acrylic paint. watery?

[trey allen]

Another new guy question. I guess ill be asking a lot of these. Anyway, I am airbrushing acrylic tamiya paints. It is going on, well, very watery. I am using restore airbrush acrylic thinner because that's all the hobby store had. Primer is plastikote. Temperature is 40 in the garage. Probably a combo of everything?

[trey allen]

Well, the compressor was set at 30 psi. Might be part of the problem?

[sportandmiah]

I'd set it lower to maybe 15. I'm new to airbrushing as well, and am learning.

[MikeMc]

Another new guy question. I guess ill be asking a lot of these. Anyway, I am airbrushing acrylic tamiya paints. It is going on, well, very watery. I am using restore airbrush acrylic thinner because that's all the hobby store had. Primer is plastikote. Temperature is 40 in the garage. Probably a combo of everything?

Do you mean it has runs??

One thing about acrylics is dry time...they need to be thin enough to spray, but thick enough to cover.

That said with the cold temp and 30psi I suspect you are trying to get too much coverage in one coat.

So what to do now....if the surface has a lot of runs, strip or sand depending on what you have, reprime and let dry.

30 psi will work fine...but you will need to adjust your distance for your airbrush and paint thickness...in short, the paint, pressure, pattern of the brush, and

distance to surface all factor in. I prefer lacquers for many reasons, but acrylics have a lot of advantages going for them.

Do some searches here or in tips and tuts..there is a lot of good advice posted

[kitbash1]

Your paint should be the consistancy of milk. At least that's what I was told many years ago when I was starting out with an airbrush. This advice has worked out quite well for both enamels and acrylics.

[Draggon]

I have this problem too, and temp or air pressure didnt matter all that much. I have tried all the ususal suspects to thin it with and found 91% isopropyl alcohol to be the best for me. I have found that adjusting the pressure, to around 12 to 18 pounds, shooting the paint as thick as possible, and applying many coats works best. And all acrylics arent the same. Most of the model master I dont thin at all. I think it is an aquired skill. Ive been using airbrushes since 1965 or so, yet still have to master acrylics.