So I think I may be having a problem, but maybe not.

I just got my first airbrush, a Badger 105 Patriot. I'm spraying one of the Vallejo AFV modulation color sets, with no thinning/additives, straight paint. I'm doing "regular duty" on a 1/35 scale tank.

I was playing with the air pressure setting from 15-20 psi (measured at the tank before going through a water trap and hose to the brush). To spray, I start by depressing the trigger to get the air flowing through the brush. Then I slowly bring the trigger back to start the paint flow. However, it seems like the paint flow really comes on fast, it's either a bunch or nothing at all. I almost get the feeling that the tip is clogging from drying paint. In fact, sometimes I will pull the trigger all the way back to get full flow through the brush to "clear it out", maybe that's not a good method.

-Is this normal?
-Could paint be drying in the tip because I'm not continually spraying? (I spray, then I look at what I did, move my medium and try spraying again.
-How quickly do you need to spray before you get drying the the tip?

I was trying to create some thin soft lines for my shadowing layer. Maybe this brush struggles to do small soft thin lines too I guess.

Thanks!

Greg

It sounds like the tip is clogged. Try removing it and reaming it, with a toothpick. After that, put the tip of the needle in it gently and twist. I'm not sure what metal the tip for your ab is made of. If it is not brass, soak it in some lacquer thinner for five to ten minutes. You should be thinning Model Color at 3:1(water, paint), without thinner. I highly recommend buying a bottle of Vallejo thinner. It works much better than water. I mix something like 1:1:1(water, thinner, paint).

Thanks for the reply Matt,

Few things to mention.

The paints I believe are supposed to be "airbrush ready". They are not the model color series, I think they are the same as the model air series. However, maybe I still should use some sort of retardant?

Also, I was getting some bubbling in the paint cup too.

The tip is not brass. I tried soaking all the parts in windex for most of the day yesterday. The needle did have some paint on it which I cleaned off. However, I didn't really ream anything out, I just visually inspected and everything looked clean.

I forgot Vallejo is a true acrylic. Don't use lacquer thinner. You need to ream the tip. I generally do it, at the end of my daily paint sessions. Something else I may suggest is buying an ultrasonic cleaner. You can pick one up, on eBay for about $5-10.

Hi Greg,
Welcome to Armorama! Sorry I didn't get to your post sooner - I've been out most of the day. Let's cover a few TRUTHS:
Never ream out the nozzle with anything. It will widen the nozzle and ruin it.
Never push the needle into the nozzle. Never twist it. It will ruin both the needle and the nozzle.
Never play with Lacquer thinner unless you really know what you're doing.
Never mix water and thinner. Use one or the other.
Never soak your airbrush in Windex. It will corrode the inside and strip the chrome off the outside.

And now, some sound advice:
Vallejo is a true water based acrylic. Thin it with distilled water or Vallejo 71361 Airbrush Thinner. This thinner works wonders with Model Air - it actually is thinner than water.
Do not use Windex to clean Vallejo paints. It just curdles the paint into a rubbery clump and it's a pain to get it out of your airbrush. Use Vallejo or Medea Airbrush Cleaner.
The Badger Patriot 105 is designed to operate between 10-30 PSI.
It has a 2 stage needle/nozzle, meaning there are actually 2 sizes built in. Badger does not list the sizes in their specs, but judging from the spray sizes and operating pressures, I'd deduce they are .50mm and .35mm. At these nozzle sizes, yes, even Model air can use some thinning.
Bubbling in the paint cup is the sure sign that the nose of the airbrush is hopelessly clogged and it's time to take it all apart and clean with cleaner. Use cleaner to remove paint - never stick anything in your airbrush that you wouldn't stick in your ear.
Go to your local big craft store (Michaels, AC Moore, Ben Franklin, Hobby Lobby) and find the artist's paint section. Find the Liquitex line. Buy a bottle of Liquitex Slow-Dri and a bottle of Liquitex Flow-Aid. Use as directed and your drying in the airbrush days will be over.
While airbrushing, keep a little cup of airbrush cleaner on the bench with a cotton swab in it. If the nozzle clogs, take your finger off the trigger and insert the cotton swab gently into the nozzle cup. Twirl briskly. Return to painting. You should be able to keep the paint in the airbrush for over an hour, starting and stopping, as long as you clean the nozzle with the cotton swab.
You don't have to strip your airbrush every use. Just blow distilled water/airbrush cleaner/distilled water through it until it runs clear and clean. If things are sticking or clogging, then it's time to take the airbrush apart and place it in an ultrasonic cleaner filled with distilled water and airbrush cleaner. A $5-$10 ultrasonic cleaner doesn't even make a good doorstop. The least expensive one that actually works is the $30 model sold by Harbor Freight Stores.
Follow these tips and you'll enjoy carefree, FUN airbrush sessions. If you dread airbrushing, you're just doing it wrong!
Greg, please respond if you have any more questions or problems, and let me know if this has solved your issues.

