Help please

[mossiepilot]

I've been practicing my airbrushing on a cheapie kit before going on to do my Starfighter, and the air brush is doing something strange.

When the cup is empty, and I have the trigger depressed but not pulled back, so theoretically no paint should be able to come out, I get blobs of thin paint being blown out with the air and splattering onto the painted surface. I use air from the brush to dry the paint a little faster.

My airbrush is one of those cheap chinese copy jobbies with a 0.3 nozzle, that comes as part of a set, compressor, hose and two airbrushes, I know, I know, but I keep it as clean as I can, dismantling and using airbrush cleaner after each session.

Has anyone any idea why it splatters paint like this, cos I'm stumped! and I don't want to use it on the Starfighter until I've got it working.

BTW, I'm using vallejo colour paint, thinned til it looks like milk, about 60/40 I think.

Tony.

 

[tecdes]

Hi Tony. The residue of paint is probably in the needle tunnel.

Seems to me that the needle is not forward enough into the nozzle & there is a gap enough to let paint through. If you loosen the screw holding the needle to the airbrush gently edge the needle forward a fraction to seat the needle neatly in the nozzle.

Another possibility is that a small amount of paint has hardened on the edge of the needle or in the nozzle itself which is preventing the needle seating as it should in the nozzle.

Failing all of that it may be that the needle or nozzle is damaged & the needle cannot seat correctly to block the needle nozzle bond.

Laurie

 

[mossiepilot]

Thanks Laurie, I don't think it's damaged, everything looks as it did when I first got it, I think, this is my first one and I'm still learning what's what. I'll give it another clean and see how it goes. One thing I did notice,after I had cleaned it, at the bottom of the cup there seemed to be a "residue" don't know how else to describe it.

Is there a way to clean the paint nozzle so all the paint is removed, I have to wear my magnifiers just to see the d""b thing and seeing inside it is almost impossible.

Cheers,

Tony.

 

[rickoshea52]

I have used nail varnish remover before. Left to soak in a small amount cleared a blockage that I had caused by dried varnish.

 

[stona]

Interdental brushes are your friend for cleaning nozzles etc. Moisten in cellulose thinners (the cheapo stuff from Halfords or similar) which will shift anything.

A word of caution. Don't be tempted to spray those thinners through your airbrush unless you are sure that the various seals, o rings etc can tolerate it.

I think Laurie has isolated the most likely causes of your problem above.

Cheers

Steve

 

[mossiepilot]

I used it with some Johnsons wax ( Klear) a couple of days ago could that be the problem and will the nail varnish remover sort it out and how long do you soak it for, is overnight too long?

cheers

tony.

 

[mossiepilot]

Thanks Steve, never used cellulose thinners before, and with the brush being what it is, I think all the O-rings are probably rubber, not cellulose thinner resistant, the one on the nozzle certainly looks like rubber. Are there any precautions I should use to prevent accidental damage.

cheers

Tony.

 

[tanktrack]

it is probably the klear that has hardened I always run a min of 2 full cup water flushes then a Vallejo thinner , Vallejo cleaner and the a water again , klear can stick like muck to a blanket otherwise . like the guys say I would be careful about cellulose as it will melt the rings , I would soak it in water overnight and it may soften the stuff inside .

steve

 

[Stevekir]

it is probably the klear that has hardened I always run a min of 2 full cup water flushes then a Vallejo thinner , Vallejo cleaner and the a water again , klear can stick like muck to a blanket otherwise . like the guys say I would be careful about cellulose as it will melt the rings , I would soak it in water overnight and it may soften the stuff inside .steve

Yes, varnish is known to need more vigorous cleaning. It is designed to form a wear-resistent (and therefor probably hard) surface

 

[mossiepilot]

Thanks Steve and Steve, I gave it a good clean last night and it sprays water OK but I haven't put any paint in it yet, I'll stick the nozzle in some water, would hot/warm water be better.

Cheers

Tony.

 

[tecdes]

What I do Tony is to get a small egg cup or paint palette fill it with Vallejo Airbrush Cleaner & leave. If you use water first make sure It has all gone bere the Vallejo as the water will dilute the cleaner.

 

[mossiepilot]

If you use water first make sure It has all gone bere the Vallejo as the water will dilute the cleaner.

Sorry Laurie,don't understand, do you mean blowing the vallejo cleaner through the brush after soaking the nozzle in water. Cheers

Tony.

 

[m1ks]

I have a couple of videos that might help.

The first will enable you to strip and check the brush to see what type of needle seal it's using, a lot of the cheap chinese brushes, (like mine in the video), use Teflon type seals. The needle seal will be rubber but depending on the brush, it may, (again like mine), seal without.

This is handy in knowing A - You can spray through Cellulose thinner and B- You can soak / clean with Cellulose thinner.

The second video is a 'how to' on giving a thorough clean using the appropriate thinner.

The only new addition is the use of an interdental brush for the feed tube from the cup to the nozzle and I use a very very fine beading needle to check the nozzle is clear after cleaning with the paintbrush and thinner.

Video1

Video 2

 

[mossiepilot]

Thanks Mike, the videos are really useful.

I will admit I still find air brushing a little scary, so taking it slow and taking my time.

Thanks again,

Tony.

 

[Dave W]

The fact it's a cheap airbrush shouldn't be a problem.Ive got a cheap Chinese copy and it sprayed brilliantly until I lost the tiny 'O' ring seal somewhere in my shed .Havent been able to get a replacement seal so bought an Iwata airbrush instead

 

[mossiepilot]

Cheers for the reply Dave, thinks it's more my inexperience than the brush itself, but the more I use it the better I'll get, hopefully.

Tony.

 

[Gern]

The guys have given you some excellent advice Tony. The only thing I can add is that it's vital to follow their suggestions and keep your A/B clean. I had all the problems you're talking about and every one of them came down to my A/B not being clean enough.

Ever since I spent a day with Steve (Stona) who showed me all the basics, I've not had any problems with my A/B. I've had problems with the paint and getting the finish right - but at least I know my tools are working properly so anything else is down to me.

Gern

 

[mossiepilot]

Thanks Dave, at first I think I was a little scared about taking the air brush apart to clean it, so was just running water and air brush cleaner through it. But I'm getting the hang of it now, like Laurie said on another thread, I plunged in, carefully mind you, and now it's not so bad.

Cheers again to all for the support.

Tony.

 

[tecdes]

Sorry Laurie,don't understand, do you mean blowing the vallejo cleaner through the brush after soaking the nozzle in water.Cheers

Tony.

Sorry Tony only just caught up here.

No i have confused what I was trying to get over.

When cleaning the brush. After taking the nozzle & with my brush also the needle nozzle protector cage off the brush I dunk both in Vallejo airbrush cleaner & leave while I clean the rest of the brush. I give the nozzle a good squirt with water before dunking to get rid of as much excess paint as possible. Then give the nozzle a good shake to get rid of the water or this will water down the Airbrush cleaner.

Matter of interest. I bought some Wisdom dental sticks which are all plastic ie with out the wire down the centre. Tried them & they seem to do the trick.

Laurie

 

[mossiepilot]

Thanks for clearing that up Laurie.

What I have been doing recently, which seems to be working is, removing the nozzle, after blowing water through it, and popping it in a little jar of Vallejo air brush cleaner and letting it steep while I clean the rest of the brush. After about 10 mins soaking, I push a very narrow wire, much smaller than the tip orifice, can you say that on a family forum, through to dislodge to last of the paint residue, reassemble, then blow clean water through it to check it's working OK. Will look into these dental sticks you mentioned, as they sound a much better option than the bit of wire I'm currently using.

Cheers

Tony.