Need help with master G22

[VoltageArt]

I pretty much figured at this point it was a manufacturing dud, but the only reason I even have a master airbrush is because it came with the air compressor I bought for my 180, and the compresses itself works fantastic. So I am returning the $80 kit and just buying the compressor without the airbrush which Amazon has one for $68 which would give me back $12 to add to my budget for Airbrush paint.

And I have a Michaels and a Hobby Lobby in town but their are no Aaron Brothers in my state. I will look into the Aztek because I have seen those at Michaels and I have used Testors airbrush paint before with a cheap $20 airbrush set I bought for for fun that came with 5 things of paint. And I know the pint will work on what I am doing because I tested the brush and paint on a ugly Transformers Energon Smokescreen figure I have who's missing both his arms, legs and 2 of his tires, and the paint worked really well sticking to the hard plastic. (so now he has a bright orange hood with blue, red and yellow stripes )

But one issues I have, is all the lids have sealed on to the bottles and I have been having a very hard time getting them off. And the only colors included in the kit are Black, Blue, Red, Orange, and Yellow, so unless I really want to paint Optimus Prime form the movies or just making Smokescreen even uglier, then I really don't have much to work with in terms of colors. and the bottles are only 1/4th FL oz so their is not much paint for mixing and trial and error. And my cat knocking over and spilling most of the blue on to the floor didn't help either (had to clean blue paw prints of the floor, my book, and the kitchen table... was not fun.)

And I will certainly keep my eye open for a Badger. I have heard a lot of good things about them and my Grandfather had an OLD one but its missing a lot of pieces and it would cost more to replace the parts then to buy a new one, but for now my 180 works just fine for practicing and just getting the hang of using an airbrush.

 

[Nessus]

Testors makes several different paint lines. The ones that come in the wee 1/4 oz pots are their most basic model paints. Those come in both acrylic and enamel, but IIRC the kits typically come with acrylic.

Model Master will be closer to what you're used to from those than Aztek, but either will be better. Aztek is pre-formulated for airbrushing, so it'll spray better, and depending on your brush (I'm unfamiliar with that model) you may not have to thin it. You will definitely have to thin Model Master. In either case, I recommend using the Testors "universal acrylic" thinner instead of water.

Aztek can also be thinned with rubbing alcohol (isopropyl). It sprays better thinned with isopropyl than with Testors thinner or water, but the Testors thinner is probably the safest for maintaining best adhesion/strength. I have not tried thinning Model Master with isopropyl, but I have used both water and Testors thinner, and Testors thinner is definitely better.

Some people say use windex. Never do this, as anything ammonia-based (like windex) is bad for the plating on your brush.

 

[VoltageArt]

I do have a large 32 fl OZ container of 70% isopropyl rubbing alcohol so I don't know if that will work or if I need to find a higher percentage . I may pick up a few of the Azteks next time I'm in town this week, becouse right now Michaels has a %15 off total purchase coupon witch includes sales items so this could definitely save me some money. probably pick up 4 or 5 different colors to finish an OC I am creating.

 

[Nessus]

I used 90%. Haven't tried 70%, but I figure it should be fine. It'll spray better than with water, at least.

Just make sure you do a test on a scrap part first, to make sure adhesion is up to snuff and all that.

 

[VoltageArt]

I have a few other transformer figures that are beyond repair (missing way to many body parts) and a few that I just find plain ugly .I'll test it on them to see if it works. (at least now I have a use for Sentinel prime )

 

[Nessus]

Cool beans. Swab 'em down with the alcohol before you paint 'em to make sure they're clean of any residual skin oils and the like, and you should be gold.

 

[VoltageArt]

I actually found that if you put them in warm soapy water and scrub them with an old tooth brush it works really well and get a lot of the clear cover off them pulse it also cleans them if their is any dirt on them.

 

[PatIvers]

While I'm not sure what to think about your new Master airbrush as far as if it is a bad one or not. It could be paint, defective airbrush, or a combination of both. I did a little research, the 180 that you described earlier is actually(or the same as) a Master Model G444(I have one collecting dust). The adjuster as you called it is also called a MAC valve. It is basically a built in air regulator. It is mainly used to lower your air pressure when you need to get close to your work and do fine details. For most of what you are doing, you should have it backed off so that you get the full amount of air that you have your compressor regulator set for. Depending on paints etc. I would try running around 35-40psi. If need be, you can always reduce pressure on the fly with the Mac valve.

For what it sounds like you are wanting to use it for, I would recommend using the .5mm needle and nozzle set for most of your painting, and the .3mm set for fine detail work if you are able to control the airbrush well enough. That's not meant to be a knock on your abilities. .3mm and especially the .2mm sets can be very difficult to control for a whole multitude of reasons including type of paint, paint viscosity, humidity, etc. etc.

Caution, it is extremely important to not mix up the nozzle and needle sets! The sets include a needle, a nozzle/tip, and a nozzle cap. They are not interchangeable with the other sets. A .3 has to be used with a .3 etc. Also, be very careful when tightening the nozzle to the body and do not over tighten it. All you need is finger tight, then just barely tighten it more with the wrench. Any more than that, and you risk breaking the nozzle. When setting the needle, you don't want to push it into the nozzle hard, just enough that it stops, then snug up the chuck.

The other feature that your 180/G444 has is called an adjustable needle stop. It's located at the back of the handle. It's designed to be able to help keep you from pulling the trigger back to far and spraying to much paint at one time. I would back it out so that you have full control of the trigger until you get used to it.

I hope this is of some help to you.

 

[VoltageArt]

Thanks for the info. my 180 works well and I just switched out the .2mm with the .5mm needle and nozzles last night. and I usually have the compressor at 25 - 30 PSI and the Mac valve letting tall the pressure out and got a pretty good amount of my paint out my 180 . And during that it was still using the .2mm needle it came shipped with so I don't think it was my paint causing issues with my G22.

 

[PatIvers]

Here's a couple other things to check with your G22.

First, and this is pretty much a no brainer, but when you hold down the trigger, does the air that comes out of the tip sound and feel close to the same as your G444? I don't remember if it was with my 444, or with my very first airbrush that I bought from Harbor Freight Tools, which is a cheap knockoff of a Badger 155, but one of them had a misplaced o-ring seal in the air valve that was severely restricting the airflow.

Second, if you have a decent magnifying glass, hold the tip between two fingers and look into the tip with the magnifying glass with a light behind the tip. Your fingers should hopefully block enough light so as not to blind you, while allowing enough light to come through the tip to see if there is still little flakes of paint etc. still in the tip. Sometimes even soaking the tip overnight isn't enough to dissolve the paint.

If those don't fix the problem, then you might have a bad airbrush.

 

[VoltageArt]

The air coming out of my 180/G444 is a lot stronger then the G22 and I looked for paint but absolutely nothing was on that needle. so at this point I am calling it a dud. I packed up the kit and will be returning it tomorrow and just ordering the Compressor separately witch is $12 cheaper then the kit. So now I will have a little extra for getting some Aztec Airbrush paint.

And thanks for the advice. I will definitely use this if I run in to problems with my G444.