Possible Line Inconsistency Explanation?

*MRC*

Double Actioner
Greetings, all.
Haven't had much practice lately due to avalanche of work. Sat down today and part of the practice session resulted in a weird line inconsistency.
I'm aware of tip dry & keeping it clean. Brush, psi, trigger pull, & distance from paper are consistent. Paint is Createx Illustration with 4011 reducer (and a bit of distilled water) with an HP-AH Iwata.
Some nice consistent lines at the bottom, but what might be causing the variety in the line above that?
#noobster
 

Attachments

  • IMG_2364.jpg
    IMG_2364.jpg
    466.1 KB · Views: 18
can you get your hands on some Golden High Flow Acrylic, or is Createx the only thing you can get easily? What about watercolor or ink? I'd be curious to see what sort of results you get with that?! What kind of compressor are you using?

I am out of the studio for the night, but tomorrow will get the HP-AH off the shelf and mix up some Createx to see what I can get out of it.
 
Dave, Createx is all I've got for now, but as for ink I have quite a bit of that.
I'll give that a go tomorrow and provide feedback. If there are any tips regarding the use of ink, please feel free to advise!

TBH, the line inconsistency is a problem I've had with the AH from just about day one. I keep the brush meticulously clean, am conscientious of tip dry, & have recently started filtering the paint.

The other problem I had to day was consistency on the trigger. I'd pull it back just so for x-number of lines (not many) but then not get any paint for no observable reason. I am checking that the needle is in fact moving backwards, etc. It's just been such an inconsistent experience with this brush that, despite being very patient, I'm becoming quite put off by it. I won't give up, of course, and am aware the 0.2 size is notoriously fussy.
 
While you wait for Dave to experiment,
what compressor/psi are you using?
(don’t forget, psi should be set with the needle pressed)
 
Dave, Createx is all I've got for now, but as for ink I have quite a bit of that.
I'll give that a go tomorrow and provide feedback. If there are any tips regarding the use of ink, please feel free to advise!

TBH, the line inconsistency is a problem I've had with the AH from just about day one. I keep the brush meticulously clean, am conscientious of tip dry, & have recently started filtering the paint.

The other problem I had to day was consistency on the trigger. I'd pull it back just so for x-number of lines (not many) but then not get any paint for no observable reason. I am checking that the needle is in fact moving backwards, etc. It's just been such an inconsistent experience with this brush that, despite being very patient, I'm becoming quite put off by it. I won't give up, of course, and am aware the 0.2 size is notoriously fussy.
Just making sure - it is Createx Illustration colors, right? When you draw the trigger back and no paint comes out, you are not overcoming the surface tension of the paint mix. Sometimes a flow release or aid can help (glycerin is a good one- a little mixed with water first, added to your 4011). You can also try just reducing more - go like 8 parts reducer to 1 or 2 parts paint, and see what happens.
 
Jack, PSI around 20.
Compressor is a Timbertech. Moisture trap connected to the gun.

Dave, thank you for the info on the surface tension. This is precisely the kind of information I love to learn. I value all these little details and for some reason once picked up I never forget them. Thank you for the advice on how to deal with it. I will certainly give that a try!
 

Attachments

  • IMG_2365.jpg
    IMG_2365.jpg
    277.2 KB · Views: 15
if you can, try turning your pressure up to 30 or 35psi and give it a go. Surface tension will be higher in dry, cold climates - a humidifier can help sometimes. I run one in my studio during winter months.

With Ink, just mix with water and go - maybe start with 50/50 mix.
 
if you can, try turning your pressure up to 30 or 35psi and give it a go. Surface tension will be higher in dry, cold climates - a humidifier can help sometimes. I run one in my studio during winter months.

With Ink, just mix with water and go - maybe start with 50/50 mix.
Yes I find in summer here in Australia my psi needs to be higher than winter.
 
