I just bought the Badger 150 airbrush..as I think it is a good one that I can use for a long time. I am ready to begin spraying..finally...BUT..when I was practising with it..I tried various mixtures..because I really do not know what the right mixture is. I decided to spray with Tamiya Acrylics. I know that I can mix it with water..but..how much water and how much paint? Can you guys help me out? Thanx a lot!

There's no hard and fast ratio for thinning paint for airbrushing. How you mix depends on what effect you're trying to acheive and at what presure you're spraying at. I'd start at a 50/50 mix or 40% paint 60% thinner at about 20psi to start with and take it from there. A general "rule-of -thumb" is that the thinner the paint, the lower the presure.

Thats about dead on what I do. Tamy paint is about the only paint I normally go more then 50/50 because its so thick. Usually I use enamels at about 40/60 thinner paint-although I do use MM airbrush thinner which seems to work much better and more consistantly then the 'brush cleaner' stuff.

If I plan on doing tiny stuff at sub-15psi pressures with enamels, I will go about 60/40 thinner/paint. I use a Badger 155 anthem that only uses one needle for everything too, which is a lot more flexible then my older multi-needle pens. Seems to shoot everything without clogging, so much so I rarely make an effort to measure the mixes perfectly(other then color) anymore and just eyeball it, throw it in the shaker, and go paint.

Hi there Daniel..

when I started airbrushing, the hardest thing for me was thinning also..

the best advise I got was to "thin to the consistancy of milk" as my starting point..



good luck and keep on trying.. using an airbrush is a steep learning curve, but the results are worth it...