Hey guys, need some help. I have an Azteck 1409 AB. Learning how to use it. Doing good on general painting, but having fine line troubles and making clean edges such as in camo patterns.

When I try to paint fine lines, I am getting a lot of overspray as opposed ot a nice clean edge. I tried raising and lowering PSI, thinning paint, using paint not as thin, etc. I use MM and Tamiya paints.

1. Anyone else have/had this problem, and better yet, what am I doing wrong ??
2. can i get a nice edge or must I use a mask to do camo patterns ?

Thanks in advance for any help you can give !

Anyone ??

Not familiar with 1409 AB, you sure that isn't the 4709??

Double Action??

If that is the one.....all I can say is (and I am sure this applies to just about all airbrushes).....

PRACTICE...PRACTICE...PRACTICE!!!!!!!

I have had my 4709 for about a year and I am just starting to get the hang of it.

First thing....it has to be clean inside....and the little tips can be a pain to clean....but if you spray lots of thinner when you are done and I use pipe cleaners on mine, it keeps it fairly clean.

Second, low air pressure, usually 5-10lbs, and properly thinned paint. Take you usual 50/50 paint/thinner (if you are using Tamiya) and add a drop or 2 more thinner.

All I use are the paint cups, so I am gravity feeding, rather than syphon feeding, which will help in cutting the air pressure.

Very steady hand, and don't keep the AB in on place for too long and you can consistantly get lines as thin as a pencil mark if you are careful.

I am still learning....so I am sure someone with more expericance on the 4709 than I can chime in here.

hey, iam not crazy bout doing camo... but when i do i usualy mask and it works better. its a pain in the but wtv, looks good... but like viper said, practice practice practice! its always good to master your ab.

just my two cents,
Frank

Thanks for the help, it is the 4709, must have had a brain cramp.

Will definitely do more practicing. I will try to work more with the color cups that might help out some.

Will try masking for the camo as well. Will definitely be a pain, am working on a Puma armored car as my practive model to do camo.

Thanks again for the info.

I'm not familiar with the Aztek line of air brushes but if you have the choice you will find it best to go with a gravity feed set up, as Scott says this will enable you to lower the air pressure without to much of a problem.
Scott is also correct about thinning the paint more and using low air pressure. For complicated camouflage patters, such as mottle on Luftwaffe aircraft, I use very low pressure less than 0.5bar. For this low pressure to work you need paint that flows easily, that's why you need to thin the paint more. The trouble is that thin paint doesn't cover so well, and can have a tendency to produce "spiders legs" if you're not careful. If the paint is the correct consistency and the air pressure right then the problem of "spiders legs" should be illiminated. That just leaves poor coverage, which is actually a good thing as it enables you to build up the density gradually, giving you control.
The thing to do is: thin your paint, then find the pressure at which it will spray, nicely. Then from there try thinning the paint gradually, while lowering the air pressure. This will not be a "quick fix" as there are many factors in play, including ambient temperature. This can mean that what works one day may not work another. That’s why practice makes perfect.
Another problem you will need to take account of is the rapid drying time of acrylic paints, such as Tamiya. These types of paint tend to dry on the tip, blocking the airbrush. If you keep a cotton bud handy you will be able to use it to clear the nozzle. Just be aware that you will need to fire away from the model every time you clean the tip, to prevent spatter on the model. This drying on the tip can take a matter of seconds, so this cleaning can become a chore. It's one of the main reasons I use enamel paints and I don't have this problem.
You will always get a slight overspray, however tight you can airbrush a line. To overcome this plan your spraying so that you can point your airbrush towards the inside of the area you are painting. With the correct pressure and correctly thinned paint you can also get in close, just a couple of mm, this will also help illiminate overspray.
PRACTICE, PRACTICE, and PRACTICE.
Mal

One of the biggest things about acrylic paint drying on the tip of the airbrush is not using the right thinner.

Although paint like Tamiya acrylics can be thinned with anything from water, to straight alcohol, to windsheild washer fluid. Problem is, they all make the paint dry too fast.

Which is why I switched to Tamiya's own thinner. I balked on the idea for a long time....my friends all saying to try it, that it will do wonders, but I resisted. Then one day I decided to try it, and now I am hooked. Its more expensive than normal thinners, but I have yet to have the paint clog up on the airbrush anymore.

I don't know if this holds true for all acrylic paints, I have never used the MM Acrylic thinner with their paints, basically because I don't have many of the paints, and the hobby shop here doesn't carry the MM Acrylics. So I use Tamiya mostly.

Little more expensive, but its well worth it!! Your paint jobs will thank you!!

Once again, thanks for all the help !