I had some trouble with paint globs spitting out of my airbrush while painting a Corsair. I was using Tamiya Acrylic Sea Blue XF-17. I haven’t had any trouble with Tamiya paints before, but this was my first time using this particular color. I tried several things to try to solve the problem. I don’t think it’s an air problem. It seams to feed air fine. I’ve tried thinning the paint with water. I’ve tried using a different jar of paint. I have no idea what’s wrong. The paint likes to gum up, and I have no idea why. I use a Testors A320 Airbrush with a Testors Blue Mini Air Compressor. Is it time to buy new tips for the airbrush? Or, is it a problem with the paint? Any ideas would be appreciated.
Ridleusmc, this is just my 2 cents worth but I would try thinning with Tamiya thinner at about 50% first off. I know that Tamiya paint is water based but Tamiya thinner definitely gets it flowing smoother and spraying better. It costs more than water, I know, but believe me, it will prevent a lot of your Tamiya painting problems before they even happen. You say the problem is just with this colour, this would seem to rule out your airbrush as the problem. You could also try straining the paint through a stocking but really the lumps shouldn’t be there in the first place. Maybe they made a bad batch of this colour? You could try getting a jar from another hobby store (hopefully from another batch). Sorry if this doesn’t help, just thought I would throw some ideas at you.
Cheers…Snowy.
[#ditto] I highly recommend Tamiya Thinner for Tamiya paints. It’s much better than water. You can also try alcohol. Also, have you checked your needle? Is it gummed up? Have you been spraying enamels through it? Is there any chance of a non-compatible solvent in there?
Ive recently run into some problems with various tamiya colors…problems I never encountered with other Tamiya colors…sounds much like what your describing. I picked up some Tamiya thinner…Problem fixed. Well my problem was fixed. I had a problem with Tamiya Medium blue…dont remember the Tam # though.
Thank you all for your suggestions. I saw some Tamiya thinner at my local hobby shop. It’s time to invest a few more dollars.