Hi from Highland NY

S

Squeezy Jefferson

Guest
I'm new. I just got an airbrush for my birthday! It's an Iwata Neo. It came with some sort of (compressor?) that reminds me of the air pump for my fish tank. It doesn't matter. I'm totally in love with it. I'm really bad, holy crap, really bad. Really bad.
No problems. I'm working on lettering. I finally got my Capital letters down. Now I'm working on drop shadows. Okay, yes, horrible. Really really bad.

Do you guys have any advice on drop shadows? Thanks. Nice to meet you.
 
Welcome home Squeezy we were all really really bad when we started, The main thing is make sure to practice those dots , Dagger strokes(which become those letters) fades and blends. It is all about building up muscle memory and not only learning when the airbrush will release paint but how to use the paint you have chosen and when or if you need reduction depending on Air pressure. The tankless compressor really are not all that being while with air off they show between 35 and 50 PSI with air on it is more like 15 to 20.
Check out the Airbrushtutor's youtube page
 
Welcome Squeezy! Is that the same Highlands NJ from Kevin Smith / View Askew fame?
Looks like Mr.Micron has you covered with some initial advice and don’t worry Buddy, I’m still horrible too. But each piece is a little less horrible than the last LOL, so I’m happy just moving forward for now.


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Welcome aboard Squeezy from the Finger lakes! Sounds like you have a reasonable enough starter airbrush. From your description, that compressor sounds like it IS an aquarium pump lol. Definitely consider upgrading the compressor to something with an air tank and regulator/moisture trap as that will get more controllable results.
Like Mr.Micron and Siroxx both said, just keep practicing and build up the muscle memory. My stuff is still :poo: too :)
 
Welcome to the forum! I'm assuming you must be by NYC or Long Island?

Oh yeah, welcome to the Really Really Bad Club... here's your hat and t-shirt. :thumbsup:

and once you no longer qualify for the Really Really Bad club you move onto the AAD group*, and get a very cute 'cuddle myself' jacket to wear.

* Membership to the Airbrush Aquisition Disorder group is automatic when buy your 3rd airbrush, the jacket is provided in a pathetic attempt to keep you from hitting the 'buy' button on your dealers webpage. !!
 
Thanks for the warm welcome. I'm in upstate NY, about an hour from NYC. It's a beautiful place.

I've only had one problem with the airbrush so far. The trigger got stuck, I could push it down, but it wouldn't come back up, even when I took it out. It was a really humid rainy day, I'm not sure if that was the problem. Anyway, my son took it apart by the hose and found the sticky spring, applied a drop of WD40 and now it runs well.

I watched the Badger Video for introductions and that helped a lot. I now know how to back flush and don't have to clean it out every five minutes. How helpful. Also, thanks for the Airbrushtutor recommendation! He's got a great personality for teaching and a super talent. I have to admit I've been watching another guy quite a bit on youtube, he passed away, but left a super channel. Purejaime.

Again, thanks for the welcome!
 
Thanks for the warm welcome. I'm in upstate NY, about an hour from NYC. It's a beautiful place.

I've only had one problem with the airbrush so far. The trigger got stuck, I could push it down, but it wouldn't come back up, even when I took it out. It was a really humid rainy day, I'm not sure if that was the problem. Anyway, my son took it apart by the hose and found the sticky spring, applied a drop of WD40 and now it runs well.

I watched the Badger Video for introductions and that helped a lot. I now know how to back flush and don't have to clean it out every five minutes. How helpful. Also, thanks for the Airbrushtutor recommendation! He's got a great personality for teaching and a super talent. I have to admit I've been watching another guy quite a bit on youtube, he passed away, but left a super channel. Purejaime.

Again, thanks for the welcome!
Never use WD40 or any oil in the air valve , One that oil can get into you painting, and 2 wd40 will break down the o ring in the valve body.
Yes Jamie Rodriguez is missed in the airbrush world. He wife was offering his dvd on her FB page some time ago not sure if it is still up for sell or not.
Check the needle bearing which sits in front of the trigger to make sure you are not leaking paint back into the trigger area. That will cause the sticky trigger you were talking about. If the Trigger will push down aka air on but will not pull back it is caused by dried paint , Either the dried paint is on the needle just in front of the needle packing bearing(seal) or behind it on the trigger side of things.
 
OH NOOOOO! Crap, I hope I don't hurt this thing! Wow, I'm using a lot of exclamations! There was paint in the trigger area, I cleaned it out before using the oil. Since then I've used it for about 8 hours. I haven't noticed any problems. How will I be able to tell if I hurt it?

Also....Hey South Africa!!!!!!
 
OH NOOOOO! Crap, I hope I don't hurt this thing! Wow, I'm using a lot of exclamations! There was paint in the trigger area, I cleaned it out before using the oil. Since then I've used it for about 8 hours. I haven't noticed any problems. How will I be able to tell if I hurt it?

Also....Hey South Africa!!!!!!
Fred aka AirbrushDreams on here has a great video on how to clean and seal your airbrush.
 
Oh depending on the material you are painting on like metal you would have notice fish eyes spots in the paint . That would be where the oil you used came through the air valve.
 
We learn by our mistakes. Mr Micron is right. No oils in the brush ever. Take it apart completely and remove all o rings. I would discard the O rings and go to Home Depot and buy some Danco #60 o rings these are the standard size that Iwata uses. Clean the brush with airbrush cleaner. Once you put the new o rings back in you should be good. Out of the factory they take a tiny bit of petroleum jelly like lubricant to the top of the piston o ring. This will not gum up. Also check that there is slight resistance against the needle when sliding it in. If not use a jewelers screwdriver to tighten the packing ring till you feel just a slight resistance on the needle while sliding it in. Seat the needle and tighten your chuck nut on the need tension spring. You should be back in perfect working condition. Most people back flush at way to high a pressure and push fluid and paint back into the trigger area. It is best not to back flush at all. Do not use airbrush restorer on the head because it will cause O-rings to swell.


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We learn by our mistakes. Mr Micron is right. No oils in the brush ever. Take it apart completely and remove all o rings. I would discard the O rings and go to Home Depot and buy some Danco #60 o rings these are the standard size that Iwata uses. Clean the brush with airbrush cleaner. Once you put the new o rings back in you should be good. Out of the factory they take a tiny bit of petroleum jelly like lubricant to the top of the piston o ring. This will not gum up. Also check that there is slight resistance against the needle when sliding it in. If not use a jewelers screwdriver to tighten the packing ring till you feel just a slight resistance on the needle while sliding it in. Seat the needle and tighten your chuck nut on the need tension spring. You should be back in perfect working condition. Most people back flush at way to high a pressure and push fluid and paint back into the trigger area. It is best not to back flush at all. Do not use airbrush restorer on the head because it will cause O-rings to swell.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
http://fredaw61.wixsite.com/the-artist
https://www.youtube.com/user/fredaw61

Yes, I did not have this problem until I started back flushing. I'm not having any problems at this point. Thank you SOOO much on the O ring info. I will replace them. I had no idea that Home Depot would sell something so random. I'm ordering some new airbrush cleaner and I'm gonna go back to what I felt was a more beginner level paint. Com Art. It was much thinner. I've been thinning my paints with water, but they're still so gummy.
 
Fred aka AirbrushDreams on here has a great video on how to clean and seal your airbrush.

I can't tell you how much I value all this help. You're truly a gem. This is exactly what I needed to see. Thanks a million!
 
Oh, really stupid question.....what's the head? In reference to "don't use airbrush cleaner on the head because it will cause the O ring to swell"
 
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