Airbrush seasoning?

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Zoc

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Hello :)

I'm a total beginner, so, I decided to ask some stuff before starting.
Right now, I have a few days until my compressor arrives, so my anxiety will not betray me.

So, getting on point, I'm not sure if "seasoning" is the right word, but I'd like to know if there's some initial preparation I'd need to do to my airbrush to protect and preserve it in the long term. (Think as some sort as "cookware seasoning").

I've seen some people saying something about applying some sort of wax, WD40, some machine oil, but these do not make sense to me: Wax usually tend to make things stick, WD40/machine oil seems to be good candidates to mix with and ruin the paint.

So... is there a procedure I need to follow before using my airbrush for the first time?

Airbrush: Harder and Steenbeck Infinity CR 2 in 1
Needle: It came with 0.15mm and 0.4mm needle. Planning to start with 0.4mm thanks to online advice (easier to use // harder to screw up the needle).

I plan to start painting with water based acrylic paints (A local/national brand - Acrilex), diluted in water, as recommended by them.

PS: As I said earlier, I've read a lot of conflicting advice about starting out. I also read a bunch of conflicting advice about cleaning up. I think I'll create a topic after I'm comfortable with the whole starting up part :)

PS2: If you're going to recommend me a brand product for any specific use, is there any chance you can look for alternatives too? I live in a place that I'll probably have trouble to find a specific brand.

Thank you very much in advance! :D
 
I've seen some people saying something about applying some sort of wax, WD40, some machine oil, but these do not make sense to me: Wax usually tend to make things stick, WD40/machine oil seems to be good candidates to mix with and ruin the paint.

Forget the word WD-40 at the area of painting!:)
Wax is usually used for sealing air nozzles to eliminate air leak. There are other things for this.
Machine oil can be used for AB mechanism, when properly used it will not get inside paint passages. Tiny amount is needed. Many people don't oil the mechanism.

So... is there a procedure I need to follow before using my airbrush for the first time?

For Iwata there is no. For knock-offs - it's better to disassemble and remove the oil from the places where it shouldn't be. I think for your H&S you need to do nothing before first painting.
My rule before ANY spraying is to pour small amount of reducer that's used for paint. In AB a few drops is required. In the spray gun - some more:)

I plan to start painting with water based acrylic paints (A local/national brand - Acrilex), diluted in water, as recommended by them.

PS: As I said earlier, I've read a lot of conflicting advice about starting out. I also read a bunch of conflicting advice about cleaning up. I think I'll create a topic after I'm comfortable with the whole starting up part :)

PS2: If you're going to recommend me a brand product for any specific use, is there any chance you can look for alternatives too? I live in a place that I'll probably have trouble to find a specific brand.

Thank you very much in advance! :D

Don't use 0.15 mm nozzle for that paint brand, more likely it will be headache but not good paint. Use 0.4 mm nozzle.
If you can use urethane paint you will not have any issues with it. But ventilated area is required and wearing charcoal filter respirator must be a rule.

Do not leave your paints (waterbased) for a night inside the AB.

Cleaning. It depends on people. Some say "clean", some say other things:) I clean my ABs thoroughly.

I think people here could recommend good AB paints for you. I don't use waterbased, so no advise here:)
 
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And for occasional maintenance, go to Foxy Art studio (link on the front page of the forum) in the Netherlands and buy some needle balm. (OAF members - like you and I, get a discount) here is the link to the discount post, I think it's still active. http://www.airbrushforum.org/threads/foxystudio-com-forum-discount.14101/#post-205041

Here is the K33 airbrush balm http://www.foxystudio.com/product/k33-airbrush-balm/

There is also a good video on stripping and cleaning your airbrush (an occasional thing, not every day) here.
 
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The title of this thread makes me think of sprinkling some salt and herbs on my airbrush lol
 
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You can get Schmincke colors in Brasil, and liquitex, Acrilex will give you a lot of problems!


