatter seen in your photos.
 
Ian said:
- 50/50 mixture of Tamiya paint & Tamiya Lacquer Thinner
- @15psi

Yeah, my ratio is easily closer to 70/30-thinner/paint

I can run as low as 12 psi with Lifecolor but for Tamiya I'm up closer to 18/20 psi
 
this always happens me with Tamiya paint, ill thin it more next time after seeing that,

Thanks for posting and and thanks for the info Ken :D
 
I will tell you with Tamiya I use Mr. Color leveling thinner. I mix 50/50 at about 18psi with the Badger Velocity. I've never had that issue.

GunzeT108Thinner.jpg
 
Hmm, might look into that.

I tried Ken's ratio and PSI settings and it did spray better, but I'm still having issues with consistency.

If I dial down to say "3" on the AB (the finest line it seems to be able to spray), it starts off well enough but maybe after an inch or two of straight line spraying it just stops. Does this almost every time I attempt it.
 
I wouldn't use that dial to set a stop for the trigger, you're much better off learning to control it by finger pressure, plus, you can take the brush off model and fully rock it back at a cotton rag/paper towel, (something I do often to help clear any dried paint from causing a ridge) I also have a small bottle of Iso. alcohol and a very soft brush and occasionally brush the tip clean, with almost any paint I use.

That Mr. Hobby thinner is good stuff, it's essentially the same as Tamiya's yellow cap lacquer thinner but with a retarder to slow the dry time, which may really be one of the problems you're having, the paint drying on the tip, causing the blockage/spatter etc.

...and for what it's worth, it can't hurt to continue messing with the pressure and mix ratio, what works for Bob might not work for Bill and tweaking your brush and thinning ratio to fit what works well for you is more important than simply mimicking what someone else does. Keep experimenting and changing it up slightly.
 
Agreed, experimenting is the way to go.

I was thinking that it might be quick dry issue at the tip (as you mentioned), so the Mr. Hobby thinner is already in my RedFrog Hobbies cart.
 
I know it doesn't exactly answer the question about Tamiya paints but I found Vallejo model air at a low pressure has given me the best results with minimal spatter and over spray.

Not to say that you cant get good results with tamiya.

Also keeping the AB closer than normal to the surface works for me with preshade, thinner mix is better for fine work. as Ken mentioned controll the flow with your finger pressure.

You mentioned lacquer thinner, are you using Tamiya enamels? If not shouldn't you be using acrylic thinner...?
 
Do you thin the Model Air paints at all?

I'm using Tamiya acrylics, and have used the Tamiya acrylic thinner, but I find the lacquer thinner produces a better overall finish. It also dries much faster too, which is a bonus.
 
rookie said:
You mentioned lacquer thinner, are you using Tamiya enamels? If not shouldn't you be using acrylic thinner...?

The yellow cap lacquer thinner is designed to be used with their acrylics.
 
you can use lacquer thinner from the hardware store or Cellulose thinners with Tamiya i find it works better and smoother but the Smell......... not good in a small house even with good ventilation.

Il love to try Mr leveling thinners but it cant be go here in Ireland. I can get it in the UK but shipping the stuff costs twice that, Heading to Telford in November so hopefully i can pick it up there
 
Ian said:
Do you thin the Model Air paints at all?

I'm using Tamiya acrylics, and have used the Tamiya acrylic thinner, but I find the lacquer thinner produces a better overall finish. It also dries much faster too, which is a bonus.

Generally speaking most of the model air colours are good to go straight from the bottle
 
Hey Ian, have you tried other colors? If it's just the black, maybe you have a bad bottle? I'm actually using Tamiya flat black a lot right now with my current project. and it just sprays so nice with the Badger Velocity. Which also uses a fine point.
 
No, it seems to be a number of colors. The thinning ratio change definitely helped though.
 

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