Newbie having some problems

R

Robert Kuzmeski

Guest
Hello,

I bought a Master G444 kit from Amazon and I am having a real bear of a time learning how to get it functioning properly. It didn't came with any decent instructions to speak of, just a couple of pages about how to practice drawing straight lines. After several Youtube videos, I at least got it to spray paint.

It has clogged several times since then, despite using pre-mixed Wicked paints and me making serious efforts to clean it. Each time, it can take me a good couple of hours to figure out where the clog is and get it cleaned.

Tonight, I discovered that the .2 needle had a slight bend in it and that the little thing the point of the needle slides into (the tip, maybe) had a broken thread. So, I can't screw it back onto the airbrush.

I then tried to put on the .3 or .5 needles/nozzles that came with the airbrush and discovered that I can't see a way to thread the aircaps on to the airbrush. The threaded part is not the right size.

The needles and nozzles look no different to me, so ended up putting the .3 tip with the .2 needle and at least getting it to work.

So, question number 1 is, where I can really get some decent info about how to maintain this thing? None of the Youtube videos I find go into nearly enough detail.

My second is, are the needles and tips really different sizes? They look identical and the only way I could get it working again was mixing them up.

My final question is, by putting a .2 needle with a .3 tip, am I further damaging this unit?

Any guidance you can give would be greatly appreciated...including where to buy a new .2 tip/nozzle/aircap.

Thanks,

- netgeist
 
Hi Robert, welcome to the forum from the uk. If you wouldn't mind popping along to the introduction section and tell us a little about yourself, where you are in the world, what type of painting you are wanting to get into - ie, fine art, automotive, t-shirts etc, any other equipment you have. It will help people to give better advice, and suggest suppliers etc, and also people will want to say hi :) EDIT - Sorry Robert, just seen that you have been there - but if you could add that info anyway, would maybe help people give better advice.

The Master airbrush is basically a knock off of a branded brush. Unfortunately knock offs tend to be poorly made and easily damaged, and can make learning a frustrating process, although Master do seem to be one of the better ones. I haven't used one of these, but I know others have, and liked them, so hopefully some one can point you in the direction of spares, as I'm not sure where you would get them.

I think as they are cheap people sometimes just buy another brush. If you can't find spares, I would advise not to do this, as for the price of a 2 or 3 of these you could get a lower priced Iwata or Badger, which will be infinitely better, and you will be able to concentrate on learning with out wondering if it is the brush that is causing problems.. As far as I know airbrushes generally don't come with much resembling a 'how to', but you lucked out. There are a ton of good people here who can answer your questions, and if you haven't found them already, click on the Airbrush Tutor at the top of the page, and check out his tutorials

Wicked paints (most paints actually) that are 'ready to spray from the bottle' usually means from an airbrush with a . 5 nozzle or larger at around 40 psi. So you will need to get reducer. Some make their own, (a search will probably find a recipe) but many people including me, just buy the W500 (or the W100 if that's what is available, but the W500 is better) as it has many other advantages - helping reduce tip dry, paint flow, drying times etc. The million dollar question How much reducer do I need, and what airpressure? is unfortunately one that has no simple answer. There are too many variables, what airbrush, what nozzle size, what you are wanting to paint and the surface, what colour you are using (they can vary a bit), what the weather/temp/humidity is etc. Filter the paint with some panty hose over the neck of the bottle, and add 2 or three drops of reducer at around 20 psi or so, and experiment, add more reducer - is it better? does more pressure help? Rule of thumb - more reducer = less pressure. It soon becomes second nature, and after finding that sweet spot, everything starts to get a lot easier. Once you have that down, clogging will become much less of an issue. (On a side note don't use anything metal to clean the nozzle as it will scratch and the inside, and harsh cleaners will cause o rings to swell, making them useless - unless they are teflon.)

It is important to put the right needle with the right nozzle (not sure if they are marked in any way, I know some makes have 1, 2 or 3 lines on them), paint may come out, but it won't be controllable or give the results you need. If the needle is too small for the nozzle, it could be pushed too far in, causing the nozzle to flare, or even split. Nozzles can be easily damaged, and the cheaper ones tend to be made of softer metal.

Hope this helps a bit, and someone with experience of these brushes, will hopefully be able to answer your other questions :)
 
Last edited:
I couldn't agree more with Squishy's great advice above.
I actually had a very similar question from someone on the airbrushtutor facebook page the other day regarding a non functioning master g22 (i get them all the time) and i decided to write an article about it, more focused on what equipment to start out with rather than trying to fix a cheap airbrush.

