Thanks for the suggestion. I will try to get used to thinning. I’m still very new to it. All I have to go off of is people saying “thin to the consistency of 2% milk”. I’ve started tipping the paint cup until the paint can run quickly back down leaving a thin film. I usually get my best results doing it that way. lol I’ve been experimenting with IPA, denatured alcohol, and Windex. I read on some other forum (don’t worry, I’m not cheating on you guys) where a guy made a mixture of 78% IPA to 22% water and added a few drops of diluted Windex to improve flow and reduce orange peel. I think I’ll give this a try.
Keilau, When I use the airbrush at around 20 PSI it takes around 20-30 seconds for the compressor to kick in. It’s a small tank… but for $40 it’s awesome. And if it craps out I can buy a more expensive compressor and I already have a tank!
Great to hear that it is quiet and holds pressure for up to 10 minutes. Both are very good. The next important factor is how hot it gets. If the cylinder head does not get hot to the touch, you may have gotten a very good compressor.
When I forced the Paasche DA400 to run continuously for 30 minutes, the compressor cylinder head got warm, but I can keep my hand on it without feeling burnt. A laser thermometer registered 104°F in a 80 degrees basement. In normal use, it hardly gets warm. Your compressor will run hotter because of the smaller compression volume, but should do fine in normal uses.
It is a little surprising that the 0.2mm nozzle of the Velocity will run only 20-30 seconds. Milairjunkie reported 55 second with his 0.2mm H&S. His Revell Master Class Compressor has almost the same spec as yours (tank size, on-off pressures).
I measured 65 seconds with my H&S and 51 seconds with the Badger Chrome, both with 0.2mm nozzle. But I have a larger tank and the compressor runs at higher pressures.
Now, practice, practice and practice with your airbrush. And build some models too. Have fun.
Well I think I might be returning my airbrush for a replacement. Here’s the deal:
I’m hoping I this is just stupid user error for a newbie. But the first issue arose when I made a mixture of 91% IPA and distilled water (about a 3:1) and added some Windex. When I shoot this through, my airbrush squirts bubbles between the hold down ring and the main body… no matter how hard I tighten it. I’m afraid that there is a leak right there. The bubbles only happen with that solution though, it’s weird… straight Windex doesn’t produce bubbles.
Also, it seems like every batch of paint I put through the brush, I have to take it apart and clean the needle because it gets so gunked up. Is this normal? Is paint supposed to be getting on the needle behind the cup - around where the needle bearing is?
I mentioned this on the forum when I first got my brush, but the entire inside of the cylinder is coated with this brown/yellow grime. It was sent like that. I don’t know how normal that is… but I can coat a cotton swab with IPA and rub the inside of the airbrush near the back and have the swab be covered in the stuff when I pull it out.
Maybe all this stuff actually is noob mistakes… but it feels like I got sent a used airbrush instead of a new one.
Just a quick not to a statement you mentioned earlier about an air leak sound coming from the compressor. In the manual it states that the compressor will… I wonder if this is what you may be hearing.
When you took it apart to clean, it became a USED airbrush. Did it have the same problem when first received? Did you follow the instruction to the letter when disassemble and re-assemble the airbrush?
How did you thin the paint? It is not unusual to have tip dry problem when using acrylic paint. It gets worse with a small 0.2mm nozzle like the Velocity.
You may consider request exchanging for the Badger Krome instead? The Krome has a plated inside. Here is some background of it.
I watched a nice tutorial online about my specific airbrush. I’m pretty sure I reassembled it properly. It didn’t come with any instructions save for an exploded diagram of all the parts.
I’ve been experimenting with thinners. So far I like denatured alcohol. Windex is pretty good too, but I think it does funny things to the Tamiya paint. I’m not a huge fan of it right now. Maybe it’ll grow on my.
I just want to say a big “thank you” to all you modelers who have posted the great wealth of info on this thread! My 10 year old compressor died today, and I needed to get a new one, so I consulted the forum.
The Sparmax TC-2000 sounded like it had all the features I wanted, so I drove two miles to the local Hobby Lobby, they had one, and I had a 40% off coupon! Saved me $132 and this is a great compressor, as I have determined after a brief test run.
It is hard to argue with Gary when seeing the nice result he could accomplish with his gears.
The Badger Million-Air is “virtually silent” at 30 dB noise. So you can lower the noise by 55 dB with $660 more in spending on compressor.
You can save $160 going with the Silentaire Supersilent 20A which is the same compressor as the Badger Million-Air.
You need to be super noise tolerant to use the $40 Harbor Freight compressor. So the $200 Sparmax TC-2000 is a good middle ground which is quiet enough for indoor use in most family.
I keep trying to tell you guys that the Harbor Freight compressor is NOT that bad for noise. I have mine in the basement and you have to get right to the top of the stairs before you can hear it at all. It can’t be heard from the living room or bedrooms. The neighbor across the street has a central air conditioning compressor that’s much louder than my cheap little H.F. job. And it performs well, too. From dead empty it takes less than 3 and a half minutes to fill to 100 psi and if I’m not using it I can leave it sit for hours before it comes on again. If I’m using it I can spray for about half a minute before it kicks on, but it doesn’t run long at all to refill, even when I’m cleaning the airbrush. About 45 seconmds to one minute refills the 3 gallon tank. But to each his own, right? If you want to spend $600 on a compressor that’s your business. I just know that the $560 I saved bought me a whole boatload of really nice kits. Peace.
I am not sure that I want to leave my compressor in the basement and do airbrushing in the living room or bedroom. I perfer to keep the compressor within reach during modeling. 55-56 dB noise is all I can take when I model in the basement…
So, smart alec hampster, eh? I don’t airbrush in the bedroom. In fact, here’s where I build, and I always love to see what other guys are doing so if anyone else wants to share that would really cool.
And you’re absolutley right, it’s all a matter of personal choice. What works for me might be horrible for someone else. But to me the whole point of this forum is for us to share information and learn from each other to make ourselves better modelers and help keep our hobby going strong, so when there’s a subject that I have some experience with I’ll post what I know in the hopes that someone else will benefit from it. I know I’ve certainly learned boatloads from you guys already so I like to feel I’m giving a little something back.
I use a small compressor attached to a tank bought from Northern tools. Its exactlly like the harbor freight one and i agree. It runs quiet and is very cost effective and functions quite nicely. I am building a kit right now after a 15 year vacation from modeling and am moving along quite nicely with my vega 2000 and budget compressor :). And i airbrush upstairs in my “man cave” and i do not disturb anyone when the compressor kicks on to fill the tank. Its about 56db at the most.
