Ok first, Since I can’t afford a compressor I’m using a 6oz Testors propeelant can thaat came with my Aztek a270. As the informational video says, after 2 minutes or so the can gets really cold (as in getting frost on it) and the paint stops coming out. I’m not sure if the pressure is dropping, because when I stick my hand in front of it, the airflow feels roughly the same. But if I let it warm up, it’s alright again. Second question. I know its a fairly cheap, single action airbrush, but I stillt hink Im doing something wrong to get these results. When I spray on paper with black water based paint (thinned to the consitency of milk, like the video said), i doesnt give an even “mist” of paint that fades int the paper. It sort of sputters. You can see little specks of paint, and it doesnt look very smooth at all. In some places, theres too much on the paint and it drips, and some places theres almost none, and all over, its that splattering problem. Ive tried all 3 of the tip sizes too. Even when I spray with water instead of paint it doesnt it a little, although not as badly, but its hard to see. If you dont understand the problem I can post a scan of the paper. Im sure some of this is just since Im so new at airbrushes, but what am I doing wrong? Thanks guys, Ian
Several problems here. To work properly, that brush needs pretty consistent pressure at about 25 psi. As your can gets cold, pressure drops and the brush cannot atomize the paint properly. Second issue is that your acylic paint is drying before it hits the surface due to “tip dry”. You’ll need small amount of retarder in your acrylic paint to smooth it out and reduce drying time. Tamiya acrylics are pretty good with their thinner as it is made with a retarder in it. MikeV and some of the other guys here have had great results with Tamiya. Gunze Sangyo is another good acrylic paint. Testors Model Master acrylic is tough to use and requires a lot of patience and practice.
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Good advice, I’ll have to do some research on “tip dry”. I think my problem may however be that I’m not thiniing correctly. I used to use only brushes and therefore thinning was pretty unheard of to me. I use water based paints, Im too cheap to buy a whole set of nice oil paints. When I first use it on a model though, I’ll be sure to buy a bodel of the base color atleast in high quality paint. So how much should I thin these water based paints? I tried about like milk, but it wouldnt work out like I mentioned above. Also, which tip is best for a large misting, such as a basecoat? one of mine is a .36 or something, one is a .48 I think, and the last is around a 1. Thanks guys -Ian
H3nav, thanks a ton, problem solved! I tried the one bottle of model master paint I have, and it worked perfectly! No sputtering! Thanks! any suggestion on what is best for cleaning it out?
You can speed up this “recovery” time by placing the propellant can in a bowl/tub of warm (IMPORTANT NOTE: warm, NOT hot) water. Let the can warm back up to room temp and continue spraying.