The article can be found here: Best Airbrush for Beginners and finishes by recommending some good quality beginner's airbrushes.
Like Squish said, when starting out in this hobby, you want to start with good equipment that will allow you to learn how to airbrush, instead of learning how to fix problems on an airbrush that will constantly re-occur :thumbsdown:

The biggest killer of this hobby for beginners is cheap equipment. Take a look here for the most commonly used airbrush brands - a hint of which to look at:
Most commonly used airbrushes
 
There is some very helpful info in these....thank you. I bet a big part of my problem is the .2 being on in the first place. I did not know that the Wicked paints were best for .5. Even if it did say it somewhere, the terminology was list on me as a beginner.

I will set it up for .5 today. Since I am using this to basecoat and prime miniature war game figures and perhaps do camouflage on some WWII airplane models, the will probably do the trick...for now.

If I get this down, I have to say other artwork has appeal. I also hope my wife uses it because she has an artistic soul in general and has not yet found her medium. Finally, I want to let my son have some fun with it.

I feared this was a cheaply but read it was a good balance fir not investing a ton and ok brush. I bought the kit, so I have the compressor and everything. Later on down the road, I could upgrade brushes. This might be a backup or by dedicated to metal paints and enamels (I use acrylics).

Thanks again folks, this has helped a lot!

- netgeist
 
Not a problem Rob, for models etc I'd recommend this brush also - but one of the beginner airbrushes as recommended in that article will always be more reliable. I hope it all works out mate and if you have any other questions please don't hesitate to ask :thumbsup:
 
You can get replacement parts online through TCP Global.

First, I would recommend starting with the .5mm set. For beginners, it is the easiest size to paint with, it is the most forgiving as far as paints and how thick or thin they are.

When you insert the tip into the airbrush, be very careful with the threads, they are extremely fragile! I believe that brand has an o ring at the base of the threads. Screw the tip in by hand as snug as you can, then with the wrench SLIGHTLY give it a little bit more. Remember, those threads are very fragile!

Once you have put the airbrush back together completely, you should be good to go.

As far as the needle sizes, they are very different. Depending on the type of painting that you intend on doing, the .5mm is going to be your everyday workhorse. It gives good coverage, and can even do small detail work. The .3mm won't give you as good of coverage, but it will give you the ability to do smaller details. As far as the .2mm, that is a fine detail needle. It is designed to give you extremely fine details only. It takes a lot of practice to use this size effectively. With this size, you need to thin your paint down to the consistency of milk, and drop your pressure way down. Depending on the paint, it's not uncommon to run in the 10-15psi range.

I hope this helps
 
Robert Kuzmeski said:
There is some very helpful info in these....thank you. I bet a big part of my problem is the .2 being on in the first place. I did not know that the Wicked paints were best for .5. Even if it did say it somewhere, the terminology was list on me as a beginner.

I will set it up for .5 today. Since I am using this to basecoat and prime miniature war game figures and perhaps do camouflage on some WWII airplane models, the will probably do the trick...for now.

If I get this down, I have to say other artwork has appeal. I also hope my wife uses it because she has an artistic soul in general and has not yet found her medium. Finally, I want to let my son have some fun with it.

I feared this was a cheaply but read it was a good balance fir not investing a ton and ok brush. I bought the kit, so I have the compressor and everything. Later on down the road, I could upgrade brushes. This might be a backup or by dedicated to metal paints and enamels (I use acrylics).

Thanks again folks, this has helped a lot!

- netgeist
Click to expand...
Wicked is best when you reduce it , That .2 will spray it without issue if you reduce it using either W100 or W500 reducer .
The .5 is mainly used in t-shirt painting . But being Wicked is design for almost any surface is why it comes mainly set up for the .5
Reduction for your .2 set up should be about 1 drop paint to 5-8 drops reducer. at about 20 to 25 PSI
But my suggestion is learn the paint through the needle/nozzle set up you choose . So if you set it up with the .3 play with reduction of every color being not all colors will need the same reduction.
 
With your tutelage here, I have made a lot of gains. I am enjoying the heck out of now! I'm even solving problems I was having on approaching some of my 40K terrain because things I wanted to do would be nightmarish with a brush and paint. For example, painting something to look like concrete is a heck of a lot easier with an airbrush.