And yes :thumbsup:to confirm, it's Createx Illustration Color.
I'll gladly follow all the advice given here. :)
 
1st I will say that I just took the HP-AH off the display shelf in my studio, and did nothing to prepare using it. I grabbed an old bottle of Createx illustration color out of a drawer, gave it a good shake, and added two drops straight from the bottle into the brush. It was THICK, and gooey, for sure. I tested the spray initiation on a piece of scrap paper after working the trigger back and forth a couple times to prime the paint channel. I did have to up the air pressure to between 35-40psi to get and keep a spray. I don't think I took more than about a minute and half to get to this point after sitting at my desk. I only mention this to assure you that I was taking no special care to create a result - just looking for what the combo would do -

At 100% concentration the brush will spray Illustration color pretty reliably, albeit a bit grainy in pattern. It also won't pull the finest of lines without chocking off, but it will work OK for general purpose work. I then cut the Createx 50/50 with 4011. I could obviously get a finer line, but found that paint initiation was actually harder than the non-reduced sample. I eventually settled on basically keeping the air on to produce the sample sheet included in the photo. I started and stopped the lines by pulling back and moving forward on the trigger while keeping the air flowing almost continuously. I then added several more drops of 4011 to the mix to get to @20/80 paint/reducer. One would think it would work easier, but I found I had the same sort of issue overcoming paint initiation - once flowing, it worked fine.

I then switched to my go-to E'tac with Condition-air and their 2050 added to the mix - I also dropped the air pressure to about 20psi - easy peasy, could do lines all day long.

Next was Higgins ink 5 drops ink to 10 water (with 1% flow release added). Super easy paint initiation and no sign of tip dry on the scrap paper.

On both these test sheets (Higgins and E'tac) I was able to start and stop paint flow by either increasing or decreasing trigger pressure to regulate air flow without having to move forward or back on the trigger. If you've ever read about my dots, well, this is why I do it.

DSC_3663.jpg

I did all of these about as fast as I could without taking any special care, or testing between runs. Just for giggles, I sat back down and added my E'tac mix back to the brush, and reduced pressure to @15 psi, and took my time with a sheet to see what I thought I could really get out of the mix in use -

DSC_3664.jpg

I've mentioned before, I have a love/hate relationship with Createx. I use it. I use it probably more than anything else - but, I am always fighting it compared to other brands that I also use. By comparison, E'tac is a dream - it's drawback is it does not allow the same sorts of after application manipulation I seem to find myself drawn to in the work... for practice, and testing, I use it before anything else.

Just keep going! The more time you put in, the more you will begin to recognize what and when the brush will do what it does. It is just like putting money in the bank - it all adds up.
 
Thats a very interesting read. I used to have a revell brush that used to prefer a higher psi to get consistent paint initiation and if it wasn't high enough it would struggle to keep finer lines with the ink i was using. Up the pressure and it was fine.
 
I'll have to post pictures later on - but, I was able to replicate your line issues. The only paint I could get the same result with was Createx Illustration mixed with 4011. I had better results using Createx Wicked Op. Jet Black mixed with just water or 4011.
 
Thats a very interesting read. I used to have a revell brush that used to prefer a higher psi to get consistent paint initiation and if it wasn't high enough it would struggle to keep finer lines with the ink i was using. Up the pressure and it was fine.
This is probably just a learning curve I had for that specific brush though, I hope I have not confused things with my comment, as I think what Dave is saying is more relevant to you MRC and the createx and he has alot more experience than I.

But I guess it's a lesson in keep trying and learning and you will work through it, especially with the help on the forum.
 
top sheet is Illustration with 4011 - I did nothing with the brush to cause the inconsistency in line width in the left to right motion. The phenomenon I could only create using Illustration Colors mixed with 4011.

DSC_3665.jpg
 
last contribution of the day - I tried all kinds of retarders, flow enhancers, release, etc in conjunction with Createx Illustration colors. I tried 4011, 4012, and 4013. The best, most usable results I got for today came with the use of Tamyia X-20A Acrylic thinner and water mixed maybe 5thinner/10water with 2 parts paint. I could paint for a while before picking the tip... lines looked almost as good as E'tac, but not quite.
 
Amazing, Dave - will you look at that! Incredible, and thank you!
Thought I was taking crazy pills.

Couple of questions. Is this effect with the HP-AH + Createx related to the AH brush in particular, or is this common to all 0.2 Iwata brushes (and lower, i.e. 0.18)? Second, where do you buy E'tac paint? Went looking for it upon your last suggestion for using it but couldn't source any. I am in Canada, but can order to an address in the US, if necessary.

Thank you so much once again, Dave! I really appreciate what you have done! 🙏
 
I am going to classify the experience as a Createx one, not a brush specific one. I tried more than one brush and had the same results pretty consistently across each of the test sheets and mediums I tried.

I think this place is the current distribution source for E'tac - https://www.chinostencils.com/collections/etac-paints?page=1

don't shy away from using the inks you already have. Just water seems to work just fine at reducing.
 
Back
Top