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Forget the word WD-40 at the area of painting!:)
Wax is usually used for sealing air nozzles to eliminate air leak. There are other things for this.
Machine oil can be used for AB mechanism, when properly used it will not get inside paint passages. Tiny amount is needed. Many people don't oil the mechanism.

Sealing air nozzles? Are those used when some damage happens ? :eek:

What happens if I don't oil the mechanism? Faster wear of the airbrush? :(

I'd like to keep it as preserved as possible, I won't be able to afford a new one in a long time (And, independently of that, I tend to be extremely careful with my stuff, given the right knowledge. Things are very expensive here :( )

For Iwata there is no. For knock-offs - it's better to disassemble and remove the oil from the places where it shouldn't be. I think for your H&S you need to do nothing before first painting.
My rule before ANY spraying is to pour small amount of reducer that's used for paint. In AB a few drops is required. In the spray gun - some more:)
If I use water for diluting water based acrylic paints... Should I spray that ?
Or maybe 40% alcohol? (IDK what to use in the first time for cleaning, like you said :confused: )


Don't use 0.15 mm nozzle for that paint brand, more likely it will be headache but not good paint. Use 0.4 mm nozzle.
If you can use urethane paint you will not have any issues with it. But ventilated area is required and wearing charcoal filter respirator must be a rule.
Okay! Was planning on starting with 0.4mm, someone told me it's easier :)


Do not leave your paints (waterbased) for a night inside the AB.

Cleaning. It depends on people. Some say "clean", some say other things:) I clean my ABs thoroughly.

I prefer to keep it as clean as possible, but before I cross the paranoid mark (otherwise I"ll probably get frustrated with the amount of cleaning required).
Am I safe cleaning it without the need of an ultrassonic bath? (I have no idea where I would get that around here).

I think people here could recommend good AB paints for you. I don't use waterbased, so no advise here:)
Hopefully! Thanks for all the advices! :D

No preparation other than a through cleaning before starting to paint. Most Airbrush companies test them so there may be a little paint in them. Also like already said I would seal the threads every now and again.

By cleaning, you mean spraying something (some solvent?) out of it or disassemble it and get a interdental brush and do a good (but careful!) scrub? :)

Also.. What means "seal the threads"? :)

And for occasional maintenance, go to Foxy Art studio (link on the front page of the forum) in the Netherlands and buy some needle balm. (OAF members - like you and I, get a discount) here is the link to the discount post, I think it's still active. http://www.airbrushforum.org/threads/foxystudio-com-forum-discount.14101/#post-205041

Here is the K33 airbrush balm http://www.foxystudio.com/product/k33-airbrush-balm/

There is also a good video on stripping and cleaning your airbrush (an occasional thing, not every day) here.

Awesome video, thanks you!

About Foxy Art Studio, I sent them an email, sadly the shipping is around 35 euro. That's prohibitive for me, for now... Maybe somewhere down the road ? :)

If there's a replacement for that, it could be a good thing for me.

The title of this thread makes me think of sprinkling some salt and herbs on my airbrush lol
Hahaha yeah, me too!
Sadly, I didn't find a (more?) appropriate term for that, so I went with the best one I could think of lol


You can get Schmincke colors in Brasil, and liquitex, Acrilex will give you a lot of problems!

I saw a review about the new line on Acrilex Naturecolors line and it looked good (at least for some national brand without being super expensive).
Since you're from Argentina, any idea where can I get (reasonably?) good paints for a good price?

(I assume that Mercosul thing we're in doesn't help if I try to buy something in your country, does it? I have no idea where to get quality paints without paying an insane price on them :( )

I'd love to get my hands on liquitex, specially for the flow improver, airbrush medium and all that basic stuff. Acrilex doesn't even have a low quality of those :(
 
Sealing air nozzles? Are those used when some damage happens ? :eek:

No!:D The owner of H&S can't understand Iwata users:)
Most of Iwata ABs (except Eclipse series) have threaded paint nozzles. For better sealing it's good to apply some sealant on the thread.
Your nozzles have no threads, so no sealant is required.

