Ok. I had loads of trouble yesterday. I tried both my new compressor and my old air cans.
I could not spray any paint at all!
I tried straight paint from a testors bottle; didn’t work.
Thinned it out; didn’t work.
Thinned it out some more; didn’t work.
The air hole was not clogged; neither was the paint hose since when I sucked into the bottle holding the paint can, I got some nice paint on my tounge.
Frustrated, I remember someone here saying to try water. Even that didn’t work, and I tried that with the air can and the compressor.
I am no expert by any means ! I have only been building models for a short time ( senior beginner )
and airbrushing the same
But i had the same problems as you and after many hours of serious self debate and cans of refreshment I noticed the needle was note moving , so of came the casing that houses the needle slide /adjuster , and as shore as , it was loose . Tightened it up put paint in the cup ,pulled trigger back paint every where !!! lack of adjustment duuuuur
I have a no brand compressor with 3Lt holding tank no name air brush that i bought of a spray painting firm in lonsdale South Australia he assures me they will hold up to the best of them ! Time will tell
As i said I am no expert but i hope it helps , its a start
I’ve found that the air cans are good for small pieces, or intermediate shots.
As for my problem, I am pretty sure I solved it. Apparently, the nozzle coming out of the paint needed to be adjusted some one. It actually has to be above the exit hole from the air.
Also, I have learned that testor’s model paint has to be somewhat thinned out for it to work with my spray gun.
If using enamels, the general “rule of thumb” is to thin to the consistency of milk. If that doesn’t get the results you want, add more thinner, a little at a time. I seldom use acrylics so that advice might not work with them.
76 GTX, overthinning will generally result in weak looking coverage, requiring many more layers to build up a color. Finding the ratio of paint:thinner that works with your AB set-up, paint and needs is a black art that takes time to find a good baseline… practice on something until you find the sweetspot.
I would never try to mix enamels and acrylics, ever. That is a recipe for disaster.
He’s right; never mix the two, you will have a glob of goo and the worlds worst clean up of your equipment. If you use both types on a model make sure the first type is completely dry before adding the other type or goo ensues.
As stated the various brands and types of paint have their own best ratio for thinning, but the milk consistency is a good place to work to.