I need some help!

I've been airbrushing like made lately and haven't had any problems at all. Airbrush is working great with Tamiya and Mission Models paints.

Last night, I tried to airbrush some Andrea paints for a figure basecoat. Should be fine, right?

Even when thinned down, the airbrush seemed to get gunked up and clogged really quickly. At low paint quantity (I use a double action airbrush), it wouldn't come out after the first few seconds of shooting. If I rocked the trigger all the way open it would blast out a bunch of paint, but then when I rocked it back down to a smaller amount of paint it would get blocked again.

I thinned it WAY down and still had the same trouble.

Any ideas one what's causing this? Are Andrea paints simply not good to airbrush with? Is there a blockage I need to clean? Any other ideas?

Thanks!

Jake,
It sounds to me like you either have a problem with thinner, air pressure or a dried blockage somewhere in the nozzle. The first question to ask is what you thinned the paint with. 1). With very few exceptions, I always use the paint manufacturers proprietary thinner--this keeps mixing problems from occurring. 2) regardless of the paint, I always clean with lacquer thinner at the end of a paint session-- and I usually break the airbrush down to the smallest components and clean before putting it away- that keeps fast drying paint from clogging nozzles and needles. 3) always check air pressure settings-- different paints dry at differing rates, acrylics dry faster at higher pressures, and some can dry right in the nozzle, causing a clog. 4) check your AB tip-- a fine crack in the tip can cause splattering and clogging as the paint builds up around leaking air in the tip. I usually inspect the tip with a jewelers loop to ensure I don't have a crack when I'm having problems--or to be sure I don't have air leaking around the tip--you can shoot plain water through to check. If I had to guess though, I'd bet it's a thinner compatibility issue-- have you ever had problems using Andrea paints before? Aren't Andrea paints primarily for brush painting?
VR, Russ

Andrea paints airbrush for sh*t. I have similar issues with every bottle of it I have. I use it for brush painting figures, and then only thinned down like 3 parts thinner to one part paint. It's thick, and grainy and dries WAY too fast for airbrushing. I've used retarder and tried different thinners and potions with no avail.

@Russ - I'll try those options, thanks.

@Christian - Yeah, I suspected that whatever makes the Andrea paints great to brush paint make them bad to airbrush.

Like I mentioned-- I thought Andrea paints were primarily for brush painting, since Andrea makes miniatures in resin and metal. Not sure what thier thinner is like-- but most paints can be airbrushed if thinned properly, using proprietary thinner-- could be that Andrea also requires thourough agitation, or some type of carrier for airbrushing-- you might check with the manufacturer on thier recommendations.
VR, Russ

I have Andrea paints, but have never tried to AB with them. That being said. Andrea makes an AirBrush Medium , and an Acrylic Thinner.

i never tried to spry them but Julio Cabos one of the best figurine painter with AB, work for Andrea and clearly use their paint,you can find many books and video on is technique.

you tried to add some retarder and/or some flow emprover?...
what type of thinner you used?...

I thinn all my acrylics no matter what brand for AB or brush with the UMP AB thinner

https://www.umpretail.com/products/ultimate-airbrush-thinner

What did you use to thin the paint with?

I thinned with water only.

I tried the Tamiya thinner (white cap) and it just got clunky.

If I remember well Andrea paints are in fact Vallejo Model Color repackaged. So if you wish to spray these you need to use the Vallejo Airbrush Thinner (new formula) product. The problem you encounter is that the paint dries too quickly on the needle tip and clogs the nozzle. You can do two things, you keep a thinner dampened q-tip at hand and when there is clogging you clean the needle tip, second, you lower the pressure below 1,0 bar (about 15-16psi). I normally spray any Vallejo paint at 0,7-0,8 bar mostly without problems.

I just heard back from Andrea that their thinner is on hold and not available. They suggested the Vallejo airbrush thinner.

Separately, Glábor: I don't think Andrea are just repackaged Vallejo. They are likely similar (as all acrylics probably are), but they paint differently than Vallejo. I'm really liking them, but they are for sure somewhat different. They also dry dead flat vs. the more satin finish of Vallejo.

First thing depends on what Andrea you have, the "new" are NACxxx the old ACxxx,at least for the old were produced in collaboration with Vallejo but they were not just repackaged vallejos were however slightly different in the composition and the colors, in fact you immediately notice that they are More 'Matt than the Vallejo and smell different