What happens if I don't oil the mechanism? Faster wear of the airbrush? :(

I'd like to keep it as preserved as possible, I won't be able to afford a new one in a long time (And, independently of that, I tend to be extremely careful with my stuff, given the right knowledge. Things are very expensive here :( )

I can't say for sure if the mechanism must be greased, but I do that using lithium grease. It's not expensive and works great for me.

I'd advise to buy an Iwata next time;) But don't think H&S is bad or smth. Iwata is just better.

If I use water for diluting water based acrylic paints... Should I spray that ?
Or maybe 40% alcohol? (IDK what to use in the first time for cleaning, like you said :confused: )

Put some water there and that's it. I did so when tried AB for the first times.
Acrylic resin doesn't dissolve in pure alcohol. At least I tried to dissolve the WB paint in alcohol and pure water. The paint remained the same condition as it was and in water it worked. The only reason to use alcohol is it evaporates faster than water and makes paint mixture more transparent.

I prefer to keep it as clean as possible, but before I cross the paranoid mark (otherwise I"ll probably get frustrated with the amount of cleaning required).
Am I safe cleaning it without the need of an ultrassonic bath? (I have no idea where I would get that around here).

I've made my cleaning brushes out of interdental brushes. They work just great even with urethanes.
Also small artist's brushes are int use. For cleaning the nozzle for example.

You don't need any ultrasonic bath for cleaning an AB:)

Also.. What means "seal the threads"? :)

One part of this answer is above. Another threads you have are on your air nozzle. If they're not sealed there's small air leak there. Usually new ABs come sealed. Maybe you've noticed that air nozzle unscrews not that freely. What you see there is thread sealant for air nozzle.
 
Quickly replying on cellphone (thanks to my anxiety and hype about airbrushing :D)

Thanks for all the info! There's something I don't understand:

One part of this answer is above. Another threads you have are on your air nozzle. If they're not sealed there's small air leak there. Usually new ABs come sealed. Maybe you've noticed that air nozzle unscrews not that freely. What you see there is thread sealant for air nozzle.

Is this true only for iwata, or for h&s too?

If it's true for H&S, can you be more precise about what area you're taking about (that can also be read as "I still don't know the name of all the parts, sorry!").
I'll need to disassemble mine to swap my 0.15mm needle to 0.4mm needle, and I'd hate to break that seal and don't know how to fix it prior first use...

Thank you very much, again!
 
Is this true only for iwata, or for h&s too?

If it's true for H&S, can you be more precise about what area you're taking about (that can also be read as "I still don't know the name of all the parts, sorry!").

It's true for H&S also.
Here's the air nozzle.

air_nozzle.jpg

I'll need to disassemble mine to swap my 0.15mm needle to 0.4mm needle, and I'd hate to break that seal and don't know how to fix it prior first use...


When changing the nozzles in your H&S, I'd say it's not possible to break something there.
Teflon O-ring always remains on the paint nozzle and the sealant on the air nozzle can't broken as it's just high viscosity grease. It can be removed, changed or added, but not broken:)
There's nothing to be afraid of, just do not over tighten the threads, that's all you have to do.
 
I saw a review about the new line on Acrilex Naturecolors line and it looked good (at least for some national brand without being super expensive).
Since you're from Argentina, any idea where can I get (reasonably?) good paints for a good price?

(I assume that Mercosul thing we're in doesn't help if I try to buy something in your country, does it? I have no idea where to get quality paints without paying an insane price on them :( )

I'd love to get my hands on liquitex, specially for the flow improver, airbrush medium and all that basic stuff. Acrilex doesn't even have a low quality of those :(
No mate, cheap in our countries it's a forbidden word, I buy almost everything in Coastairbrush.com and Airbrushes.com, even with shipping and customs it's far cheaper, but it's a lot slower too.