Medea Airbrush Cleaner is a fantastic product that really does work. It also sounded to me as if your needle may be sticking, is the needle chuck securing it?

I agree fully with Matt T that you should never ream anything in an airbrush and I suspect that Matt N just used the wrong term.

Badger actually makes a reamer for the airbrush . not sure if they still make it today .

Ok thanks for the info.

So far, I've only made a few mistakes

-I sort of pushed the needle through the nozzle during reassembly. Maybe I misunderstood the reassembly directions on the Badger website, but nonetheless, I didn't force anything, it just slid together. Hopefully all is ok, I was extremely gentle.
-I also soaked it in windex for a few hours. After soaking I pulled the parts out and let them dry on paper towel (no rinsing). Should I take it apart and rinse it with distilled water?

I also made sure that there was no slipping of the needle when the trigger moves.

Just so I understand correctly, you're saying take a cotton swab with cleaner, and clean the the front of the airbrush where the paint comes out (where the needle is sticking out)? I'm confused about the location of the "nozzle cup". That seems dangerous because the needle sticks out, I'd be a afraid it'd get damaged.


Thanks all! I will get the airbrush cleaner solution and some thinner. Hopefully my airbrushing experience is salvageable.

Greg,
Did you actually push the needle through the nozzle so that the needle (past the tip) traveled out the front of the nozzle? If so you need a new needle/nozzle set.
The nozzle cup is the piece in the front of the airbrush that surrounds the nozzle/needle tip that protrudes from the airbrush body. A cotton swab will NOT damage the needle or nozzle. I've been doing this for decades and never bent a thing. I've been clog free, though!
Yes, disassemble the airbrush and rinse or soak it in distilled water to remove any residual Windex.
Besides the cleaner and thinner, do not forget the Liquitex products! Once you use them you'll wonder how anybody airbrushes without them!
Have fun and practice on plastic milk jugs. An airbrush is not a "plug and play" tool. You'll get the hang of it! Always come back here for advice BEFORE you screw something up! Have fun!

Thanks for all the help, I really appreciate it! Hopefully you're not getting frustrated with my lack of know how.

How can I properly reassemble the needle/nozzle (I think Badger calls the nozzle a "paint tip")? The nozzle/paint tip is part 41-003, in the schematic below? To reassemble, I put the nozzle/paint tip on (41-003), screwed the head on (51-071), and then the spray regulator (41-033). Then I pushed the needle all the way through. Is this what Badger is telling me to do?

"Before spraying, reseat the needle into the new tip by pushing the needle forward until it
stops. Do not push forcefully or the tip could split at the end. The Needle Chuck should then be re-tightened."

The directions are here (disassembly/reassembly starts at the bottom of page 3): http://www.badgerairbrush.com/PDF/105%20Fine%20Patriot.pdfhttp://www.badgerairbrush.com/PDF/105%20Fine%20Patriot.pdf

Vallejo actually recommends in their catalog that users add additional airbrush thinner, 71.261 or 71.061 (same stuff, different bottle sizes) to their Model Air paints.

