Having very limited experience in using an airbrush yesterday while spraying my log cars the airbrush clogged. I used Tamiya acrylic painted and I added a little bit of acrylic thinner. The first coat went fine and covered easily. While painting the top section of the log cars the airbrush clogged. I cleaned the bowl and run some thinners through the airbrush and a thin piece of dried paint came out the tip of the brush. what would cause this did i not thin the paint down enough? Here is a pic of the painted log cars which have come out really good.
Maybe needs a bit more thinner, but if you stop spraying for even a short time, the paint will dry in the brush. So it is best to run some thinners through during pauses. I have a can of airbrush cleaner which I spray into the brush as I press the trigger, it does a good job of cleaning out any paint.
It could have happened if you paused. Or just as with automotive painting, the problem could have come out of the bottle. Most model RRers don't strain their paint. Or have any device to do that on their airbrush. Might be something to think about? Boxcab E50 [ 02. March 2003, 16:05: Message edited by: BoxcabE50 ]
Paul .. you have to be sure the paint and thinner has been thoroughly mixed together as well. Otherwise, the paint can come out in thicker globs and can become stuck in the needle valve. We all have had that sort of problem when we first started using airbrushes. You'll get the hang of it!
Thanks for the advice guys come to think of it I guess I didn't mix the paint thoroughly and didnt give it a thought too strain the paint. How do you go about straining the paint?
Speaking only for myself .. I have never found it necessary to strain the paint as long as it has been diluted with thinner to the proper proportions and thoroughly mixed up. I suppose you may be able to purchase a strainer at the hobby shop, but I'm not absolutely sure. What brand of airbrush are you using?
Paul- There are a couple of ways to do this. One is an internal metal strainer (stainless steel) in your air brush. Which I have. Check with a favorite hobby supplier. I don't know how automotive supplies are distributed/sold to the public in Australia. But here in the States, larger auto parts suppliers have autobody suplies. Also, there are some seperate autobody supply specialty shops. Whenever you buy paint from them, you get a disposable paper strainer. (They usually give you several.) I would stop in to your nearest autobody/paint supplier, and see if they have these available for sale seperately. (They should!) Sometimes here, they'll just give you a few. They shouldn't cost much. If larger, higher pressure, greater tip size automotive, and commercial guns are subject to clogging, imagine what can happen to a smaller hobby air brush. Even if it's never happened before, nor does it ever happen again, straining can't hurt. It's less work than the frustration of a problem in the middle of painting your models! Boxcab E50
My Badger airbrush had a built-in strainer in the jar, but it was more trouble than it was worth (took longer to clean the brush) also the strainer is very fine mesh, and can clog up if not cleaned meticulously. You could strain the paint through ladies stockings/tights/pantyhose! Works well
Paul, as Alan (and others) has already mentioned it's important to keep the gun clean. I used pipe cleaners and thinners on a regular basis and thoroughly sprayed thinners through it after use. The pantyhose idea works well - I was surprised at the amount of 'bits' I got out of old paint using this method. New paint shouldn't be a problem, though. Just mix it well as the pigment settles quite well if it has been on the shelf for a while. Also, don't thin the paint too much (in 'your' weather ) as it causes it to dry whilst airborne creating a powdery matt effect that doesn't adhere well to the model. Practice is be the best advice here. Maybe entice Rob (and Amy) down for a demo! [ 04. March 2003, 19:48: Message edited by: Gats ]
I’m in the same situation as Paul, Colonel. My knowledge and experience with an airbrush is extremely limited. So far I have only used it for painting my tracks, and was doing so yesterday when I had some problems with the airbrush clogging all the time. I was using Polly Scale brown mixed with regular water in ratio 2/1, and every few minutes I would run/blow some water through the nozzle to clean it out. Well, that didn’t really work, after about 10 minutes the nozzle start clogging all the time, so I would take it apart and clean it (with water) and then I could continue for another x minutes. So this morning I started searching for airbrush cleaner on the net, and I found this thread where they talk about using regular Windex to clean the nozzle while painting and then use lacquer thinner by the end of the day. http://www.taxidermy.net/forums/BeginnersArticles/02/d/025AABA926.html So now, would this be sufficient to keep it clean, or am I better of buying some “real” airbrush cleaner and some “real” thinner instead of water? Jesper
Jesper, What I did once the airbrush clogged was to spray thinners through the brush and it was fine. I think the problem was I didn't mix the paint suffuciently in the first place. I will be painting some log cars next wek and I'll see how it goes.
Today I got the lacquer thinner and airbrush cleaner (which smells exactly like Windex) and now everything is working just perfect. First I cleaned the nozzle in the thinner and after that, I would spray some cleaner through the nozzle whenever I know that I would stop for just a short while, and it worked just perfect. Well almost too perfect, because some of my track ended up with too much grimy black. I have a picture of the result here http://community.webshots.com/photo/61130360/65856515ojHaVe Or http://community.webshots.com/album/61130360zIWIIf Well, so what did I learned today? always read the instructions , because it DID say how to prevent clogging and how to clean after use. I just never read it . Jesper
Nice going Jesper. Glad you got a handle on it Windex .. who'duv ever thunkit? Have you seen the movie "My Big Fat Greek Wedding?" There's a Greek in there that cures everything by spraying Windex on it. LOL I would imagine it is the Amonia in it that does the trick with your air brush.
Jesper, The track looks excellent I have noticed you have already ballasted or do you now re ballast the track? Great to see you have resolved the problem with the air brush clogging I will let you know how I go next weekend
Bill, I did see that movie “My Big Fat Greek Wedding” the other week, and had a really good laugh several times, so in my opinion, great movie. Unfortunately, the sit-com spin off that began last week wasn’t funny at all, so I’m not going to waste more time watching that. Sorry, that was a bit off topic. Paul, This is just a small test layout to practice my hand laying skills, and someone told me that he painted the tracks after it was ballasted, so I did the same. Now next time I will paint the track with tie brown after it’s down and wired, then ballast and then go back and touch up the rails and ties (there is always some ballast either in the rail web or on the ties, and when you remove that it removes the paint), and then when it’s done, I will spray it all with a light coat of grimy black to tone down the “new” look of the ballast. Jesper
Something similar happened to me about a year or so ago. I normally use Testors acrylics exclusively and use Methyl Ethyl Ketone to clean my air brushes after every spraying session, which works very well for me. I had picked up a bottle of Model Flex concrete color for painting sidewalks on my Ntrak module and used the MEK to clean the brush afterward, but found that MEK reacts with Model Flex to become a viscus goo which clogged the air brush. Prompting a thorough dis-assembly and cleaning. Water seems to be the only thing that can be used with Model Flex to clean with. Every companies acrylic paint seem to be of a different make-up.
HzG- Please be careful with that MEK! Amongst many uses, this is used as a catalyst in fiberglassing and making some plastics. Which is probably why you ended up getting that gooey mess. It's very flammable, and quite toxic stuff to breathe or get on your skin!!! Boxcab E50
Yeah, I know it's bad stuff. I don't smoke so the fire thing is not a problem. I have my old resperator from when I did car painting that I keep hanging right by the work bench in the garage where I do 95% of my painting.