Acrilex it is a very good paint, I use their glass paint (candy) line and they works like a charm, with their acrylics use only distilled water with 1 or 2 drops of glisering every 30ml, you will have more dry tip that with airbrush paint but they work fine, just add water to your airbrush cup to the level of desired paint and then dip a brush with paint in it and stir it well until you get the desired opacity. It will work fine but with a good amount of dry tip.

upload_2017-10-17_14-42-5.png
 
It's true for H&S also.
Here's the air nozzle.

View attachment 50502




When changing the nozzles in your H&S, I'd say it's not possible to break something there.
Teflon O-ring always remains on the paint nozzle and the sealant on the air nozzle can't broken as it's just high viscosity grease. It can be removed, changed or added, but not broken:)
There's nothing to be afraid of, just do not over tighten the threads, that's all you have to do.

The nozzle seems to be a bit different on my H&S. They have a rubber O-ring on them. Does that remove the need for the wax?

126844_HARDER_AND_STEENBECK_NOZZLE_SET_0.4MM_FINE_LINE_CR_1__68646.1452016706.1280.1280.JPG


Hard to see in that image, but the black rubber is there :)

No mate, cheap in our countries it's a forbidden word, I buy almost everything in Coastairbrush.com and Airbrushes.com, even with shipping and customs it's far cheaper, but it's a lot slower too.

Acrilex it is a very good paint, I use their glass paint (candy) line and they works like a charm, with their acrylics use only distilled water with 1 or 2 drops of glisering every 30ml, you will have more dry tip that with airbrush paint but they work fine, just add water to your airbrush cup to the level of desired paint and then dip a brush with paint in it and stir it well until you get the desired opacity. It will work fine but with a good amount of dry tip.

View attachment 50511

I'm afraid to train right in the good quality paints, in fear of getting too expensive right off the bat. Is that a bad idea (using cheaper/national paints to get used to airbrush)?

I couldn't find that "glass paint (candy)" on their website. I looked at this link.
Also... Why mix glycerin in the paint? (or was it something else? >.<)
And every 30ml? That's a lot of paint!
(30ml after dilution or in the "raw" paint, before dilution?)

Also.. Does alcohol (ethanol or Isopropyl alcohol) help against dry tip on those cases?

Thank you very much for all the help and support! :D
 
The nozzle seems to be a bit different on my H&S. They have a rubber O-ring on them. Does that remove the need for the wax?
Hard to see in that image, but the black rubber is there :)

I was talking about teflon seal on paint nozzle.

The air nozzle with rubber doesn't need any sealing, it will work OK with rubber and I think even better than any other sealant. As I remember, my friend's Evolution air nozzle didn't have the same O-ring as your Infinity did.
So, it's great for you:) No additional sealing is required it seems as teflon is on the paint nozzle and rubber is on the air nozzle.
In Iwatas I must seal both nozzles for better performance. Without the sealing they work great, but once sealed, no surprises would arise while painting.
 
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The nozzle seems to be a bit different on my H&S. They have a rubber O-ring on them. Does that remove the need for the wax?

126844_HARDER_AND_STEENBECK_NOZZLE_SET_0.4MM_FINE_LINE_CR_1__68646.1452016706.1280.1280.JPG


Hard to see in that image, but the black rubber is there :)



I'm afraid to train right in the good quality paints, in fear of getting too expensive right off the bat. Is that a bad idea (using cheaper/national paints to get used to airbrush)?

I couldn't find that "glass paint (candy)" on their website. I looked at this link.
Also... Why mix glycerin in the paint? (or was it something else? >.<)
And every 30ml? That's a lot of paint!
(30ml after dilution or in the "raw" paint, before dilution?)

Also.. Does alcohol (ethanol or Isopropyl alcohol) help against dry tip on those cases?

Thank you very much for all the help and support! :D
http://www.acrilex.com.br/produtoDetalheE.asp?id=60

No Amigo, the 3 drops of glycerin are for the water, mix 30ml of pure water with 3 drops of glycerin and use that mix to thin your paint.
It is not a bad idea to use cheap paints, but will make your learning curve a bit harder! As they aren't made for airbrushing use!
 
