Love Your Airbrush!

Airbrushes - the always repeating mistery of modelling!

A lot of modellers face problems with their airbrushes and consider them a mistery where no mistery is! One thing i repeatedly read is that the airbrush is more like a paintspitter than a painting helper that can bring your models to life!

This may have several reasons - air pressure too high or too low, paint thinning ratio too high or too low, wrong distance between airbrush and object, too much beer ... various reasons that are more or less based on experience and trial and error!

But the fundament for having no problems anymore with the above mentioned issues is to take care of your airbrush!

The very first step of approaching a better relationship between you and your airbrush is to love your airbrush!

This may sound silly to some of you but i mean each and every word absolutely serious!

Love your airbrush!

Speak to your airbrush! build up a personal relationship, don't consider or treat it as a tool and your airbrush will pay back to you!

For this tip from me i took my trusty Iwata Revolution CR:



The very first thing when i buy a new airbrush (what i already did too often and still can't get enough! ) is to completely disassemble the airbrush to loose all fear of the delicate parts! Then i seal every single thread with lengths of teflon tape - you may also use bee's wax but you have to be very careful not to clog your nozzle when using wax! Teflon is easier to handle!

This helps to prevent the air and paint coming out of unwanted places and leaky spots!



After each session with your airbrush refill the cup with either distilled water or the thinner recommended for your color! Never use tab water!!! The nozzle, sealings and bearings in your airbrush don't like the lime in tab water! After that again fill the cup but this time use window cleaner and brush the cup empty and repeat that action with distilled water again! Take out the needle and let airbrush body and needle dry completely over night! If not you may have a clogged needle that loosens only with brute force!

After several sessions it helps a lot if you disassemble your airbrush and immerse the parts in special airbrush cleaners like e.g. Schmincke Aero Clean Rapid or my most preferred cleaner Createx Airbrush Restorer! When you do so you will be surprised how much color comes out of your airbrush! Proceed strictly as per instructions or else you may damage the airbrush! I do this repeatedly in a 2-3 months period!



This applies only to metal airbrushes with teflon sealings and bearings - soft plastic may be dissolved!

After having rinsed and reassembled all parts you think you are done?

Then you are mistaken!

This is the needle of my Iwata Revolution CR - looks pretty clean, doesn't it?



Then i have a nasty surprise for you!

Polish your needle carefully!

This is the needle before polishing:



and after the first run of polishing:



all dirt gone?

No!

Second run:



I use a two step polishing system, you don't have to but this is my preferred way of polishing!

Now all you have to do is to carefully wipe away any remaining polish from the needle and reinsert it into the airbrush body! Do this carefully with the trigger always pressed down and continuously rotating the needle until it sits flush with the nozzle!

Now you have a well prepared airbrush for doing a satisfying paintjob!

NOTE: I don't take over any responsibility if you damage any part of your airbrush while following those steps! Be careful and don't forget to ...

Love Your Airbrush!

Hi Laura

Thanks for that run-through. I have a brand new airbrush that'll be getting the royal treatment soon.

It's cliché time.. but like in any relationship.. you gotta put the hard work in to get the best out

Again, thanks Laura

Cheers

Rob

Being a bit old fashioned I find the airbrush to be one of those new fangled ideas that will never catch on...bit like electricity.

Since acquiring my Badger I have tried to develop a relationship with it but it does not seem to want to reciprocate - its hard to love someone that dont love you.....:-(

One thing having an airbrush has taught me is how to strip and repaint a model...often several times!

Regards Dave

Laura,
Thanks for the tips. Something that I was not aware of.
Cheers
John

Good stuff Laura! Like any tool you have to take care of your Airbrushes for them to take care of you.

it makes me happy if my little explanation is helpful to you guys!

Kiwidave4 wrote:Being a bit old fashioned I find the airbrush to be one of those new fangled ideas that will never catch on...bit like electricity.

Since acquiring my Badger I have tried to develop a relationship with it but it does not seem to want to reciprocate - its hard to love someone that dont love you.....:-(

One thing having an airbrush has taught me is how to strip and repaint a model...often several times!

electricity i devil's work! if you want to go to heaven never use the devil's temptation of electricity!

now serious: there is a rule of thumb with any airbrush: less is more! less pressure is better than too much pressure, less distance to the object to be painted is better than too much, less color on the model and doing several coats one after another is better than trying to build up one massive coat of paint!

any "too much" is already too much! too much of air pressure, too thick or too thin color, too much of a coat in one session! too much distance!

ok, i know how to paint a model with brushes only but for me it is far too time consuming and mind numbing when i do extensive mapping all over the vehicle, poking little amounts of color on the surfaces until i get a satisfying result! i prefer the shortcut with airbrush!

less is more!

Thanks for the SBS Laura. The polishing trick may come very handy the day I start to use my Airbrush in a more regular basis.
Still afraid to ruin a good model when using it so there's a truck load of them on the paint table

Ah Laura ,

This tip is gold , as a modeller , an airbrush is probably the most expensive investment most modellers make . It is vital that you respect such delicate equipment if you are to get the most out of it !

You are protecting your investment if you follow Lauras advice .

Jenny

TO MUCH BEER ?

There's no such thing as to much beer where I come from . But I do absolutley agree with everything else you shared with us all here

Gary

Good advice Laura. If I had seen this before then I wouldn't have asked such a silly question last time

Ant

Thanks a bunch Laura. Never knew about polishing the needle.

Matt

Good sbs, thanks. I'll see if I can find that cleaner you mentioned. One thing I do with mine after I've cleaned it is to use PAM. Its a lubricant for your pots and pans before cooking. I give a spray on the needle and wipe then reassemble. Never had a problem since I started doing this.
James

Laura,
Thanks, The guys in my model club will probably want to thank you, since they have been trying to get me to use
the air brush(s) that I have for years... (I too am old and set in my ways)... I use rattle cans of paint and brushes on
a regular basis... This might get me to get off my butt and try one of the air brushes that I have (I gave two to my son
when he went off to college).
Everytime I bring a kit in that has a pretty good paint job they all go, "It's about time you used that air brush" to which
I always reply, nope not yet... I know that my painting will improve 100% once I get the hang of it, but I just can't seem
to get out of my comfort zone.
Thanks again for the good info though... Only time will tell as to if I get around to using it...
Shawn