Testor's Acrylics Airbrushing Question

[regular guy]

i want to avoid dried on paint in tip

how long can you spray for before it starts drying up?

do i head for the sink or spray water through it

after i'm done spraying?

[Mike Kucaba]

I have found over the years that water based acrylics are the toughest paints to clear from an AB. I suggest that an oz or two of ammonia run thru the AB does wonders. You should flush after that with clean water. If the paint is drying you may want to pick up some acrylic paint retarder and / or flo-aid by Liquitex. Also having a large tip in the AB helps.

"Striving diligently to get my posts count higher"

[Dave Ambrose]

What type of airbrush are you using?

I use this procedure with my Paasche VL:

• Flush it with a 50-50 mix of denatured alcohol and Windex.
  
• Remove the color cup or bottle, and use a Q-tip to clean the inside of hole there the bottle or cup seats.
  
• After removing the cone and needle, I take a pipe cleaner, dip it in solvent, and run it into the front of the airbrush.
  
• Take the same mix, wipe down all the external surfaces with the same mixture. Wipe off the needle too.
  
• The cone and nozzle go into a jar with clean solvent.
  

I've never been able to adequately clean the airbrush simply by flushing it with solvent; hence my more elaborate procedure.

[Dr. Cranky]

Dave, good question. That's what I was going to ask. I use my IWATA ECLIPSE and keep a Windex moist paper towel handy to wipe off the build up at the tip every so often. That usually helps keep everything flowing smooth and the tip clean.

[scalenut]

Tip Dry-it's the nature of acrylics , like Doc, you can have a moist paper ,or moist q-tip handy, or simply pinch the tip with your finger.

It becomes second nature after a while.a quick dab and keep going

as others mentioned ,paint brand and additives make a difference in how frequent the tip will build up.

I like the liquitex products and createx makes an excellent cleaner. be careful with pure ammonia, I stripped the chrome out of my AB using it and it ruined the outer chrome finish plus it drys the o-rings out..in that case an AB lube (like badger regdab) would be highly recommended.

[scalenut]

here's the effect of windex and ammonia on my AB's over the years

the bottom 2 were severely damaged by the ammonia cleaner , the second from bottom no longer has a colored handle.

the paasche H(bottom) is quite tarnished.

third from bottom , I quit using the ammonia and stuck to windex, after a few years of cleaning the cup the chrome is dulled and stripping down.

the top AB has nothing but thinners and the createx cleaner used.

These AB's have seen a lot of use over 8+ years and the results of using ammonia products shows clearly.

obviously the internals are also effected. I've had the 2 middle AB's rebuilt by badger, because I didn't keep them lubed and they wore out prematurely ,most likely from the ammonia products.

the good news is,they all work just not very shiny anymore.

[regular guy]

mr ambrose

testors mighty mini

which comes with red small tip

i bought set of 3 tips

haven't tried them yet

yellow and orange tips in set are larger

[Mike Kucaba]

here's the effect of windex and ammonia on my AB's over the years

the bottom 2 were severely damaged by the ammonia cleaner , the second from bottom no longer has a colored handle.

the paasche H(bottom) is quite tarnished.

third from bottom , I quit using the ammonia and stuck to windex, after a few years of cleaning the cup the chrome is dulled and stripping down.

the top AB has nothing but thinners and the createx cleaner used.

These AB's have seen a lot of use over 8+ years and the results of using ammonia products shows clearly.

obviously the internals are also effected. I've had the 2 middle AB's rebuilt by badger, because I didn't keep them lubed and they wore out prematurely ,most likely from the ammonia products.

the good news is,they all work just not very shiny anymore.

Man,That is some heavy damage to those brushes.Did you soak these and not rinse? I've been using ammonia(the sudsy kind with lemon for years and neither of my two VL's look like that.I do rinse with clean water and wipe off the out side with a wet cloth then dry with a cloth.After a long session with acrylics I will do a tear down and really go at it.I recently got some of that Medea cleaner with an Iwata and that works well.

[my66s55]

99% of what I airbrush is acrylic paint spayed with a paasche H. I use Liquitex Airbrush medium and water for thinning and 91% alcohol for cleaning. When I am done painting, I take the needle and tip off the airbrush and soak them in a small glass of the alcohol. After a short while, I clean the needle with a thin tooth pick and rinse it under running water. If I am painting more than one color, I fill a spare paint bottle half full of alcohol and spray it through the airbrush until the spray if clean and then change color. I haven't had to clean the tip while painting.

[scalenut]

Man,That is some heavy damage to those brushes.Did you soak these and not rinse? I've been using ammonia(the sudsy kind with lemon for years and neither of my two VL's look like that.I do rinse with clean water and wipe off the out side with a wet cloth then dry with a cloth.After a long session with acrylics I will do a tear down and really go at it.I recently got some of that Medea cleaner with an Iwata and that works well.

I won't lie I'm hard on my airbrushes ,,, but I'm getting better about it.

[Dr. Cranky]

Andy, you can now get that Paasche H airbrush with a metal end.