Hi, all. I'm a newbie airbrusher. My goals are to be able to prime, zenethal highlight, and then apply base coats to my Infinity table top wargame models. I've seen plenty of YouTube tutorials on how to do these things, mostly Vince Venturella stuff, but it seems doable and pretty basic if I can just figure out how to work my airbrush correctly.
Vince recommends (for beginners) the Master Airbrush G22 kit that comes with a Master Airbrush Compressor Model TC-20. I understand that this is not a high quality airbrush, but I just want to do basic things with it and I've seen it recommended as a starter airbrush in so many places, so I have to believe my problems are user error and not the airbrush itself.
Anyway, my problem. I've watched tutorial after tutorial about cleaning your airbrush both between colors and deep cleaning. I've learned about tip dry. I've learned about push down, pull back, push forward before releasing the trigger so that you don't clog the nozzle, etc. But for the life of me, my airbrush clogs or splutters constantly. I'm using vallejo surface primer and the rest of their model paint line, thinned with their official thinning agent. I've tried different ratios, from milk consistency to practically just water. I have the compressor set at 30psi. I actually have tried two of these airbrushes because I accidentally broke the nozzle on the first one, but both have given me the same trouble.
I have certainly experienced tip dry, but scraping that off generally doesn't solve the problem. It's like the paint is almost instantly gumming up inside the nozzle deeper than the tip. There are times when I clean the brush as thoroughly as possible, dry everything out, then just push the trigger down for air flow without pulling the trigger back and it still spits and splutters.
I really enjoyed the 3 minutes of success I've had in airbrushing before things went sideways and if I can just get this figured out, I know that painting model after model can turn into a joy, especially because I feel like Infinity models need to be bright and clean, perfect for airbrush work. But things are currently so frustrating. Any help you guys can give would be so very appreciated. I'd be more than happy to answer specific questions if you need more information to diagnose the problem. Thanks so much to anyone who can help me out.
Vince recommends (for beginners) the Master Airbrush G22 kit that comes with a Master Airbrush Compressor Model TC-20. I understand that this is not a high quality airbrush, but I just want to do basic things with it and I've seen it recommended as a starter airbrush in so many places, so I have to believe my problems are user error and not the airbrush itself.
Anyway, my problem. I've watched tutorial after tutorial about cleaning your airbrush both between colors and deep cleaning. I've learned about tip dry. I've learned about push down, pull back, push forward before releasing the trigger so that you don't clog the nozzle, etc. But for the life of me, my airbrush clogs or splutters constantly. I'm using vallejo surface primer and the rest of their model paint line, thinned with their official thinning agent. I've tried different ratios, from milk consistency to practically just water. I have the compressor set at 30psi. I actually have tried two of these airbrushes because I accidentally broke the nozzle on the first one, but both have given me the same trouble.
I have certainly experienced tip dry, but scraping that off generally doesn't solve the problem. It's like the paint is almost instantly gumming up inside the nozzle deeper than the tip. There are times when I clean the brush as thoroughly as possible, dry everything out, then just push the trigger down for air flow without pulling the trigger back and it still spits and splutters.
I really enjoyed the 3 minutes of success I've had in airbrushing before things went sideways and if I can just get this figured out, I know that painting model after model can turn into a joy, especially because I feel like Infinity models need to be bright and clean, perfect for airbrush work. But things are currently so frustrating. Any help you guys can give would be so very appreciated. I'd be more than happy to answer specific questions if you need more information to diagnose the problem. Thanks so much to anyone who can help me out.