Here's the relevant quote:

"Thinner for Model Air and Liquid Acrylic. Thinner used to extend the colors, to increase fluidity and delay the drying time. We recommend the addition of a few drops of Thinner to the colors for airbrushing. pg.34, 2013 Catalogue AV Vallejo

Although the Model Air paints are marketed as "airbrush ready," you do need to adjust the reduction ratios to your specific working conditions (temperature, humidity, air pressure, paint flow, etc).

Reassembling the airbrush is done exactly the way Badger instructs:

Put the paint tip on first. Screw it down snugly to the body of the AB, but don't crank down on it. Finger-tight, not wrist-tight.

When you reinsert the needle, push it in until it goes through the front end of the paint tip, but don't force it. All the needle needs to do is just close the hole in the paint tip. If your force the needle in, you can distort or split the paint tip.

After the needle is inserted, tighten the barrel nut that holds it in place (on the AB handle). Again, just finger tight is enough so that as you work the trigger back and forth, the needle moves with it.

You should now be able to adjust the flow stop (needle stop) nut to limit how far the needle will open the paint flow when you pull the trigger back. This adjustment is just to help you control how much paint will flow when the trigger is held all the way back. You can leave the adjustment fully open and just control paint flow with only the trigger movement, or you can pre-set it.

Now you can install the air tip (the tip that screws on the very end of the AB over and around the paint tip).

So, as long as you DID NOT force the needle into the paint tip so far that you split the paint tip open, you should be good to go. The needle WILL STICK OUT of the paint tip some when it is full closed (trigger all the way forward).

Treat the both needle and paint tip with care. It's real easy to bend the needles or split the paint tips. If you need to clean clogged paint from the paint tip, soaking it in lacquer thinner will not harm it in the least.

After soaking, use a very small twist of paper towel in the paint tip to clean it out.

If necessary, you can carve a very fine point on a wooden toothpick to stick into the paint tip from the threaded end and scrape the softened paint out. Obviously, be very careful doing this. Even a wooden toothpick can split the paint tip.

DO NOT use the AB needle or some other metal tool (pin, sewing needle, wire, etc) to clean the inside of the paint tip. If you do, and you split or distort the tip, Badger will be happy to sell you a replacement part.

Badger ABs (and almost all other brands) are designed to spray lacquer paints all day. Lacquer thinners will not hurt them.

The same applies to using Windex or ammonia to clean acrylic paints from your AB. There's not enough residual ammonia left after cleaning to do anything more than maybe discolor any exposed brass. If you're worried, you can rinse the AB with water afterwards.

Badger has posted a very long info letter regarding this (Windex as a cleaner) and they say there are no problems or concerns. You will not void your AB warranty by using ammonia based cleaning products on your AB.

As mentioned by some of the other posters, you should keep a Q-tip and clean thinners available as you airbrush acrylics (especially) and when you notice problems, simply stick the wet cotton swab into the AB tip and give it a couple of twists to clean the dried paint from the paint tip and exposed needle. BTW, do this periodic cleaning with the needle forward (i.e. paint flow stopped) so that you don't force dried paint into the end of the paint tip and make a real clog.

In addition to the tips already mentioned, I'd recommend getting a 'medium' needle, nozzle and tip. (parts 41-034, 41-004, 51-048)

I have a Badger 105 too and found the 'fine' set-up it ships with to be quite sensitive to paint thinning and to clog up much too fast and easily for my liking, so I bought a 'medium' set for it.

Ok thanks for all the information folks. I haven't had time yet to fiddle with my stuff this week, but maybe tonight. This morning I ordered the Vallejo Airbrush thinner and Medea Airbrush Cleaner as recommended. Those should be here Friday. Some maybe this weekend I can post a follow up on the results for future members searching the forums.

Thanks,

Greg