I do see why this is considered a cheap set-up though. The .3 tip is now broken as well. I am very gentle with them but the Master design was poor and the tip threads were bad. It went on crooked and when I saw that and tried to unscrew it, the tip broke off. So I only have a .5 now, which is great for splatter effects, priming and base coating but not much else so far. Not super happy about it all.

I don't really want to spend the money on a different airbrush but think I am going to have to. I've invested too much in paints and stuff to give up.

On a similar note, I couldn't resist the savings on Badger Sotar 20/20. I know it's not great for a beginner but I have learned that I like airbrushing well enough that I now want to do art with it...not just miniature/model painting. Couldn't try it out yet, though. The hose that came with my Master G444 set doesn't fit on the Sotar, so I need some kind of adapter.

Thanks again folks. You have turned me into a passionate airbrusher even with my crappy purchase! At least I get a compressor and a bunch of paint out of the deal.

- netgeist
 
I think there are probably a lot of us who started with a "cheap" brush, it's human nature ;)
I very quickly moved on to a better brush with a o.5 tip and I can pull some very tight fine lines with it which you will be able to do as well as you learn to control the trigger.
Stick with it and don't be in too much of a rush to paint things. Master the dots n daggers first......
 
Robert Kuzmeski said:
On a similar note, I couldn't resist the savings on Badger Sotar 20/20. I know it's not great for a beginner but I have learned that I like airbrushing well enough that I now want to do art with it...not just miniature/model painting. Couldn't try it out yet, though. The hose that came with my Master G444 set doesn't fit on the Sotar, so I need some kind of adapter.
Click to expand...

Here is the adapter you need http://www.amazon.com/BADGER-AIRBRUSH-ADAPTER-CONNECTOR-MASTER/dp/B0038NJYHG

Happy to see you enjoy your new hobby :)
 
Buy anyway, or contact the seller first, but even if it's only one needle it's a better needle than what you have now;)
 
That's how I'm leaning Mad. The seller doesn't know, sadly.

Amazon has the 2-in-1 for 134 ish, so I'm trying to figure out the best value.
 
If it's a "sealed/un-opened" kit as they claim, then supposedly the RK-1 kit should have both needles.
 
Robert Kuzmeski said:
That's how I'm leaning Mad. The seller doesn't know, sadly.

Amazon has the 2-in-1 for 134 ish, so I'm trying to figure out the best value.
Click to expand...

Even if it isn't the 2 in 1, you can buy a conversion kit later, it'll be good for practice in the meantime, and if it does have both needles, then you have a huge bargain.
 
I did it. It looks like you can only get the RK-1 as part of the 2-in-1 kit so I figured i'd be all set.

The Master will be great for priming, splatter work and metallics, i suspect.

Thanks, all!
 
Wow. Are there just people that are not meant to airbrush? I am really perplexed why everytime I touch one, it continues to be a disaster.

Got the new Badger Krome today and was excited to use it. It took me all day to clear some time to finally do so and when I started, I was thrilled. For about 10 minutes.

Then the clog occurred. No paint was moving. I tried to clean the nozzle at the end without removing anything. No luck. So I remove the nozzle...am super careful around the needle, get all of the little holes in the nozzle cleaned out and get ready to paint again.

Paint is not shooting out of the gravity feed.

Ok...clean it all again from that mess and put the nozzle back together. More air continues to come out of the gravity feed then through the nozzle.

I have put a lot of money into this. $199 on the Master G444/Compressor kit. $89 on the Sotar. $10 on a Master to Badger adapter. $10 on a new Master needle to replace one of the two broken ones. about $100 on paint. $113 on the Krome. $50 on paint. I am pushing $500 and just wishing to God I never got involved.

Please tell me what I am doing wrong. I get so excited about using these and the moment I start to do so, I feel like I am not meant to airbrush. I am not a whiner by nature, am actually very intelligent...so I apologize for the griping. It's more a desperate plea to help salvage my interest in this whole hobby.

Thanks,

- negeist
 
Oh....paint is also dripping out of the nozzle, too. Not sure if that helps narrow down the problem.
 
Are you thinning those Wicked paints? Make sure your nozzle is on tight, probably not wrench tight, just very finger tight. And same for the crown.
 
This was something else. It was Spectra Tex white transparent. I was trying to thin it. As someone that's learning, i can pretty much never get the consistency right.
 
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