Help! I am new to airbrushing and am using a Badger 350. On my first painting attempt everthing was going good and then the paint started coming out in specks. I cleaned to entire brush and started again with the same specks not an even flow of paint. What could be the problem? I will be very thankful for any advise.
I’m not familiar with the 350, but I have a 200 and an Omni 3000 both of which are bottom feeders.
Check and make sure you have a good flow of air. Hold it close to your hand or the surface of some water and just blow air through it and make sure the airflow is smooth and even. If you have good airflow then it has to be something in the paint path.
There is a vent hole in the cap of the bottle. Make sure that hole isn’t covered by the inner seal of the cap or plugged with paint. Also make sure the siphon tube that goes down into the bottle is clean and free of clogs.
If that doesn’t help, disassemble the paint tip and soak all of the metallic parts in laquer thinner overnight. I can’t tell from the picture whether all of the parts of the paint tip are metallic or not, and I’m not certain whether the seals are solvent proof on that model (I’m about 99% sure that they are, but not 100% sure).
Was the paint thin enough?
Mike
Mike,
I am using Testor’s Acryl paint. On the second try, I did add a few drops of diluted alcohol to thin the paint with the same results
swfong
What pressure are you spraying at and how close are you?
The 350 is an external mix airbrush so it is not going to atomize as well as an internal mix.
Mike
And … acrylics have a nasty habit of “Tip Dry”. Paint dries around the tip and causes much what you are experiencing. I keep a Q-Tip moistened with thinner handy and before I sit my airbrush down I wipe the tip down. That seems to help a lot.
Good point, Mike. You said you added “A Few Drops” of alcohol. Unless you only loaded a few drops of paint that probably wasn’t thin enough. Try about 3 parts paint to 1 part thinner (I use alcohol with acrylics). I think Mike thins his paint about 2:1