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The nozzle seems to be a bit different on my H&S. They have a rubber O-ring on them. Does that remove the need for the wax?

126844_HARDER_AND_STEENBECK_NOZZLE_SET_0.4MM_FINE_LINE_CR_1__68646.1452016706.1280.1280.JPG


Hard to see in that image, but the black rubber is there :)



I'm afraid to train right in the good quality paints, in fear of getting too expensive right off the bat. Is that a bad idea (using cheaper/national paints to get used to airbrush)?

I couldn't find that "glass paint (candy)" on their website. I looked at this link.
Also... Why mix glycerin in the paint? (or was it something else? >.<)
And every 30ml? That's a lot of paint!
(30ml after dilution or in the "raw" paint, before dilution?)

Also.. Does alcohol (ethanol or Isopropyl alcohol) help against dry tip on those cases?

Thank you very much for all the help and support! :D

Here's my take on cheap paints to learn with Don't waste your time with them it's not worth the pains you will get from them, A 2 oz bottle of E-TAC or CRETAX Illastration paint cost about 4 to 6 dollars a bottle plus you can use water to thin them if you don't want to buy reducer? (You will need some Reducer at some point anyway so you might as well get it) Now getting back to what I was saying...when you use the good paint you will only be using a few drops at a time so a 2oz bottle will last a long time if you thin it to 3 to 1(3 parts reducer/water to 1 part paint it will last 3 times longer and so on(some people thin there paint up up 8 to 1) so a small bottle even if it cost 6 dollars a bottle will keep you in paint for more then enough to learn how to control the airbrush and get you up and painting with just one bottle due to the very small amount you use
 
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http://www.acrilex.com.br/produtoDetalheE.asp?id=60

No Amigo, the 3 drops of glycerin are for the water, mix 30ml of pure water with 3 drops of glycerin and use that mix to thin your paint.
It is not a bad idea to use cheap paints, but will make your learning curve a bit harder! As they aren't made for airbrushing use!

Thanks for the advice, had no idea that it was recommended to add glycerin to water before using it to thin paints!
Any catch about using it ? (taking longer to try, making the paint with some grease-looking appearance or anything else I should know ? :) )

Willing to ask stuff about cheap paints, but I'll do it in the quote below (since it would be the same, anyway)

Here's my take on cheap paints to learn with Don't waste your time with them it's not worth the pains you will get from them, A 2 oz bottle of E-TAC or CRETAX Illastration paint cost about 4 to 6 dollars a bottle plus you can use water to thin them if you don't want to buy reducer? (You will need some Reducer at some point anyway so you might as well get it) Now getting back to what I was saying...when you use the good paint you will only be using a few drops at a time so a 2oz bottle will last a long time if you thin it to 3 to 1(3 parts reducer/water to 1 part paint it will last 3 times longer and so on(some people thin there paint up up 8 to 1) so a small bottle even if it cost 6 dollars a bottle will keep you in paint for more then enough to learn how to control the airbrush and get you up and painting with just one bottle due to the very small amount you use

Thanks for the advice. I had my share of cheap stuff trying to learn C++ using GNU tools as a newbie, would be way better if I used big company tools for the first steps and only then try crazy stuff.
(Now I can program on both, but that comment kinda hit one of my bad memories about learning something hard trying to save money).

About those cheap paints... Can they do harm to my airbrush?
I think I'll get started on the ones I have, that I used for painting some stuff with brushes, and order some good ones for airbrushing.

---

About ordering non-cheap paints, anything I should start looking for ?
I have no idea, for example, of the difference of Createx Illustration Colors and Createx Wicked. And that's just one brand.

What about transparent and opaque colors? (Are the transparent just a diluted version of opaque?)

I remember someone saying to go for wicked, and not wasting time on any other, but assume this was a matter of taste.

Any "utility chemistry" I should look for? (I remember something called "flow improver" that I never used while using regular brushes - something like that?)

