I am having a little trouble airbrushing. I just got a compressor a week ago, used it to do a cockpit and preshading with no trouble. Then last night I was doing one of the major colors and could only get tons of paint to come out or none at all.

I tried adjusting pressure (anywhere from 10psi to 20+psi), tried remixing paint and thinner, but couldn't get consistant results. I am fairly new to the hobby and definately new to airbrushing and have tried to keep it really clean every time I have used it.

It is a single action Badger 350 bought when I was younger (10-15 years ago)

Any ideas to help me?
Thanks for any input.

Hi there

The "all or nothing" symptom sounds like either a clogged up aibrush, or the paint wasn't thinned enough...

I usually thin paint about 50-50 with thinners - the classic desciption of well thinned paint is that it''s like "milk".

Hope this helps

Rowan

:-) Hi newtothegame, it does sound like a glogged airbrush. Even if you clean it after every session you can still leave paint residue behind. After each session I blast at least one jar of clean thinners through my brush, then use paper towel, pipe cleaners and cotten buds to remove any last remnants of paint. To be doubley sure I strip the brush down and leave the parts soaking in cellulose thinner until the next session. Before starting the next sesion I re-clean the parts (basically getting rid of the cellulose thinner). Even with this regime I have experienced clogging.
You don't mention what type of paint you use, acrylics will dry on the tip very quickly.
HTH
Mal

First of all, welcome to Armorama! The problem with your AB maybe because of it's old age and also being "unused" for a while. It might have clogged. Try disassembling it and clean the head. If your using enamels, use a thinner and then use soap and water to wash away the thinner.

Thanks, I will try cleaning it a little more.

I am using enamels and just had another thought. The cockpit was done with a fairly new bottle of paint (1 year old?) but the color I was having trouble with was atleast 5 years old. I made sure I stirred and mixed it well, but do you think that could have helped?

Also, do any of you know of good helpful "get started airbrushing" sites to help someone like me who seems to be having a little trouble?

Howdy newtothegame,

A hearty welcome to the site!

As has been already addressed by our learned AB'ers, those symtoms do indeed sound like a clogged AB. Holdfast has given you a very thorough example of proper AB maintenance . To that I can only add a minor point. I purchased a set of AB cleaning rods (essentially small circular brushes in multiple diameters). I run these through the different chambers of the brush when I'm done with a painting session. Seems to help quite a bit.
Also (something I learned from our 'Gunnie'), try 'back-washing' your brush when you're done spraying a certain colour. This is also a very good idea when changing colours during a painting session. It forces the paint that is within the brush back out into the bottle.

Tread.

[quote]
Also (something I learned from our 'Gunnie'), try 'back-washing' your brush when you're done spraying a certain colour. This is also a very good idea when changing colours during a painting session. It forces the paint that is within the brush back out into the bottle.




Sorry about my ignorance, but how do you back-wash? I can visualize what it probably is, but am curious how to do it.

Plug the tip of your airbrush with one of an pencil eraser that plugs onto a mechanical pencil ...or something like that... it should then seal the tip well enough , then, give a vigorous-high pressure backwash. What your doing is giving it the air pressure and stopping the air from making it's intended route through the tip, causing the "backwash" or backpressure.

goodluck

and buy some new paint

kglack

Howdy newtothegame,

Sorry, just checked back on this tread.....kglack43's correct. Only difference is I just use the tip of my finger.
What it does is, causes what's 'in' the brush already (assuming you've been painting a wee bIt), to 'blow back' thru the airbrush itself, and instead of the paint/air mixture coming out the front nozzle of the airbrush, it instead comes back out into the 'source' bottle instead.
Ya know the way you generally just (when changing colours for example) 'spray out' what's left of the previous colour you've been spraying to clear the way for the next colour? Well, this just helps to 'clear the deck' inside the airbrush itself, and possibly save a little paint at the same time.
In your case, this would possibly aid in clearing out your airbrush, and minimize your 'clogging' problems.
HTH. :-)

Tread.

Hey...i could have "given him the finger" thingy...

kglack43

Yes - as Tread pointed out - I always use the backwashing technique. I think that should help you blow back any obstruction you've got inside your airbrush.

I never disassemble my airbrushes - practicing backwashing - don't have too. I do it between every color change and at the end of the session to keep the brush clean.

Gunnie

You never disassemble your airbrushes? Back-washing, please work for me. I have really tried to clean well, but I HATE it. I will try back-washing, plus atleast until my results improve try soaking the parts in between.

Just for the record, our humble 'Gunnie' is the one who taught me how to do this properly (though I'm not entirely sure he mentioned the "given him the finger" thingy ).

Tread.

I also use a Badger 350, and have had excellent results with Acryllics... but if enamels get old, then trust me - that is the problem! Even theough you stir the paint to a consistant texture of pigment, you will need to add thinner. The "happiest" liquid density should be about like the constantcy of milk. I also wash through alcohol until clear after each use, and then soak the tip parts in alchol while i clean up my sight. Then I reassembe so that it is all ready for use the next time I need it.