Thread: Airbrush Problem?

Well, hello, fellow airbrushers! I'm glad to be a part of the community here, and hope to share what (little) I know with everyone else, as well as learn as much as I can from everyone else! Glad to be amongst people who appreciate the hobby the way I do!

Bearing that in mind, I've stumbled onto a bit of a problem, a few years in the making. I picked up an airbrush a few years ago after reading about the benefits of doing certain hobbyist type jobs with one. I use it almost strictly to finish up some trad. art commissions I do, but mostly to work on the figure model kits I do from time to time. Subtle, transluscent, mottled skintones can't be done any other way!

I've always had problems with the paint drying on the tip, caking up on the needle. I always attributed it to the fact that I was using Liquitex Artist Acrylics, thinning them down with equal parts water and rubbing alcohol. I could barely do a 2-inch line without the paint drying all over the exposed needle tip. Well, needless to say, frustration was a pretty frequent factor in using the AB. I recently decided that I'd had enough, and invested quite a lot of money in some AB ready acrylic paints, namely Freestyle (From Dan and Barbara at Kitbuilders) as well as Golden brand AB ready paints. After firing up the compressor, putting a bit of paint into the gravity feed cup, firing for a few seconds, I found the paint STILL drying all over the exposed needle. I'm at my absolute wits' end. I don't know what else to do.

I read around on the forums and did all the research I could, and decided to try and troubleshoot the problem myself. I adjusted the PSi (which I usually run at about 5 - 10) up to 10 - 15, 15 - 20, then 20 - 25, then all the way back down. Still had the paint caking on the tip. I further thinned the pre-thinned paint, and re-did the steady increments of PSi. Same problem. I don't know what else to do.

I've never been abusive to the tool even in the slightest, but in the same token I've never really done any sort of maintenance aside from routine cleaning every time I use it. Is the AB just in need of lubrication? Aside from the paint drying, there's no problems with it. The action is STILL as smooth as the first day I shot paint through it, and there's no loss of air or anything else.

What gives? Is there anything I should be doing that I'm not? I appreciate any and all help! Thanks, guys!

I forgot to mention that the paint is drying and preventing clean lines after just a few seconds. I can barely get down a 2 inch line of paint before I have to stop and clean off the needle. I understand I should be contending with tip dry to a certain extent, but that quickly? Something just doesn't seem right with that. I'll try a retarder, I've got a few varieties I believe. I'll also eventually give lubing the needle/trigger a try. There's really nothing to try other than that, though? If it's drying that quickly, has it got to do with the needle needing to be lubed/polished? Would thinning the paint with something other than the water/isopropyl mix help as well? Something like, say, Future Polish?

I honestly really appreciate the response, Don! Thank you!

I purchased the Iwata eclipse bsc-2000 about a year ago. I've been using it to spray tan and I decided to use it on some molding I'm working on. I adjusted the PSI, I started @ 40 and kept going up by 10psi to 90 and still didn't get additional spray. Is there an adjustment that I can make to the air brush to increase the amount of spray?

It has a 0.5mm needle and the brush is supposedly a good general all around brush for detail work as well as backgrounds. I'm finding it's wonderful for detail work but I can't imagine ever doing a background, I spent over an hour on a 2*2 board and only got a thin layer of paint across it.

Is the paint I'm using too thick? It's Benjamin Moore Kitchen and Bath semi-gloss white.

Thanx Don, I'll try it. It sprays it, just very slowly. I wanted it to color match the rest of the trim, that's why I used it.

i have a paashe vl. i am using createx paint . all of the other createx paint flowes nice. but once i put pearlized trough it. it starts to spatter and it wont flow at all . what do i do?