I also heard about vallejo paints (they're kinda expensive, but I can order from another state on my country). Are those good for general purpose, or only modelling?

And any specific color I should get to use while learning? (I'm thinking to use black).

Thank you very much again for all your input and help, it's very valuable!
 
a lot of people love the wicked and CI from createx , I am not one of them I only use Etac paints they are easy to use and only need water to thin em down
a opaque paint can be made transparent the will always stay opaque as in when you reach max saturation you cont go any darker , transparent paints are different and can be made opaque by adding either white or black in its transparent state the color will get darker after each layer and it has no real max saturation but it cant go darker than the pigment used as in lets say sepia or burnt umber you will reach a point the color will start to look near black but never real black
I advice you to only use products from the same brand when it comes to flow enhancer's
 
Oh my dear Carioca, don’t overthink it too much, in fact there isn’t any difference between cheap or expensive paints as you and i will pay way cheaper specialised paints if you buy a set of bottles instead 1 or 2 non specialised paints (oz x oz specialised ends being cheaper), non specialised paints won’t break your airbrush, they just will give you some headaches and nothing else. I used a lot of non specialised paints to paint models, but when you are trying to learn to do illustration work, they simply won’t work for that, cause they aren’t made for that. The glyserin will help to reduce the dry tip and and the flow, at least that is what I saw when I began to use it.
Just do what I said earlier, put water in the cup and spray a little, watch closely how it performs, add a little paint with a brush, mix it well, spray a little and so on until you observes a good flowing and a good coverage. It’s try and error, but don’t be afraid cause you won’t break your airbrush.



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Looks like between Ronald,Marcos and I your questions are answered so far If you have anything else just post it up and someone will reply,Hope you enjoy yourself and don't be a stranger .
 
a lot of people love the wicked and CI from createx , I am not one of them I only use Etac paints they are easy to use and only need water to thin em down
a opaque paint can be made transparent the will always stay opaque as in when you reach max saturation you cont go any darker , transparent paints are different and can be made opaque by adding either white or black in its transparent state the color will get darker after each layer and it has no real max saturation but it cant go darker than the pigment used as in lets say sepia or burnt umber you will reach a point the color will start to look near black but never real black
I advice you to only use products from the same brand when it comes to flow enhancer's

Hmm, thanks for the info! So, the pigment is actually different :eek:
I thought it was a pre-thinned paint only. I wonder how it's made...

I guess those are useful for changing the (below? underneath?) layer hue?


Oh my dear Carioca, don’t overthink it too much, in fact there isn’t any difference between cheap or expensive paints as you and i will pay way cheaper specialised paints if you buy a set of bottles instead 1 or 2 non specialised paints (oz x oz specialised ends being cheaper), non specialised paints won’t break your airbrush, they just will give you some headaches and nothing else. I used a lot of non specialised paints to paint models, but when you are trying to learn to do illustration work, they simply won’t work for that, cause they aren’t made for that. The glyserin will help to reduce the dry tip and and the flow, at least that is what I saw when I began to use it.
Just do what I said earlier, put water in the cup and spray a little, watch closely how it performs, add a little paint with a brush, mix it well, spray a little and so on until you observes a good flowing and a good coverage. It’s try and error, but don’t be afraid cause you won’t break your airbrush.



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Oh, good to know! As long as I don't damage the airbrush, I guess I can do some experiments and learn by trial and error (and frustration, I guess hah :cry:)
You said you usually import good paint. Since you're from south america too, can you teach me where to get good paints (apparently at Coastairbrush.com and Airbrushes.com) with good price + delivery price?
Any brand you recommend? (Asking to have some starting point, instead of trying a brand randomly)
I plan to do miniature painting and hopefully able to learn some illustration (well, start with basic stuff). For illustration, should I get a (big) black point bottle of a (reasonably?) good paint?

Looks like between Ronald,Marcos and I your questions are answered so far If you have anything else just post it up and someone will reply,Hope you enjoy yourself and don't be a stranger .

Will do!

Thank you all, very much, again! :love:
 
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