nozzles on Aztec 4709

Tools, Techniques, and Reference Materials Painting and airbrushing
1

I just purchased my 2nd airbrush[1st was a single stage],& I’m a bit confused about nozzle selection.It comes with 6 nozzles,but only 2 are listed for use with acrylic paint.One is for “general detail” & 1 for “high flow”.Whats the harm in using the other 4 nozzles with acrylic[ which is mostly what I use,Tamiya ].Also,what are the reasons to switch from siphon to gravity ? Any help will be appreciated.Thanks ahead,Semper fi

2

rude -

Absolutely nothing. I’ve used the Aztek air brushes when they were still called Model Master! Still use some of the origonal nozzles too. As you know the Acrylics do dry pretty quickly, so dried paint does cake up around the needles. The new(er) Acrylic nozzles have wider opennings, and supposed to delay the onset of that build up. As long as you keep a wet Q-Tips handy both will work fine, depending on the type of pattern you’re looking for.

Sorry, can’t help with the grav vs siph thing.

Archer out.

3

Thanks Archer,I’ll feel safer knowing that.Since you have experience with this brush,what ratios do you use with acrylis & enamels.I’ve been using 50/50.My biggest problem so far is with “spider legs” .I realize I’m probably too close and/or too much air pressure.But how can I improve my real fine lines ? Are there any additives I should be using ?Thanks again& Semper fi to all us modelers.

4

Ok… the difference between siphon and gravity is gravity lets you use lower pressure to AB with… which in itself might lessen or get rid of the spiderweb thing… it also lets you get a finer line for detail…

the other causes of spiderwebbing are too thin paint and being too close to the model AND too high pressure… you might try to play around with those to see which will reduce that…

here’s some links to some guides for thinning and pressure courtesy of Music City from here:

http://www.craigcentral.com/models/pressure.asp

http://www.craigcentral.com/models/thinning.asp

typically it depends on the paint… MM acrylics tend to be almost ready for airbrushing (some use them right out of the bottle) I tend to use a 3:2 ratio of paint to thinner on them…

Tamiya has the ratio on the bottle for thinning.,. usually 3:2…

enamels I start at 2:1 paint to thinner then adjust from there…

good luck to ya!!!

5

Thanks Tho,the 2 articles & your advice as well are a big help.I’ve only started modelling recently & you know that old Arabic adage," The journey of a thousand miles begins with but a single step". Or in my case,tripping !!!

6

rudedog -

Agree with tho on the above. I don’t use enamals anymore, as the acrylics are just so much easier to work with. No nasty fumes, water clean-up, and faster drying. I’ved used Tamiya in the past and 2or3:1 paint to water sounds about right. Pretty much stocked up on thr MM Acryls these days. As long as you mix them throughly, they are good to go right from the bottle. Yes, the spiders can be due to too much pressure or too thin paint. My compressor isn’t adjustable, so I have to be on with the paint, and the MM seems to have it worked out for me! With Acryls, they dry so fast, for flat colors you can also decrease the spiders by varying the distance from the nozzle to the target.

Archer out.

7

I was always wondering the same thing. I’ve never used the nozzles that aren’t advertised for acrylics, but I’ve wanted to give it a try.

8

Thanks again Archer.I’m gonna attempt using modelmaster straight up.I also have a 1 pressure compressor,that blue seethru testors,& at the price [off e-bay] I love it.