Begginer- I have air but little to no paint and Odd Spray pattern

Drew Weininger

Drew Weininger

Young Tutorling
Hello All.

Thanks to all the people welcoming me to the airbrush world. Pretty new here. I have a few questions.

Set Up:
Master Brush, with a .5 tip.
Central Pneumatic small compressor.
Createx Paints, 5211 Opaque Black and 4020 Reducer
Painting Wood (cardboard for now but I'd like to paint wood)

1. I have my air at 40psi (tech data sheet says to run at that) and I've mixed the 5211 Opaque Black with the 4020 Reducer about 10:2. I hardly get any paint when I pull the trigger back. I do get plenty of air. I cleaned my brush. Everything is new. I do get "some" paint but I thought I'd get more. Maybe my expectation are too high? Tech data says you can spray it right out of the bottle in an airbrush but when I tried that, no paint sprayed at all. See linked video.

I tried both the .3 and .5 needle and tips but neither sprayed much paint.

2. When I release the trigger I get a really odd spray pattern. See attached image. I get a rough "kick" of paint to the right as I release the trigger. I'm wondering if this is the result of a bent needle? It's brand new. The airbrush isn't pointing right at all.

Thanks in advance. Any advice is appreciated.

 

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Ok, first the ‘bad news’
5211 opaque black is part of the “ Createx airbrush paint” range- designed primarily for textiles it requires high psi to spray nicely. The 40psi that you stated may not be high enough and looking at the spray pattern I say it’s not atomising correctly so rather than reduce it further, try upping the psi (60psi isn’t unheard of with this series of paint)
Don’t try anything less than a .5 needle, it will definitely struggle - the pigment size doesn’t play well at small needle sizes (reducing won’t help)
When you set the psi on the regulator make sure you are pressing the trigger to get 45psi at the tip of the airbrush. You can lose ~10psi setting it without the air on which would then mean you’re actually spraying at ~35 not the 45 you set without air which is nowhere near enough for that series of paint.
The ‘splurt’ you get at the end is VERY common when starting out... practice your technique
You aren’t shutting the paint off before the air or you stop moving before shutting the paint/air
773B86AA-9C67-4BAE-9182-5DDFEF163FE2.jpeg

and what’s the good news ?
You sprayed paint :)
 
And I’ve just LISTENED to your video. The compressor you have cuts in/out as you push the trigger which tells me it has no tank so you won’t get consistent airflow and I suspect it’s not getting to the psi you think it is..
what brand is the compressor ?
 
CrazyVet and Jackie have already asked the questions and given some good info.
The paint definitely looks too thick and the compressor will only probably push out about 20psi real working pressure.

Does it have a pressure gauge and regulator?

If it does: To test, just use the airbrush with water, open the regulator full press for air and pull back for paint, check the gauge. The reading will be your real working pressure. If not, the way to check pressure would be to add an inline gauge like DaveG.

Standard Createx is thick and suited for t-shirts, looking at the video I'd thin the paint right down at least 50/50 paint to reducer just so you can get good flow with the compressor you have. You may have to thin it even more than that.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

MY question What are you planning on doing with the wood? Painting it a solid colour or colouring it like stain?

If painting a solid colour I would change the paint to Wicked by Createx , ( I'd change to Wicked anyway just because its a better paint to use )
It's a thinner paint to start with and is suitable for multi surfaces inc wood.

If your planning to stain the wood then I'd look at wood dyes, you could still spray it. Depending on the brand you would have to check the data sheet as they may contain solvents so a mask and ventilation may be needed.
You may be able to use wicked thinned down, there's no reason why it wouldn't work.

I "stained" a load of wood using regular house wall paint (we call it emulsion over here) really thinned down, brushed onto the wood and wiped off. You have colour but can see the wood grain through it. Hope this helps a bit too.

Once we have some more info we can give you more clearer and definite help and recommendations.

