Spiderwebs Coming out of Airbrush

Tools, Techniques, and Reference Materials Painting and airbrushing
1

I was recently trying to airbrush a 1/25th scale '67 Chevelle ss 396 and I tried airbrushing the red on a scrap piece of plastic before I started spraying it on the model and strings started to form as I airbrushed! I figured it was because the paint was drying as it came out but I am not sure if I am right. I used MM gloss red lacquer and sunnyside lacquer thinner. I don’t know If I added too much thinner or what but if anyone knows how to fix this I would really appreciate it!

Here are some pictures of what it looks like:

That’s not fuzz on the styrene! it is paint. I made sure the plastic was clean before I airbrushed it. Also does anyone know if that is a good red for a 67 Chevelle?

Thanks, Ryan

2

I’m pretty confident that doesn’t have any thing to do with your thinner/paint mixture. Looks like some kind of contamination. Did you use cotton balls to clean your airbrush, or an otherwise high lint cloth to clean it? I’d be suspicious of the thinner. I use “Klean Strip” laquer thinner, from ace hardware and never have an issue.

3

Maybe some insecticide woukd do the trick…

Take your AB apart and see if there is something in it. If not the last (or the one before it) issue of FSM had a good article on Air Brush trouble shooting

4

Try adding more thinners - some enamels (Mr Color in particular) are very bad for “spider webbing” when there isn’t enough thinner in the mix.

5

Don’t put spiders in the paint cup.

Seriously, though, I’d troubleshoot. Try a different thinner. Try that thinner with a different color. Try a different airbrush. Isolate the cause.

Wish I could help more but I don’t use MM lacquers so have no direct experience.

6

Thanks for all the info guys I’ll do some more experimenting to find out what is the cause is.

7

2 possibilitys , too low of air pressure or not enough thinner . or both

whats happening is the paint is drying before it gets to the part and drying in midair like a cotton candy machine

8

I’ve had taht happen only with the old Testors’ flourescent paints. Unfortunately, I can’t offer a fix other than try using a different brand of paint.

9

The result is paint drying to fast in the air.That’s what causing spider web.

The reasons are many:air temp,(To hot) humidity(not enough) paint(not enough thinning)

A few drops of retarder will help but with MM we usually do not have to!!!

10

Try using Model Master’s own lacquer thinner and thin the paint more…Gunze lacquers do the same if they are not thinned enough. I stay away from hardware thinners except for clean-up. Its not your airbrush, but lowering the psi would help too.