Lee
 
Paint splatter when you press for air is left over paint on the needle tip from the last time you shut of air before paint
Splatter when doing a line can be from tip dry - paint on the tip of the needle left there from the last time you shut off air before the paint has dried and not you have a lump needle that the paint is trying to flow over.

you journey so far is perfectly normal :) practising the diagram above for when paint / air / movement should happen will create muscle memory, which will mean one day, in the not to distant future, you won’t even think about when the air should be on or off or when you shut off paint etc

is this your compressor ?
01BD24B3-3FF7-47EB-9603-63AA382A11D5.jpeg
 
Another thought - no my brain doesn’t stop.. just ask the rest of the gang lol
If you’ve been playing with the brush for quite awhile it’s possible the nozzle is gummed up due to thick paint and low psi (or severe tip dry as I previously mentioned) run some windex or simple green through it a few times, flush well with water
Add some food colouring to the air brush cup and a bit of water and see what spray you get then. It will help with our diagnosis.
I’m now going to make my brain stop and go to bed :) it’s 10pm here :sleep:
 
Awesome. I just woke up and am reading all this... I should've grabbed my coffee first... lol

Ok. I'll answer questions as best I can.
1. Crazyvet- I haven't tried water, but I will! Thanks!
2. JacobEb- Thanks! I will give all of those a try. Also that spurt is confusing. If I press air 'on" and "pull" trigger paint comes out, as I pull trigger back more, less and less paint comes out until no paint comes out at all. As I return the trigger forward, the paint spurts and then starts flowing. Any thoughts as to why the paint shuts off the more I pull the trigger back? Air is flowing the entire time. And -Yes that is my compressor, nice detective work there!
3. Jord001 - I do have a pressure gauge and regulator. I think I was spraying at 40psi at the tip. I set the compressor to about 47 and pushed button for air, gauge dropped to 40psi. But I'd like to upgrade the compressor for sure. Also, I can thin my paint to 50/50? Even if the tech information says 10:1?
4- Jord001 - Yeah, I'd like to solid paint my old guitar. Am happy to change paints. Whatever works. I do have some Wicked paint I can use and play with. Thanks for the suggestions!

Also - I was thinking about upgrading my compressor. I haven't searched on here yet I'm sure there are a lot of discussion about beginner level compressor but I was looking at this. What do you think?

https://www.amazon.com/Master-Airbrush-Runner-Compressor-TC-326T/dp/B07ZQM6R83/ref=sr_1_6?dchild=1&keywords=airbrush tank and compressor&qid=1603124929&sr=8-6

Thanks again everyone. Sage wisdom. Love it.
 
I tried Createx Classic Drew. That paint doesn't flow... It was so frustrating for me and I am not surprised people are shooting that paint at 60 psi.

My experience with it was a disaster. Paint was spraying and suddenly it stopped. So I shooted to a piece of paper bunch of paint with trigger all the way pulled so that blockage flew out of my airbrush.

It is true I was new at this, but as soon I tried Wicked from Createx I never bought any color from Createx Classic. From Createx Classic I use only transparent base, but it is also crap to shoot. I use that transparent base cause I spray it on T-shirts.

I got bunch of bottles from Createx Classics which are never used, cause Wicked is so much better.

If I would be you, I would buy Wicked Black,White,Red,Yellow and Blue and I would start there.

I didn't read all of posts from guys, but I am sure they got you covered :thumbsup:

Knowing Jackie, she would probably suggested food coloring and water, like we all have food coloring at home :laugh:

Jokes aside, I would use 10 drops of reducer 1 drop of paint and see if it sprays. Check your tip of the needle, cause this color is making a lot of tip dry - it dries on the tip of the needle and you can't spray cause of that.

Either way, I would stay away from Createx Classics, and I am always surprised how bunch of you tubers can spray that paint...

Vet also suggested water. If it sprays water, then airbrush is ok. Now I need to read all the posts from guys. :whistling:
 
You can thin the paint more than 10%. Just be aware that the don’t suggest 4020 on its own as a reducer. Although myself and others have used it that way and it works quite nicely. Have a read of the tech sheets on the Createx site. They’re really useful as a good starting point.
Have a good play around. Try adding a load of reducer and see what happens. You don’t need to waste much paint or reducer to get some experience under you belt.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
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